Today I...

Cried... about how overwhelmed I feel this week! After this week I'm going to have to reassess some things and get our lives calmer again.

Felt... the weirdest pain all day! Right at my hairline, directly above my pupil, is a small spot that hurts when touched! The best way I can describe the pain is like a painful pimple or a cold sore being bumped too hard, but in this case there is no mark or bump of any kind and just a light touch feels like that. Very annoying.

Held... my baby for a long nap because this sweet little one is only taking 5-10 minute naps at a time this week and is kinda miserable from it! I felt so anxious at first because I had so much to do and was so aware that every minute spent rocking the baby was another minute I was falling behind on everything else. God knew what he was doing when he made oxytocin, y'all. A few minutes into rocking I thought, THIS is what life is really about. This is what I want to prioritize. Slow, calm, simple, loving- this is what feels good. People on their deathbeds don't wish that they'd accomplished more tasks or committed to more things. They wish they'd loved their people even more. I had fully planned to set my sleeping babe down and get back to work but I savored the moment instead and lo and behold, a nap in my arms lasted much longer than other recent naps have!

Listened to... the audio book of Jimmy on Hoopla. Liking it so far.

Made... So much food, goodness! Lots of it with the help of my girls. Along with our usual breakfasts and lunches today we also baked burger buns and made BBQ jackfruit sandwiches (from this cookbook) to take our friends' house for dinner tonight, this white bean ricotta for lasagna tomorrow, and a chocolate mint pie (from this cookbook) for birthday dessert tomorrow.

Read... Exodus // The first few pages of When God Says Wait // several kid books after I got the baby down for the night.

Thought about... a ministry I can do for the children in my church when my baby gets a little older. Obviously neither of us can handle it at the moment but eventually!

Visited... Some friends and felt so grateful for the fellowship!

Wished... I had a food processor while making a the dessert from Sweet Indulgence! I think we made it work with the blender + by hand but I may get one before the next special occasion.

Worked on... Our family Christmas book! This is going to be such a treasure! 

Christian fiction men will enjoy

 

Happy Friday!

My (blog) goal was to put up another book list today and I'm so happy to be doing it! This was a pretty rough week for naps AND bedtime sleep plus we had several activities out of the house so I didn't get much time to work on it before today. Good books have inspired me a thousand times and I hope to be able to use these book lists to point someone, even just one person, toward a book that inspires them. This one is for the fellas! As always, I'll try to update this as I find more in the future.

The Auschwitz Escape... I loaned this one to my grandpa and he devoured it in one day then went on to read and love the author's Last Jihad series, too. For the record, my grandpa's favorite secular authors are Tom Clancy and CJ Box.

The Barrister and the Letter of Marque... Fans of Sherlock Holmes will enjoy this one.

The Circle series... This series is circular rather than linear, such a unique concept! This one will appeal to fantasy and dystopian fans. 

Deadline... This one was like a thrill ride combined with introspection on what's important in the life of a man. I was not the target audience but still found it enjoyable. 

Eli... A "modern" retelling of Jesus, though now this would practically be historical fiction! 

The Harbinger... Biblical prophecy in modern times, pretty cool read! My husband and I also watched the documentary and enjoyed it. There is a sequel that I do plan to read at some point but I haven't yet.

The List... An elite group and a hint of supernatural, definitely plowed through this one trying to see what would happen next!

This Present Darkness... Supernatural warfare, a little scary for your fraidy-cat girl here but a very popular book!

The Screwtape Letters... This classic, by the author of the Chronicles of Narnia, is probably not for everyone. But I enjoyed it! It's an epistolary novel, a series of letters back and forth between two demons, an uncle and a nephew. Sci-fi fans, I've also heard great things about his space trilogy but haven't read it myself.

A Skeleton in God's Closet... This archaeologist story was fantastic! What if an artifact was unearthed that disproved Christianity? Page-turner for sure. 

A Time to Stand... This was a great story about a black lawyer defending the white police officer who shot an unarmed black teenager. I wasn't sure how it would hold up given the racial and political media these days but I really liked this read! Great for fans of John Grisham. 

The Witnesses... I enjoy both WWII stories and legal stories so this was an easy hit for me.

I have also enjoyed some secular publications with a strong faith focus by Mitch Albom- The Time Keeper (my husband read & liked this one, too) and The Stranger in the Lifeboat, also his nonfiction Tuesdays With Morrie.  

Easter 2025

 

Books that have revolutionized my health

 

100 Days of Real Food (and others in the series)... These books teach a lot about artificial ingredients and give a great explanation on what packaged items still count as "real food." I had to make substitutions in many of her recipes since she uses gluten and dairy but I loved the simplicity here.

The Dorito Effect... This book taught me so much about the history of food science in the United States. It frankly made me a little sad and mad at times, and so determined to make sure my kids have a healthier start!

Eat for Life... This book did teach me a lot about foods we should avoid, but it more importantly made me feel passionate and excited about eating healthy meals and serving them to my family.

Fiber Fueled... Longtime followers will likely remember my microbiome phase. I was obsessed and I loved learning so much in this book. I didn't agree with his gluten perspective based on other research I've read and followed for years (or on fermented foods because my body doesn't tolerate them) but I still loved this one. My family and I enjoy keeping track of our plant count each week now. It's a competition around here to see who can hit 30 first!

Forks Over Knives... I read this one after watching the documentary. Much of the information is the same but I'm a book girl so still really appreciated it in book form, too.

Goodbye Lupus... This book may have saved my life and I highly recommend it (plus her YouTube channel) to anyone struggling with ANY autoimmune disease or other chronic illness, including mystery illnesses with no official diagnosis. I'm telling you, this program will change your life. 

How Not to Die... The catchy title here may be misleading because this book isn't really about never dying, just about not dying from awful diseases that cause a lot of suffering. This book did teach me a lot about foods we should avoid, but it more importantly made me feel passionate and excited about eating healthy meals and serving them to my family. God really did design such a cool relationship between the human bodies and plants he created!

Plantfed Mama's Holistic Guide to a Vegan Pregnancy... After years of research, I felt confident that continuing to eat a plant-based diet would be best for me and my baby during this last pregnancy. I wanted to optimize my nutrition and loved using this book! There were others I enjoyed but none as much as this one since many others promote fake meats and such.

Salt, Sugar, Fat... This book taught me so much about the history of food science in the United States. It frankly made me a little sad and mad at times, and so determined to make sure my kids have a healthier start! 

Faithgirlz Master List

 

If you liked my American Girl master list, you'll like my FaithGirlz list! We hope they'll release many more of these books in the future. 

📖 Best Hair Book Ever... This one is a nonfiction with all kinds of fun hairstyles for girls who enjoy trying those. 

📖 Boarding School Mysteries... I really liked the first one but the second was a one-star read that really bothered me so I never continued the series.

📖 Glimmer Girls series... I liked the messages in this fun series and it was a big hit around here. I was tempted to assume it was all just silly playfulness because of the covers but there was a lot of great depth woven into each book, especially the last two! 

📖 Faithgirlz journal... Lots of good prompts in this journal. 

📖 Lena in the Spotlight series... I liked this trilogy about a young lady becoming a movie star overnight. Lots of good faith content in these. The Daniels Sisters series is a companion series.

📖 Princess in Camo series... These are light and fun in general and are about a fictional family + their fictional TV show so you don't need to have watched the Duck Dynasty show to understand it all. 

Ultimate Bible for Girls... We had a different cover and I do prefer other Bibles, just my own personal preferences, but this is a nice Bible. I did not read every extrabiblical word but I saw nothing objectionable in what I read. 

Still on my list to try: 622 Harbor View series // The Daniels Sisters // From Sadie's Sketchbook // Good News Shoes // Lucy // Samantha Sanderson series // Sophie series // Soul Surfer series