My Story: A Book List

So I read a lot these days. I always used to as a child and teenager, then I went to university and it all but killed my joy in reading and writing. I used to write a lot as well - poems and stories - in notebooks and on scraps of paper. I'd be out walking and inspiration would hit me. Weeks or months later on I might find a poem scrawled in the borders of a National Parks walking map or a scrunched up serviette. I used to copy down the words of others as well, quotes and phrases, and paste them up all around the house, especially in the loo! My Mum and Dad used to laugh good naturedly at all my 'inspirations and sayings' hanging about our home.

Lately I rediscovered my passion for reading and writing (and for God and Love). I think the first two are a by product of the last two! Reaching for God and for Love again has brought me closer to the more pure me (don't you love how that works?)

Anyway down to the point of my post today - I wanted to share with you some books and blog posts that I have read and that I find inspiring. I want to clarify that just because I've included a book or a blog doesn't mean that it necessarily upholds the teachings of the Divine Love Path. Each title is on the list because it moved me, and nurtured my growth in some way. I found when I began to pray for guidance and truth more sincerely I was led to certain books at times when they were most beneficial to me. Can I suggest that if you plan to read any of the books below that you let yourself be guided to particular ones? I feel they will resonate or move each of us in different ways at different times.

So while I don’t necessarily endorse the views on God or emotions that are expressed in all of these books, I do want to honour every single author, their courage, their vulnerability and their gifts. Oh how I wish I could express myself in the perfect simplicity of some of these authors! (By the way, I've been cruising some blogs lately and I gather that, for the main part, the way to be a chic, informative, and appealing blogger is to keep it succinct. I apologise to you all - I do not possess this knack. Maybe it'll come back to me as I get closer to God. I am, as yet, so verbose!)

Also I've added hyperlinks for most titles in case you want more information on the book i.e. publisher, ISBN etc.

Relationship With God

The Padgett Messages (available at www.divinetruth.com or here)

There is just so much wisdom and truth in these pages. Each time I return to them I find more and more to ponder and feel about. Truly food for my soul.

My feelings about the Padgett Messages haven't always been like this. To be honest when I first went to read them I found it difficult.It all seemed very repetitious and my concentration often drifted. Recently I have returned to them with a passion and find every message rich with meaning and emotion. It’s like I’m reading a different text. The truth is I’m reading with a different heart! If you are struggling with the messages can I suggest something that got me restarted in reading them with gusto? I picked up the Little Book of Truths and just read a few short excerpts at a time. I prayed both before and after each message and sat with my journal and asked God to help me understand the true depth of meaning in the message. It really worked for me.

What’s So Amazing About Grace by Phillip Yancey

Its. Just. Awesome!

The Shack by W.M. Paul Young

I read this book quite a while ago and it really helped me to open my heart to an emotional connection with God.

Brokenness: The Heart God Revives by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Through the Mists by Robert J. Lees

Emotions

Healing Through The Dark Emotions by Miriam Greenspan

I have to confess that I am only half way through the first chapter of this book! The fact that I have already put the title on this list should attest to how enthusiastic I feel about it. Similar to when I discovered Alice Miller its refreshing to feel that someone else out there is telling some truth. Its truth that AJ & I talk about all the time but in my stuck times I find that just the reading of such books is supportive and encouraging.

The Heart of the Soul by Gary Zukav & Linda Francis

I found the chapters ‘Boredom’ & ‘Pleasing’ especially relevant to my life.

Feel the Fear… and do it anyway by Susan Jeffers

The strategies Susan outlines for dealing with fear are very much Natural Love techniques and I have not applied any of them - however what Susan states about the nature of fear and how it controls our life really helped me.

The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown

Brokenness: The Heart God Revives by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

I’m really in love with this book at the moment. I’m not entirely in love with the concept within it that love = self sacrifice but I do feel there is a lot to be gained in taking a look at our pride and demanding attitudes that are not qualities of love. The concept of brokenness before God and others is something I pray about daily.

Loss of a Loved One

I Will Carry You by Angie Smith
I cried on nearly every page of this book. The themes trigger very personal things for myself but apart from that Angie is a gifted and vulnerable writer.

After You – Letters of Love, and Loss, to a Husband and Father by Natascha McElhone

Soulmate Relationship & Sexuality

Are You The One For Me? by Barbara De Angelis
For me the really valuable thing about this book was the insight it gave me into the addictions I have had with men in previous relationships and how willing I have been to overlook simple issues of love.

Female Chauvinist Pigs – Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture by Ariel Levy

Reading this book was a series of moments that sounded something like this: ‘That’s exactly what I felt but I didn’t know how to describe it!’, ‘I so totally agree’, ‘Where was this book when I was 20?’… you get the picture.

Female Ejaculation and the G-Spot: Not Your Mother's Orgasm Book! by Deborah Sundahl

Eh hemm.. so I want to clearly state that I DO NOT ENDORSE EVERYTHING IN THIS BOOK! Specifically I do not agree with the practices of seeing ‘sex therapists’. I do however agree that our vaginas (for those of us who have them!) store much emotion and connecting to these emotions brings about healing and increased sexual function. Some of what Deborah shares I found to be very relevant to my ongoing sexual healing.

The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler

Family Relationships & Childhood Emotions

The Drama of Being a Child (previously publishes as The Drama of the Gifted Child) by Alice Miller

Other Alice Miller Titles:     The Body Never Lies
                                          The Truth Will Set You Free
                                          Thou Shall Not Be Aware
I think many of you have heard me speak, write or recommend Alice Miller enthusiastically - enough said - she's brilliant.

Toxic Parents by Susan Forward

Will I Ever Be Good Enough? Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers by Karyl McBride

Well worth the read with some excellent emotion focused activities in the back of the book that can help anyone explore their relationship with their mother.

Homecoming – Reclaiming and Championing your Inner Child by John Bradshaw

Spirit Life

Thirty Years Among The Dead by Carl Wickland – Unpublished – Free Download @ www.divinetruth.com

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Practicing Love

Radical Hospitality by Father Daniel Homan & Lonni Collins

I love this book! Its not about nice meals and fancy linen - its about hospitality that extends to all strangers and originates in the heart.

Helping Kids with Emotions &/or Relationship with God

'When I'm Feeling...' Book Series written and illustrated by Trace Moroney

Blog Posts That Make My Heart Soar & Soul Ache

http://thebigmamablog.com/8994/love-never-fails/

Wow, Melanie says so many things in this post, about how Christians do and could interact with the world, that I was trying to say about the way our group does and could interact with others in my post 'On Forming a Cult'

http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/2010/08/lamb.html

Angie is such an awesome writer! She has a new book coming out this year about FEAR that I can’t wait to read.

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2009/08/what-could-change-everythinga/

I so love this line: “Idols of self-importance die protracted, writhing deaths and the invisibility of prayer terrifies the glory-hungry.”

http://www.ordinarycourage.com/my-blog/2009/2/11/brenes-home-for-wayward-girls.htmlAs a once hard-partying girl who is now trying to integrate all her pieces I thank Brene for her vulnerability here!