2012 Reads
Even though the list of books I long to read keeps growing longer and things unfinished stress me out, it’s bad not to have a goal, right? I constantly add books to my list, so I’m sure it will change frequently. I mainly read non-fiction as I am constantly searching for wisdom and at the risk of repeating myself so much you may want to puke- ways to be intentional. However, I can’t pass up a good fiction book that transports me to another place! Words are beautiful to me, that’s probably why I can’t get enough. So here it is, a list of the books I aim to read in 2012:
Currently Reading:
Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child by Anthony Esolen
The Underground History of American Education by James Taylor Gatto
Parenting/Education:
A Landscape with Dragons: The Battle for Your Child’s Mind by Michael D. O’Brien
The Mysteries of Life in Children’s Literature by Dr. Mitchell Kalpakgian
Created For Work: Practical Insights for Young Men by Bob Schultz (ignore the insanely terrible cover)
Rite of Passage by Jim McBride
Raising Real Men: Surviving, Teaching, and Appreciating Boys by Hal and Melanie Young
Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys by Stephen James and David S. Thomas
Faith:
Of course, more of the Bible!
Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence by Sarah Young
Escape from Reason by Francis A. Schaeffer
Beyond Ourselves by Catherine Marshall
Fiction:
The Hunger Games trilogy By Suzanne Collins
So there you have it. For one reason or another, I have come across these books and they have piqued my interest. I’ll let you know how they are. Please send me your recommendations of books I HAVE to read!
Image by Daniel Y. Go
Warrior Prayers Day 21-Humility
YAY! Day 21! You did it!
Today, I’m going to share encouragement from the Author:
“It’s day twenty-one.
The LAST day of your prayer challenge. Are you a mixture of relieved and sad all at the same time? What an accomplishment! (What an amazing amount of work!) If you’re finishing today you deserve a pat on the back!
Think of all the work that has been done on behalf of your sons! Congrats mom!
You might’ve noticed that there are actually twenty-two prayers in the Warrior Prayers eBook. I chose humility as our last day’s topic because it is such an amazing posture of the heart. Scripture just seems to scream God’s favor over those who are humble in heart.
• James 4:10 says that if we’re humble before the Lord, He will lift us up.
• 1 Peter 5:6 says that if we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God He will exalt us.
• Most importantly, in Psalm 149:4 we find that it is the humble who are adorned with salvation.
Do you see that? A humble heart is required for salvation. Just as Jesus humbled Himself unto the cross, we must admit that we’re sinners, admit that our own way isn’t the right way, and humbly ask for forgiveness before salvation comes.
Do you show humility before your sons? Do you always have to be right? Always have to win? Pray and ask the Lord for specific ways you can show humility today so that when the time comes, your sons will know how to show it too.”
“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” ~Ephesians 4:2
Mommy Prayer Day 21: As this challenge comes to an end, I pray that we have started a habit of praying for our boys that won’t stop! I pray that we will continue to pray for heart change in our boys, that they will grow to be men who live for and have hearts for God!
Warrior Prayers Day 20-Salvation
“There is NOTHING my heart yearns for more than my sons’ salvations. To quote from the eBook:
“Day after day you will parent, intentionally seeking the heart of your son. But until the King of kings and Lord of lords turns his heart of stone to a heart of flesh, your son’s actions will be motivated by what is pleasing to him, rather than what is pleasing to the Lord.” p. 15
Everything hinges on this. Oh, we can pray for protection, good friends and influences and positive, fruit-bearing experiences for our sons along the way. But until their hearts submit to Jesus they will continue to choose themselves and their own way.
Take a moment today to look long and hard at your parenting. Is it Gospel-centered, or have you allowed the world’s “stinking thinking” to creep into your home?”
“Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” ~Romans 10:9
Mommy Prayer Day 20: I pray for each of you as you pray for your sons’ salvation, as nothing is more important than this! I pray for strength and perseverance to finish this challenge strong!
Warrior Prayers Day 19-Anger
This is a hard one! It seems so many men today are driven by anger. They don’t know how to control the hurt they have and it comes out in an unhealthy way, hurting themselves and those around them.
“So much of the Christian life is a choice. Every day (multiple times a day) we’re presented with a choice to choose God or choose ourselves. Anger is a perfect example.
You can just feel it coming, can’t you? Anger is an almost total body experience. Muscles get tight. Temples throb. Jaw clenches. Explosion feels imminent … wooing us into believing we have no choice but to react.
But it’s not true. We almost always have a choice when it comes to anger. We can choose to embrace it and sin. Or choose to put it away, and instead choose kindness, self-control, compassion, and love.
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” ~Ephesians 4:31
Mommy Prayer day 19: “Man! It seems like every single thing we’ve prayed for so far starts with what’s in our own hearts! I’m afraid anger is no different. Today, I pray that when you’re tempted to sin in anger, the Lord will show you the way out (He promises He will) and you will choose grace and love instead.”
Warrior Prayers Day 18-Self-Control
I am seriously tempted to write: “self control, boys, enough said.” :) But I won’t stop there. If we desire for our boys to grow up to be men with hearts for God, that live for God, then they need to learn self control. And they need to learn it now, so it’s in place when they are older and dealing with a million things that tempt them. There are many things that will try to take Christ’s place as number one in our boys hearts, we need to help them fight this!
Let’s pray for wisdom for how to instill this character trait in our boys!
Mommy Prayer Day 18: I pray for wisdom as to how to help our boys learn self control. I pray that we can be good models of self control. Whatever it is we are tempted to “give in to”, or place above Christ, I pray that He makes it clear to us and gives us the tools to fight it.
boy oh boy oh boy 
