I never considered myself a bookworm in high school. Or even a reader for that matter. I would maybe skim the reading required of me for a class, but never would you catch me reading a book "just for fun". This past year and summer I gained a new love for reading for a purpose. Reading these 8 books completely changed the way I live my life.
1. Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely By Lysa TerKeurst
Hands down the GREATEST book I have ever read. My mom sent me this my first semester in college as she knew I was feeling a lot of the things in the subtitle and I can honestly say it changed a lot of those things around for me. I gained a new perspective when it came to approaching the hard, heartbreaking, lonely times that we all encounter as girls.
2. Purpose Driven Life By Rick Warren
I'm sure at some point we have all wondered what our purpose is for being placed in this world. After reading this book, you will have a pretty dang good idea of the reason God placed you where he placed you and where he wants you to go next.
3. Present Over Perfect By: Shauna Niequist
In the craziness of life, a lot of us give up actually being present in life, making the most of the time we have with the ones we love because we have become so obsessed with the idea of portraying ourselves as "perfect". This book proposes the idea of letting go of our obsession with being perfect and instead choose to be present and make an impact in that way on those around us.
4. Love Does By Bob Goff
This was one of the first books I read "for fun" mostly because it has short, easy chapters that keep your attention from beginning to end. I guarantee though, once you start it, it will be extremely hard to put it down. Each story has so much wisdom and is so relatable to what so many of us are walking through in life. Bob Goff is one of the most incredible humans, I'm still waiting for his next book to come out.
5. Love Lives Here By Maria Goff
Who better to mention next than Bob Goff's incredible wife Maria, to whom he refers as "Sweet Maria" (adorable). The subtitle of this book is "Finding What you Need in a World Telling you What you Want" and I think that is the best way, to sum up, the book without giving anything away. This book was a major "life changer".
6. Cultivate By Lara Casey
I actually am just starting this so I don't have too much to say yet other than in the first 50 pages, it has already encouraged me to radically change my life to be more intentional. I can already tell this book is going to do BIG things in my life.
7. You are a Badass By Jen Sincero
Let's be real, what woman doesn't struggle with self-confidence, tendency to compare herself to others and self-worth. The Amazon summary for this one says, "By the end of the book you'll understand why you are how you are, how to love what you can't change, how to change what you don't love, and how to use The Force to kick some serious ass". I definitely couldn't have put it any better. LOVE this book and all that it changed within me.
8. The Circle Maker By Mark Batterson
If you want to learn how to pray some serious prayers, this is the one for you. I've never felt so motivated to radically change something as I was to change the way I prayed after reading this one. You'll learn to pray things that are bigger than you can even imagine.
Whether you're looking for confidence, community, purpose, life-change, or some serious encouragement, I challenge you to pick up one of these incredible books. I promise you won't close the book the as same person you were when you opened the front cover.