“If the right book has almost magically appeared in your life at the right time to hold your hand for the journey–you know it feels like a special kind of grace.”
–Anne Bogel, I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life
Books have magically appeared in my life at just the right time. Unexpected. Out of the blue. And, yet, oh so welcomed gifts of grace!
Last summer, I walked through a season of my life where every book I picked up seemed to magically appear at just the right time to lead me back to my true self.
I read Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming, and was immediately inspired by her authentic confession about her need for approval and the continuous fight against carrying the weight of other people’s expectations…right down to her choice in fashion.
I read Ian Morgan Cron’s The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery and discovered that I was very much a misaligned Enneagram Three and to get back to my true self, I had to reckon with the truth that I was loved by God for who I am and not what I do.
I then read A Quiet Roar: Sometimes Disruption is Overdue by Randall Arthur, a fiction story about a female missionary who comes to pastor a small Baptist church and the controversy that ensues.
Other books I read included Rising to the Challenge: My Leadership Journey by Carly Fiorina, and The Gift of Being Yourself: The Sacred Call to Self Discovery by David G. Benner.
As I read each book, it was almost as though they held hands with each other in order to form a circle of truth, love, and security around my wobbling identity and broken heart.
But piece by piece, the Lord used them to take the tiny shards of my shattered identity and put me back together again in a new way–a way that was stronger and more grounded in my calling and worth in Christ as a woman.
Anne Bogel says,
“To hand you a great book, I don’t just need to know about books, I need to know about you.”
These books tell you a little about me.
So, what about you?
What book magically appeared as a gift of grace in your journey?
And how did it change your life?
Let’s share our books and our stories in the comments below.
Please note: As a reader, I take the truth of God’s Word and lay it over the words of others. Scripture calls it discernment. I take what aligns with His Word and throw out the rest.
