When You Need a Good Cup of Tea and a Book That Makes You Feel Better

by | Oct 21, 2020 | Faith, Uncategorized | 9 comments

5 Great Books to Lighten Your Soul

Don’t we all just want to escape reality right about now?

We’ve got the news bombarding us with COVID and the election and craziness and it’s just so darn depressing.

And I know that these last two months, as I’ve talked about libido and orgasm, that many women are feeling like they’re missing out on something big and they’re sad.

I believe that The Orgasm Course can change all that for you! We’re putting so much work into it–it’s the best course I’ve ever created, and it’s really comprehensive. And it launches next Monday (but you can pre-order it now!)

But I’ve also read some books lately that can help get us out of that funk and feel better and more hopeful about ourselves!

I don’t always know where to put book recommendations on the blog, because I seem to always have so much to say, it’s hard to find places to mention them. So I thought today I’d invite you to brew a nice cup of tea and order one of these books that I think can change your perspective and make you more hopeful, empowered, and energetic. And can help you see that Jesus is at work today, too!

And I’d like to mention some books by smaller authors, and not necessarily the big name ones, that had a profound influence on me. So here goes!

Affiliate links follow.

Try Softer by Aundi Kolber

This little book has seriously hit a nerve! Published earlier this year, it’s become a runaway bestseller because its message resonates so much.

Instead of trying harder–try softer.

I’ve been on full tilt ever since COVID began. I’ve had to write one book (The Great Sex Rescue); release another (31 Days to Great Sex); create a course (The Orgasm Course); start work on another book in November–and it keeps going. I get tired.

And I know I have to build more margins into my life (I’m trying! Ha! I need to try softer!).

But one thing I’ve been doing is giving myself permission, when I’m tired or just done, to be done. To not push myself. To knit. And I’ve knit A LOT during COVID. Did I show you my blanket yet?

(And, as always, please follow me on Instagram! It helps me so much. I’m 65% of the way to 10,000!)

If you’ve been measuring your life in productivity, in success, in things accomplished–and you’re just run ragged–then maybe another approach is needed. One that feeds instead of steals.

Try Softer

Don’t try harder.

Try softer. What if our approach to how to handle our to-do list, our stress, our daily life is all backwards? Lean into what rest and grace really mean.

You Are Enough by Jonathan Puddle

The only devotional on my list, I can’t recommend this one highly enough.

I don’t tend to like devotionals. I find a lot of them trite or overly emotional, or too spiritual and not practical. I like a mix of both.

What Jonathan does here is look at how trauma-informed therapy, and practices like mindfulness, are not just consistent with Scripture, but rooted in Scripture. And how discovering God’s love for you isn’t a matter of just reading and memorizing verses or berating yourself for feeling distant from God; it’s actually developing new habits and new ways of looking at things that change your thought patterns.

He’s so real, it’s so humble, and I found it very helpful. And Aundi Kolber, who wrote Try Softer, wrote the foreword, too!

You Are Enough

A 30-day journey to actually love yourself.

Like yourself even. This is a devotional that won’t make you feel like you have to do hard homework or make you feel like you’re not trying enough. Instead, it’s one of the few that has really shown me how to actually feel God’s love.

Theology of the Womb by Christy Bauman

Part-memoir, all theology. This is a book that will resonate, make you cry, make you laugh–and most of all, free you from residual shame that you have felt for having a woman’s body.

Whether it’s fear of leaking when you’re a teen, fear of not being able to conceive, the grief of losing a child, the pain of giving birth–women’s bodies often give us pain, shame, and fear.

But what if instead we could see the cycle of women’s bodies as telling us something about God?

After I wrote my series on periods in the summer, Andrew Bauman, an amazing, insightful counselor and writer I’d like to feature more on this site in the future, sent me his wife Christy’s book. I devoured it one afternoon while camping, and I wanted to make sure I told you about it.

I admit I cried at the parts about losing babies. But I also cried happy tears when I realized how much shame about periods had affected me and how God saw that–and that was AFTER I had already written my period series and thought i had gotten it all out of my system.

I thoroughly recommend Theology of the Womb!

Theology of the Womb

Part theology, part memoir.

All deep, intimate, and validating. It will take you to hard places within yourself–and see that your biggest griefs, your biggest pain, even your biggest joys–are actually shared by God as well. And they’re all hardwired into the body of a woman.

Talking Back to Purity Culture by Rachel Joy Welcher

This is the only book on my list that isn’t actually released yet–it comes out in November. But I’m so excited about it! I’ve been following Rachel for a while now, and I think what she has to say is going to match so well with our book The Great Sex Rescue (which is now available for pre-order, too!).

Here’s what Amazon says:

It’s time to talk back. The generation born into evangelical purity culture has grown up, and many have started families of their own. But as time goes on, it’s becoming more evident that many still struggle with purity culture’s complicated legacy―its idolization of virginity, its mixed messages about modesty and lust, and its promise of a healthy marriage and great sex for those who follow the rules. In Talking Back to Purity Culture, Rachel Joy Welcher reviews the movement carefully, examining its teachings through the lens of Scripture. Compassionate, faithful, and wise, she charts a path forward for Christians in the ongoing debates about sexuality―one that rejects legalism and license alike, steering us back instead to the good news of Jesus. It’s time to talk back to purity culture―and this book is ready to jump-start the conversation.

I’ve written before about how purity culture has messed up so many. And we definitely talk about purity wrong. I’m glad that people are finally realizing it, speaking up, and inviting the rest of us to an important conversation that can bring us back to healthy sexuality.

Talking Back to Purity Culture

Virginity. No kissing until you’re married. Lust. Modesty. Porn.

If you grew up with confusing messages about sex that have led to sexual baggage, it’s time to talk back–and reclaim Jesus!

Why I Didn’t Rebel by Rebecca Lindenbach

I wasn’t planning on including Rebecca’s book (she’s my daughter) in this list, but yesterday Brittany from Equipping Godly Women mentioned in the comments that she finally read it–and loved it. And I realized how well Rebecca’s book fits in with the other ones we’re talking about.

Why I Didn’t Rebel is a parenting book like no other. Rebecca doesn’t tell you how to parent; she wrote it when she was only 22! What she does do is share stories from millennials, some who did rebel and some who didn’t, to give their perspective on what parents do right, and what can often backfire.

If you could sum up the stories, they’d fit with Aundi Kolber’s message–Try Softer. It’s not about trying to be a perfect parent, or having the best rules and boundaries and having the perfect home. It’s simply about being authentic and real and keeping communication open with your kids. Relationship is what matters. 

Just like with the purity culture, we’ve received so many toxic messages in evangelical circles about parenting. Rebecca identifies those that are toxic, and invites you to talk back to the parenting culture you grew up with, and find a more Jesus centred one.

And you are enough for that.

Why I Didn’t Rebel

It’s the kind of parenting book that makes you feel, “Oh, I can actually do this!”

Because it’s not about being perfect. It’s just about relationship and authenticity. Be YOU. 

Read the stories, catch the vision. 

I know we’re bombarded with messages like, “Take care of yourself during COVID.”

I swear, half of the news articles i see are about caring for your mental health during these turbulent times. Sometimes it can get to be a bit much.

But I do think we need to get out of negative headspaces and into positive ones, and these are five books that I have found help take you away from shame, stress, and pressure, and invite you deeper into the heart of God.

Jesus at the centre, always.

Have you read any of these books? Or have you read another book lately that was like a healing balm or a breath of fresh air? Let’s talk in the comments!

Sheila Wray Gregoire

Sheila Wray Gregoire

Founder of Bare Marriage

Sheila is determined to help Christians find biblical, healthy, evidence-based help for their marriages. And in doing so, she's turning the evangelical world on its head, challenging many of the toxic teachings, especially in her newest book The Great Sex Rescue. She’s an award-winning author of 8 books and a sought-after speaker. With her humorous, no-nonsense approach, Sheila works with her husband Keith and daughter Rebecca to create podcasts and courses to help couples find true intimacy. Plus she knits. All the time. ENTJ, straight 8

Related Posts

Written by

Sheila Wray Gregoire

Tags

Recent Posts

Want to support our work? You can donate to support our work here:

Good Fruit Faith is an initiative of the Bosko nonprofit. Bosko will provide tax receipts for U.S. donations as the law allows.

Orgasm Course

Sheila Wray Gregoire

Author at Bare Marriage

Sheila is determined to help Christians find biblical, healthy, evidence-based help for their marriages. And in doing so, she's turning the evangelical world on its head, challenging many of the toxic teachings, especially in her newest book The Great Sex Rescue. She’s an award-winning author of 8 books and a sought-after speaker. With her humorous, no-nonsense approach, Sheila works with her husband Keith and daughter Rebecca to create podcasts and courses to help couples find true intimacy. Plus she knits. All the time. ENTJ, straight 8

Related Posts

When Male Hierarchy Teaching Turns Good Men Bad

Not everyone who ends up dominating their wife is actually an abuser at heart.  What they are doing may be abusive; the same dynamics may be at play, and the same harm may be being done. But it doesn’t always come from the same place. Over and over again since we have...

Comments

We welcome your comments and want this to be a place for healthy discussion. Comments that are rude, profane, or abusive will not be allowed. Comments that are unrelated to the current post may be deleted. Comments above 300 words in length are let through at the moderator’s discretion and may be shortened to the first 300 words or deleted. By commenting you are agreeing to the terms outlined in our comment and privacy policy, which you can read in full here!

9 Comments

  1. Becky

    Try Softer sounds amazing! I feel like society puts so much pressure on us, especially this year. Like I have to get my kids outside for 1000 hours (while the playgrounds and park restrooms were closed for months), cook all this organic food (while the grocery stores keep having shortages and I have an extreme picky eater situation, I’m seriously having to get professional help now), lose all the baby weight (while my kids barely even let me shower some days), stay engaged with politics (which I loathe with all the fire of a thousand suns), have a side hustle job, do this, don’t do that, ugggh. Yeah, I think I need this book.
    I did start reading the Discipline that Connects With Your Child’s Heart that you recently recommended today. I’m only one chapter in, but I think I’m going to love it, and I really hope and pray that it helps.

    Reply
    • Sheila Wray Gregoire

      Oh, Becky, I’m so glad that you picked up that book! I hope you do love it. I just find it so refreshing. And I do hope you get some rest!

      Reply
    • erma

      Hey Becky!
      Don’t forget you need to have a bi-weekly blog and prepare educational and fun toys for both your kids and all your pets! 🙂 LOL!
      I feel ya, girl! Stay off of Pinterest is my advice. You are enough in spite of the fact
      you are not doing what the world says to do! You are enough because you are you! I think anything else is sprinkles on the cake. Take it easy! Momming is hard! But so fun and awesome! And you WILL get a shower daily….hopefully soon!
      E.

      Reply
  2. Jonathan Puddle

    So honoured to be included here, Sheila, and so glad this book has been a blessing.
    I need to get my hands on Theology of the Womb, that sounds fascinating!

    Reply
  3. L

    Theology of the Womb sounds really fascinating!

    Reply
  4. E

    I can highly recommend Try Softer! And in the last 24hrs, I’ve added a book to my TBR list called ‘you are enough‘ and one called ‘you aren’t enough (and that’s ok)’ 😂 I look forward to reading both. The Theology of the womb is now also on my list!

    Reply
  5. erma

    I LOVED Rebecca’s book! It really made me stop and think and re-think about parenting my kids. I HIGHLY recommend it! It was well-researched, well-written, and motivating! I thoroughly enjoyed it! I will put the other four on my reading list. I am in a bit of a good book-drought lately! 🙂

    Reply
    • Sheila Wray Gregoire

      Oh, thank you so much, Erma! Can we use that on the landing page? That’s a great endorsement!

      Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *