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7 Books of Hope I Recommend – February 2019

By LisaNotes February 27, 2019 Books I Recommend 11 Comments

Here are 6 non-fiction books and 1 novel I recommend from what I finished reading this month.

Each book contributes a measure of hope to our world in its own way.

Books I Recommend

NONFICTION

1. Becoming
by Michelle Obama

What an inspiring story! Michelle Obama is a genuine patriot who put aside her own disdain for politics to encourage her husband and lift up our country. She gets really honest in this book, both in her years before Barack and her years in the White House. She gives me hope on so many levels. This book is very well-written and a delight to read.

“And here is what I have to say, finally: Let’s invite one another in. Maybe then we can begin to fear less, to make fewer wrong assumptions, to let go of the biases and stereotypes that unnecessarily divide us.”

2. I Think You’re Wrong (But I’m Listening)
A Guide to Grace-Filled Political Conversations
by Sarah Stewart Holland, Beth Silvers

This important book gives us hope as we have political conversations with each other. Sarah and Beth (of Pantsuit Politics Podcast) lay out a path for bridging gaps when we differ in opinions (and not just in politics).

[My book review of I Think You’re Wrong (But I’m Listening)]

3. The Coddling of the American Mind
How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure
by Greg Lukianoff, Jonathan Haidt

This is a powerful book. It disputes three Great Untruths that are being fed to the next generation:

The Untruth of Fragility: What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker.
The Untruth of Emotional Reasoning: Always trust your feelings.
The Untruth of Us Versus Them: Life is a battle between good people and evil people.

Lukianoff and Haidt provide lots of research and reason to hope as we refute these three lies in ourselves and in others.

4. How the Bible Actually Works
In Which I Explain How an Ancient, Ambiguous, and Diverse Book Leads Us to Wisdom Rather Than Answers—and Why That’s Good News
by Peter Enns

Sometimes the Bible gets a bad reputation simply because we expect things from it that God might not have intended it to deliver. Pete Enns gives us a different perspective of how to read our Bibles so that we can recover our hope in how we find God and wisdom in it.

[My book review of How the Bible Actually Works]

5. Mere Hope
Life in an Age of Cynicism
by Jason G. Duesing

This won’t make my top 10 list, but it’s a decent read about ways to live with more hope in Christ when we’re tempted to become discouraged or become cynical.

“For every act of terror in the world today, there are a thousand acts of sacrificial service and gospel proclamation.”

[My book review of Mere Hope]

6. Eternity is Now in Session
A Radical Rediscovery of What Jesus Really Taught about Salvation, Eternity and Getting to the Good Place
by John Ortberg

This won’t be one of my favorites of the year either, but it provided enough solid truths for me to recommend it.

“Our greatest freedom is the freedom to direct what we think of. To be constantly mindful of God is salvation from worry, fear, and regret.”

[My book review of Eternity Is Now In Session]

7. Attachments
by Rainbow Rowell

This was a fun novel set in 1999. Lincoln, a young IT guy, is tasked with reading company emails to check for misbehaviors. As he reads daily email conversations between two young female employees, Beth and Jennifer, he begins caring for these strangers that he’s never met. It then presents a moral dilemma for him.

“So, what if, instead of thinking about solving your whole life, you just think about adding additional good things. One at a time. Just let your pile of good things grow.”

READING NOW

Tell Me More
Stories about the 12 Hardest Things I’m Learning to Say
by Kelly Corrigan
Blindspot
Hidden Biases of Good People
by Mahzarin R. Banaji
The Universal Christ
How a Forgotten Reality can Change Everything We See, Hope for, and Believe
by Richard Rohr
The Time Is Now
A Call to Uncommon Courage
by Joan D. Chittister
Shameless
A Sexual Reformation
by Nadia Bolz-Weber
Spiritual Rhythms for the Enneagram
A Handbook for Harmony and Transformation
by Adele and Doug Calhoun, Clare and Scott Loughrige

* * *

What good book have you read this month? Please share in the comments.

My books on Goodreads
More books I recommend

This is day 27 of Practicing Hope for #Write28Days (1 more day – I may make it!).

Get Your Hopes Up for Good Gifts Ahead

Think about all the things that happened yesterday.

How many did you correctly predict? We are lousy predictors of what’s next.

While we can plan and prepare, life throws us more unexpected events than expected ones. We can’t control the unknown.

Because we can’t accurately predict the future, we’re sometimes afraid to get our hopes up.

How do we deal with this?

We place our hope in God’s future grace.

“Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.”
Proverbs 23:18

Because God is good, we can trust he has good things in whatever comes next, even if bad things happen alongside them (Jeremiah 29:11).

The Lord goes before us and plants good gifts in our future. He has more than enough resources, power, and will to line up these gifts for our receiving at just the right time.

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Matthew 6:33-34

We can better enjoy today when we believe in God’s provisions for tomorrow. We can stay present, knowing that God will handle our future.

Does that mean we stop planning for the future? No. We still look ahead and prepare, but we can release the obsession about it. We can live in today.

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 1:6

When we trust in God’s replenishment of our manna each day, we no longer have to hoard. We can freely use up today’s resources, knowing that tomorrow we’ll be given a fresh supply. We’re also more willing to share with others when we’re less consumed with getting our own needs met. We can trust God to finish what he’s started in us.

Hoping in God’s future grace is our open door to receive peace in this day.

We can’t imagine the gifts God has planned for us, how they will be wrapped, or what time they will arrive. But we can know they will be good. They will be grace. They will be God.

Count on it. Get your hopes up. There are good gifts in your future.

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
Psalm 23:6

* * *

Revised from the archives
at Do Not Depart

What gets you unsettled about the future? What restores your peace? Please share in the comments.

Opt for Hope – The Promises of God

By LisaNotes February 25, 2019 Hope, Practicing Hope 9 Comments

“I could ponder the problem, or I could remember the promise. I could choose anxiety, or I could choose hope. I opted for hope.“
– Max Lucado

Sometimes we forget to hope because we forget the promise.

The promises of God aren’t to be taken lightly. What God says, God means. He is faithful. He cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18).

And God’s promises are good.

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness . . .
by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature.”
(2 Peter 1:3-4)

I need to remember his promises more, especially when I start to worry. His promises are my avenue to participate with him in an abundant life.

God’s promises come from his character. And God’s character is Love. Because of his love, hope can abound.

I hold to the promises. I opt for hope.

* * *

Which promise of God are you clinging to this week? Please share in the comments.

This is Day 25 of Practicing Hope for #Write28Days. See all the articles here.

Another Way to Practice Hope – Recite Scripture to Yourself

By LisaNotes February 24, 2019 Hope, Memorization 4 Comments

One way I practice hope is by reciting scripture to myself about the Lord’s goodness.

And what more beautiful passage than this one to recover any lagging hope?

Whether in the middle of the night or in the quiet of an afternoon, when I recall the consistency of the Lord’s love and the never-ending mercy that he gives me, I have hope.

The Lord has been good to me. Therefore I will hope in him.

* * *

I recently memorized this passage, Lamentations 3:11-20, with the Hide His Word group through Do Not Depart. We’re now memorizing Philippians 1 together. The Lord is bringing me hope through those words, too.

Raise Your Hallelujah

By LisaNotes February 22, 2019 Hope, Practicing Hope 9 Comments

Yesterday I asked for prayers for my friend in ICU.

THANK YOU for your gracious responses, publicly and privately. I appreciate your faith, your care, and your hope.

This song is my response of late when hopelessness tries to assert itself. I raise my hallelujah higher than my doubts. It is one way I can practice having hope.

Hope will arise.

I raise a hallelujah, with everything inside of me

I raise a hallelujah, I will watch the darkness flee

I raise a hallelujah, in the middle of the mystery

I raise a hallelujah, fear you lost your hold on me

* * *

4 Ways to Express Your Hope

By LisaNotes February 21, 2019 Book reviews, Hope, Practicing Hope 21 Comments

When You Hear the Singing

You mainly hear whirs and swishes and clicks of machines in ICU.

My best friends and I are spending many hours standing vigil there the past few weeks. We listen to the sounds. We monitor the numbers. We watch for signs of progress.

Another lifelong friend is struggling to survive.

So when I hear the singing, I am startled.

4 Ways to Express Hope

The singing is coming from a nurse. As she moves around the room, circling over our friend, checking screens, and adjusting medicines, she is also quietly singing.

Singing can be a sound of hope overflowing. That’s what I need to hear.

These are four ways we can best express our hope, says Jason G. Duesing in Mere Hope.

Remember
Pray
Sing
Share

In a culture of cynicism or in a circumstance of hopelessness, we need to be reminded to hope.

“To live a life of mere hope is to live knowing that our story ends in joy.”

We express hope when we remember the goodness of God.
We express hope when we pray in conversation with God.
We express hope when we sing out of our overflow or when hope needs restoring.
We express hope when we share with others our source of hope.

As the nurse continues to sing, I know it doesn’t mean my friend is out of danger. But it does mean that in this present moment he is stable. No panics. No alarms. No scares.

Her expression of hope brings assurance. It brings calm. It serves me.

“Hope flourishes when it is employed in the service of others.”

It is the sign I need.

* * *

What hope are you holding open this week? Please share in the comments.

Here’s a song of hope I’ve been singing lately.