Bookish Offerings for the Holidays

The holidays are quickly approaching and I couldn’t let the moment pass without reminding you of some bookish gift ideas! If you have a preteen girl or a teen/young adult in your life, these books would make great stocking stuffers.

Bloom Devotional Series

Bloom is a devotional series for girls ages 9-14 that helps them grow in all their important relationships in life: with God (Book 1), with friends and family (Book 2), and with their community (Book 3). Each book contains 90 devotions and is perfect for personal use or as a group study. And seriously, those covers still make me swoon! What girl wouldn’t be excited to see that in their stocking on Christmas morning?!

Bible study for girls

The books do not have to be read in order, but can be used in whatever order is most helpful for the young lady in your life!

Change the Conversation

Change the Conversation is a book sharing my perspective on dating and the church and my experiences with purity culture. Designed to be a conversation starter for teens/young adults, this quick read will provoke the reader to reexamine their priorities and motivations when it comes to dating. Includes a chapter specifically for guys written by my husband!

As always, there are YouVersion plans for all of these books if you want to experience them in a different way.

Happy reading!

New Plan on YouVersion!

Hi all! I’m excited to share that my latest plan is live on YouVersion!

Change the Conversation is the very first book I ever wrote and I’m so excited to introduce it to a new crowd through the YouVersion app.

CTC is a short book designed to spur conversation between teens and young adults and the leaders in their lives about how to date in a way that honors God. We know the word dating doesn’t exist in the Bible; it’s a man-made construct. But as with all the other functions in our lives, there are plenty of ways that we can go about it that lead us closer to God, and plenty more that would lead us away from God. And I’m all about helping the next generation uncover the ways that will lead them closer to God.

The book is not prescriptive in that I don’t give hard guidelines or pretend to know what’s best for every couple. It’s more of a tool to check your mindset towards relationships and dating.

I think it’s also incredibly important for parents and the church to lead the way in holding space for these conversations, as the world is all too happy to speak into these spaces.

My hope is that the plan, and the book if you choose to dive deeper, will encourage you or a younger person in your life to keep Christ first when it comes to dating relationships.

Check out the plan here.

Buy the book here.

Change the Conversation FACELIFT

I’m excited to reveal the NEW cover for my first book, “Change the Conversation,” available soon!

Stay tuned for details! If you want to get a jump start on reading the book, here’s the first chapter, for free!

Want a free chapter of Change the Conversation?

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Conversations Part 4: Encouragement for the Journey

In “Change the Conversation,” I mention that while there were many talks, scriptures and people that encouraged me along the way, there were 3 specific people who encouraged me as I sought to date and marry in a way that honored God.

The first two were married/engaged and just by the simple telling of their story of how they trusted God and met their significant other, I was encouraged. I had hope that “God’s way worked” because here were normal people, not that much older than myself and they listened to God and they seemed to turn out all right.

The last lady was a speaker at Purity Day at the Capitol, which I attended my senior year of high school. The one phrase that has stuck with me was, “It only gets harder from here.” She didn’t sugarcoat what it meant to walk in obedience to God. She didn’t make it seem like it would always be super easy to make the right choices. And you know what? She was right. The road can be tough on the way to the reward. Her honesty ministered to me that day, and continues to minister to me whenever I think about it.

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So I offer you some words of encouragement. It is always worth it to do things God’s way. Get in his word every day and ask to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit every day so you can better recognize how he is moving in your life.

Remember that circumstances come and go, but God always stays. And he never changes. So build your foundation on him, make him your priority, and no matter who or what he brings into your life, you’ll be on steady ground.

You have my support and prayers, my friend. Happy Tuesday.

Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Missed the other posts in the “Conversations” series? Catch up below!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3