We’re two weeks in to the new year and I’ve just finished reading a couple books that have helped me think about how to better navigate my family’s priorities in 2019. I’m sharing them here in case they might interest you too. Perhaps they will be a shot in the arm for you, as they were for me, as we start this year off with good, and possibly new, intentions.

The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place

This book is about far more than technology, though it is exceedingly helpful in that arena too. It’s about parenting on purpose in our current age. We can be easily swept away by not just technology, but also the frenetic pace of our culture. This book will help you pause and reevaluate. We read it along with all our girls and have implemented a lot of Crouch’s guidance. I really think this a must for the modern family.

Finding Holy in the Suburbs: Living Faithfully in the Land of Too Much

I’ve been recommending this book left and right for two reasons: I live in the suburbs (I mean, I can SEE Super Target from my dining room window.) and I have a lot of similar feelings about that as the author. Ashley and I share a similar story in unexpectedly finding ourselves here, in the burbs, planting a church. This book will help you have fresh eyes to see God’s work in your context and it will convict and inspire you to join in.

I’ve recommended the following two titles in prior blog posts, but I want to mention them again here, as they tie in well with the above two recommendations. First, if you are a parent of a teen, you really don’t want to miss The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids. It’s an eye-opening read about the pitfalls of what we typically think of as good parenting in our current age (It appears on my list of what I read in the second half of 2018).

Secondly, if you are committing to engaging your neighborhood for Christ this year, be sure to read The Simplest Way to Change the World: Biblical Hospitality as a Way of Life. This book will help you get creative and brainstorm myriad ways to love your neighbors. Read it and mark up your calendar now with routine activities to engage your community all year long. I reviewed it here.

Finally, if your resolution or desires for 2019 include praying more, please pick up Praying Together: The Priority and Privilege of Prayer: In Our Homes, Communities, and Churches by Megan Hill. I read it in less than a week and marked up every page. I was encouraged anew to keep praying with my prayer partner, my family, my women’s Bible study, and others. Megan says, “In the company of God's gathered people at prayer, each one rejoicing in God her Savior, our hearts are stirred to love him more” and I totally agree. Praying together is a joy.