Books that have helped me this year

In the twenty years since its publication, Celebration of Discipline has helped over a million seekers discover a richer spiritual life infused with joy, peace, and a deeper understanding of God. For this special twentieth anniversary edition, Richard J. Foster has added an introduction, in which he shares the story of how this beloved and enduring spiritual guidebook came to be. Hailed by many as the best modern book on Christian spirituality, Celebration of Discipline explores the "classic Disciplines," or central spiritual practices, of the Christian faith. Along the way, Foster shows that it is only by and through these practices that the true path to spiritual growth can be found. Dividing the Disciplines into three movements of the Spirit, Foster shows how each of these areas contribute to a balanced spiritual life. The inward Disciplines of meditation, prayer, fasting, and study, offer avenues of personal examination and change. The outward Disciplines of simplicity, solitude, submission, and service, help prepare us to make the world a better place. The corporate Disciplines of confession, worship, guidance, and celebration, bring us nearer to one another and to God. Foster provides a wealth of examples demonstrating how these Disciplines can become part of our daily activities-and how they can help us shed our superficial habits and "bring the abundance of God into our lives." He offers crucial new insights on simplicity, demonstrating how the biblical view of simplicity, properly understood and applied, brings joy and balance to our inward and outward lives and "sets us free to enjoy the provision of God as a gift that can be shared with others." The discussion of celebration, often the most neglected of the Disciplines, shows its critical importance, for it stands at the heart of the way to Christ. Celebration of Discipline will help motivate Christians everywhere to embark on a journey of prayer and spiritual growth.

Conquering the Mysteries and Lies of Grief presents an innovative investigation into loss. Being based on hundreds of interviews along with personal experience, the book clarifies how and why grief catapults us into a crisis, threatening our mental, physical, and spiritual health. Through the revealing frank conversations, you discover fresh information on how to take an active role in your grief, while adjusting to new realities. You learn how to handle the "snootful of shoulds" while finding out the variables that make your grief so unique. Grief takes you on a bizarre maze like journey allowing you to explore and plow through your pain to get to a life filled with goals and not despair. Conquering the Mysteries and Lies of Grief does not tiptoe around the powerful reality of grief. Grief is miserable, unpredictable, and intimidating work, however, by understanding the domino effect of loss you can go on to live a life of graciousness and radiance.