Week 2 Extras

Woohoo! You’ve hit the halfway point; can you believe it? If you were Frodo Baggins, this would be the rest stop at Rivendell before continuing on the arduous but essential journey with your name on it. (Bonus—you don’t have freaky poison coursing through your veins, so there’s that.)

Did we touch on a topic you’d love to know more about? Here are some extra resources for what we covered this week:

Core Fears: The DNA of Relationships by Gary Smalley is great. Riley and I were introduced through counseling to how our core fears interact and escalate conflict, and now we use this tool in our church’s premarital program.

Hot Buttons: On the lookout for your next Bible study? Chip Ingram’s Overcoming Emotions That Destroy is super helpful. (It’s also available for free on RightNow Media if you have an account through your church.)

HSP: Start with The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron. The content is groundbreaking, thorough, and informative (and I have yet to find a book about HSPs that doesn’t rely heavily on Aron’s research). With that said, she’s very secular and a little crazy at the end of each chapter when it comes to working with what you have learned. If you can be willing to overlook these bizarre activities, you’re in for an enlightening read. I also stumbled upon two companion works written from a Christian perspective that I mean to look into soon: pastor’s wife Carol Brown’s Highly Sensitive and The Mystery of Spiritual Sensitivity.

Emotional Health: I just finished Peter Scazzero’s Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, and it was phenomenal. (The book’s tagline is, “It’s impossible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.” Yeah. It stretched me for sure.) To grow your overall emotional literacy, check out this cool printable—I use it all the time.

God’s Faithfulness: Schedule coffee chats with your friends to hear what the Lord has been up to in their lives. Sometimes knowing how He’s rescuing those around you opens your eyes to how He’s rescuing you. And if you’re in the mood to see God’s faithfulness walked out in a stunning way, grab a box of Kleenex and watch this.

Gospel Influencers: Check out The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler and Jared Wilson. The more you know what a healthy cross looks like, the easier it will be to spot the ways you tend to warp it. If you prefer listening to sermons, these messages by Tim Keller are a great place to begin.

Approaches to Scripture: As someone who was raised on the historical-grammatical method, I’m looking forward to rounding out my perspective by reading Eugene Peterson’s more contemplative Eat This Book. And I’ve heard incredible reviews on the redemptive-historical Jesus Storybook Bible (which one friend even uses with adults who are unfamiliar with Scripture). Last but not least, Bible Gateway has an amazing section for engaging the Word in various solid, practical ways.

There you have it! Let’s take a minute to celebrate how far we’ve come. We’re halfway through this adventure, clipping along at a steady pace, and you’re doing beautifully! My prayer is that as you learn to see yourself more clearly, you grow in faith and praise. You really are fearfully and wonderfully made—may your soul know it full well. See you tomorrow!