Brighter Winter wrap-up for January

 What I read :

Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

Enola Holmes and the Case of the Left-Handed Lady by Nancy Springer

Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor

Noah's Ark by Jerry Pinkney and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Adventure Awaits by Karen Kingsbury

The Blessing of Humility by Jerry Bridges

Fortunately, the Milk! by Neil Gaiman (listened to this one)

Peacemaker by Ken Sande

Green Ember by S.D. Smith

A Soul as Cold as Frost by Jennifer Kropf

Missionary Stories with the Millers by Mildred A. Martin

Pilgrim's Progress (only made it through Christian's story/the first half of the book)

The Man Who Sang the Sillies and Read Aloud Poems (read poetry for twenty minutes)

What I learned :

SO SO much.  But truly the most important facts are this :

* God is sovereign

* God is good

* I can rest in His hands, even when the dealings seem harsh or unfair or come out of no where

* I need to go back through the Sermon on the Mount and humility is one of my greatest weaknesses (meaning I need to really, prayerfully develop this character trait in my life and allow the Spirit to produce it in my heart)

* and finally, about Jerry Bridges - I read one of his books over fifteen years ago and so when I found out that another one of his books fit the Brighter Winter challenge...I was incredibly thankful.  But this morning as I am wrapping up The Blessing of Humility - I was curious about how/when he passed away.  I remember hearing about it, but thought it was just a few years ago.  It has actually been almost seven now!  The two links below give so much greater joy and perspective to reading his final work!!  

If I could encourage you to read just two books from this list - it would be The Blessing of Humility and Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret.  They are AMAZING.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/jerry-bridges-1929-2016/

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/jerry-bridges-1929-2016-my-prayer-partner-mentor-friend/