Life-Changing Books
I’ve been thinking about my spiritual journey lately, along with my journey as a writer. The two are closely entwined. And I realized what a powerful, life-changing effect books have had on those journeys. Space doesn’t allow me to list all the books that have influenced me, but four stand out.
The first is “The Hiding Place” by Corrie Ten Boom. Corrie and her family lived uneventful lives in The Netherlands until the Nazis invaded. Then their faith in God and deep love for Christ compelled them to hide Jews in their home, trying to save as many people as possible. Corrie, her sister Betsy, and their father were arrested and sent to prison camps. Only Corrie survived.
I read this book when my husband and I lived in Bogota, Colombia. We had everything a young couple could possibly want; we were newly-married, working our dream jobs, and our first child, Joshua, was born there. I had been raised in a Christian home with godly parents and grandparents, yet when I read “The Hiding Place,” I realized how weak my faith was. I wouldn’t have had the courage to risk my life as Corrie did. Her story convicted me, and I hungered for what she had. I began to seriously pursue a closer walk with God.
I read the second life-changing book shortly after we returned to the United States. “Anointed for Burial” by Todd and DeAnn Burke tells the true story of missionaries to Cambodia in the final, life-threatening years before the nation fell to the Communists. Again, I was impressed by their tremendous faith to endure fiery trials. For months, they lived in such perilous conditions that they needed to hear God speaking on a daily, and sometimes hourly, basis. They developed the habit of reading scripture three times a day, and God miraculously spoke to them through the Bible, offering wisdom and guidance when they needed it most.
Jesus said, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” “Anointed for Burial” convicted me of my need to feed on the Word of God every day. I was faithful to feed my physical body three times a day, so why didn’t I see the greater need to feed my spirit with His Word? I found a daily scripture-reading plan that enabled me to read through the Bible in a year. I began that very day and have continued ever since.
The Bible is the third life-changing book. Like Todd and DeAnn Burke, I have found it to be a comfort and a source of wisdom. But best of all, the picture of God and His eternal plan that emerged as I read it, accomplished what I had longed for back in Bogota—to draw closer to Him, to get to know Him, and to strengthen my spiritual walk.
Next, my husband’s work took us to Canada. My plan had been to have a second child around the time Joshua turned two. But we celebrated his second birthday, then his third and fourth and fifth—and I still wasn’t pregnant. He turned six and started school, and God didn’t seem to hear my prayers. I read the fourth life-changing book, “The Chosen” by Chaim Potok as I wrestled with unanswered prayer. This beautifully-written novel tells the story of an Orthodox Jewish father who, for reasons that aren’t told until the end, stops speaking to his beloved son. When the father finally speaks, he tells how his heart broke the entire time he had kept silent, and how he feared his son would turn away from him forever. But he did it because of the son’s arrogance and self-sufficiency, which needed to be broken. The son needed a loving, compassionate heart so he could understand other people’s pain and accomplish the work God was calling him to do.
I saw in “The Chosen” an allegory of God’s inexplicable silences. And I realized that through my longing for a child, God had led me to become active in the Right-to-Life movement and to help start two crisis pregnancy centers. Through this novel, I discovered that God speaks powerfully through fiction. And it also created in me a longing to write novels like this from a Christian perspective. Christian fiction as we know it today had yet to be born, but I sensed that this was the calling God had for my life. I signed up for a creative writing course at a local college—and a month later, I learned I was pregnant with our son Benjamin. Twenty months after he arrived, our daughter Maya joined us.
My spiritual and writing journeys have been long and satisfying. I have published 25 books, now. Glowing reviews and royalty checks are great, but to me, the most gratifying rewards are letters from readers telling me how one of my stories has impacted their life.
So, how about you? What life-changing books have you read?
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I picked up “The Hiding Place” by Corrie Ten Boom at a sale. I read the
book and discovered a DVD which I got. They were a very brave family
to hide and save so many Jews and to stand up against the Nazis.
I just finished reading “Waves of Mercy”. The ending half way caught me
off guard. I am anxious for the sequel that you are writing. There are a
few different ways the sequel could go and I am anxious to see how you
take the book.
I hope you like the sequel, Sandra. It will be out October 2.
I love The Hiding Place too. Recently I saw the ballet, The Hiding Place by Ballet Magnificat. It was also very inspiring. Ballet Magnificat is now on tour in Europe and will perform in Haarlem, Corrie ten Boom’s home town. May her story continue to be told for many many generations!
That sounds fascinating,Katherine. I would love to see that!
I loved the Hiding Place too. Another book I enjoyed was Trusting God Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges. It made me realize that God has control of all things.
Yes! Another great book!
Lynn, The Hiding Place was a huge part of my salvation experience. I read it in the fall of 1975 and accepted Christ about five months later. I’ve read it at least five more times in the years since, last year being the most recent. Naturally, it is very dear to my heart. Reading the Bible was also part of my salvation experience. My mom gave me a new Living Bible (some time in 1975), and I decided to read it, starting in Matthew. For the first time, I began to understand that Jesus lives!
I know that I read and loved The Chosen way back when, but I couldn’t have told you what it was about. Maybe I’ll have to read it again.
Robin
I wonder how many other lives that book has changed besides yours and mine? Amazing!
As you said, there have been too may life-changing books to name them all, but one of the first was Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot. The faith of those men who gave their lives for the Auca (now known as Waorani) Indians, as well as that of the men’s wives, impacted me greatly. I went on to read Jim Elliot’s journals, and then Elisabeth’s biography of her husband, Shadow of the Almighty, and then just about everything Elisabeth ever wrote. Her Let Me Be a Woman was impacting as well. I have always considered her one of my mentors. Another is Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose about her time as a missionary in the Philippines when she was taken as a POW in a Japanese prison camp. Her faith despite the circumstances, the loss of her husband, the unanswered prayers, and even the lack of feelings has stood me in good stead for years.
Janette Oke introduced me to Christian fiction with her books when I was in my early twenties. I had not grown up in a Christian family and had not become a Christian until my teens. Her depiction of everyday people trusting and living for God amidst trying circumstances gave me a picture of Christian life: it wasn’t just for missionaries and heroes of the faith, but for all of us.
Elizabeth Elliott is another huge inspiration to me! And Jeannete Oke is The founding mother of Christian fiction.
Sooo many life-changing books for me.
John Eldridge’s ‘Epic’ encouraged my love of story and storytelling into finding my calling in my early teens.
God used ‘Death By Living’ and the Ashtown Burials series (N.D. Wilson) to help me find courage and conquer a heavy, discouraging cloud of fear and dread of both death and the End Times that had crippled me for all my teen years and into my twenties.
I’m repeatedly admonished and encouraged to trust despite when what God asks seems crazy or is totally new and unknown by Mark Batterson’s ‘Chase The Lion’ and ‘Wild Goose Chase’.
And no matter how many times I re-read them, God whispers to, waters and teaches my heart through ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’; sometimes a sentence, sometimes a character, and sometimes a whole journey — but always enough for exactly what I need, and usually right along with what I read in my quiet time.
Haven’t read any of those, except Narnia. I’ll have to look for them.
It may sound cliche to say that’s Redeeming love changed my life, but it’s hard to read that book without being changed every time you read it. I had always struggled with being judgmental, and reading Angel’s story pretty much cured that in a single blow.
The next book that changed my life was The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery. I had always had a deep fear of dying, but the courage with which the heroine stared down death and decided to live her life to the fullest challenged me and remarkably changed my outlook.
Also, Who’s Picking Me Up at the Airport, and other Questions Single Girls Ask, by Cindy Johnson reaffirmed a lot of what I already knew but kind of turns how society thinks about marriage and singleness and the reasons God created us on its head. It’s also really funny!
Also deserving of an honorable mention are the Chronicles of the Kings novels. They brought the entire Bible to life and helped me see the characters as more than just stories, as humans.
Yes! Redeeming Love is a classic!
I read “Hinds Feet on High Places” by Hannah Hurnard when I was a young teen and that was the first novel that motivated me to grow in my faith and personal relationship with Christ. It’s a beautiful allegorical fiction story, and I highly recommend it.
I read that too! Another Christian classic.
Lynn, I just love this post. I so enjoyed hearing about the books that influenced your life. The Hiding Place, Christy, and even Laura Ingalls Wilders Little House books were all influences on my life. I remember asking my mother what “Providence” meant and being surprised when she told me it meant GOD! That changed the way I read the Little House books.
Our stories of longing for a second child for years after the first are very similar too…and then having a third one come along quickly (almost exactly 2 years later, in our case).
Loved reading about these books, Lynn. We’re kindred spirits in this way too!