Over the next week I will begin to pull out Christmas decorations and begin one of my favorite things about the holidays. . . reading beloved and cherished Christmas books that I have collected over the years. I got a head start on great holiday reading with a book that I am involved in launching. I’ve also been so fortunate to lead a wonderful group of young moms in a Bible study for the past several years and I want to share the book study that we are doing this fall.

The Wish Book Christmas by Lynn Austin

The most recent book written by one of my most beloved Authors, Lynn Austin, is one that I will bring out each year and add to my collection of Christmas books to read. For those who love the nostalgia of Christmas in the era of the Sears Christmas catalogs, the “Wish Book Christmas” is a perfect treat for reading under the lights of a Christmas tree with a warm cup of cocoa! Everything about this book is lovely and stirs feelings of wistful sentimentality, from the look and feel of the square hardbound cover to my own memories of pouring over and dog-earring pages of toys from the Sears Christmas Wish Book with my brothers. 

This is the continued story of Audry Barrett and Eve Dawson (from Lynn’s book, “If I Were You”). Taking place in 1951, this is a story of healing and forgiveness of past hurts as well as the important lesson about the true meaning of Christmas. Lynn weaves a tender and humorous story of how Audry and Eve’s two little boys became obsessed with the hundreds of toys they discovered in the Christmas catalog. These two mothers had to remind themselves as well as impress it on the hearts of their sons that the greatest gift ever given was Jesus and the reason for gift giving at Christmas is to remind us of that truth. 

You can find this Christmas Novella at:

Free of Me by Sharon Hodde Miller

I’m a mentor of our local Moms group, and this fall the ladies chose to do the Free of Me study. With the tagline, “Why Life Is Better When It’s NOT ABOUT YOU”, I was both intrigued and convicted! Sharon Hodde Miller writes, “Our me-centered culture affects every area of our lives – our relationships, calling, self-image, even our faith – and it negatively impacts each one. The self-focused life robs our joy, shrinks our souls, and is the reason we get stuck in insecurity.”

In a culture that promotes self-focus, Sharon’s book is a refreshing look into why this kind of mindset and attitude is so damaging, to our own sense of worth, as well as to our relationships, especially our relationship with God. Through reading the book and going through the study I am learning the ways that I have been focused on myself, the myths that surround what self-focus looks like, and the seven areas of my life where self-focus negatively affects me and diminishes who Jesus is.

Sharon’s pleasant yet vulnerable writing has challenged me to look at the ways I have allowed self-focus to sabotage different areas of my life, but she has also shared practical ways I can shift from a self-focused attitude to a “self-forgetful” one. 

I highly recommend this book and study, either for individual or group study. Our group utilizes the RightNow Media app that includes a short video for each of the five sessions. 

You can find the Free of Me book and study guide at:

You can also visit RightNow Media where you can sign up for access to Sharon’s videos: https://www.rightnowmedia.org/