Podcast appearances and mentions of christian reading challenge

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It's finally that time of year again: We are here today to announce the 2022 reading challenge and chat about this year's reading. We will discuss our goals, making new goals, and some exciting changes to the 2022 reading challenge (it's going to be so much fun)!! Listen in here: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. What's New This Year In an effort to inspire more reading, and to do it as a community, we are introducing a community aspect for the first time ever! We've always wanted to do this, but now is our year!! The community group will kick off on January 1st. You can join our community in the meantime here ---> FindingJoyCommunity.com In the community, we will all be able to update on our progress, share new favorite books and ask for book recommendations in categories. Jason and I will also be publishing detailed book lists throughout the year and posting our book reviews of our books we read throughout the year!! Next exciting change: You will determine your goal for the year and then compete against yourself for some fun little prizes. If you hit your quarterly goal, we'll have stickers, magnets, and bookmarks you can win for free and add to your next store order!! It's going to be super fun. I'll be unveiling quarter one's prize soon! BONUS: I'll have a reading planner PDF to download for FREE as part of the challenge. I'm almost done with it and will release it into the community as soon as it's done!! It has places for book summaries, tracking your reading goals, favorite quotes, and more. Jason & Jami's 2021 Reading Goal: We both set big goals for this year, and neither of us are hitting it! But that's okay because I feel like we both had great reading years. And that's really all that matters. Jason's read (so far): 93 books for the year Jami's read (so far): 97 books for the year 2022 Christian Reading Challenge Here's how it works:  You will find the reading challenge below. You'll see that we've given you two tracks – 13 books or 26! This is either reading one book every four weeks or one book every two weeks. If you want to do 52 books (one a week) you can easily adjust for that as well. A note about fiction: This year we've included fiction categories per your request! I think fiction is hard because all of us are going to have different tastes in what fiction we prefer. You can find some of our favorite Christian Fiction books here. But feel free to substitute any fiction books or series that you enjoy. Pick Your Level: I know each of us has different reading levels and time for reading, so I created two different tracks you can follow. 13 Books a Year – This works out to 1 book every 4 weeks. If you have no habit of reading right now or have no idea you will fit reading time into your busy schedule, then this is a great level to begin with. Pick one book every 4 weeks and commit to getting it down within that time. 26 Books a Year – If you want to tackle a bigger challenge, then this level will get you reading 1 book every two weeks throughout the year. It's still a very doable reading track but will challenge you to stay on track! If you want to follow this plan, read one book from each list every month. So in January, read book #1 and book #14! This way everyone can read through and follow along with books #1-13 together. Here are the categories:  Christian Living Marriage Parenting/Family Life Theology Fiction Biography/History Spiritual Disciplines  Christian Classics Church History *If you are not a parent or are not married, then scroll down and fill in those spots with other fantastic book suggestions from the other categories. Book Recommendations Per Category: Christian Living:

It's here! We are finally diving into our 2021 Christian Reading Challenge! If you've followed along with us, you know this is our 5th year in a row issuing a reading challenge (and taking one on ourselves). This year we've changed it up a little bit to make it easier to use. You can check out our 2020 reading challenge to use as well if you want! One of the major changes you'll notice this year is that we've combined both challenges. In previous years we've issued a men's challenge and a women's challenge. This year, anyone can use the challenge to fit their needs. Listen to the Podcast: Listen in to my podcast episode from this week to find out more about why we developed this reading challenge, tips for following along, and the reasoning behind the books and categories chosen. Or skip the podcast and head down below for all the info

It's here! We are finally diving into our 2021 Christian Reading Challenge! If you've followed along with us, you know this is our 5th year in a row issuing a reading challenge (and taking one on ourselves). This year we've changed it up a little bit to make it easier to use. You can check out our 2020 reading challenge to use as well if you want! One of the major changes you'll notice this year is that we've combined both challenges. In previous years we've issued a men's challenge and a women's challenge. This year, anyone can use the challenge to fit their needs. Listen to the Podcast: Listen in to my podcast episode from this week to find out more about why we developed this reading challenge, tips for following along, and the reasoning behind the books and categories chosen. Or skip the podcast and head down below for all the info ? And don’t forget to subscribe to my podcast in iTunes. Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. What's New This Year Change #1: Like I mentioned above, we are combining the men and women's challenge all into one. Choose which books most interest you! Change #2: Instead of choosing actual books to put into the challenge, we are just adding in categories for you that you fill in with your books or find new ones! Change #3: We are adding a bunch of new books to the category lists below but also carrying our book recommendations from previous years. All NEW book suggestions (that haven't been highlighted in past challenges) will be bold. 2021 Christian Reading Challenge Here’s how it works:  You will find the reading challenge below. You'll see that we've given you two tracks - 13 books or 26! This is either reading one book every four weeks or one book every two weeks. If you want to do 52 books (one a week) you can easily adjust for that as well. A note about fiction: This year we've included fiction categories per your request! I think fiction is hard because all of us are going to have different tastes in what fiction we prefer. You can find some of our favorite Christian Fiction books here. But feel free to substitute any fiction books or series that you enjoy. Pick Your Level: I know each of us has different reading levels and time for reading, so I created two different tracks you can follow. 13 Books a Year – This works out to 1 book every 4 weeks. If you have no habit of reading right now or have no idea you will fit reading time into your busy schedule, then this is a great level to begin with. Pick one book every 4 weeks and commit to getting it down within that time. 26 Books a Year – If you want to tackle a bigger challenge, then this level will get you reading 1 book every two weeks throughout the year. It’s still a very doable reading track but will challenge you to stay on track! If you want to follow this plan, read one book from each list every month. So in January, read book #1 and book #14! This way everyone can read through and follow along with books #1-13 together. Here are the categories:  Christian Living Marriage Parenting/Family Life Theology Fiction Biography/History Spiritual Disciplines  Christian Classics Church History *If you are not a parent or are not married, then scroll down and fill in those spots with other fantastic book suggestions from the other categories. Book Recommendations Per Category: Christian Living: Everyday Faithfulness: The Beauty of Ordinary Perseverance in a Demanding World - Glenna Marshall  Growing Together: Taking Mentoring beyond Small Talk and Prayer Requests - Melissa Kruger A Place to Belong: Learning to Love the Local Church - Megan Hill God Does His Best Work with Empty - Nancy Guthrie Piercing Heaven: Prayers of the Puritans - Robert Elmer Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers - Dane C. Ortlund

Are you hoping to read more in 2020? It's been such a busy time around here the last few weeks that I haven't really been reading. So join me in today's episode for some reading motivation as well as my favorite books I've read so far in 2020! Listen to the Podcast: You can find important links & info below. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Follow me over on Goodreads Follow Jason over on Goodreads Find our 2020 Christian Reading Challenge for Women here Find our 2020 Christian Reading Challenge for Men here Check out our sponsor today: GoMinno.com and use coupon code HOMEMAKING for a 7 day free trial! My favorite books so far of 2020: Update on our reading goal: My goal is 156 books. I've read 34 so far which puts me 9 books behind schedule. Jason is at 39 books read and 4 behind. Fun fiction series: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel Christian non-fiction: Stop Calling Me Beautiful by Phylicia Masonheimer Business book: Start with Your People by Brian Dixon Homeschooling/parenting: Pocketful of Pinecones and Lessons at Blackberry Inn Christian non-fiction: Forever by Paul David Tripp Healthy Living: Grain by Grain: A Quest to Revive Ancient Wheat, Rural Jobs, and Healthy Food Travel: How to Travel the World on $50 a Day: Travel Cheaper, Longer, Smarter Books I'm reading next: Season's of a Mother's Heart by Sally Clarkson The Redwall Series The Gospel Comes with a House key Loving Well - Even If You Haven't Been A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning Saving Face: The Scents-able Way to Wrinkle Free Skin

Are you hoping to read more in 2020? It's been such a busy time around here the last few weeks that I haven't really been reading. So join me in today's episode for some reading motivation as well as my favorite books I've read so far in 2020! Listen to the Podcast: You can find important links & info below. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Follow me over on Goodreads Follow Jason over on Goodreads Find our 2020 Christian Reading Challenge for Women here Find our 2020 Christian Reading Challenge for Men here Check out our sponsor today: GoMinno.com and use coupon code HOMEMAKING for a 7 day free trial! My favorite books so far of 2020: Update on our reading goal: My goal is 156 books. I've read 34 so far which puts me 9 books behind schedule. Jason is at 39 books read and 4 behind. Fun fiction series: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel Christian non-fiction: Stop Calling Me Beautiful by Phylicia Masonheimer Business book: Start with Your People by Brian Dixon Homeschooling/parenting: Pocketful of Pinecones and Lessons at Blackberry Inn Christian non-fiction: Forever by Paul David Tripp Healthy Living: Grain by Grain: A Quest to Revive Ancient Wheat, Rural Jobs, and Healthy Food Travel: How to Travel the World on $50 a Day: Travel Cheaper, Longer, Smarter Books I'm reading next: Season's of a Mother's Heart by Sally Clarkson The Redwall Series The Gospel Comes with a House key Loving Well - Even If You Haven't Been A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning Saving Face: The Scents-able Way to Wrinkle Free Skin

If you are looking for the MEN'S companion reading challenge for 2020, you can find it here! Happy reading!!  Welcome to the 2020 reading challenge! It's my favorite time of the year and I am so excited to see how many books we all read this year. This is our 4th year in a row running our reading challenge and it's been a blast. Jason and I have always been big readers, but having 5 kids (and one on the way) and running our own business started to squeeze the love (or the time) out of our reading life.  So in 2017 we decided to run a little challenge for ourselves (and invited you to join in) and the result has been three fabulous years of reading! We have both read more in the past 3 years then we could have thought possible with this busy season of life we are in.  So we are back in 2020 with our 4th reading challenge...and it's our best one yet! Below you will find out 2020 reading challenge, lots and lots of amazing book recommendations, as well as a podcast episode all about the reading challenge this year that you can listen in to! Listen to the Podcast: Listen in to my podcast episode from this week to find out more about why I developed this reading plan, tips for following along, and the reasoning behind the books and categories I chose. Or skip the podcast and head down below for all the info 

If you are looking for the MEN'S companion reading challenge for 2020, you can find it here! Happy reading!!  Welcome to the 2020 reading challenge! It's my favorite time of the year and I am so excited to see how many books we all read this year. This is our 4th year in a row running our reading challenge and it's been a blast. Jason and I have always been big readers, but having 5 kids (and one on the way) and running our own business started to squeeze the love (or the time) out of our reading life.  So in 2017 we decided to run a little challenge for ourselves (and invited you to join in) and the result has been three fabulous years of reading! We have both read more in the past 3 years then we could have thought possible with this busy season of life we are in.  So we are back in 2020 with our 4th reading challenge...and it's our best one yet! Below you will find out 2020 reading challenge, lots and lots of amazing book recommendations, as well as a podcast episode all about the reading challenge this year that you can listen in to! Listen to the Podcast: Listen in to my podcast episode from this week to find out more about why I developed this reading plan, tips for following along, and the reasoning behind the books and categories I chose. Or skip the podcast and head down below for all the info ? And don’t forget to subscribe to my podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. While this is our 4th reading challenge, all of the books in the actual challenge below are all new! That means if you've been following along these past 3 years, you won't have any repeats!! However, we do have categories down below if you want to pick other books to read – or feel free to swap out and put your own books in the categories.  I’m ALL for broadening my reading horizon, which is why I was so excited about this new reading challenge. I think we often reach for the same kinds of books over and over again. But I want to stretch you and challenge you to reach out and pick up books you wouldn’t normally.  Plus, doing a challenge like this will make you read more throughout the year. So wanna join us?!? Grab the Toolkit:  The very best and easiest way to follow along is to grab my toolkit right here! The toolkit includes the full reading challenge for 2020 (for both men and women) as well as tips for finding more time to read (even when you are super busy) and how to find more books for free or cheap.  Grab the Toolkit! Subscribe to my new reading challenge newsletter to follow along throughout 2020 AND get my 2020 Reading Challenge Toolkit for FREE! Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription. There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again. First Name Email Address We use this field to detect spam bots. If you fill this in, you will be marked as a spammer. Subscribe Powered by ConvertKit /* Layout */ .ck_form { /* divider image */ background: #fff url(data:image/gif;base64,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...

I talk about reading a LOT. It’s a hobby of mine but it’s also an important tool I use in my Spiritual growth. Because I read a lot and talk about it a lot, I get a ton of questions about reading and the best ways to fit it into a busy homemaker’s schedule.  I get it. It can be really hard to fit any reading time into your already too busy and too full schedule. But I want to encourage you to try and find a few minutes in your week to invest in a good book. Reading is so life giving and encouraging to me that I sorely miss it when I get out of the habit.  Listen to the Podcast: Thanks for listening in today! You can find all the links & resources mentioned in today’s episode down below.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: You can read the full notes with links to this episode here Follow me over on Goodreads Check out the 2019 Christian Reading Challenge for Women Get natural deodorant scented with essential oils for 50% off your first box! Mymyro.com/home and use promo code HOME 

I talk about reading a LOT. It’s a hobby of mine but it’s also an important tool I use in my Spiritual growth. Because I read a lot and talk about it a lot, I get a ton of questions about reading and the best ways to fit it into a busy homemaker’s schedule.  I get it. It can be really hard to fit any reading time into your already too busy and too full schedule. But I want to encourage you to try and find a few minutes in your week to invest in a good book. Reading is so life giving and encouraging to me that I sorely miss it when I get out of the habit.  Listen to the Podcast: Thanks for listening in today! You can find all the links & resources mentioned in today’s episode down below.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: You can read the full notes with links to this episode here Follow me over on Goodreads Check out the 2019 Christian Reading Challenge for Women Get natural deodorant scented with essential oils for 50% off your first box! Mymyro.com/home and use promo code HOME 

I'm so excited to have Jason taking over my blog today. I shared my own 2019 Christian Reading Challenge for Women earlier this week. If you're a man, feel free to follow along with this challenge by yourself OR wrangle your wife into the women's companion challenge to do it with you. If you are a woman reading this, send over the link to your husband and you can then go through this challenge together! It's a great way to have a built in accountability partner. Many of the books are the same but Jason changed the feminine and homemaking categories to male equivalents. - Jami I have a lot of hobbies. I enjoying playing video games. Board games are my love language. I'm a Netflix junkie. I sometimes dabble with MTG deck-building. But one hobby stands head and shoulders over all the rest, for me. I LOVE to read. You probably already know that about me if you've been hanging around this blog or podcast for any amount of time. But it's worth stating again. Books are my favorite thing. Listen to the Podcast: Jami and I hopped on a podcast episode to share all about the challenge, my tricks for finding the time to read in a busy schedule, a little bit about the books I picked and more! Listen below or keep scrolling down to read all about the challenge.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Two years ago,  Jami and I came up with a year-long reading challenge. Most times, the biggest obstacle to reading as much as I'd like is lack of time. I'm a father, husband, small-business owner, and dabbler in many hobbies as previously established. Needless to say, I don't have a lot of free time. Well, I am happy to report that implementing the reading challenge has SIGNIFICANTLY helped me to increase the number of books I've read in the last 2 years. Something about setting a goal, and having a list of books I want to read, has been very effective for me. So this year, we're doing it again! Welcome to the 2019 Men's Reading Challenge. Yesterday, Jami posted her reading list, which is geared primarily toward women. So she asked me to put together a companion list to hers that would be more male-oriented. Many of the categories and book recommendations are the same, as there are LOTS of books out there that are great reading for both men and women. But I've tweaked the list to add some books on things like fatherhood, being a husband, etc.  Also, like Jami's list, I have not included any fiction suggestions in the list. I personally love to read fiction, and would encourage others to as well, but, at least for me, picking up a novel is much easier than digging into a history text or book on theology, and so I tailored the list to non-fiction only. I highly recommend reading some fiction as well, though. Go ahead and add a few novels you've been wanting to read, or, if the 13 or 26 books on the list is already the maximum you want to commit to this year, swap out a few of the categories for fiction, keeping the total count the same. Bottom line, this list and challenge is for you, so don't hesitate to customize it to your liking. As long as it gets you reading, I've done my job. Also, if you're not already familiar, I highly recommend using Goodreads on your reading adventure. It's a great way to track what you're reading, what you want to read, and what you've already read. You can get book recommendations, and even see reviews on books you're not sure about. Plus, you can follow me on there if you'd like to see what I'm reading. You can also see my fiction selections on there, if you want some inspiration in that department. On more note before we get to the challenge. Back in November, I started a new podcast called Hurry Up and Read, on which I read and discuss classic works of Christian literature. It's been an absolute blast so far! We just finished up our first book on the podcast,

I'm so excited to have Jason taking over my blog today. I shared my own 2019 Christian Reading Challenge for Women earlier this week. If you're a man, feel free to follow along with this challenge by yourself OR wrangle your wife into the women's companion challenge to do it with you. If you are a woman reading this, send over the link to your husband and you can then go through this challenge together! It's a great way to have a built in accountability partner. Many of the books are the same but Jason changed the feminine and homemaking categories to male equivalents. - Jami I have a lot of hobbies. I enjoying playing video games. Board games are my love language. I'm a Netflix junkie. I sometimes dabble with MTG deck-building. But one hobby stands head and shoulders over all the rest, for me. I LOVE to read. You probably already know that about me if you've been hanging around this blog or podcast for any amount of time. But it's worth stating again. Books are my favorite thing. Listen to the Podcast: Jami and I hopped on a podcast episode to share all about the challenge, my tricks for finding the time to read in a busy schedule, a little bit about the books I picked and more! Listen below or keep scrolling down to read all about the challenge.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Two years ago,  Jami and I came up with a year-long reading challenge. Most times, the biggest obstacle to reading as much as I'd like is lack of time. I'm a father, husband, small-business owner, and dabbler in many hobbies as previously established. Needless to say, I don't have a lot of free time. Well, I am happy to report that implementing the reading challenge has SIGNIFICANTLY helped me to increase the number of books I've read in the last 2 years. Something about setting a goal, and having a list of books I want to read, has been very effective for me. So this year, we're doing it again! Welcome to the 2019 Men's Reading Challenge. Yesterday, Jami posted her reading list, which is geared primarily toward women. So she asked me to put together a companion list to hers that would be more male-oriented. Many of the categories and book recommendations are the same, as there are LOTS of books out there that are great reading for both men and women. But I've tweaked the list to add some books on things like fatherhood, being a husband, etc.  Also, like Jami's list, I have not included any fiction suggestions in the list. I personally love to read fiction, and would encourage others to as well, but, at least for me, picking up a novel is much easier than digging into a history text or book on theology, and so I tailored the list to non-fiction only. I highly recommend reading some fiction as well, though. Go ahead and add a few novels you've been wanting to read, or, if the 13 or 26 books on the list is already the maximum you want to commit to this year, swap out a few of the categories for fiction, keeping the total count the same. Bottom line, this list and challenge is for you, so don't hesitate to customize it to your liking. As long as it gets you reading, I've done my job. Also, if you're not already familiar, I highly recommend using Goodreads on your reading adventure. It's a great way to track what you're reading, what you want to read, and what you've already read. You can get book recommendations, and even see reviews on books you're not sure about. Plus, you can follow me on there if you'd like to see what I'm reading. You can also see my fiction selections on there, if you want some inspiration in that department. On more note before we get to the challenge. Back in November, I started a new podcast called Hurry Up and Read, on which I read and discuss classic works of Christian literature. It's been an absolute blast so far! We just finished up our first book on the podcast,

If you are looking for the MEN'S companion reading challenge for 2019, you can find it here! Happy reading!!  Welcome to the 2019 reading challenge! This is our 3rd year in a row running our reading challenge and it's been a blast. Jason and I have always been big readers, but having 5 kids in 4 years and running our own business started to squeeze the love (or the time) out of our reading life.  So in 2017 we decided to run a little challenge for ourselves (and invited you to join in) and the result has been two fabulous years of reading! We have both read more in the past 2 years then we could have thought possible with this busy season of life we are in.  So we are back in 2019 with our 3rd reading challenge...and it's our best one yet! Below you will find out 2019 reading challenge, lots and lots of amazing book recommendations, as well as a podcast episode all about the reading challenge this year that you can listen in to! Listen to the Podcast: Listen in to my podcast episode from this week to find out more about why I developed this reading plan, tips for following along, and the reasoning behind the books and categories I chose. Or skip the podcast and head down below for all the info ? And don’t forget to subscribe to my podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. While this is our 3rd reading challenge, all of the books in the actual challenge below are all new! That means if you've been following along these past 2 years, you won't have any repeats!! However, we do have categories down below if you want to pick other books to read – or feel free to swap out and put your own books in the categories.  I’m ALL for broadening my reading horizon, which is why I was so excited about this new reading challenge. I think we often reach for the same kinds of books over and over again. But I want to stretch you and challenge you to reach out and pick up books you wouldn’t normally.  Plus, doing a challenge like this will make you read more throughout the year. So wanna join us?!? Grab the Toolkit:  The very best and easiest way to follow along is to grab my toolkit right here! The toolkit includes the full reading challenge for 2019 (for both men and women) as well as tips for finding more time to read (even when you are super busy) and how to find more books for free or cheap.  2019 Christian Reading Challenge for Women Here’s how it works:  I have given you category suggestions for each book as well as my book recommendation. I personally recommend all of these books and tried to think about the very best books I recommend all women read. If you’ve already read that book or simply want a different suggestion, scroll down and you will find more book recommendations for each category (OR feel free to choose any of your own books).  Then download and/or print off the reading list to follow along.  A note about fiction: This list does not include any fiction. I LOVE reading fiction and read many fiction books throughout the year. However, since this is for entertainment and relaxation for me, I don’t need to add these in as reading goals. When we are on vacation, or I have more down time (like during Christmas), I read a lot more fiction. But I’m already prone to being lazy and reaching for a fiction book more than a book to help my spiritual growth or draw closer to the Lord, so I don’t need any extra reading goals to re-inforce that habit ? But I know several of you requested fiction options worked in, so feel free to replace some of the categories below with fiction if you would prefer.  Pick Your Level: I know each of us has different reading levels and time for reading, so I created two different tracks you can follow.  13 Books a Year – This works out to 1 book every 4 weeks. If you have no habit of reading right now or have no idea you will fit reading time into your busy schedule,

If you are looking for the MEN'S companion reading challenge for 2019, you can find it here! Happy reading!!  Welcome to the 2019 reading challenge! This is our 3rd year in a row running our reading challenge and it's been a blast. Jason and I have always been big readers, but having 5 kids in 4 years and running our own business started to squeeze the love (or the time) out of our reading life.  So in 2017 we decided to run a little challenge for ourselves (and invited you to join in) and the result has been two fabulous years of reading! We have both read more in the past 2 years then we could have thought possible with this busy season of life we are in.  So we are back in 2019 with our 3rd reading challenge...and it's our best one yet! Below you will find out 2019 reading challenge, lots and lots of amazing book recommendations, as well as a podcast episode all about the reading challenge this year that you can listen in to! Listen to the Podcast: Listen in to my podcast episode from this week to find out more about why I developed this reading plan, tips for following along, and the reasoning behind the books and categories I chose. Or skip the podcast and head down below for all the info 

For the second year in a row, Jason and I have set reading goals for the year. We have had fun setting the goal, figuring out how to read more, and having fun competing over those reading goals. So listen in today as Jason and I share our mid-year check up on our reading goals.  Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. If you want to follow along with our reading challenges, or jump in with your own (start ANY TIME!!) then check out the 2018 Christian Reading Challenge for Women and the 2018 Christian Reading Challenge for Men! You can also catch up and listen to my January and February reading challenge update.  Books Mentioned in This Episode:  The Wheel of Time (specifically book 4) The Reformation by Diarmaid MacCulloch  Jonathan Edwards by George M. Marsden  Reset by David Murray Seveneves by Neal Stephenson Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson The Invisible Hand by R. C. Sproul God in the Dock by C. S. Lewis Expository Apologetics by Voddie Baucham The Read-Aloud Family by Sarah MacKenzie Growing in Gratitude by Mary K. Mohler The Backyard Homestead Devoted by Tim Challies The Consequences of Ideas by R.C. Sproul The Crown: The Companion Book to Season 1  Alone with God by John MacArthur Praying the Bible by Donald Whitney Mere Motherhood by Cindy Rollins The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards by Steven J. Lawson The Passionate Preaching of Martin Lloyd Jones by Steven J. Lawson The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon by Steven J. Lawson Make more time for reading with our favorite way to meal plan:  Please welcome our sponsor to today's episode, Hello Fresh! They are a meal kit delivery service that delivers fresh and delicious ingredients to your door that you can make into meals in about 30 minutes or less.  When we got our first Hello Fresh box, honestly, I had no idea what to expect. I’ve been intrigued by these box meal kits in the past but with so many options, it felt a little overwhelming. So when I got the chance to try Hello Fresh, I jumped at the chance.  Well Jason and I both have been extremely happy with the box! It has been really fun to cook with Hello Fresh! Okay so how does it work? You get three meal options to choose from: Classic, Veggie, or Family. We got the family box and as a huge plus, all of our kids devoured the meals!!  Each of the meals comes packaged in it’s own bag with all the ingredients in the perfect portion for that recipe. So you literally just pull the bag out of the fridge for that recipe and everything is ready. I did not anticipate this being one of my very favorite things about the service. 30 minutes before dinner, I literally just pull out the bag, grab my full color recipe card, and take the items out.  I had no idea how much mental energy actually goes into planning my menu, shopping for each ingredient, and assembling it all…all before the cooking even begins. Plus, as a bonus, it had me cooking more involved recipes that I’ve felt like I had time for (even though they were only 30 minute recipes).  So you are getting delicious and nutritious meals delivered to your door for less than $10 a serving which is pretty amazing! Especially if you are in a rut of eating out a lot, this can be an incredible switch! AND if you go through my special link for todays episode, you can get $30 off your first box. I went in to test $30 off and it makes the box and the serving price an amazing offer!  So go to hellofresh.com/foundation30 and this is important, use coupon code Foundation30 at checkout to get $30 off your first box. If I hadn’t just got one, I would absolutely take this deal right now. It’s such a fun thing to try out! 

For the second year in a row, Jason and I have set reading goals for the year. We have had fun setting the goal, figuring out how to read more, and having fun competing over those reading goals. So listen in today as Jason and I share our mid-year check up on our reading goals.  Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. If you want to follow along with our reading challenges, or jump in with your own (start ANY TIME!!) then check out the 2018 Christian Reading Challenge for Women and the 2018 Christian Reading Challenge for Men! You can also catch up and listen to my January and February reading challenge update.  Books Mentioned in This Episode:  The Wheel of Time (specifically book 4) The Reformation by Diarmaid MacCulloch  Jonathan Edwards by George M. Marsden  Reset by David Murray Seveneves by Neal Stephenson Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson The Invisible Hand by R. C. Sproul God in the Dock by C. S. Lewis Expository Apologetics by Voddie Baucham The Read-Aloud Family by Sarah MacKenzie Growing in Gratitude by Mary K. Mohler The Backyard Homestead Devoted by Tim Challies The Consequences of Ideas by R.C. Sproul The Crown: The Companion Book to Season 1  Alone with God by John MacArthur Praying the Bible by Donald Whitney Mere Motherhood by Cindy Rollins The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards by Steven J. Lawson The Passionate Preaching of Martin Lloyd Jones by Steven J. Lawson The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon by Steven J. Lawson Make more time for reading with our favorite way to meal plan:  Please welcome our sponsor to today's episode, Hello Fresh! They are a meal kit delivery service that delivers fresh and delicious ingredients to your door that you can make into meals in about 30 minutes or less.  When we got our first Hello Fresh box, honestly, I had no idea what to expect. I’ve been intrigued by these box meal kits in the past but with so many options, it felt a little overwhelming. So when I got the chance to try Hello Fresh, I jumped at the chance.  Well Jason and I both have been extremely happy with the box! It has been really fun to cook with Hello Fresh! Okay so how does it work? You get three meal options to choose from: Classic, Veggie, or Family. We got the family box and as a huge plus, all of our kids devoured the meals!!  Each of the meals comes packaged in it’s own bag with all the ingredients in the perfect portion for that recipe. So you literally just pull the bag out of the fridge for that recipe and everything is ready. I did not anticipate this being one of my very favorite things about the service. 30 minutes before dinner, I literally just pull out the bag, grab my full color recipe card, and take the items out.  I had no idea how much mental energy actually goes into planning my menu, shopping for each ingredient, and assembling it all…all before the cooking even begins. Plus, as a bonus, it had me cooking more involved recipes that I’ve felt like I had time for (even though they were only 30 minute recipes).  So you are getting delicious and nutritious meals delivered to your door for less than $10 a serving which is pretty amazing! Especially if you are in a rut of eating out a lot, this can be an incredible switch! AND if you go through my special link for todays episode, you can get $30 off your first box. I went in to test $30 off and it makes the box and the serving price an amazing offer!  So go to hellofresh.com/foundation30 and this is important, use coupon code Foundation30 at checkout to get $30 off your first box. If I hadn’t just got one, I would absolutely take this deal right now. It’s such a fun thing to try out! 

My word for 2018 is Refresh and one of my favorite books I read in this last year just so happens to be titled Refresh. Funny enough, I picked that word before I read the book but it fit perfectly into my goal(s) for this year!  I loved this book so much that I made it the first book on my 2018 Christian Reading Challenge for Women. Well this week I got the chance to sit with the author, Shona Murray to chat about embracing a grace-paced life and the talk was so so good!  Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources:  Refresh: Embracing a Grace-Paced Life in a World of Endless Demands 2018 Christian Reading Challenge for Women My word for 2018 My FREE kit: Refresh Your Routines

My word for 2018 is Refresh and one of my favorite books I read in this last year just so happens to be titled Refresh. Funny enough, I picked that word before I read the book but it fit perfectly into my goal(s) for this year!  I loved this book so much that I made it the first book on my 2018 Christian Reading Challenge for Women. Well this week I got the chance to sit with the author, Shona Murray to chat about embracing a grace-paced life and the talk was so so good!  Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources:  Refresh: Embracing a Grace-Paced Life in a World of Endless Demands 2018 Christian Reading Challenge for Women My word for 2018 My FREE kit: Refresh Your Routines

I'm so excited to have Jason taking over my blog today. I shared my own 2018 Christian Reading Challenge for Women earlier this week. If you're a man, feel free to follow along with this challenge by yourself OR wrangle your wife into the women's companion challenge to do it with you. If you are a woman reading this, send over the link to your husband and you can then go through this challenge together! It's a great way to have a built in accountability partner. Many of the books are the same but Jason changed the feminine and homemaking categories to male equivalents. - Jami Jami and I are both dedicated readers. Reading really just checks all the boxes for me. It's enjoyable, relaxing, entertaining, and educational. I mean, what more could you ask for? Nothing else I can think of does all of that. Anyway, reading is awesome, and I've always wished for more hours in the day that I could devote to reading. Listen to the Podcast: Jami and I hopped on a podcast episode to share all about the challenge, my tricks for finding the time to read in a busy schedule, a little bit about the books I picked and more! Listen below or keep scrolling down to read all about the challenge.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. As a husband, dad, and entrepreneur, my time for reading is extremely limited, and I am always looking for ways to help me get more reading in, to blow through more books. Jami and I came up with a year-long reading challenge last year for this very reason, and I am excited to report that it was highly effective in getting me to read more in 2017. So this year, we're doing it again! Welcome to the 2018 Men's Reading Challenge. Yesterday, Jami posted her reading list, which is geared primarily toward women. So she asked me to put together a companion list to hers that would be more male-oriented. Many of the categories and book recommendations are the same, as there are LOTS of books out there that are great reading for both men and women. But I've tweaked the list to add some books on things like fatherhood, being a husband, etc.  Also, like Jami's list, I have not included any fiction suggestions in the list. I personally love to read fiction, and would encourage others to as well, but, at least for me, picking up a novel is much easier than digging into a history text or book on theology, and so I tailored the list to non-fiction only. I highly recommend reading some fiction as well, though. Go ahead and add a few novels you've been wanting to read, or, if the 13 or 26 books on the list is already the maximum you want to commit to this year, swap out a few of the categories for fiction, keeping the total count the same. Bottom line, this list and challenge is for you, so don't hesitate to customize it to your liking. As long as it gets you reading, I've done my job. Download the Toolkit to make it easy:  Jami created a FREE toolkit to give you all these resources in one handy place. You will get tips and ideas on how to find the time to read as well as the full challenge and a printable sheet to keep track of your reading goals. Download for free below:  Here's How it Works: The list is broken into 2 levels: 13 books for the year, which breaks down to 1 book every 4 weeks 26 books for the year, equaling 1 book every 2 weeks. Jump in on the first 13, and set your own pace. Just stick to level 1 if you don't have a lot of reading time or are new to all this, or blow through level 1 and dive into level 2 midway through the year. Note: I recommend one particular book for each category in the list, but you can see below that I've included several other books for each category. You should choose which book you want to read for each category, or if you've already read those I've recommended, or if none of them interest you, feel free to choose one on your own to fit the category.

I'm so excited to have Jason taking over my blog today. I shared my own 2018 Christian Reading Challenge for Women earlier this week. If you're a man, feel free to follow along with this challenge by yourself OR wrangle your wife into the women's companion challenge to do it with you. If you are a woman reading this, send over the link to your husband and you can then go through this challenge together! It's a great way to have a built in accountability partner. Many of the books are the same but Jason changed the feminine and homemaking categories to male equivalents. - Jami Jami and I are both dedicated readers. Reading really just checks all the boxes for me. It's enjoyable, relaxing, entertaining, and educational. I mean, what more could you ask for? Nothing else I can think of does all of that. Anyway, reading is awesome, and I've always wished for more hours in the day that I could devote to reading. Listen to the Podcast: Jami and I hopped on a podcast episode to share all about the challenge, my tricks for finding the time to read in a busy schedule, a little bit about the books I picked and more! Listen below or keep scrolling down to read all about the challenge.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. As a husband, dad, and entrepreneur, my time for reading is extremely limited, and I am always looking for ways to help me get more reading in, to blow through more books. Jami and I came up with a year-long reading challenge last year for this very reason, and I am excited to report that it was highly effective in getting me to read more in 2017. So this year, we're doing it again! Welcome to the 2018 Men's Reading Challenge. Yesterday, Jami posted her reading list, which is geared primarily toward women. So she asked me to put together a companion list to hers that would be more male-oriented. Many of the categories and book recommendations are the same, as there are LOTS of books out there that are great reading for both men and women. But I've tweaked the list to add some books on things like fatherhood, being a husband, etc.  Also, like Jami's list, I have not included any fiction suggestions in the list. I personally love to read fiction, and would encourage others to as well, but, at least for me, picking up a novel is much easier than digging into a history text or book on theology, and so I tailored the list to non-fiction only. I highly recommend reading some fiction as well, though. Go ahead and add a few novels you've been wanting to read, or, if the 13 or 26 books on the list is already the maximum you want to commit to this year, swap out a few of the categories for fiction, keeping the total count the same. Bottom line, this list and challenge is for you, so don't hesitate to customize it to your liking. As long as it gets you reading, I've done my job. Download the Toolkit to make it easy:  Jami created a FREE toolkit to give you all these resources in one handy place. You will get tips and ideas on how to find the time to read as well as the full challenge and a printable sheet to keep track of your reading goals. Download for free below:  Here's How it Works: The list is broken into 2 levels: 13 books for the year, which breaks down to 1 book every 4 weeks 26 books for the year, equaling 1 book every 2 weeks. Jump in on the first 13, and set your own pace. Just stick to level 1 if you don't have a lot of reading time or are new to all this, or blow through level 1 and dive into level 2 midway through the year. Note: I recommend one particular book for each category in the list, but you can see below that I've included several other books for each category. You should choose which book you want to read for each category, or if you've already read those I've recommended, or if none of them interest you, feel free to choose one on your own to fit the category.

Pssst: The men's reading challenge is here!! Jason put together the 2018 Christian Reading Challenge for Men and it's fantastic!  A great idea is to do this challenge together with your husband or share with a man in your life looking for new books to read.  When I released my first reading challenge last year, I was excited! I love reading and I was excited to share some great picks for the year. What I didn't anticipate was how incredibly popular this reading challenge would be!  So this year, Jason and I got it all together early so you can jump into the new year with this challenge (or pick this up anytime during the year if you find this later)! Plus we had our baby girl, Magnolia on January 20, 2017 so it was hard to keep up on things.  THIS YEAR - not only do we have the 2018 reading challenges for both men and women, we also have a new podcast launching about reading AND something incredible exciting revolving around reading coming out in January 2018. So stay tuned...it's going to be a FUN YEAR! Listen to the Podcast: Listen in to my podcast episode from this week to find out more about why I developed this reading plan, tips for following along, and the reasoning behind the books and categories I chose. Or skip the podcast and head down below for all the info ? And don’t forget to subscribe to my podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. We wanted to make this year's reading challenge even more accessible. So we changed up some of the categories and all books in the challenge are brand new to this year - no repeats! However, we do have categories down below if you want to pick other books to read - or feel free to swap out and put your own books in the categories.  I’m ALL for broadening my reading horizon, which is why I was so excited about this new reading challenge. I think we often reach for the same kinds of books over and over again. But I want to stretch you and challenge you to reach out and pick up books you wouldn't normally.  Plus, doing a challenge like this will make you read more throughout the year. So wanna join us?!? Grab the Toolkit:  The very best and easiest way to follow along is to grab my toolkit right here! The toolkit includes the full reading challenge for 2018 (for both men and women) as well as tips for finding more time to read (even when you are super busy) and how to find more books for free or cheap.  Grabbing this toolkit will also "flag" you as a "reader" in my email system so you will get a lot of fun additional reading goodies this year :D HINT HINT: You will WANT to be on this list!! 2018 Christian Reading Challenge for Women Here’s how it works:  I have given you category suggestions for each book as well as my book recommendation. I personally recommend all of these books and tried to think about the very best books I recommend all women read. If you’ve already read that book or simply want a different suggestion, scroll down and you will find more book recommendations for each category (OR feel free to choose any of your own books).  Then download and/or print off the reading list to follow along.  A note about fiction: This list does not include any fiction. I LOVE reading fiction and read many fiction books throughout the year. However, since this is for entertainment and relaxation for me, I don’t need to add these in as reading goals. When we are on vacation, or I have more down time (like during Christmas), I read a lot more fiction. But I’m already prone to being lazy and reaching for a fiction book more than a book to help my spiritual growth or draw closer to the Lord, so I don’t need any extra reading goals to re-inforce that habit ? But I know several of you requested fiction options worked in, so feel free to replace some of the categories below with fiction if you would prefer.  Pick Your Level: I know each of us has different reading levels and time for re...

Pssst: The men's reading challenge is here!! Jason put together the 2018 Christian Reading Challenge for Men and it's fantastic!  A great idea is to do this challenge together with your husband or share with a man in your life looking for new books to read.  When I released my first reading challenge last year, I was excited! I love reading and I was excited to share some great picks for the year. What I didn't anticipate was how incredibly popular this reading challenge would be!  So this year, Jason and I got it all together early so you can jump into the new year with this challenge (or pick this up anytime during the year if you find this later)! Plus we had our baby girl, Magnolia on January 20, 2017 so it was hard to keep up on things.  THIS YEAR - not only do we have the 2018 reading challenges for both men and women, we also have a new podcast launching about reading AND something incredible exciting revolving around reading coming out in January 2018. So stay tuned...it's going to be a FUN YEAR! Listen to the Podcast: Listen in to my podcast episode from this week to find out more about why I developed this reading plan, tips for following along, and the reasoning behind the books and categories I chose. Or skip the podcast and head down below for all the info 

Reading is one of my favorite things to talk about…and I’ve got some great resources for you today!  And make sure to keep an eye out next week for our 2018 Reading Challenges coming your way!!  Making Reading a Prioity  Here’s the question I got that sparked this fun discussion: Lindsey asked, “One of my goals for 2018 is to do more reading. I am having trouble picking books that are christ centered and can keep my interest. I would love if you could do a podcast with a book list and maybe even include podcasts that you love.”  Links & Resources mentioned:  2017 Christian Reading Challenge for Women 2017 Christian Reading Challenge for Men A Simple Bible Study Method for Busy Homemakers Finding Time to Read as a Busy Homemaker Making the Most Out of Your Reading Goals This Year

I talk about reading a LOT. It's a hobby of mine but it's also an important tool I use in my Spiritual growth. Because I read a lot and talk about it a lot, I get a ton of questions about reading and the best ways to fit it into a busy homemaker's schedule.  I get it. It can be really hard to fit any reading time into your already too busy and too full schedule. But I want to encourage you to try and find a few minutes in your week to invest in a good book. Reading is so life giving and encouraging to me that I sorely miss it when I get out of the habit.  Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. This week, I got a question from someone inside my online training academy for homemakers. As I was thinking of how to respond, I decided I had too much to share on the topic and wanted to record an episode for you since I know others will have the same/similar questions. She said,  "Jami Reading question! How do you choose where to start? There are so many books and ebooks and audiobooks I want to read. I'm also the type who doesn't like to have more than 2 books at a time (one nonfiction and one fiction - although I never read fiction anymore). How do you decide what's most important to begin with? Pick an area of study (motherhood, parenting, hospitality, etc.) and focus down for a month at a time? Hop around?"  I'm honestly not sure I'm the right person to answer this question since my Goodreads account since my Goodreads account currently shows I'm in the middle of 12 books! I'm not good about staying in one book at a time...but maybe that's just my personality ;)  How to Choose Where to Start  Are you ready for my brilliant advice? Don't think - just grab a book and start reading! I think sometimes we make this far too complicated. We procrastinate and get overwhelmed when we think of all the books out there that we really want to read.  So walk over to your bookshelf  - or open your Kindle app - and give yourself about 30 seconds to grab a book. Then start reading!!  Follow a reading plan: I know sometimes if you are trying to expand your reading and want to read different things, it's easier to follow someone else's plans. So here are a few suggestions to breathe new life into your reading plans:  2017 Christian Reading Challenge for Women (my very own plan!) Tim Challies' 2017 Reading Challenge (this is what inspired MY reading plan) Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge  Set up Categories: Another fun idea is to pick 4-6 categories for yourself and cycle between then. For example your categories might be 1) Christian Living/Theology 2) Biographies/History 3) Biblical Womanhood/Homemaking 4) Marriage 5) Parenting 6) Fiction Then add 5-10 books to each category that you've always wanted to read. Start with category 1) Christian Living/Theology. Go to the your reading list for that category and pick the first book. Read that one, and then move on to category 2) Biographies/History. Read the first book on your list and then move on to category #3, etc.  This is pretty much what I do and it allows me to cycle through different kinds of books! I'm reading more fiction this year and I tend to get really sucked into fiction books so I make sure between series to read several other non-fiction books before jumping into my next fiction series.  Pros: The pros of this reading plan is that your reading is varied. You get your face in many different subjects and you are diversifying your reading.  Choose a focus of the month: Another option is to choose a focus area (i.e. Theology) and all the books you read for that month or specified time period are on that subject. I tend to do this a lot for my blog. Often,

I talk about reading a LOT. It's a hobby of mine but it's also an important tool I use in my Spiritual growth. Because I read a lot and talk about it a lot, I get a ton of questions about reading and the best ways to fit it into a busy homemaker's schedule.  I get it. It can be really hard to fit any reading time into your already too busy and too full schedule. But I want to encourage you to try and find a few minutes in your week to invest in a good book. Reading is so life giving and encouraging to me that I sorely miss it when I get out of the habit.  Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. This week, I got a question from someone inside my online training academy for homemakers. As I was thinking of how to respond, I decided I had too much to share on the topic and wanted to record an episode for you since I know others will have the same/similar questions. She said,  "Jami Reading question! How do you choose where to start? There are so many books and ebooks and audiobooks I want to read. I'm also the type who doesn't like to have more than 2 books at a time (one nonfiction and one fiction - although I never read fiction anymore). How do you decide what's most important to begin with? Pick an area of study (motherhood, parenting, hospitality, etc.) and focus down for a month at a time? Hop around?"  I'm honestly not sure I'm the right person to answer this question since my Goodreads account since my Goodreads account currently shows I'm in the middle of 12 books! I'm not good about staying in one book at a time...but maybe that's just my personality ;)  How to Choose Where to Start  Are you ready for my brilliant advice? Don't think - just grab a book and start reading! I think sometimes we make this far too complicated. We procrastinate and get overwhelmed when we think of all the books out there that we really want to read.  So walk over to your bookshelf  - or open your Kindle app - and give yourself about 30 seconds to grab a book. Then start reading!!  Follow a reading plan: I know sometimes if you are trying to expand your reading and want to read different things, it's easier to follow someone else's plans. So here are a few suggestions to breathe new life into your reading plans:  2017 Christian Reading Challenge for Women (my very own plan!) Tim Challies' 2017 Reading Challenge (this is what inspired MY reading plan) Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge  Set up Categories: Another fun idea is to pick 4-6 categories for yourself and cycle between then. For example your categories might be 1) Christian Living/Theology 2) Biographies/History 3) Biblical Womanhood/Homemaking 4) Marriage 5) Parenting 6) Fiction Then add 5-10 books to each category that you've always wanted to read. Start with category 1) Christian Living/Theology. Go to the your reading list for that category and pick the first book. Read that one, and then move on to category 2) Biographies/History. Read the first book on your list and then move on to category #3, etc.  This is pretty much what I do and it allows me to cycle through different kinds of books! I'm reading more fiction this year and I tend to get really sucked into fiction books so I make sure between series to read several other non-fiction books before jumping into my next fiction series.  Pros: The pros of this reading plan is that your reading is varied. You get your face in many different subjects and you are diversifying your reading.  Choose a focus of the month: Another option is to choose a focus area (i.e. Theology) and all the books you read for that month or specified time period are on that subject. I tend to do this a lot for my blog. Often,

I'm so excited to have Jason taking over my blog today. I shared my own 2017 Christian Reading Challenge for Women yesterday and I just knew that we needed to put out a men's companion challenge. If you're a man, feel free to follow along with this challenge by yourself OR wrangle your wife into the women's companion challenge.  If you are a woman reading this, send over the link to your husband and you can then go through this challenge together! It's a great way to have a built in accountability partner. Many of the books are the same but Jason changed the feminine and homemaking categories to male equivalents. - Jami Like Jami, I am an avid reader. Nothing gets my blood pumping more than cracking the spine on a new book and inhaling that paper and ink smell. Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the picture. I love to read. I find it relaxing, enjoyable, and a great way to invest in myself and learn new things, or increase my knowledge of important topics. Listen to the Podcast: Jami and I hopped on a podcast episode to share all about the challenge, my tricks for finding the time to read in a busy schedule, a little bit about the books I picked and more! Listen below or keep scrolling down to read all about the challenge.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. However, I am also very busy, and reading is something that easily falls by the wayside if I'm not intentional about making it happen. Thus, the creation of a reading list and challenge. What better way to keep reading on my mind than writing down a list and giving myself a timeline? Yesterday, Jami posted her reading list, which is geared primarily toward women. So she asked me to put together a companion list to hers that would be more male-oriented. Many of the categories and book recommendations are the same, as there are LOTS of books out there that are great reading for both men and women. But I've tweaked the list to add some books on things like fatherhood, being a husband, etc.  Also, like Jami's list, I have not included any fiction suggestions in the list. I personally love to read fiction, and would encourage others to as well, but, at least for me, picking up a novel is much easier than digging into a history text or book on theology, and so I tailored the list to non-fiction only. I highly recommend reading some fiction as well, though. Go ahead and add a few novels you've been wanting to read, or, if the 13 or 26 books on the list is already the maximum you want to commit to this year, swap out a few of the categories for fiction, keeping the total count the same. Bottom line, this list and challenge is for you, so don't hesitate to customize it to your liking. As long as it gets you reading, I've done my job. Download the Toolkit to make it easy:  Jami created a FREE toolkit to give you all these resources in one handy place. You will get tips and ideas on how to find the time to read as well as the full challenge and a printable sheet to keep track of your reading goals. Download for free below:  Here's How it Works: The list is broken into 2 levels: 13 books for the year, which breaks down to 1 book every 4 weeks 26 books for the year, equaling 1 book every 2 weeks. Jump in on the first 13, and set your own pace. Just stick to level 1 if you don't have a lot of reading time or are new to all this, or blow through level 1 and dive into level 2 midway through the year. Note: I recommend one particular book for each category in the list, but you can see below that I've included several other books for each category. You should choose which book you want to read for each category, or if you've already read those I've recommended, or if none of them interest you, feel free to choose one on your own to fit the category. *If you are not a parent or are not married,

I'm so excited to have Jason taking over my blog today. I shared my own 2017 Christian Reading Challenge for Women yesterday and I just knew that we needed to put out a men's companion challenge. If you're a man, feel free to follow along with this challenge by yourself OR wrangle your wife into the women's companion challenge.  If you are a woman reading this, send over the link to your husband and you can then go through this challenge together! It's a great way to have a built in accountability partner. Many of the books are the same but Jason changed the feminine and homemaking categories to male equivalents. - Jami Like Jami, I am an avid reader. Nothing gets my blood pumping more than cracking the spine on a new book and inhaling that paper and ink smell. Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the picture. I love to read. I find it relaxing, enjoyable, and a great way to invest in myself and learn new things, or increase my knowledge of important topics. Listen to the Podcast: Jami and I hopped on a podcast episode to share all about the challenge, my tricks for finding the time to read in a busy schedule, a little bit about the books I picked and more! Listen below or keep scrolling down to read all about the challenge.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. However, I am also very busy, and reading is something that easily falls by the wayside if I'm not intentional about making it happen. Thus, the creation of a reading list and challenge. What better way to keep reading on my mind than writing down a list and giving myself a timeline? Yesterday, Jami posted her reading list, which is geared primarily toward women. So she asked me to put together a companion list to hers that would be more male-oriented. Many of the categories and book recommendations are the same, as there are LOTS of books out there that are great reading for both men and women. But I've tweaked the list to add some books on things like fatherhood, being a husband, etc.  Also, like Jami's list, I have not included any fiction suggestions in the list. I personally love to read fiction, and would encourage others to as well, but, at least for me, picking up a novel is much easier than digging into a history text or book on theology, and so I tailored the list to non-fiction only. I highly recommend reading some fiction as well, though. Go ahead and add a few novels you've been wanting to read, or, if the 13 or 26 books on the list is already the maximum you want to commit to this year, swap out a few of the categories for fiction, keeping the total count the same. Bottom line, this list and challenge is for you, so don't hesitate to customize it to your liking. As long as it gets you reading, I've done my job. Download the Toolkit to make it easy:  Jami created a FREE toolkit to give you all these resources in one handy place. You will get tips and ideas on how to find the time to read as well as the full challenge and a printable sheet to keep track of your reading goals. Download for free below:  Here's How it Works: The list is broken into 2 levels: 13 books for the year, which breaks down to 1 book every 4 weeks 26 books for the year, equaling 1 book every 2 weeks. Jump in on the first 13, and set your own pace. Just stick to level 1 if you don't have a lot of reading time or are new to all this, or blow through level 1 and dive into level 2 midway through the year. Note: I recommend one particular book for each category in the list, but you can see below that I've included several other books for each category. You should choose which book you want to read for each category, or if you've already read those I've recommended, or if none of them interest you, feel free to choose one on your own to fit the category. *If you are not a parent or are not married,

UPDATE: You can now find all the details for the MEN'S companion reading challenge here. Wrangle your husband into doing the challenge with you or send to a man in your life who might want to dig into some amazing Gospel-Centered books.  Reading is one of the best ways that I invest in myself, in my homemaking, and in my spiritual life. But with four little munchkins and one on the way, it can be really tough to find the time to read (and to find books that are actually worth the time)!  Jason and I are both avid readers and love to do so, but if we don't plan to make time for reading (and put together reading lists) then it just doesn't happen. I've been thinking about my reading goals and lists for 2017 this month and just came across Tim Challies' 2017 Reading Challenge late last week.  Listen to the Podcast: Listen in to my podcast episode from this week to find out more about why I developed this reading plan, tips for following along, and the reasoning behind the books and categories I chose. Or skip the podcast and head down below for all the info :)  And don’t forget to subscribe to my podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. On Friday night, Jason and I sat down with a pen and paper and started mapping out the books we would read to follow along with this reading challenge. We are doing the highest reading tier which is 104 books in the year (yes, we are crazy)!  But as I started writing out the categories and trying to pick books, I realized that I was going to be fitting into books that I really didn't interest me and leave no extra time for other Christian books I knew I wanted to read.  I'm ALL for broadening my reading horizon, which is why I was so excited about this new reading challenge idea. But in my busy life and schedule, I just don't have the time for some of the categories: read a book that won a prize, a book of poetry (poetry so does not speak to me), a graphic novel, a book of comics, etc.  So then I started thinking about this wonderful community here on my blog and that while I'm putting together this reading challenge, since I'm going to go off of it anyway and create my own, that you might want to follow along with me!  So I sent out a quick email to my weekly newsletter ladies and got hundreds of responses that you would love to join a reading challenge if I created it geared towards Christian women. And thus, my 2017 Christian Reading Challenge was born. Ready to jump in?  Please note: Jason (my hubby) is putting together a companion lists for men. So if you're husband wants to follow along the reading challenge with you, stay tuned for that list coming tomorrow or download the free toolkit to get access to it immediately.  2017 Christian Reading Challenge for Women Here's how it works:  I have given you category suggestions for each book as well as my book recommendation. I personally recommend all of these books and tried to think about the very best books I recommend all women read. If you've already read that book or simply want a different suggestion, scroll down and you will find more book recommendations for each category (OR feel free to choose any of your own books).  Then download and/or print off the reading list to follow along.  A note about fiction: This list does not include any fiction. I LOVE reading fiction and read many fiction books throughout the year. However, since this is for entertainment and relaxation for me, I don't need to add these in as reading goals. When we are on vacation, or I have more down time (like during Christmas), I read a lot more fiction. But I'm already prone to being lazy and reaching for a fiction book more than a book to help my spiritual growth or draw closer to the Lord, so I don't need any extra reading goals to re-inforce that habit ;) But I know several of you requested fiction options worked in,

UPDATE: You can now find all the details for the MEN'S companion reading challenge here. Wrangle your husband into doing the challenge with you or send to a man in your life who might want to dig into some amazing Gospel-Centered books.  Reading is one of the best ways that I invest in myself, in my homemaking, and in my spiritual life. But with four little munchkins and one on the way, it can be really tough to find the time to read (and to find books that are actually worth the time)!  Jason and I are both avid readers and love to do so, but if we don't plan to make time for reading (and put together reading lists) then it just doesn't happen. I've been thinking about my reading goals and lists for 2017 this month and just came across Tim Challies' 2017 Reading Challenge late last week.  Listen to the Podcast: Listen in to my podcast episode from this week to find out more about why I developed this reading plan, tips for following along, and the reasoning behind the books and categories I chose. Or skip the podcast and head down below for all the info :)  And don’t forget to subscribe to my podcast in iTunes.  Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. On Friday night, Jason and I sat down with a pen and paper and started mapping out the books we would read to follow along with this reading challenge. We are doing the highest reading tier which is 104 books in the year (yes, we are crazy)!  But as I started writing out the categories and trying to pick books, I realized that I was going to be fitting into books that I really didn't interest me and leave no extra time for other Christian books I knew I wanted to read.  I'm ALL for broadening my reading horizon, which is why I was so excited about this new reading challenge idea. But in my busy life and schedule, I just don't have the time for some of the categories: read a book that won a prize, a book of poetry (poetry so does not speak to me), a graphic novel, a book of comics, etc.  So then I started thinking about this wonderful community here on my blog and that while I'm putting together this reading challenge, since I'm going to go off of it anyway and create my own, that you might want to follow along with me!  So I sent out a quick email to my weekly newsletter ladies and got hundreds of responses that you would love to join a reading challenge if I created it geared towards Christian women. And thus, my 2017 Christian Reading Challenge was born. Ready to jump in?  Please note: Jason (my hubby) is putting together a companion lists for men. So if you're husband wants to follow along the reading challenge with you, stay tuned for that list coming tomorrow or download the free toolkit to get access to it immediately.  2017 Christian Reading Challenge for Women Here's how it works:  I have given you category suggestions for each book as well as my book recommendation. I personally recommend all of these books and tried to think about the very best books I recommend all women read. If you've already read that book or simply want a different suggestion, scroll down and you will find more book recommendations for each category (OR feel free to choose any of your own books).  Then download and/or print off the reading list to follow along.  A note about fiction: This list does not include any fiction. I LOVE reading fiction and read many fiction books throughout the year. However, since this is for entertainment and relaxation for me, I don't need to add these in as reading goals. When we are on vacation, or I have more down time (like during Christmas), I read a lot more fiction. But I'm already prone to being lazy and reaching for a fiction book more than a book to help my spiritual growth or draw closer to the Lord, so I don't need any extra reading goals to re-inforce that habit ;) But I know several of you requested fiction options worked in,