Books and Podcasts and Bears…OH MY!

I'm a bear if I don't feed my soul regularly. I get weak and grumpy and I growl. You think I'm joking? Just ask Brad, he'll testify. 

But WHAT should I read? And WHAT should I listen to? Here's a list of some of my favorite books and podcasts that have fed my soul, taught me and helped to grow me. I believe these will be an investment into YOUR life as well. (These books would make GREAT stocking stuffers at Christmas!)

 

PODCASTS

Click on iTunes and search these Podcasts, OR, click on the names of the Podcasts and they will link you directly to each one. 

"Your Move" with Andy Stanley - Biblically based teaching from Andy has made a huge impact on my life! I love him. Seriously! Love. Him. His insight makes me want to be a better wife, mom, daughter, sister and leader. And, BONUS, they're only about 28 minutes long! 

"LifeChurch.tv" with Craig Groeschel - This guy will crack you up while firing you up!

"Elevation Church" with Steven Furtick - OMG…Only My God could take a young twenty-something kid and turn him into one of the greatest pastor/teachers of this generation! Steven Furtick is passionate and focused on turning people on to a God bigger than we can comprehend.

"The Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast" -These are leadership lessons with Andy Stanley. It's very conversational, almost like a 45 minute radio show. Every leader should listen to this podcast!! EVERY LEADER! Even if you're a wannabe-leader, like I am, listen to this!!! 

"Catalyst" - CALLING ALL LEADERS! THIS PODCAST IS FOR YOU!

"TED" - TED talks (Technology, Entertainment and Design) are "riveting talks by remarkable people that are free to the world". Most TED talks are only 10-15 minutes. You can download the TED app to your phone or watch TED talks online through your computer. 

 

BOOKS

My favorite books for WOMEN:

"The Power of a Praying Wife" by Stormie Omartian - If you want to get married one day, you are married, or you were married, I recommend this book. My Mom gave me this book when I was 17 and told me to start praying it over my future spouse. What a wonderful gift - I didn't read it then, of course, because I was 17 and knew EVERYTHING.  I was nearly 26 when I got married and soon realized I KNEW NOTHING! I've read this through at least a dozen times. I love it!

"Feminine Appeal" by Carolyn Mahaney (Don't let the AWFUL name of this book keep you from reading it! Terrible name…AMAZING BOOK!). This is a WONDERFUL book to read and study through with your girlfriends or in a mentoring relationship. 

"Undaunted" by Christine Caine - This book will make you want to change the world! 

"Unglued" by Lysa TerKeurst - Women, do you ever feel like your emotions are outta control? Yeah, me too. Lysa teaches us that life lessons are about progress, not perfection! This book is GOLD!

My favorite books for MEN:

"Fight" by Craig Groeschel - Buy this for your husband, your dad and your son! 

"The Power of the Praying Husband" by Stormie Omartian - My husband reads a prayer over me most nights before we go to sleep. Men, let me tell you, there's nothing sexier or manlier than praying over your wife! 

My favorite daily DEVO:

"Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young - This is my FAVE!!! I read it every single day. It's a quick read & it's one reading per day for a year. And it hits me in between the eyes every single day!

*This is not my final list. I'll be adding "My Favorite Leadership Books" in an upcoming blog post! I will also add some of my favorite parenting books. The list above is a start!

Thankful for…SOUL Food

Food…we're sort of obsessed with this subject in our western culture. We plan dates around meals…we even plan trips around exotic cuisine. We want to be full. But our bodies aren’t the only piece of us that needs nourishment; we also need to feed our souls.  Jesus said, “Man cannot live by bread alone” (Matthew 4:4). Bread (i.e. Food) won't last forever. It'll leave us hungry for more. And for many of us, it's not our bodies that are truly starving, it's our souls; our souls are crying out for food, for nourishment.

How long could one meal sustain you? One day? Two days? You could probably make it a few days without another meal, but you would become grumpy and tired and weak as your body cried out for more nourishment.

Even if you’re a church person and you go every single Sunday, that’s good…do that! Keep it up! Go every single week. But the truth is that one sermon or lesson you hear isn’t enough “food” to feed your soul for very long. Within a day or two you’ll begin feeling the grumblings inside yourself that are crying out for more. Pastor & author Erwin McManus call those grumblings our “soul cravings.” Our souls cry out for more.

When Brad and I were about to get married, my Dad offered Brad great advice about me. He said, “Brad, don’t put your hand in the cage if she’s hungry or tired.” You know why? Because when I’m hungry I’m grumpy, I’m snappy, I’m negative, I’m tired, I’m weak, I don’t feel good and I might just bite your hand off. The same is true of our souls. We can’t live on one good sermon every week. We have to continue feeding our souls or we’ll become weak, tired and we’ll wear out from the stress and weight of life.

So how do we feed our souls?

Here’s 3 simple steps to feed your soul:

1.  RECEIVE

This is where you taste the food. There are a couple of easy ways I “receive” soul food…I read and I listen to podcasts. I know that not everyone enjoys reading, but if you do, then read every single day, even if it’s for twenty or thirty minutes. Feed your soul some truth about where you are in life – read about parenting or marriage or singleness or grief. I love reading about leadership and church growth right now. Wherever you are at, there’s a book that will offer help and encouragement.

The second way I “receive” soul food is through podcasts. I love to listen to “Your Move” with Andy Stanley. I also love the “LifeChurch.TV” podcast. These podcasts are lessons given by pastors who apply Biblical principles in practical ways. Another of my favorite learning/listening tools is TED talks. It’s a place where I can hear about new ideas, inventions, cultures – it stretches me and grows me every time I listen to a TED talk. I also love the Catalyst podcast – it’s a way for me to learn from leaders in my industry.

Everyone has time for a podcast. I play my podcasts while I shower and put on my makeup. It doesn’t require “more” time, it’s time I’ll be spending doing those tasks anyway, so I might as well add value to myself while I get those things done.

I will be listing several of my favorite books and podcasts on my website and also on the Studio7 facebook page this week!

2.  REFLECT

Here’s where you chew on it. After you read or listen to a podcast, take some time and internalize what you’ve learned. Meditate on it. Listen to it again. Read it again. Let it turn over and over in your thoughts.

3.  RESPOND

Once you’ve meditated on it, respond to it. I encourage everyone to write a response. Get a journal and write down what the book or podcast made you think about. Write down what it challenged you to do or to think. When we write it down, we can look back at our lives and see places and times when we grew. And we can share that with other people, helping others on their journey. 

I will list some of my favorite books and podcasts, but I would be untrue to myself if I didn't say that the Word of God (the Bible) is the best nourishment you could possibly offer your soul. God's Word will never leave you empty. If you feast on His Word, you will leave satisfied, full and ready to face your day with the fuel to make right choices. Open the Bible. Start in Proverbs. There are 31 chapters in Proverbs and there are 31 days  (in most months). Start by reading one chapter a day. There is a great return on God's Word; it never returns void! Get in the Word and keep going!

Jesus said, “I am the living bread…Anyone who eats this bread will live forever.”

John 6:51

“Is anyone thirsty?
 Come and drink—
even if you have no money!


Come, take your choice of wine or milk—it’s all free!

Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?
    

Why pay for food that does you no good?


Listen to me, and you will eat what is good.
    

You will enjoy the finest food."

Isaiah 55:1-2 

Thankful for FRIENDS

This week on Studio 7 we talked about being thankful for our friends. I talked about my "Tribe" and I gave some tips for how to honor your friends this month as we give thanks for the many blessings in our lives. If you missed this week's episode of Studio 7, just click HERE to watch!  

Friends matter. They matter when you’re 5 years old and they matter when you’re 35, 55, and 85. Mama was right when she taught us to choose our friends wisely. There’s a proverb in the Bible that speaks to this principle. Even if you don’t believe in the Bible, you cannot deny the truth of this proverb, it says:

“Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion (friend) of fools suffers harm.” Proverbs 13:20

Pastor Craig Groeshcel says, “You show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.” That’s what this proverb means. Your friends have the influence to lead your life down a path – that’s why we need to evaluate our friendships and take time to be thankful for the ones that have stood the test of time and integrity.

Another proverb says : “A friend loves at all time and a brother/sister is born for a time of adversity (hardship, difficulty).” Proverbs 17:17

When you go to the hospital to have your first baby, you want your friends there. When you go to the funeral home, you also want those friends there to hold your hand. They are more than your friends, they are what I call my “Tribe.” They journey through life with me. They jump, scream and squeal in delight as my cheerleaders in the highlight moments of my life. And they hold my hand, weep with me and pass the Kleenex box when the heartbreak is too much to bear by myself.

So how do we say “THANK YOU” to our Tribal friends?

1.  Start simple: make a list of your five closest friends.

This sounds easier than it really is. We live in a FaceBook faux friendship world. You might have 1,000 FB friends and yet feel lonely. You're looking around saying to yourself, "I don't even have a friend to meet for lunch or to go to a movie with." This step of listing your five closest friends is more than just making another list, this is an evaluation of your relationships. Who is there for you? Do you need to open your heart up to meeting new friends? Let God reveal to you the truth of your 'friendship status' with people around you. 

2.  Next to each person’s name, write two or three of that person’s favorite things.

For example, my friend Lolly loves funny cards and ice cream. My friend Di loves all things leadership and all things inappropriate - we're soul sisters!

Set out to meet one or two of each person’s favorite things (i.e. I’ll send Lolly a funny card with a $10 gift card to baskin-robbins; I'll send Diana…well, uh, never mind.)

3.  GO THE EXTRA MILE:

Even if your friends’ favorite thing isn’t a card, hand write a card to your five Tribal friends telling them how much they mean to you and mail the cards. This isn’t a FB personal message or a text. This will take some time and effort. But your Tribal friends are worth the effort!

God uses the right people to lead us to the right mindsets and places in our lives. Your friends have probably helped bring you to where you are today…let them know you recognize them, value them and want to grow in relationship with them!

And Keep Going!

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Diana - sipping a mimosa on the morning of my wedding. She held my hand & prayed over me on my wedding day…and 7 weeks later she did the same thing when she helped me through my Dad's suicide. 

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Me & Lauren (aka, Lolly) sharing ice cream together when I visited her in FL after her second child was born. 

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Me & Jenni and our infamous sister pose. She & Di threw me a 30th birthday party…the theme was "Somewhere Over The Hill!" This Dorothy loving Kansas girl LOVED it!

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My only sister, Jenni, is my bestie for the restie. She is the best listener - and she's the LEAST judgmental person I've ever met. You can tell her ANYTHING and she won't think any different of you. She exhibits the true eyes of Jesus - that's the lens she looks through and that's why she doesn't judge, she just loves. 

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That time Di & my sister threw my surprise 30th birthday bash. Di is the most giving person I know. She'll do anything for anyone - even if you're not in her "Tribe". She will go the extra mile every single time! And she loves Jesus and the Word so much. She sharpens me. 

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Jessica (holding Karis), Jenni and Jennifer Wilson. Jennifer Wilson was the "new" friend who emerged following my Dad's death in 2005. She called every week just to ask me how I was & to share my experience with her - every week for two years. Now that's a friend!

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Who looks that gorgeous just a few weeks postpartum? Lauren, that's who! Lolly is the best wife and mom that I know. She has the true gift of putting her family in the priority place that God calls her to - and without whining or complaining about it (like I do a lot of the time). Lolly loves the church and is always pointing me to amazing sermons or books that keep my mind growing. Lolly stretches me! I love her for it!

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Gorgeous Jennifer Wilson - dang my friends are beauties! Jennifer is so godly. She is the strongest prayer warrior in my life. I love my JWow! (For the record, that makes ME Snooki)

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Jenni has held my hand and laughed and cried and looked into my eyes with that "I know. I'm here." for my entire life. We're gonna grow into old crazy ladies terrorizing the old people home. Going to "supper" at 3:45pm and probably forgetting our pants. But who cares. We'll sit and laugh and talk 'til midnight (6:45pm) every night. My soul sister. I HAVE to die before her b/c I can't live without her. 

P.S. Why do I look like a drag queen? And why are Jenni's arms so skinny? Some answers we'll just never get this side of heaven! 

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Jes & Di, circa 2006. Good grief - we spent our skinny years together. Along with our young years. 

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That time we went to Puerto Vallarta (and we got REALLY tan!). It's like Blonde Malibu Barbie and her friend, "Exotic and Ethnically Diverse" Barbie.

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Brad & Jes. Lauren & Daniel. We have more laughs with this couple! They keep up howling.  

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Di kissing my Emmy girl on Em's first birthday. It takes a village to raise a child! Di helps us so much. 

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Emery & Jennifer Wilson LOVE each other! Jenn gets a good laugh out of my strong-willed child. Glad SHE can laugh about it!

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Jenni is literally the funniest human being you'll ever meet in real life! She should be writing comedy for SNL!! This is Jenni mocking the "sexy selfie". 

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Could she be a more beautiful bride? If she had asked me to give her away, I couldn't have! Sorry, Jeremy, I'll share her, but she's still mine. 

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Jenni in a sweet-baby-sandwhich! Emmy loves her Nini. And Karis - don't you just wanna eat her up! 

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I love Di's curly wild hair - it is SO her! This day we were celebrating her graduation from nursing school. This wonder woman amazes me - she's seen it all, done it all and burned the t-shirts!

Fall into…THANKS

I want to give thanks for what God has done in my life. I grew up in a small baptist church singing, "Count your blessings, name them one by one.  Count your blessings see what God has done." It's the month of November and many of us are making it a social media "30 Days of Thanks". I love it. Corny? Who cares. I drive a minivan…I gave up caring what the popular kids think a long time ago! I embrace "corny."  

Looking back through the journals that I've written over the course of my life, I find that when I was in a funk, a depression, down, or sometimes just having a whiney-hormonal-pity-party, the thing that always brought me back "up" was when I began writing down the things I was thankful for. You can't stay down when you recognize how much you've been given. They say that "life is a party" and the great movie "Father of the Bride" taught us that, "Every party has a pooper, that's why we invited YOU!". 

Don't be the pooper at your own party.

When you feel like you're knee deep in a stinky sink hole, it's time to pull out your journal, instagram, twitter, or Facebook and begin chronicling the things you're thankful for. Count your blessings!

Today I'm most thankful that God saved me. He could have stopped there. But He didn't. He went on to give me even more. He's given me a wonderful, loving family and crazy awesome friends and opportunities that are out of this world. He's given me a man who is godly, loving, patient and forgiving - and this man loves me beyond anything I deserve.  He's given me a little mini-me (Emery Noel) who I can't take my eyes off of. She's perfect. I love everything about her because she was knit together in MY womb by the very hand of God. Wow. Blessed. Amazed. Thankful. Crying. Snorting. Laughing (at myself). 

I could go on and on for days…and I will…26 more, to be exact.  

I would love to follow YOUR '30 Days of Thanks' on twitter/intagram/facebook.

Leave me your "handles" in the "comments" section below and I will follow you through this month as you count your blessings. I'm excited to hear about what God has given you!

I invite you to follow MY '30 Days of Thanks': 

instagram: JujuPhillips

twitter: @churchladyjes

FaceBook: Jessica Johnson Phillips

Let's look at each other's lives and praise God for just how great He truly He.  

Giving was HIS idea first, after all! 

"God so loved the world that He GAVE His only Son that whosoever believes in Him will not die but will have eternal life."                                                                                         John 3:16