No other test I took in college changed my life like the MBTI personality test. I was just chatting with a friend today about how we both first took the MBTI during our college years. We both found it so freeing to discover that we are wired this way. And that's okay. Other people ... read more
When Do I Love Sermons Disguised As Novels?
“You’re going to love this one.”She said it every time she gave me a book.The first time I met Judy, we argued theology. She taught me about mothering—by example. She was there for my first home birth, encouraging me with every breath I took. Birthdays, holidays, and more births---our ... read more
5 Romance Novels I Will Want My Children to Read
I don’t remember when or where I was introduced to him, but it was love at first sight. Generally speaking, I don’t believe in love at first sight, but when it comes to books, it’s a different matter altogether... And George MacDonald’s tales definitely caught my heart, causing me to devour each ... read more
George MacDonald and the Quest for Scottish Oatcakes
Three years ago, I interviewed Michael Phillips about his lifework of reintroducing George MacDonald's writings to the world. Naturally, thinking and writing on the topic made me homesick for the familiar stories, and so I began to reread. While curled up in my Jerusalem home, vicariously roaming ... read more
Reviving the Work of George MacDonald
Michael Phillips is the author of at least 60 novels and 20 non-fiction books. A California native, he and his wife Judy raised three sons. They also ran their own press and bookshop, motivated largely by a desire to bring the works of the Scottish Victorian writer George MacDonald, the "Father of ... read more
Novels with Gems of the Father’s Truth
What does the fatherhood of God really signify? What does it mean to live as a child of God? How should the love of God influence my everyday life?Many Christians grapple with these questions as I have, and do. George MacDonald, the 19th century clergyman and writer, wrestled with these ... read more
Why C.S. Lewis Fans Should Not Ignore George MacDonald
I had just devoured The Chronicles of Narnia. I attacked a huge stack of books like they were the White Witch’s army. After reading all of them, I turned to my mom with quite a good deal of frustration. “They’re good books, but they’re not like Narnia at all!”Then my mom handed me a copy of The ... read more
George MacDonald: A Single Vision and An Open Road Between Him and God
"[Sir Gibbie] moved me the way books did when, as a child, the great gates of literature began to open and first encounters with noble thoughts and utterances were unspeakably thrilling." -Elizabeth Yates, in the introduction to her edited version of Sir Gibbie, 1963 I don’t remember a time when I ... read more
when you don’t feel like singleness is a gift
At several key points in my life, a book has come along just when I needed it. In the last few months, there have been two: my friend Natasha Metzler's Emma and the Reasons, and Kingdom Single by Tony Evans. Some books tell you that singleness is valuable, a gift even: these books helped me to feel ... read more
Novel Encouragement for Singles
Unexpected life-detours can be hard -- whether you thought you'd have ten children by now and you're not sure how to do this singleness thing, or you planned to be single for awhile and now you've lost your vision.As a thirty-something woman who is still waiting for marriage, what has made an ... read more
