On National Book Lover’s Day – I wanted to share some of the books that have shaped my writing…
Sometimes, you read a book and it remains with you long after the last page has turned; more often that not these books for me are ones I can’t read without a pen and notebook next to me. Here are a few quotes from these books – the ones that have left their mark on me and on my writing.
Wounded Healer, Henri Nouwen,
“When our wounds cease to be a source of shame, and become a source of healing, we have become wounded healers.”
Wasted, Marya Hornbacher
“Bear in mind you have a life to live. There is an incredible loss. There is a profound grief. And there is, in the end, after a long time and more work than you ever thought possible, a time when it gets easier.”
Finding God in the Ruins, Matt Bays
“To find our redemption, we must be willing to visit the scene of the crime and, unimaginably, stay there for a while. It will take some time to survey the damage to sit in the ruins with God and acknowledge its full impact on our lives. But if we are ever to take our power back, this necessary evil must be part of our journey.”
The Harry Potter Series
“Numbing the pain for a while only makes it worse when you finally feel it.”
Rejoicing with Lament, J Todd Billings
“When worship expresses only “victory,” it can unintentionally suggest that the broken and the lonely and the hurting have no place here. The message can be, “If you want to fit in, first get your emotions in order so that you can be positive, and then go to worship.” But the Psalms help show us that bottling up or trying to “fix” those emotions ourselves is not the right way.”
Rachael Newham 
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