8 Books Lighting my Path (Sugar Sober Series)

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October 23, 2014 by Beth Hess

I usually am reading multiple books at a time.

And by multiple I mean 5 or 6 or more that I have an actively moving bookmark in.

Here are a few that have been stirring my soul during the month of October. You will undoubtedly be reading more about the ways these have impacted me.

And can I just say how much I LOVE that only a few of them are directly related to food, sugar, or addiction, but they ALL have been speaking life into my journey. God is SO COOL like that!

• Finding Spiritual Whitespace, Bonnie Gray
  Go Buy This Book! Seriously. I will wait here while you click the Amazon link (cover photo) and order it. There is no possible way for me to share a singular favorite quote (though I’ll try) because this ENTIRE book is overflowing with the stunning truth that hard, hard things, when covered with God’s grace, become our most beautiful stories. That the birth pains are no match for the glory of who God is in the active process of creating us to be. That the path to real spiritual rest is riddled with holes that only Jesus can fill. And that HE DOES! “When we make room for spiritual whitespace, we step into the beautiful journey of letting go to discover what’s really worth holding on to. To slow. To savor a moment. To enjoy a conversation. And renew an intimacy … When we step into whitespace, we are no longer holding onto our old ways of coping, managing, and doing. We are only holding on to Jesus. He’s there. Even though I don’t want to go there. In the whitespaces. Our soul awakens. To rest. With him.”
  

 

• The Unmistakable Touch of Grace, Cheryl Richardson
  I have read and enjoyed several books by this author. Though she sometimes takes a more universal spiritual approach than my faith affords, many of her insights are right on. I couldn’t help but pick up a book featuring my 2014 Word of the Year: Grace. And it did not disappoint to remind me of all the little and big ways His grace surrounds me moment by moment. “I don’t know how or why it works but for some reason, whenever I let go of old things, better things come into my life.”

 

• The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous
  After finally recognizing my sugar and food habits as addictive, and coming to terms with the word Sober, I have stepped into the world of OA by reading more on its positions and powerful tools. Perhaps my very favorite thing about it is the use of the PAST tense in each of the 12 steps. Speaking of them as already done, victories already won, freedom already attained, gives me a real sense of doability and hope.

 

 

• Let Your Life Speak, Parker J. Palmer
  This little book is deceivingly rich. I picked it up as part of an online book club with the thought that it might help direct me towards the ultimate calling for my career path. I should not have been surprised God would use it to speak into my addiction as well. “We will become better teachers not by trying to fill the potholes in our souls but by knowing them so well that we can avoid falling into them.”

 

• The Giver, Lois Lowry
  Skip the movie and read the book. A fascinating look at a culture where feelings are talked about but not FELT and everyone is placed in the community based on their usefulness. This was one of the first cracks in my wall towards remembering how to feel and see beauty and come to life again.

 

• Hope for the Hollow, Jena Morrow
  “Recovery itself cannot be the goal. Actually, it is too vague. Recovery isn’t the prize; it’s the key to prizes yet unknown.” — This 30-day guide asks a lot of important questions and provides so much encouragement with stories of those in various stages of recovery mixed with a daily scripture.

• The Papa Prayer, Larry Crabb
  It’s a book on prayer. And a powerful one at that. The kind that must be read slowly and absorbed layer by layer. And yet even here, I find words such as these: “Remaining in Christ means that we consciously, every day, value Him as our source of life and stop demanding anyone (or, I add, anything) else fill us up.”

 

• It Starts with Food, Dallas & Melissa Hartwig
  “If at any point you begin to doubt your ability to make these changes in your own life, we want you to remember one very important thing: You’ve already begun.” I first read this book in April but it’s been an important foundation for this recovery path. A fascinating (but not too sciencey) look at how the body uses (and abuses) food. Prompted me to do the Whole 30 in May. And while I abandoned many of its principles in the months that followed, those that have stuck do put me in a better position than I was before.

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In response to the 31 Day blogging challenge, I will be publishing EVERY DAY in October while I stay sugar-free. You can read previous posts HERE. To be alerted to new posts, please follow me on Facebook or Twitter using the links on the right side of this page. Or Subscribe to get posts sent to your Email. Feel free to Tweet your own experiences with #sugarsoberoctober as well.

PLEASE use the comment section to share your own thoughts, questions, or experiences. Like any road, sugar sobriety is one more easily walked with friends. I do my best to reply to every comment.