Ten Books on My Bookshelf I Randomly Pointed To

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. This week's topic is Top Ten Random Books on My Bookshelf.

1. The Seventh Sun (The Age of the Seventh Sun, # 1) by Lani Forbes
2. Sempre: Redemption (Sempre, # 2) by JM Darhower
3. When Calls the Heart (Canadian West, # 1) by Janette Oaks
4. Beyond Boundaries by Dr John Townsend
5. Sunkissed by Kasie West
6. A Girl Named Samson by Amy Harmon
7. Just Enough Light for the Step I'm On by Stormie Omartian
8. House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, # 1) by Sarah J Maas
9. Give Me a Sign by Anna Sorinto
10. A Wicked and Beautiful Garden (Witches of the Island, # 1) by Katie McGarry

Point to some random books on your shelves and let me know what's on there!

Boundaries with Kids - Review

Boundaries with Kids: How Healthy Choices Grow Healthy Children

By: Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend

Publication: November 1st 2001 by Zondervan

224 pages

Genre: Non-fiction, Self-Help, Parenting, Christian, Psychology

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Keys for establishing healthy boundaries--the bedrock of good relationships, maturity, safety, and growth for children and adults.

To help their children grow into healthy adults, parents need to teach them how to take responsibility for their behavior, their values, and their lives. The authors of the Gold Medallion Award-winning book Boundaries bring their biblically-based principles to bear on the challenging task of child rearing, showing parents:
* how to bring control to an out-of-control family life
* how to set limits and still be loving parents
* how to define legitimate boundaries for the family
* how to instill in children a godly character

I read Boundaries 6 or 7 years ago and rated it 5 Stars. It was so good that I think every human being should read it. And that's exactly how I felt about Boundaries with Kids! 5 bazillion stars!!!! And every parent, teacher, grandparent, every person who is around children in an authority position. Really just everyone.

Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend take biblical principals like reaping what we sow, honesty, and love first. As a matter of fact, the doctors' constant push to keep love and empathy first was a huge plus for me. Everything about being a parent, raising your child, and disciplining is about the love we have for our children. I think so many parents have trouble setting boundaries because we love our children, but the way the doctors present the importance of setting boundaries shows just how loving it is to do this for your children.

The doctors often mention that consequences of setting boundaries for children are much less than when our children grow up without having boundaries and they have trouble with marriages or careers when they're adults. When you're looking at the big picture, the long term effects, setting boundaries is essential. And from what I can tell it is largely missing from entire generations and this isn't getting any better. Which makes the need for parents to read this book even more important.

You guys I highlighted 392 times in this 224-page book. I couldn't share my favorite quotes with you guys if I wanted to. But perhaps one of the biggest compliments that I can give this book is that I plan to turn around and re-read this book and potentially re-read it several times over the next eighteen years. I enjoyed reading Boundaries with Kids because I was excited about the changes I could implement in my parenting to improve my relationship with my child (my daughter is 3 and my son is 1 so we're not too much into parenting difficulties with him...but we'll get there). I wanted to return to this book if I needed to put it down. And I couldn't stop talking about it to everyone in my real life--even people who don't have kids or are now grandparents and not currently raising their own kids.

I wish so much that I could give you guys a proper review of this book. I plan to give it as a gift to all of my friends as each of them becomes a parent. I'm going to push Boundaries with Kids on anyone who is willing. This book deserves all the stars I can give it. A hearty, enthusiastic, re-readable 5 Star book! Have you read Boundaries with Kids? What did you think? Let me know!

Boundaries - Review

Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life

By: Henry Cloud & John Townsend

Published: October 20th 1992 by Zondervan Publishing Company (first published January 1st 1992)

314 pages

Genre: Nonfiction, Self Help, Christian, Psychology

Source: Personal Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Having clear boundaries is essential to a healthy, balanced lifestyle. A boundary is a personal property line that marks those things for which we are responsible. In other words, boundaries define who we are and who we are not. Boundaries impact all areas of our lives: . Physical boundaries help us determine who may touch us and under what circumstances. Mental boundaries give us the freedom to have our own thoughts and opinions. Emotional boundaries help us to deal with our own emotions and disengage from the harmful, manipulative emotions of others. Spiritual boundaries help us to distinguish God's will from our own and give us renewed awe for our Creator. Often, Christians focus so much on being loving and unselfish that they forget their own limits and limitations. When confronted with their lack of boundaries, they ask: Can I set limits and still be a loving person? What are legitimate boundaries? What if someone is upset or hurt by my boundaries? How do I answer someone who wants my time, love, energy or money? Aren't boundaries selfish? Why do I feel guilty or afraid when I consider setting boundaries?

Not in my normal genre so I can't give this 5 Stars...SCREW THAT!!!! 5 Stars, 5 Stars, 5 Stars! 100 Stars if I could give 100 stars! *Sigh* Oh well, 5 Stars it is.

This is a book that every human being alive or dead should be required to read. Christian or Non-Christian alike. Yes, Cloud and Townsend relate the idea of boundaries to God. However, this idea of boundaries and how we apply them to ourselves and other people is universal. And it blew my mind. I never thought about this idea of boundaries and I have already been working since reading this book on establishing strong, clear, Biblical boundaries with myself and others.

I can see boundaries everywhere now. Perhaps just as easily seen as established boundaries are the lack thereof. And even though I have only just begun practicing better boundaries, and I have by no means "arrived," it's so easy for me to see where others could benefit from establishing their own boundaries.

And as with anything else, because this is truly the way God intended things to be, it is so easy to see how much better life would be with properly established boundaries.

I truly want to thank these authors for breaking this down for anyone and everyone who might take the time to read this book. And I want to thank my friend, Kay, for introducing me to this book and opening up a whole new world to me. I will say that I will be investing in the other books they have written on boundaries (Boundaries in Marriage, Boundaries with Kids, Boundaries with Teens, etc.).

I really don't know what else to say about it. Honestly, this is one of those books that I could probably go on and on and on about, but I'd just end up repeating myself. Only other thing I'll say on the subject of this book (other than YOU MUST READ THIS!!!) is that it's totally okay to take your time with this book. Read it slowly, soak it in. You'll be glad that you did.

Have you read Boundaries? What did you think? Let me know!

Updated: January 31, 2015