Walking in joy often feels crazy and like a denial of actual life. Yet Christians are called to "be joyful always" (1 Thess. 5:16). What does this mean, and how is it even possible?

From the time we’re little girls, we long to be loved and accepted—from the playground to the lunchroom to the places where we live and work as grown women. We do our best to prove we’re lovable and to avoid being left all alone. But the truth is that it’s impossible to walk through life without experiencing the pain and loneliness of betrayal, shame, guilt, loss, judgment, or rejection. These wounds can shape our views of ourselves, others, and God and even make us question if we are worthy of love and acceptance.

The wondrous power of books is that they have the ability to change us. They may in turn inspire, encourage, and equip us to do good things. The right one may provide its reader with exactly what she needs to take that next step, to walk through that door God has opened for her.

With so much of the world distracted by Netflix, social media, and the Internet, it can be hard to see the appeal of sitting down with a good old-fashioned book. We have become a society obsessed with getting everything done fast, and because reading can take up a lot of time, it’s not always easy to stop and devote time to it.