Books to Help You Slow Down this Summer
When the pace of life speeds up, summer can offer an opportunity to slow down. Whether you're craving rest, seeking deeper spiritual rhythms, or simply longing to breathe a little more deeply, these books offer guidance to help you tap the brakes and reset your rhythms.
As Alan Fadling writes in A Year of Slowing Down:
“I hope you’ll come to believe that God has given us enough time for everything he’s given us to do. I pray that you’ll find growing freedom and courage to make time for that which matters most—to God and to you. I trust that you’ll come to discover that most things shouldn’t be hurried and some things simply can’t be.”
Keep reading to learn more about titles that invite you into this kind of unhurried living.
Transform Your Daily Routine into a Spiritual Retreat
At the Feet of Jesus: A Guide to Encountering Christ in the Gospels
At the Feet of Jesus was written to bring you into a deeper, more intimate relationship with Jesus, transforming your daily routine into a spiritual retreat with features like
- Prayerful Readings of Scripture: Engages you with the Word of God in a way that speaks directly to your heart.
- Personal and Group Retreat Guide: Perfect for individuals wanting a solitary retreat or groups looking to grow together in faith.
- Experiential Exercises: Thought-provoking activities that encourage you to encounter Jesus personally and profoundly.
“Convinced that we are made to see the face of God, Bruce and Carolyn Hindmarsh invite us to join them for a prayer retreat. What a privilege it is, as we take the place of Mary of Bethany, looking up in contemplation at our Lord. This immensely practical book centers on Jesus, encouraging us to use our memory and imagination, so that in him we may enter more deeply into the presence of God. The mature result of many years of spiritual guidance, At the Feet of Jesus is a sure guide for making your own personal or group retreat.”
—Hans Boersma, professor at Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin and author of Pierced by Love
A Return to “Island Time”
Live Slowly: A Gentle Invitation to Exhale
After leaving her childhood home on the island of Bonaire in the Caribbean, Jodi Grubbs had assumed the rapid pace and stress of city living in the States. Soon she realized God was bidding her to a return to the “island time” of her past. Evoking the gentle rhythms of Bonaire in the Caribbean, Jodi invites you to a life anchored by the forced pauses of spiritual practices and an openhandedness before God.
“If you need a slow-living guide—a guide out of the crush of noise and the exhausting speed of life—Jodi Grubbs is a gentle sage who has faced suffering and heartbreak. She shows us the road less traveled—into a far more meaningful life.”
—Ann Voskamp, author of One Thousand Gifts and The Broken Way
A Guide to More “Selah Moments”
Radical Relaxation: Releasing the Stress You Were Never Meant to Carry
Stress is not just a fleeting feeling; it's a silent disruptor, quietly eroding your peace, your health, and your capacity to enjoy life as you know it. Crafted by, holistic nurse educator and wellness consultant Tracie Braylock, Radical Relaxation is your pathway to healing and liberation from the trappings of stress through the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of John.
“Tracie Braylock offers protective care for spirit, soul, and body. In her book Radical Relaxation, she undergirds professional knowledge, spiritual practices, and self-care with God's Word and transformative prayers. She graciously invites the reader into a guided tour that is designed to release stress through healing, rest, and relaxation. She comprehensively guides the participant to intentional Selah moments.”
—Barbara L. Peacock, Founder of Peacock Soul Care and author of Soul Care in African American Practice
In Search of an Unhurried Life
A Year of Slowing Down: Daily Devotions for Unhurried Living
With the overwhelming pace of life, many of us struggle to stop long enough to be present. Our long to-do lists and full calendars leave little breathing room to hear from God. We know we need to slow down but we don't even know how to begin. Designed to help you center your day around God's loving presence, A Year of Slowing Down offers six devotionals for each week of the year.
“If anyone could take five minutes of your time and turn it into a retreat, it’s Alan Fadling. As I read the daily devotionals in A Year of Slowing Down, I found myself drawn into the selah of the psalmist, the richness of God’s Word, the whisper of Holy Spirit, and the pace of Jesus. In each reading you’re sitting down with a soul friend who has a simple way of chatting with you that feels easy and relaxing. Then, all of a sudden, profound insights rain down from heaven and wash your heart and soul with the smile of God. These holy moments can flood your soul with Jesus' living waters and overflow from you into the lives of the people around you.”
—Bill Gaultiere, psychologist and author of Journey of the Soul
Slow Down to Develop New Habits as a Family
The Common Rule Youth Edition: Growing Your Faith in a Distracted World
The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction
Adults read through The Common Rule while the young people in their lives engage similar themes in The Common Rule Youth Edition. Together you start new habits, ones that allow you to disengage from technology, establish new routines, and develop a rule of life that transforms your everyday moments into a rhythm of peace and purpose.
“When someone asks how you’re doing and you always find yourself answering, ‘So busy and crazy,’ it might be time for a change. The Common Rule offers practical wisdom on how to slowly but deliberately restructure our lives, and it shows us that when we embrace limitations, we paradoxically gain the freedom we long for.”
—John Dyer, author of From the Garden to the City: The Redeeming and Corrupting Power of Technology
Trade in Your Hustle
A Spacious Life: Trading Hustle and Hurry for the Goodness of Limits
“We hurry through life, militating against our limits, strictures, and guardrails, yet we find ourselves miserable and exhausted. We kick off constraints, doing whatever we want, all in the name of freedom, and remain deeply dissatisfied. Joy and contentment elude us. In A Spacious Life, Ashley Hales draws us to ancient truths: it's within our limits, the life that God has given us, that we flourish. Trying to escape our humanity to be superhuman, unfettered and unencumbered by the quotidian, leads to destruction. Hales, in her inimitable way, deftly and wisely details the path to a spacious life. It is the way of Jesus, the way of wisdom. The way for us. This book hospitably offers an invitation to that sort of life. May we receive it.”
—Marlena Graves, author of The Way Up Is Down
