4 Books To Read For the College Freshman Girl

     Or if your a freshman in highschool, or a senior in college. These are four books that I think no matter your age they can each hold such incredible truths that girls of all ages need to hear.


1. COLLEGE: Real + Relatable Devotionals For Every College Girl  by Jordan Lee

    
        First off, I love Jordan Lee. If you haven't ever heard of her blog it's Soul Scripts, and it's absolutely amazing. This devotional is pretty much guidebook for any girl heading off into college. It's packed with mini devotionals on every topic (Stress, Boys, Partying, Friends, Distractions, Comparison...) for you to dive through.
      Also, for the girl who's maybe thinking of starting a bible study with the girl sin her dorm or a group of friends she has this book with the added Leader Guide that helps you to navigate how to use the book for a bible study and tips on how to start and lead one as well.


2. Every Young Woman's Battle by Shannon Ethridge & Stephen Arterburn

      So I first picked up this one in 9th grade and let me just say it wrecked my world. I had grown up in a church culture that only brought up sexual temptations to guys (and gossip was for the girls). Being thrown into a world that glorifies sex, I wasn't prepared or ready to fight those temptations as a girl since no one had taught me how.
      This book helps to shine light on how even girls face sexual temptations, how we aren't alone in our struggle, and how we can fight the temptations that come our way. Whether thats in feeling pressured to do more with your boyfriend than you know is right or having a deep desire to experience love and finding that through romance novels. It's a book that I wish they talked about more openly to girls in church, cause if I had known how to fight the temptations that came my way and had known that I wasn't alone in my struggle I would of been able to skip over a lot of shame, hurt, and regret that I had growing up.

3. The Chase by Kyle & Kelsey Kupecky

     At first glance I know the book can seem a little cheesy, but once you get past that initial feeling Kyle & Kelsey really unpack how to trust God with your love story. It's so easy to want to take matters into your own hands and rush into a relationship just so you can have a boyfriend, but they both explain how by allowing God to take control of their "happily ever after" they both ended up finding someone who was so much better and more mazing than they could of ever imagined they would find.

4. Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions  by Lysa Terkeurst 

      At reading the first couple of pages I realized that I am such an unglued girl. One who allows my emotions to control my responses. Who lets my feelings dictate my life instead of just indicating that theres a situation I need to deal with. Lysa identifies the four types of reaction we all tend to have with different people, and how we are too combat each one. Allowing ourselves to realize we have control over how we respond to situations that come our way, and not just accepting the label that we are unglued.


    For some of you, you may not be a big reader or it seems to take you a millions years to finish one book, but I would highly recommend that you pick at least one of the books above. Whichever one that seems to really be speaking to what your struggling with right now and just take this next year to read it. Each one of them have impacted me in such amazing ways to really take a deeper look at myself and my struggles. Teaching me practical ways on how to fight temptations, learn patience while waiting, keep my emotions in check, and just read about what the Bible says about different topics.

  - Rachel