After I blogged over here, I realized I’m loving two other books for the New Year. They are more for the nurturing part of each of us. I read or listen to snippets of these two books every day or every few days. I was going to add them to that list, and change it to “7 Things to Watch or Read” but decided these two books deserve a blog post of their own.

So the one above, by Emily Freeman, is based on a perspective of a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All the stories come from Jesus visiting different homes in the New Testament. I just love Emily’s YouTube channel about the scriptures to go with Come, Follow Me, so I knew I would love this book. (I’m also looking forward to reading her latest one here.)

Basically, in this book, she takes 12 stories of Jesus visiting homes, draws out a theme/principle from that story, then puts that story with a celebration to have in your home. For the celebration, she suggests a recipe for yummy food to draw your family to the table, with discussion questions based on the principle. Then you conclude the discussion with a family goal. You can get some free printables relating to this book here.

I’m listening to this one as an audiobook through my public library’s Libby app. Sally and her co-writer, daughter Sarah, just have such a comforting way with words. She talks about rituals, books, movies, and other things to enjoy with your family, to make even blah January warm and inviting. It’s just so wonderful to think about creating magic and wonder every month of the year, not just for December! You can view her lists of recipes, books, and movies here. Look on the left for her phrases of “to view,” “to listen,” “to watch,” and “family time.” Like Emily, she has related books. You can see those here.

We are blessed with so many amazing resources to be inspiring moms!

The video below has excerpts, especially about the month of January.