What do you think?
Rate this book
A Renewed Spirituality: Finding Fresh Paths at Midlife
Need something new?Midlife brings changes, responsibilities, losses. Meanwhile, in your personal walk with God, things may have become ho-hum. Can God meet you if you take a new and fresh path? He surely can!Lynne Baab writes, "At midlife one of our tasks is to discover patterns of living that will endure through the second half of our lives and give us pleasure, joy and connection with God in new ways." She introduces us to six time-tested patterns of spiritual discipline, showing how they may help us combat spiritual restlessness and ennui, helping us find fresh paths for the years ahead. Each chapter ends with thought-provoking questions for reflection, helping you to deepen your understanding of your own needs and what God is calling you to in the days ahead.In A Renewed Spirituality, you'll read aboutCeltic Christian God's presence in everyday A gift from God that calls us to Learning to Rest in GodBenedictine Worshiping in ordinary lifeFrom Head to Experiencing God's truth through creativity and beautyContemplative Letting God speak through Scripture and silenceMidlife can be an exciting season--a time of discovery and new beginnings. Join Lynne Baab to explore new patterns of prayer and spiritual discipline to foster your continued growth!
- GenresNonfictionSpirituality
208 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2002
About the author
Lynne M. Baab
29 books10 followersI was born in Washington, DC, and moved at 18 months to Athens, Greece. That would be the first of 12 moves in my first 15 years. My dad was in the military. Two of the few constants in my life were church attendance and reading.
As a kid I loved Nancy Drew, the Little House on the Prairie books, and the Moomin books by Tove Jansson. Probably my most favorite were the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace. Betsy was so sure she would be a writer when she grew up, and I thought I'd like to do that too.
My writing career began in earnest at midlife. I've read a lot of biographies of writers, and they seem either to start young (like Georgette Heyer who wrote her first book as a teenager) or at midlife. I did write a couple magazine articles in my twenties and a couple more in my thirties, but I started focusing on writing in my late thirties.
It took me a year to write my first short story ("A Garden of Living Water," the title story in my collection of short stories published for kindle). in my late thirties, I wrote a handful of short stories, mostly focused on themes of "what am I going to be after being a stay at home mom"). In my early forties, I wrote four novels. I have recently published two of them for kindle ("Dead Sea" and "Deadly Murmurs").
I was 45 when I got my first book contract (for "Personality Type in Congregations"). More books followed every year or two after that. Every one of them is precious to me. Equally precious are the three Bible study guides I wrote, for which my husband, Dave, did the background research into each biblical passage. It was fun to work with him. My Bible study guides are "Sabbath," "Prayers of the New Testament," and "Prayers of the Old Testament."
My strongest selling books are "Sabbath Keeping" (which has been chosen to be a "book of the day" at the Urbana Conference December 2018), "Fasting," and "Personality Type in Congregation." My latest book focuses on Christian care, "Nurturing Hope." It's the first book I've ever been asked to write, and it's the "anchor volume" for a series of books on pastoral care.
Dave and I live in Seattle, and our two sons live here, too. One of them is married and the father of our beloved granddaughter. Our other son is a journalist with the Huffington Post, writing long and interesting articles using the pen name Michael Hobbes. It's easy to find his articles online because they are read by millions of readers. It is a thrill to have a writer son with such a big audience.
The topics of my books continue to be very real in my own life. I keep a weekly Sabbath, and I engage in a variety of Christian spiritual practices. I try to care for the people God puts in my path.
Thanks for reading my books. I am deeply aware of the privilege of being a writer, and writers depend on readers. Please visit my website where I blog every week: lynnebaab.com.
As a kid I loved Nancy Drew, the Little House on the Prairie books, and the Moomin books by Tove Jansson. Probably my most favorite were the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace. Betsy was so sure she would be a writer when she grew up, and I thought I'd like to do that too.
My writing career began in earnest at midlife. I've read a lot of biographies of writers, and they seem either to start young (like Georgette Heyer who wrote her first book as a teenager) or at midlife. I did write a couple magazine articles in my twenties and a couple more in my thirties, but I started focusing on writing in my late thirties.
It took me a year to write my first short story ("A Garden of Living Water," the title story in my collection of short stories published for kindle). in my late thirties, I wrote a handful of short stories, mostly focused on themes of "what am I going to be after being a stay at home mom"). In my early forties, I wrote four novels. I have recently published two of them for kindle ("Dead Sea" and "Deadly Murmurs").
I was 45 when I got my first book contract (for "Personality Type in Congregations"). More books followed every year or two after that. Every one of them is precious to me. Equally precious are the three Bible study guides I wrote, for which my husband, Dave, did the background research into each biblical passage. It was fun to work with him. My Bible study guides are "Sabbath," "Prayers of the New Testament," and "Prayers of the Old Testament."
My strongest selling books are "Sabbath Keeping" (which has been chosen to be a "book of the day" at the Urbana Conference December 2018), "Fasting," and "Personality Type in Congregation." My latest book focuses on Christian care, "Nurturing Hope." It's the first book I've ever been asked to write, and it's the "anchor volume" for a series of books on pastoral care.
Dave and I live in Seattle, and our two sons live here, too. One of them is married and the father of our beloved granddaughter. Our other son is a journalist with the Huffington Post, writing long and interesting articles using the pen name Michael Hobbes. It's easy to find his articles online because they are read by millions of readers. It is a thrill to have a writer son with such a big audience.
The topics of my books continue to be very real in my own life. I keep a weekly Sabbath, and I engage in a variety of Christian spiritual practices. I try to care for the people God puts in my path.
Thanks for reading my books. I am deeply aware of the privilege of being a writer, and writers depend on readers. Please visit my website where I blog every week: lynnebaab.com.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 8, 2013
Baab renews my desire to redevelop spiritual disciplines which will reconnect me with God, with my inner longings beyond current health issues, and with nature. A quote from Kathleen Fischer's book, Winter Grace, "Life is lived in communion from the beginning." reminds me to get out among others more often. I highly recommend this book for anyone entering midlife.
October 31, 2011
A truly wonderful book that helped me greatly. I highly recommend it for all believers approaching or at midlife.
December 22, 2018
I stumbled on this book on a search in Google Play and, since I'm in midlife, it seemed a good fit. And it was. I enjoyed the effort to combine a discussion of the psychological peculiarities of this phase of life with spiritual insights into how one can adapt and even further one's spiritual life to the unique insights of this time.
Ms. Baab starts the book with an examination of the experience of middle age, defined by her as roughly 35-55 years old. Her analysis is a pretty comprehensive one and fairly nuanced. I particularly appreciated her recognition that many of us have delayed having children, so are experiencing the joys and challenges of child rearing at rather an older age than our parents.
Her discussion of the spiritual life leads her to a discussion of various forms of contemplative spirituality- ranging from an appreciation of nature and art to Celtic spirituality to Benedictine spirituality. I appreciated the discussion of these threads because an attraction to these forms of spiritual expression have become an important element of my own experience. Ms Baab keeps away from telling her readers what will work for them, for the excellent reason that what does work differs from person to person.
This is a useful book because it is a gentle guide through these years. I appreciated the mingling of personal stories and psychological insights with the spiritual traditions.
Ms. Baab starts the book with an examination of the experience of middle age, defined by her as roughly 35-55 years old. Her analysis is a pretty comprehensive one and fairly nuanced. I particularly appreciated her recognition that many of us have delayed having children, so are experiencing the joys and challenges of child rearing at rather an older age than our parents.
Her discussion of the spiritual life leads her to a discussion of various forms of contemplative spirituality- ranging from an appreciation of nature and art to Celtic spirituality to Benedictine spirituality. I appreciated the discussion of these threads because an attraction to these forms of spiritual expression have become an important element of my own experience. Ms Baab keeps away from telling her readers what will work for them, for the excellent reason that what does work differs from person to person.
This is a useful book because it is a gentle guide through these years. I appreciated the mingling of personal stories and psychological insights with the spiritual traditions.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews