1372 ratings (3.26 avg)
870 reviews
Goodreads librarian
more photos (4)

Melissa

http://clothedwithscarlet.blogspot.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/hismercysurrounding

Melissa’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (4364)
currently-reading‎ (55)
read‎ (1400)
christian-fiction‎ (1592)
historical-fiction‎ (1255)
christian-nonfiction‎ (1099)
books-i-own‎ (870)
childrens‎ (586)
romance‎ (479)
history-nonfiction‎ (456)
biographies-and-autobiographies‎ (452)
mysteries‎ (395)

wwii‎ (366)
theology-and-apologetics‎ (308)
kindle‎ (225)
nonfiction‎ (225)
classics‎ (195)
memoirs‎ (190)
classics-for-children‎ (170)
general-fiction‎ (137)
books-my-family-owns‎ (136)
civil-war‎ (120)
suspense‎ (120)
writing-help‎ (113)

adventure‎ (108)
relationship-guides‎ (104)
christian-classics‎ (99)
art-and-photography‎ (97)
animal-focused‎ (96)
bible-based-fiction‎ (91)
wishlist‎ (83)
poetry‎ (74)
favorites‎ (69)
evangelism‎ (65)
from-dads-library‎ (64)
westerns‎ (64)

favorite-covers‎ (62)
young-adult‎ (61)
homemaking-and-womanhood‎ (60)
homeschooled-authors‎ (56)
spiritual-thriller-or-fantasy‎ (55)
amish-and-mennonite‎ (52)
fantasy‎ (51)
decorating‎ (46)
music-and-lyrics‎ (46)
puritan-works‎ (45)
first-person‎ (39)
food‎ (37)

Stats | More…

Melissa is Currently Reading

Melissa is currently reading

Crafting a Rule of Life: An Invitation to the Well-Ordered Way

by Stephen A. Macchia

bookshelves: currently-reading, christian-nonfiction

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

13 hours, 11 min ago

Melissa is currently reading

The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God

by Timothy J. Keller

bookshelves: relationship-guides, christian-nonfiction, books-i-own, currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Melissa said: " Quotes found while reading:

"Marriage used to be a public institution for the common good, and now it is a private arrangement for the satisfaction of the individuals. Marriage used to be about us, but now it is about me. But ironically, this newer vi Quotes found while reading:

"Marriage used to be a public institution for the common good, and now it is a private arrangement for the satisfaction of the individuals. Marriage used to be about us, but now it is about me. But ironically, this newer view of marriage actually puts a crushing burden of expectation on marriage and on spouses in a way that more traditional understandings never did. And it leaves us desperately trapped between both unrealistic longings for and terrible fears about marriage."

"Marriage brings you into more intense proximity to another human being than any other relationship can. Therefore, the moment you marry someone, you and your spouse begin to change in profound ways, and you can’t know ahead of time what those changes will be. So you don’t know, you can’t know, who your spouse will actually be in the future until you get there."

"In verses 22–24, Paul says, controversially, that wives should submit to their husbands. Immediately, however, he tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church and “gave himself up for her” (25), which is, if anything, a stronger appeal to abandon self-interest than was given to the woman. As we shall see, each of these exhortations has a distinct shape—they are not identical tasks. And yet each partner is called to sacrifice for the other in far-reaching ways. Whether we are husband or wife, we are not to live for ourselves but for the other. And that is the hardest yet single most important function of being a husband or a wife in marriage."

"What he is saying is this: A servant puts someone else’s needs ahead of his or her own. That is how all believers should live with each other. And if all believers are to serve each other in this way, how much more intentionally and intensely should husbands and wives have this attitude toward one another?"

"All people need to be treated gently and respectfully, especially those who have been wounded. They will be unusually sensitive to rough handling. Nevertheless, all people must be challenged to see that their self-centeredness hasn’t been caused by the people who hurt them; it’s only been aggravated by the abuse. And they must do something about it, or they’re going to be miserable forever."

"You should stop making excuses for selfishness, you should begin to root it out as it’s revealed to you, and you should do so regardless of what your spouse is doing. If two spouses each say, “I’m going to treat my self-centeredness as the main problem in the marriage,” you have the prospect of a truly great marriage." ...more "

Oct 30, 2025 09:49PM · see review

Melissa is currently reading

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War

by Erik Larson (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading, civil-war, history-nonfiction, audio

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Sep 22, 2025 09:29PM

See all 55 books that Melissa is reading…

Melissa’s Notes & Highlights

Book cover for Sweet Dreams Christian Romance Box Set: Books 1-3

Sweet Dreams Christian Romance Box Set: Books 1-3 by Alana Terry

1 highlight

“I thought I knew the Lord,” Grandma Lucy said, “but I was still living by the set of rules others had told me made up the Christian life. I was still acting as if I could earn my way into God’s grace by the good things I did. Even as a ...more

Reader and 1 other person liked this

Melissa’s Quotes

“If we regularly ponder the depth of our own sinfulness, like the woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears, and consider the greater depth of God's forgiveness, we will grow in our love for him. It is when we forget God's benefits that our hearts become proud. If we are not careful, we who have been forgiven much can act like those who think they have been forgiven little and, consequently, become slow to forgive others who sin against us.”
― Paul Tautges, Pray about Everything: Cultivating God-Dependency

tags: forgiveness, sin

0 likes

“We take things God has given us to point us to him, and we try to make them hold the living water only he can carry for us. We turn gifts into gods. And as the world watches our life—how we spend our free time, what we talk about, where we spend our money—they will know where our heart lives (Matt. 6:21). God will too.”
― Marshall Segal, Not Yet Married: The Pursuit of Joy in Singleness and Dating

tags: christian, gifts, idolatry, time

0 likes

“We might call it resting, but too often it looks, smells, and sounds a lot like we’re wasting our singleness—at least it did for me sometimes.”
― Marshall Segal, Not Yet Married: The Pursuit of Joy in Singleness and Dating

tags: singleness, wasting-time

0 likes

“Life is short. You and everyone around you will live, on average, a little more than seventy years. That will feel like less than a bathroom break compared with the eternity ahead of us. Everything in the world is teaching you to stretch out every moment as long as possible, to soak up every last drop from your time here on earth. But you weren’t made for this, and you won’t be here long. We have to stop believing the lie that everything we have here is all we have, and start thinking of everything we have here as something to invest in what’s to come. If the whole world passed away today, would we love what’s left? We develop those spiritual muscles now by saying, with everything we have and do now, that Jesus is our greatest treasure. Life is short, and everything we have and see here is passing away. Everything but Jesus.”
― Marshall Segal, Not Yet Married: The Pursuit of Joy in Singleness and Dating

2 likes

“Drink and eat, work and play, date and marry in ways that strive to win the world for Jesus. Invite them into the overwhelming, life-changing love you’ve found. Whatever you do, do it to say something about what God has done for you and about how much he means to you. Don’t do anything just to do it, just to fit in and follow the world’s script for your life. Let all of your life—your waiting, your dating, your wanting—be brought up into the purpose God had for you when he made you, weaving you together with love in your mother’s womb (Ps. 139:13). Build your life on his love and make your purpose his glory.”
― Marshall Segal, Not Yet Married: The Pursuit of Joy in Singleness and Dating

tags: christian, inspirational

0 likes

More of Melissa’s quotes…