Whatever Is Excellent with Leanne Tuggle
Encouragement and Inspiration for women choosing to rise above the “just survive” mentality and instead set their mind on thriving in all that they say and do. The ultimate goal is to equip you to pursue whatever is excellent in the midst of your ordinary life and in all that you say and do.
Whatever Is Excellent with Leanne Tuggle
45: Minds Filled with Excellence - For the Love of Reading
Reading has always held a special place in my heart—so much so that I joke with friends that one reason I had children was to have someone to read aloud to! But beyond those cozy moments under blankets with classic stories, reading serves as a cornerstone for spiritual growth, family connection, and character development.
At its foundation, reading begins with Scripture. "The book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night," reminds us that God's Word must be our primary text. For nearly twelve years, I've maintained a simple habit of reading one chapter from a nonfiction book daily, expanding my understanding of faith, marriage, parenting, and leadership. This accessible practice—just one chapter—has transformed my life while strengthening my ability to discern truth in a world increasingly dominated by fleeting content.
Family read-aloud time creates some of our most treasured memories. We've cried with Wilbur when Charlotte died, celebrated Aslan's return, and my children regularly reenact scenes from our current books. These shared literary journeys provide natural opportunities to discuss character and worldview through a biblical lens. Rather than simply providing approved reading lists, I've found teaching children to evaluate content themselves yields greater discernment. The joy comes in watching them make wise choices independently—putting back books with inappropriate language or discontinuing series that don't align with our values.
As we close Season Three, I encourage you to consider how reading might become a life-giving rhythm in your home. What simple step could you take toward filling your mind—and your family's minds—with whatever is excellent? Subscribe to my newsletter for a framework on teaching literary discernment, and join me September 2nd when we return for Season Four to celebrate a full year of Whatever is Excellent!
Recommended Resources:
Meeting with Jesus- A Daily Bible Reading Plan for Kids
What To Wear - A Kids Bible Study on Looking Like Jesus
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Friends, can you believe that this is the last episode of season three? What an incredible journey of learning and growing together this has been. Each of these seasons has been special. I've really enjoyed season three and I hope you have too. I'm so thankful for each of you and for your support, your thoughtful feedback, your encouragement. It is my hope to keep offering you inspiration and continue to challenge you to think about anything that is excellent or praiseworthy. Before we jump into today's episode, I want to remind you to send me your ideas or things that you would like to hear me talk about here. If there's the topic or something that you'd like to hear more about, please send me your thoughts. These episodes are for you and your feedback helps inform me of what you want to know more about. Season four will begin September 2nd and together we will celebrate one whole year of Whatever is Excellent. Now, without any further delay, let's get into the episode for today. What better way to close out this season of Whatever is Excellent by discussing the benefits of reading for personal growth and family connection, cultivating discernment and the biblical call to fill our minds with truth.
Leanne:If you know me at all, then you know I love to read. It's kind of a joke between my close friends that one of the main reasons I wanted to have children was so that I could read to them. I have a good excuse to keep learning and reading forever. I literally could not wait for my kids to be old enough for us to snuggle up on the couch together with cozy blankets and classic stories beloved by all generations. I remember being giddy with excitement when my baby girl first crawled over to a basket of books that I had set out for her instead of the basket of toys, and I think that she was around four years old when I first started reading the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to her, and since then we have enjoyed reading countless stories and books together. My twin boys are now in on the action too, and in fact earlier this summer we finished reading the Harry Potter book series and we celebrated with butterbeers, of course, but I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself.
Leanne:I first and foremost want to address reading as a spiritual discipline. Reading the word every day is the best place to start. There is no greater book than the Bible, and reading the Bible renews our minds and aligns our hearts with whatever is good and right and true. If you only have time to read one thing every day, let it be the Bible. On the back of my leather Bible is this verse from Joshua, 1.8, which says the book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. Reading and reflecting on the word of God is where we always need to begin. Second, timothy 3, 16 and 17 says all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Everything that you say and do flows from your habit of reading and meditating on scripture every day, and the more you read the word, the more you begin to understand who God is, who you are in Christ and that you are being equipped for the mission God has called you to. From there, make it a goal to fill your mind with whatever is excellent. In fact, the entire premise of this podcast is based on Philippians 4, 8, which says Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise. Think about these things. We think about the things that we fill our mind with, and we fill our minds with things we read and see and listen to Cultivate a library of materials that reflect all that is mentioned in this verse. In kindergarten, or even in first grade, you learn to read, and then, around fourth grade, there is the shift and you begin reading to learn. This reading to learn continues forever, and what a gift that truly is.
Leanne:Reading for personal growth is one of the main benefits of reading. I have shared before that one of my personal daily disciplines is to read one chapter of a nonfiction book every day, and for the last, I think, almost 12 years, I have read to expand my understanding of things like faith, marriage, parenting, leadership, discipleship, apologetics and so many more things. This practice of reading one chapter every day has helped me to grow into the person that I am today. It has also provided me with guidance and clarity during various seasons in life, and the best part is that it's only one chapter a day. Even if you are not someone who considers yourself a reader, one chapter a day is a doable and attainable goal In a world that is quickly losing its attention span in favor of 15 second videos. Cultivating the slower habit of reading for personal growth has the added benefit of sharpening your mind and increasing your ability to discern what is good and right and true. Reading also builds connection, as I mentioned earlier.
Leanne:Reading aloud as a family has been one of my goals for as long as I can remember. Reading together creates shared memories and it shapes family culture. I remember my mother reading aloud to my sister and me every evening while we colored and drew what we heard. This is most likely why I could not wait to do the same thing with my own children. I had developed such rich and wonderful memories of this as a child and it became a part of our family culture. Through the pages of the stories we read aloud together, we get to cultivate imagination and empathy in our children. We all cried along with Wilbur when Charlotte died and we cheered when Aslan appeared again after sacrificing himself for Edmund. As I record this episode, my children are in the backyard reenacting a scene from our current read aloud book, the Borrowers. There is so much goodness to be gleaned from reading stories together.
Leanne:Reading aloud to your children allows you to plant seeds of truth as well. While reading through the Harry Potter books, we often paused to discuss character traits or situations that either pointed to God or didn't. We could also pick out instances that pointed away from truth, which segues so beautifully into the value of family devotions. This summer, we have been reading aloud Little Pilgrim's Progress by Helen L Taylor as a part of our morning devotion time. As we read the passage about the armor of God found in Ephesians 6, we get to experience a fictional portrayal of the armor of God in action through the journey of a little Christian to the celestial city. So many wonderful conversations and discussions have come from reading this story parallel to our daily scripture reading. By combining family devotions with read aloud books, you are giving your children an opportunity to apply what they are hearing and learning and tie it back to the truth that we find in the word. The ability to make meaningful connections like these is a skill your children will use. And, speaking of developing lifelong habits and skills, as my children have grown and become better readers, I have encouraged each of them to study the scriptures for themselves.
Leanne:This summer I introduced personal quiet times to my seven-year-old twins. Teaching my children to treasure personal time with the Lord is something I feel God has entrusted to me as a part of our discipleship journey. For one of my boys, this personal time consists of reading a verse or two from his Bible and answering a couple of thought-provoking questions. I have linked a couple of our favorite Bible study resources for children of different ages in the show notes of this episode, so be sure to check those out. I taught him how to use the table of contents to find a book of the Bible, followed by the chapter and the verse, and for the first few days of starting this personal quiet time, I came alongside of him to offer support and encouragement until he informed me that he was ready to be alone with the Lord for that time.
Leanne:For my other son, reading a passage of scripture is more difficult for him as he is not yet a confident reader. So for him I found the audiobook version of A Children's Bible and again I have linked it in the show notes for you to take a look at. He listens to a chapter of this book and since he is more musically inclined, he also listens to a few verses written in a song format. I often catch him singing these verses throughout the day, and I know that it is a way for him to meditate on the scripture even at his level.
Leanne:Beyond reading aloud together and reading to learn and grow in our relationship with the Lord, what about reading simply for pleasure, for the fun of it? This is when I feel it is important to cultivate discernment and to talk to your children about filtering the books they read through a biblical lens. When your children are young, it's possible to flip through a stack of books in order to determine the quality of the literature before presenting them to your child. But as your children grow, so does their appetite for books, and it is less likely for you to read everything before they do. I know I for sure cannot keep up with my 10 year old and her voracious reading. It might feel simpler to just create a list of yes and no options for your children and leave it at that, but I actually believe it is more impactful to empower your children to make wise choices for themselves when it comes to what they read or watch or listen, to have conversations with your children about the books they read. Discuss things like does this book align with what is true and lovely and pure. What worldview is this book presenting? Is it encouraging godly character or is it pulling us away from Christ?
Leanne:Personally, I have found this method of guiding my children in discernment to be more effective than simply telling them what they can and cannot read. I have observed my daughter discontinue reading a book series because she encountered something that didn't reflect godly values. It made her uncomfortable, and I have noticed my boys put a book back on the library shelf because they found some bad words in it or disrespectful phrases used repeatedly and they knew they shouldn't be reading that. In order to provide you with more support and encouragement in this area, I've actually created a framework for teaching discernment through books for you, a resource that you can use with your children. The framework will be included in my newsletter Whatever is Lovely, along with many book recommendations and resources for you.
Leanne:If you are not already subscribed, then you can click the link in the show notes to receive this weekly newsletter straight to your inbox and have all of those resources in one place. To close this episode, I want to remind you that reading isn't about perfection. It is about cultivating and planting seeds of learning and growing with excellence. Psalm 119, 105 says your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Let the words of scripture light your path and lead you toward filling your mind with whatever is good and right and lovely and true. Something that you can ponder this week. What is one simple step you can take to make reading, whether personal or family, a life-giving rhythm in your home.