Earth Psalms Devotional – A Book Review

First of all, I’m not a big fiction reader. In fact, I read almost zero fiction. I have heard amazing things about Francine Rivers’ novels and although I haven’t read any of them (shame on me), I was excited to see what she could do with a devotional. This one is kind of incredible. It’s absolutely stunning – the pictures, the words – all of it. The above picture doesn’t come close to doing it justice.

There are 52 devotionals for the 52 weeks of the year and each one has a scripture verse, a quote or song lyric and three sections for personal application: Reflect, Apply and Connect with God (which is a prayer). Each photo in the book has a super short description or tidbit of info about the part of nature or the animal(s) it depicts.

Did you know that we can learn a lesson about loyalty from geese? Or about risk-taking from a turtle? Or about the need for community from redwood trees? Or even that you could learn about friendship from a crab spider? This devotional is full of beautiful observations about God’s creation and how those observations can serve as lessons for us in how to live a deeper faith, in true community and in communion with God the Father.

It would make a fabulous gift for just about any adult – especially those who are nature or animal lovers.

Here are some of my favorite quotables from the Earth Psalms devotional:

“Why joy? Because troubles test our faith, which builds endurance. And endurance helps us blossom into the people God created us to be. Faith blossoms. Courage inspires.” (p42)

“Our prayers are an act of worship because when we pray, we are acknowledging that God is there, that He is Lord, and that we need Him. God breathes in our prayers and smiles, answering in His time, in His way, and for our best.” (p50)

“We don’t always see the Holy Spirit moving within us, either, but the evidence of His presence is that our “lifescape” is changing.” (p75)

“The beauty we see around us not is a reminder of His majesty and beauty, and it’s a promise of even more majesty and beauty to come.” (p90)

“Sometimes the things that look dead are just getting ready to grow.” (p114)

“Avoid the crab spiders. Seek out the honeybees.” (p143)

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I Am Found – A Bible Study Review

Have you ever felt like you were afraid to just be your true self with God? With others? Maybe even with yourself? If so, this Bible study is for you! I Am Found, by Laura Dingman, is a study about shame and identity which guides the reader in learning a healthier way to relate to God, others and self.

From the back cover: “We are all made for connection, but many of us live with walls up and hearts closed. What would it take for us to let go and stand tall and unashamed?”

This is a six week study, each week consisting of an introduction and five days of study. At the end of each week’s lessons, there is also a section called “Truth, Lies and Action”, which looks at the truths learned throughout the week, a lie that needs to be exchanged for truth and gives an action step to help move the reader further in their journey to being “found”. Some of the days have the scripture printed for you, while others require you to have your Bible ready. There is a prayer printed at the end of each day’s lesson to give you an opportunity to talk with God.

While the majority of the study is centered around why we hide, why we don’t need to hide, ways in which we hide from ourselves, others and God and other shame-related ideas, some of the other topics included in this study are: having spiritual friendships, our identity in Christ, God’s immense love for us, how to love one another and remembering our worthiness.

I truly believe that the topic of worthiness is such an important one for women especially in our current culture of comparison, perfectionism and do-it-all idea of womanhood. Pinterest-perfect parties, Instagram-worthy photos of our well-behaved kids, Facebook photo albums of exotic vacations (sans kids) showing our perfect marriage. Social media has convinced us that we can only show the perfect parts of our lives – and in doing so, we spend all our effort and energy trying to hide the not-so-perfect parts and begin to wonder if our lives are good enough to share at all – or if we are good enough. It’s an epidemic of shame and it’s not God’s best for us.

To really get the full nature of this study – you’ll have to go through it on your own. I can say that it’s very simply laid out and easy to understand but it’s also very personal and deep. There are questions asked that will require a lot of self-reflection. There are verses shared and prayers written that will help you to determine why you might be hiding and how you might move towards being found and fully known. It’s a beautiful journey to take and one that I believe could make an enormous difference not only in our individual lives, but also in the dynamics of our families and the direction of our society as a whole.

Some of my favorite quotables from I Am Found, by Laura Dingman:

“God is for us. He showers grace over us, relentless in His loving pursuit of us. His mercy never ceases.” (p20)

“Nothing in all of creation is hidden from God’s sight (Hebrews 4:13). You cannot escape God. You can’t outrun Him, because He never relents. You can’t choose anything so out of bounds He will not follow you there, because He fiercely pursues you.” (p45)

“Knowing you belong to Christ and you are His own child brings a freedom no other truth can.” (p58)

“You don’t have to perform anymore. You can come out, come out, wherever you are. Just as you are. Grace is yours. You are forgiven. You are seen, known, and deeply loved by the Creator of the universe. You are free.” (p83)

“Jesus calls us to love one another. The only way this kind of love is possible is if we allow Jesus in us to do the loving. He is the source.” (p136)

“You are valuable to God the Father. He will search for you for as long as it takes. Even when you hide, He comes after you. He won’t stop until you are found.” (p174)

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.

Punderdome (A Card Game for Pun Lovers) – Review

My family loves games. We play a ton of HeadsUp (a free app for iPhone created by Ellen Degeneres) and LOVE to be silly and laugh together. It’s really the best part about our little family is how much fun we have together. So, I was thrilled to try out this new game called Punderdome. It’s a card game for people who love silly puns – well, that’s SO us. It started as a live game show in Brooklyn, NY (which still goes on today) and then the creators of the game show, Jo & Rodney Firestone (daughter and father) turned it into a card game.

A couple of first impressions..

It’s easy to travel with. It’s a small box and could go on any long road trip or vacation with you (or even a long doctor’s office visit). I’m keeping the cards in my car so we can play during the 2 hours I spend dropping off and picking up kids from school every day.
It’s made for a certain kind of person (a weird one). The box says for 12 and up and I think that’s probably about right. However, you will not be good at this game simply because you’re older. I think it takes a certain kind of brain – the super creative (maybe even a little wacky) person will love this game. You have to take two unrelated words and put them together in a cheesy way. My eight year old is fabulous at this because she’s as nutty as the game is. I’m sure there are adults that would be terrible at it. It’s not so much an intellectual game as a wacky one. (Although you would think the opposite would be true).
You can play this game forever and it would still feel fresh. There are TONS of cards and even if you ran through them all, there are unlimited combinations. I can’t imagine this game ever getting stale or repetitive simply because of the way it’s set up. You draw one white card and one green card and put them together with a pun. There are 100 of each color. I’m no math whiz, but I assume that makes for a ton of different combos

You need a timer (there’s one on your phone), a pen (who doesn’t have a pen), and mystery envelope prizes. The mystery prize thing was a little weird in my opinion – I hate when my games have prep work, like they are some fancy lasagna or something. However, I figure that you can just write out weird prizes – like a hug. Or getting to make another player sing the national anthem a cappella (or some other embarrassing thing that will make you giggle).

Overall, I was really impressed by Punderdome. It’s not really a family game for us (all but one of my kids is under ten), but it’ll be fun for the rest of us. It’s also really inexpensive on Amazon as far as games go. If your family is as wacky as mine, you’ll love this game!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this game from BloggingforBooks.com for the purposes of this review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own

I Wish He Had Come With Instructions – A Book Review

Have you ever wondered why in the world you can’t seem to understand the man in your life? Or why he can’t understand you? Ever think it’s because he just doesn’t care to? Mike Bechtles’ book, I Wish He Had Come With Instructions, puts that notion to bed and explains what’s really going on in a man’s brain in a very accessible, and sometimes funny, way.

I am enormously interested in brain matters (Hee, hee. That’s punny.) and this book takes a not so simple topic and breaks it down into bite size chunks. There are so many fascinating things I learned from this book. Like, did you know that men have around six times more gray matter than women? Or that women have around ten times more white matter than men? Or have you ever even heard of white matter before? Yeah, me either. Did you also know that men tend to use only one part of their brain at a time (like compartments or boxes) and women are able to think and feel at the same time (which uses two different parts of the brain)? Fascinating. The difficulties that we have in communication with members of the opposite sex may relate more to neuroscience than anything else, which is learnable and gives us the opportunity to find better ways to relate to one another. Well, that’s excellent news.

While the sections related to the brain were my favorite parts of this book, there is much more to it than just science-y stuff. There’s a chapter called, “What he wants you to know”, where the author interviewed men on several different topics and asked them what they wish their women knew about how they felt. Really good stuff. There’s a chapter about how men are really just tall boys (not in a demeaning way, but in a really beautiful way) and how we can encourage and feed that part of their soul.

This book lays out the differences between how men and women think and feel and process and then helps the reader to know what to do with those differences. There’s a bit of repetition throughout the book, but I assume its purposeful. As someone who has been married for over 17 years, I’ve read plenty of marriage and relationship books and articles (like a whole ton of them) and I’m always so excited when I find one with NEW information. Although much of this book has been written before, some of it was entirely new to me. The author also gave a fresh perspective and unique voice to the other stuff too (that I had heard before) that definitely makes it worth a read. I had several conversations with my husband as a result of this book that were wonderfully enlightening. I truly believe Mike Bechtle’s book, I Wish He Had Come With Instructions, to be helpful to anyone who wants to improve their relationship with their husband. Go read it. You won’t be sorry.

Some of my favorite QUOTABLES from I Wish He Had Come With Instructions:

“The only option that results in healthy relationships is to recognize the reality of those differences and see them as ingredients for an amazing connection. It’s more than accepting those differences; it’s celebrating them.” (p36)

“To see others accurately, we need to recognize that they might have different lenses. It doesn’t mean those lenses are wrong, they’re just different.” (p52)

“There are some things about men that come from their maleness, and some things that come from their choices. The key to your sanity is to understand and discern the difference between the two.” (p57-58)

“Men are wired for conquering. When there’s a challenge, they want to solve it. When there’s an insurmountable issue, they want to find a way through. When someone says, “It’s impossible!” they think, Yeah? Just watch me.” (p72)

“If your house is on fire, it’s the wrong time to argue about who left the stove on. You might win the argument, but you’ll lose the house. Deal with the crisis at hand and talk about its causes later.” (p146)

“One of the biggest relationship killers is when people try to rush their conversations. Being efficient with people almost always slows down the process of connection. Real trust is built in real relationships, and real relationships take time to grow. Deep, meaningful relationships develop in a crockpot, not a microwave.” (p146)

“The key to communicating with a man during conflict? Be intentional about leading with your head, not your emotions. If you lead with your heart, you’ll mess with his head. If you lead with your head, you’ll speak to his heart.” (p161)

“It’s like dancing with another person. If we change what we do in our dance, the other person is placed in the position of deciding how they’re going to dance with us. We decide how we dance. They decide how to respond.” (p188)

“If you focus only on the things you can’t change, you’ll always be a victim. Accepting their reality is the foundation for freedom.” (p198)

Here’s a great interview with Mike Bechtle about his book, I Wish He Had Come With Instructions. Totally worth a listen.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book through Baker Books Bloggers. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.

The Very Good Gospel – A Book Review

“Because of God’s nearness, we are never alone.” (p77)

This book. You guys. I am so very glad I read this book. Lisa Sharon Harper has such a firm and confident voice in The Very Good Gospel. It felt like a lifetime of lessons learned spilled out on the pages of this book. The first three chapters go back to the first few chapters of Genesis to tell the story of creation and the fall. At the very beginning of the book, Ms. Harper tells us basically why she had to write this book and her why is so very compelling. At one point she says (in response to something she experienced), “The good news of my gospel doesn’t feel good enough.” This is exactly the way I’ve been feeling for the better part of two years – that if the Gospel excludes, then is it really the Gospel (good news) at all? I’ve learned in my own journey over the last year or so that the Gospel has always been all-inclusive, and that Christians have been the ones excluding people all along. This realization has entirely up-ended my life, just as it did Lisa’s.

Although the title of the book is The Very Good Gospel, the subject of the book is shalom – or peace with God, with others, with creation itself and with our own selves. She covers topics such as race, broken families, gender issues, and so very much more. Each chapter takes one of these topics and looks at it from the perspective of what should be and what could be.

I truly believe that everyone should read this book. You may not agree with every single word written (although I pretty much did), but you will certainly come out of the book with a greater understanding of God’s very best plan for humankind and how we have a responsibility as his children to exercise dominion over all God has given us. Make sure to read the book to understand what the word dominion means – it may not be what you think it is. It’s mostly about stewardship and taking the best care of the things God has entrusted to us – but it’s also so much more.

In The Very Good Gospel, you’ll find a fresh perspective on the first few chapters of Genesis, what it means for something to be very good (tov me’od), and several other concepts and ideas that were almost entirely new to me (in the best way). This book is well-researched and superbly well-written, but most of all the content of the book will shift your perspective towards a better understanding of yourself and the people and world around you. I cannot recommend The Very Good Gospel highly enough!

Some of my favorite quotables from The Very Good Gospel:

“it is not enough to believe a set of principles or doctrines. Rather, principles and doctrines must transform the way we live. Our faith is kinetic, lived out in the world through our hands and feet.” (p7)

“Shalom is the stuff of the Kingdom. It’s what the Kingdom of God looks like in context. It’s what citizenship in the Kingdom of God requires and what the Kingdom promises to those who choose God and God’s ways to peace.” (p13)

“Shame is insidious. It hits at the core of our being and emanates from there to affect everything else. It has nothing to do with the truth. It is based on lies about the essence of our being.” (p70-71) … “Shame is a counteroffer to the love of God, which is the connection between all things.” (p72)

“Patriarchal interpretations of Scripture fail to start at the beginning. They start after the Fall, in Genesis 3. As a result, they present observations of a fallen world as if the current state is in line with God’s good intentions. That is far from the truth.” (p83)

“you will flourish when you stop apologizing for your power and live fully into the woman God created you to be.” (p101)

“The sin-stained mantra of human peace is “Our peace at the expense of their peace!”” (p108)

Here’s an awesome video of Lisa Sharon Harper sharing about The Very Good Gospel:

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from BloggingforBooks.com for the purposes of this review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own

Play With Fire – A Book Review

“When we forget about what God has done, it makes us doubt what He can do.” (p132)

Play With Fire, by Bianca Olthoff, is such a treasure of a book. It felt like more than just a book though. It felt like a soul opening up and sharing the deepest parts of a heart made whole. This is real life right here – nothing shallow or artificial – but real, raw stories from people just like you and me. Stories of faith, perseverance and transformation. Bianca is such a fabulous storyteller and she has an amazing ability to take each story and learn more about God and life and love through it and in Play With Fire, she shares those stories and those lessons with us.

This book moves fast. It took me maybe a day and half to read the whole thing – which is a testament to the author’s skillful writing, but also to the power of her stories. These stories are so very moving. Stories of loss, grief, fear, illness and everything in between take the reader on a journey through Bianca’s life and also through our own stories. Her tone and style of writing is so relatable, I found myself remembering my own experiences in parallel to hers. If you have never seen or heard Bianca speak, you need to. This woman is fierce and fun and such a wonderful communicator. I have been looking forward to this book for a long time and it absolutely exceeded my expectations.

If you have ever found yourself in a period of fear, grief or desert wandering, Play With Fire can help you realize the truth of God’s faithfulness and your own value as one of His own.

Some of my favorite quotables from Play With Fire:

“In the desert seasons of life, we must root into the goodness of God, into being known and loved by God. We need to be rooted in our identities as the treasured and loved creations of a merciful and divine Creator. We store these truths, allow them to spur growth, to deepen our roots, to bring us to bloom in even the most trying terrain.” (p41)

“When we surrender our control, we hand God not only our faith, but also our fear. We don’t need to worry about the people who want to silence us, oppress us, or enslave us. We only need to stand firm on the promises of God and discover that He is mighty to save.” (p73)

“the abundant life didn’t mean I got to skip the desert. It meant I could experience abundance in the midst of the desert.” (p86)

“And here’s the truth – we cannot worship God for the gifts of freedom and salvation without having known captivity and desolation first. When we know the cost of our freedom, it drives our worship. True worship almost always happens in the desert wilderness, and praise is almost always the answer to a plea that rises up in us while we are in the desert.” (p106-107)

“while the enemy knows our name, he calls us by our sin. But God knows our sin, but calls us by our name. Sometimes a reminder of who we are is stronger than a rebuke of what we are not.” (p119)

“When people are in pain or grieving, the last thing they need is a spoonful of religious syrup.” (p124)

“The fulfillment of God’s promises comes when we have the boldness to enter into the fire and embrace the transformation that takes place.” (p180)

Here’s a video of Bianca Olthoff sharing the heart behind Play With Fire:

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 < http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising

Gratitude: A Prayer and Praise Coloring Journal – A Book Review

With the new adult coloring craze and the hugely popular Bible journaling movement, this beautiful new coloring journal is such a fabulous idea. Gratitude: A Prayer and Praise Coloring Journal is filled with scripture verses, journaling prompts, encouraging words and prayers and absolutely stunning artwork. The pictures below don’t do it justice as there are over 100 pages within this journal each with a unique design and focus. Every page of this sweet book can be used to journal your thoughts, prayers, gratitude and words of worship in whatever way is most authentic and meaningful to you. There are even blank areas to paint or sketch your own designs.

Tyndall’s Living Expressions Collection (www.livingexpressionscollection.com) also has another coloring journal, and several other lovely books and journals that are equally beautiful – including journaling Bibles with beautiful illustrations throughout.

This particular journal would be such a wonderful addition to any daily quiet time. I cannot overstate how lovely it is. If you’d like to download a sample or two, Tyndale’s Inspire Creativity board on Pinterest has downloadable samplers and sharable coloring pages from their coloring and Bible journaling line, the Living Expressions Collection!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

We Belong to Each Other

I have to admit that I’ve been really grumpy lately. Grumpy and sad. It seems like every day I hear about or read about some hugely controvertial event that everybody in the whole world is either entirely for or vehemently against. Story after story pops up on my Facebook feed – guns, gorillas, bathrooms, babies – and on and on it goes. Take a quick scroll through the comments of any of these news stories and you’ll feel like there is no end to what we will fight about. And everyone is an expert. On everything. Blech. So I’m grumpy. And weary. And ready for all the fighting to end.

But I’m not three. So I know better. The fighting will never end. It will continue on and on until Jesus returns and completes what He began at the manger.

In her book, Carry On Warrior, Glennon Doyle Melton writes, “I love God, whoever he is, and I’d really like to get closer to him. I’ve been thinking about how one of the simplest ways to get close to a woman is to be good to her children. To be kind and gentle and to pay close attention to the things that make them special. To try to see her children the way she sees her children. And how God made us in his image. How he is the mother and father of all of us. So I wonder if that would be the best way to get closer to him too. By being kind and gentle to his children and noticing all of the things that make them special. So many of us spend our time trying to find God in books, but maybe the simplest way to God is directly through the hearts of his children.”

Man, that’s good.

The best way to get to know the heart of an artist is to study his art. The best way to understand the heart of an author is to study the books they’ve created. The best way to understand a songwriter is to listen to the songs they’ve written. So it would make sense that the best way to get to know the heart of the Father is to study his creation. Genesis 1:27 says, “God created man in his own image. In the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:31 says, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”

I’ve recently been reading a book called The Very Good Gospel by Lisa Sharon Harper. At the beginning of her fabulous book, she talks about what God meant when he said that his creation was “very good”. She says this:

At the end of the sixth day, the writers declare, “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good [tov me’od]. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day” (Genesis 1:31).

Tov is the Hebrew word for “good,” but the word does not refer only to the goodness of the object itself; it also refers to the ties between things. In the Hebrew conception of the world, all of creation is connected. The well-being of the whole depends on the well-being of each individual part.

– The Very Good Gospel, Lisa Sharon Harper, pg 30-31

Our connectedness is what makes us whole and healthy and “very good” in the eyes of our Creator. This connectedness brings peace and love and happiness. It helps us to remember our worthiness and our sense of belonging. It helps us to remember that we are not the center of the universe, but rather an integral part of a beautiful whole that includes everyone. When we remember that we’re connected no one gets left out or left behind. Mother Teresa once said that “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” I believe this is THE reason that we can’t stop fighting. We’ve forgotten that everyone belongs, everyone is worthy, everyone matters. Not just me. Not just you. But everyone.

What if we lived as though everyone mattered? The person in the car we just cut off, the lady in front of us in line at the grocery store who has eight bazillion coupons, the teenaged kid who is bullying other kids because he feels so worthless that he’s afraid someone else might think he’s worthless too, your kid’s teachers – who are doing the very best that they can, your pastor, your in-laws, your kids, your spouse – they all matter. And everyone else that makes you mad, pushes your buttons, wastes your time or makes you feel rotten – they all matter too. And so do you. Not more than everyone else, but just as much.

Can you imagine how the world might change if we thought that way and then let that thinking influence our actions? We might learn to seek to understand instead of seeking to be understood. We might be able to look across the table and find common ground. We might even turn our attention to more important things to fight against – like hunger, sex trafficking or racism.

“I am confident because I believe that I am a child of God. I am humble because I believe that everyone else is too.” – Glennon Doyle Melton, Carry On Warrior

Looking at each other as equals requires both humility AND confidence. We can no longer see ourselves as less important, but we can’t see ourselves as more important either. Everyone gets the same score on the scale of value. We all make the cut. In fact, we all hit the bullseye in terms of worth and value. No one misses the mark.

Once we understand all of that, we can learn to build bridges, cross divides and discover new common ground. We may have to build that common ground, but once we see everyone as equally worthy we can begin to mend the hurt and create a new future together. Sounds idealistic, and it is, but I also believe it’s the stuff of the Gospel. Bridge-building, peace making, worthiness, grace, common ground – it’s the stuff of Jesus.

Enough

Today I dropped all of my five children off at schools. Five kids. Three schools. Five hours all by myself. At the beginning of the morning I felt like I could conquer the world. I just knew that by the end of my five hours I’d have cured cancer, brokered world peace and found Waldo. Or at least just the Waldo part.

I did get quite a bit done, but here it is the end of the day and I’m feeling that oh-so-familiar feeling of failure. My first instinct was to feel shame and regret over all the things I didn’t finish (laundry, dishes, floors, meal planning, bill paying, and on and on it goes). I know I’m not the only one who gets to the end of the day only to feel frustrated that I can’t ever seem to fit it all in. Why do we do this to ourselves? We get to decide, you know. I know this. I’ve been quoting Chuck Swindoll for more years than I can count: “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” We get to choose how we react. We do. I know this. I do.

I’m not sure we necessarily get to choose how we feel, but we can certainly choose how we react to it. And I, for one, am so weary of feeling like I’m failing a test I created for myself. I’m not sure what the solution is, other than to create new self talk. Brené Brown says that we should “talk to ourselves the way that we would talk to someone we love” and I think that’s amazing advice. However, it’s definitely not a natural thing for me.

I think the best I can do is try to do better so I’m talking more nicely to myself tonight.

I’m running through the list of things I DID get done and celebrating how hard I worked today.

I’m remembering the moments that I let go of the busiwork in order to hold a crying baby and I’m thanking God that I get to hold babies.

I’m thinking about the things I was able to do today that I never would have been able to if my sweet babies hadn’t been at school, and I’m grateful for that time.

I’m already making a list of things to do tomorrow and then I’m cutting at least three things off that list so that I can actually accomplish it.

Tonight I give myself grace. Tonight I remember that I’m doing the best I can and that it’s entirely enough. I am enough.

And so are you.

Present Over Perfect – A Book Review

“The world will tell you how to live, if you let it. Don’t let it. Take up your space. Raise your voice. Sing your song. This is your chance to make or remake a life that thrills you.” (p104)

If only I had better words, I could express how much this book meant to me. I knew it would be special, mostly because I know how special Shauna Niequist is and I’ve loved every other book she’s written. However, her newest book, Present Over Perfect, is her best and most wonderful work by a mile. It’s authentic, raw, kind, encouraging and so very affirming. This book spoke words straight out of my soul that I’ve never shared or even articulated before. It was as if Shauna knew my deepest thoughts and spoke them in a way that made me feel known, valued, loved, and understood. I laughed, I cried and I nodded so much that my neck should be sore.

Shauna has such a beautiful style of writing and her words are so carefully and beautifully chosen. She also has such a down-to-earth way of expressing her deepest thoughts. This book felt like a friend sharing her own lessons learned about busyness, perfectionism, the need to please and every other soul stealing way of living. She shares her journey from each of these things to a better, more whole way of living. She also shares several other beautiful stories throughout the book that add so much to the experience of reading Present Over Perfect. There is not, in my opinion, any word or story misspent – each is so valuable and encouraging.

If you are struggling with your own value, worth or identity – this book will convince you that it’s there and empower you to search for it. We cannot settle for worn and weary lives any longer. We must have the courage, like Shauna, to say enough is enough and to remake our lives into something we’re passionate about and comfortable in. We must have the courage to show up and be seen just as we are – because really, there is no better option than authentic, present, here-and-now living. The best we can do is to just be our true and real selves. What a beautiful thought that is!

Favorite Quotables from Present Over Perfect:

“the best thing I can offer to this world is not my force or energy, but a well-tended spirit, a wise and brave soul.” (p28)

“Here’s what I know: I thought the doing and the busyness would keep me safe. They keep me numb. Which is not the same as safe, which isn’t even the greatest thing to aspire to.” (p61)

“Present over perfect living is real over image, connecting over comparing, meaning over mania, depth over artifice. Present over perfect living is the risky and revolutionary belief that the world God has created is beautiful and valuable on its own terms, and that it doesn’t need to be zhuzzed up and fancy in order to be wonderful.” (p130)

“I’m finding that willingness to be fragile actually makes me strong.” (p143)

“In a thousand ways, you live by the sword and you die by the sword. When you allow other people to determine your best choices; when you allow yourself to be carried along by what other people think your life should be, could be, must be; when you hand them the pen and tell them to write your story, you don’t get the pen back. Not easily anyway.” (p160)

“Hustle is the opposite of heart.” (p174)

“You have your own voice. And you can use it.” (p219)

“It doesn’t matter how pretty things look on the outside if on the inside, there’s an ache from a lifetime of trying to prove your worth.” (p222)