I have nothing but praise for this book. I read a couple sections everyday during my Jesus time for a little over a month in a particularly hard season of life, and the beautiful words inside of this book have given me a lot of hope and joy in this particular time of my life.
Dawn Camp did a fantastic job putting this book together. The contributors are just as beautiful as the words that God wrote through them. I linked up a few of their blogs, which if you have free time you should definitely check them out!
Kayla Aimee // kaylaaimee.com
Lisa-Jo Baker // lisajobaker.com
Mary DeMuth // marydemuth.com
Margaret Feinberg // margaretfeinberg.com
Emily P. Freeman // chattingatthesky.com
Holley Gerth // holleygerth.com
Bonnie Gray // faithbarista.com
Amber Haines // therunamuck.com
Lisa Leonard // lisaleonardonline.com
Tsh Oxenreider // tshoxenreider.com
Deidra Riggs // deidrariggs.com
Melanie Shankle // thebigmamablog.com
Leeana Tankersley // leeanatankersley.com
Jessica Turner // themomcreative.com
Ann Voskamp // aholyexperience.com
Edie Wadsworth // lifeingraceblog.com
Maggie Whitley // maggiewhitely.com
The book was split into 7 different sections and after much reflection I want to share a little of what I personally learned from each section.
Purpose
We all have a very specific purpose in this life (something that I easily forget) and everyone's purpose is different. We are meant to point every part of our short lives back to Christ and His glory.
"To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven."
Ecclesiastes 3:1
The Big Picture
This section was all a very important reminder for me. Because I constantly get too caught up in the little things of life. But these little things (although sometimes important) are not at all important when it comes to the big picture in life. God thinks I am wonderful, beautiful, forgiven, worthy, courageous and I should not let the little things cloud the bigger picture God has for me.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Isaiah 55:8-9
Surrender
I easily give up. When something is too hard, too difficult, that thing does not exist in my mind anymore. I "completely remove it from my life." But in reality I hold on tight, shove it away in my mind, until it comes creeping back in to remind me how inadequate I am. But this kind of thought process is destructive. I am continually learning to give up everything to God daily. It is not easy but even verbally surrendering can manipulate my mind into surrendering it all. Every time I surrender He makes me feel adequate.
"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."
James 4:10
Trust
Probably my biggest sin is wanting to control everything in my life in every single instant. Trust is not easy for me to give and not easy for people to regain once they have lost it. I have been learning for several months that God has what is best for me... I might desire to control every instant in life but those overly controlled instants might not be what God wants for my life. I have to remind myself daily that God is good, trustworthy, and desires what is best for me.
"And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee:
for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee."
Psalm 9:10
Lessons Learned
God is constantly teaching me things. Whether I respond to them or not. I should be thankful for ALL the lessons because they give me a stronger testimony, a greater understanding for who God is, and a passion in purpose.
"I realized that the deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by His letting us have our way in the end, but by His making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are able to honestly to pray what He taught His disciples to pray: Thy will be done."
Elisabeth Elliot, Passion and Purity
Hope & Encouragement
I will hold onto this chapter for years to come. Beautiful words of suffering and trouble, and ultimately turning to God during those circumstances even though it is difficult was exactly what I needed during this season.
"Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord"
Psalm 31:24
Worship
A great reminder that worship can be unconventional, that loving others means meeting them where they are, and that we can worship in every situation and in every aspect of life.
"Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire."
Hebrews 12:28-29
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