Tuesday, January 16, 2018

The Broken Way: 4/5






While I was not a fan of Ann's first book due to the flowery language, this book came highly recommended, so I attempted reading it with the help of Audible. I am glad I did because it is a much-needed book on brokenness. She shares personal details of her life you would never guess she struggles with, proving that authors are human! This book is all about accepting your own brokenness, finding community in the brokenness and looking to God for healing. She has many great insights in this book, even sharing some life wisdom with her daughter, who seems to be following the same path as her.


"You have only one decision every day: how will you use your time" (p. 59)? True story. What we give our time to determines what and who we love!

"Why is it so hard to believe you are believed in?... Letting yourself beloved is an act of terrifying vulnerability and surrender" (pp. 99-100). This section of the book really hit hard. Being single, I sometimes doubt myself as being a worthy partner to someone. I guess even married people feel this way sometimes

 "You can't know the wine you will be during the days you are breaking and being crushed like grapes. Are the most painful chapters of our lives always the most meaningful" (p. 170)?

My favorite chapter in the book was chapter fourteen called "Breaking the Lies in Your Head".

"[T]he loneliness of self-protecting barriers can feel like it will kill you - and the heart-breaking risk of intimacy and vulnerability can feel like it will kill you, too (p. 213).

I think Voscamp is obsessed with the number one thousand - she writes it a lot. I guess her first love will always be her first book, One Thousand Gifts, but I much preferred The Broken Way. If it's possible, I think the book just kept getting better, much preferring the later chapters in this book that talked about grace.

Monday, January 8, 2018

Rising Strong: 5/5



Brene Brown brings it again! After reading Daring Greatly last year and being in the tough arena of teaching urban students, it was great to read this book in late 2017. I have not written about it because it just takes a little time to process.

My heart needed this book. I learned that through my experiences, I have become a badass, "feeling machines who think and engage with their own emotions and the emotions of the people they love, parent, and lead" (p. 8).

Other key passages include: 
  • "We can rise up from our failures, screwups, and falls, but we can never go back to where we stood before we were brave or before we fell" (p. 5).
  • "The most difficult part of our stories is often what we bring to them - what we make up about who we are and how we are perceived by others... The most dangerous stories we make up are the narratives that diminish our inherent worthiness. We must reclaim the truth about our lovabilitiy, divinity, and creativity" (pp. 75, 82). 
  • The most mind-blowing thought from this book had to be "we're all doing the best we can" (p. 118). I struggle to believe it for myself as a recovering perfectionist, but I have seen it is a better way to view the world.

This is a book I will be coming back to - almost every page having an underline of something that stuck out to me. Each chapter begins with an IG-worthy quote and a short quote to start the chapter.

I was able to relate to Brene's story because grieved a lot due to my parents' divorce and losing my grandmother to Alzheimer's, too (p. 145). Our perfectionist nature, temptation to compare, and introversion also hit home in the book (pp. 194-195, 221). Good to know that on so many levels, I am not alone.

I loved this book, and while I cannot read her books quickly, I thoroughly enjoy them. GO GET THIS BOOK!

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Cupid is a Procrastinator: 2/5






I found Kate's story of singleness easy to relate to as I read it. Being single in your 30's is different than being single in your 20's.

  • "... I often feel like I have been perpetually living the life of a college student, roommates and all, for the last fifteen years..." (p. 37).
  • She makes the point that not having a family of your own is a loss - even something that never existed can be a loss, which is hard for some people to understand (pp. 38-39).
  • "I do struggle with people telling me how hard marriage is, which is the default response when people find out that I am in my thirties and not married" (p. 111).  
  • "Sometimes, we don't see God's provision even when it is right in front of us because it looks different from what we expected" (p.131). 
  • [W]hen it comes to dating, we Christians have believed in some weird crap" (p.142).

Although it was interesting to read, I found it somewhat frustrating seeing her quote her own songs and other authors quite a bit towards the end of the book. She also plainly states in the book how much she wants a different life with a husband and kids, which is easy to relate to, but annoying to read. Her blog is called "The Sexy Celibate".

The last chapter should have been the first, reminding singles that we are part of the Greatest Love Story with God. It is the foundation of every Christian book for singles, reminding us we are already part of a love story.

The afterword was unnecessary, and the last line of chapter 18 left a bad taste in my mouth for this book: "In the end, it will not really matter if you are single or married or divorced, if you are beautiful or ugly, if you are abandoned or cherished. You are the Beloved. Forever no more alone" (p. 211). Really?