Book Review: For The Love by Jen Hatmaker

This book will lighten your load and give
fresh meaning to the word, grace! 

For The Love~Fighting For Grace In A World Of Impossible Standards by Jen Hatmaker

Best-selling author, Jen Hatmaker is convinced life can be lovely and fun and courageous and kind. She knows how the squeeze of this life can make us competitive and judgmental; how we can lose love for others and then for ourselves. She reveals how to:

Break free of guilt and shame by dismantling the unattainable Pinterest life.
Learn to engage our culture's controversial issues with a           grace-first approach.
Identify the tools you already have to develop real-life, all-in know-my-junk-but-love-me-anyway friendships.
Escape our impossible standards for parenting and marriage by accepting the standard of "mostly good."

In this raucous ride to freedom for modern women, Jen Hatmaker bares the refreshing wisdom, wry humor, no-nonsense faith, liberating insight, and fearless honesty that have made her beloved by women worldwide.

My Personal Review:

For The Love~FIGHTING for GRACE in a World of Impossible Standards by Jen Hatmaker is a wonderfully burden breaking book filled with sound truths about grace. 
For The Love by Jen Hatmaker takes a relaxed and transparent look at the elements of grace and the pressure we put on ourselves to live it out in a "perfect" way every day. This book gently reminds the reader that the focus of grace filled living should center around the love we share and reveal to one another through kindness practiced in our everyday living; It is more about resembling Christ through a relationship with Him rather than trying harder to be better within our own strength. 

Reading the book,  For The Love by Jen Hatmaker is similar to the feeling one gets from a cool breeze on a hot summer day! With each turn of the page, I could feel the air becoming lighter...crisper...easier to breathe. Jen's candor and honest transparency throughout her writing is so refreshing to me that I can hardly put her work down. Instead of  rushing through and trying to read faster, I found myself reading slower, so as to savor every word. Well done!

Jen Hatmaker will bring a smile to your face!

After digesting this most recent work from Jen Hatmaker, the reader will undoubtedly search their own heart for issues that have been hidden and not dealt with due to the fear of being judged by a harsh world. Jen brings to light that releasing these concerns to the Lord will break chains and set you free to demonstrate the goodness of God wherever you are planted. The humor in this book is plentiful. Is she a comedian in addition to her writing career? I literally could not stop laughing during many parts of this book. Her unstoppable ability to bring liberation to a soul bound in guilt, fear, and insecurity is a priceless gift.

I think what I love most about this author's work is the way her "spicy" personality comes across in her masterpieces. She describes "spicy people" as those who "love obnoxious humor, sarcasm, and the tendency to be very, very loud." She goes on to explain that spicy folks have "enormous feelings, which makes us a passionate, emotional bunch. Our permanent default setting is exclamation marks. We don't really 'do gentle.' We don't actually know what that means." 

For The Love brings out this free spirited sense of abandon and translates to the reader in a comedic way. However, don't mistake Jen's fun spirited delivery with a watered down message, because her case for Christ and her consistent message that we need to reach out to a hurting world in truth and love are vehemently clear. Her insistence that God should not be our "American God Narrative", 'filtered through a middle class, white, advantage denominational lens' sets the stage for one of the most profound statements in the entire book, which is: "Theology is either true everywhere or it isn't true anywhere." Powerful, thought provoking, and true! 

For the Love  by Jen Hatmaker is a treat to read! It will be released on August 18, 2015. This book definitely has the potential to set a warm heart on fire...a captive soul free... a confused mind straight...and perhaps even change a grumpy countenance to a bright and happy one.  

Thank you to Thomas Nelson a registered trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc for this complimentary review copy of For The Love by Jen Hatmaker provided through NetGalley. I received this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions within this review are my own.

Book Review: Arms Open Wide~A Call To Linger in the Savior's Presence by Sherri Gragg

Arms Open Wide by Sherri Gragg is a beautifully written devotional book that brings a greater depth of understanding to the gospels and a renewed sensitivity to the never ending love of Christ. 




A wonderful book that draws us to
of a loving Savior.

Arms Open Wide by Sherri Gragg is a tender devotional.  Each individual section of the book leads off with a scripture reading from the gospels and then flows seamlessly into a narrated dialogue from the perspective of a character found within that particular Bible story.  Each section ends with a transparent prayer that draws the reader further into a heart of worship to an approachable and loving Savior.  The author's ability to take nuggets of cultural research and transfer them onto the page for effortless interpretation is a unique gift.  There is a glossary of historical terms at the back of the book to be referenced as needed for a more complete understanding of the setting in which the events were occurring.  I found this list very helpful and enlightening.

The message of hope and freedom that can be found in a relationship with Jesus Christ was eloquently unveiled throughout the entirety of this book.  One specific section of reading that spoke directly to my heart was the story of Mary and Martha.  The author utilizes her extensive research into the treatment of women in this culture and time period and brilliantly connects the scriptures to the probable thoughts occurring within Martha's mind.  The conclusion is a much deeper comprehension of the Lord's desire that each of us come to Him for our fulfillment and not fall into the trap of allowing the world to define us.  Our potential is found in Him and our definition of who we are comes only from His defining grace upon our lives.  We are encouraged to sit at His feet and listen to the direction He has designed uniquely for each of us to follow.  

Upon receiving this book, I was very impressed with the cover design by Milkglass Creative.  In addition to the outstanding cover, the thick smooth paper quality of each individual page adds a richness to the experience that I would be remiss not to mention. 

I found this book, Arms Open Wide by Sherri Gragg, to be a wonderfully deep work of truth paired with an honest heart of creativity.  It truly does beckon the reader to linger and ponder the richness of the living God and respond to the loving redemptive care of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson Publishing for this review copy of Arms Open Wide by Sherri Gragg through the BookLook Bloggers program.  The opinions expressed within this review are my own.  I was not required to provide a positive review, but chose to do so of my own accord.