Graceful: Letting go of your Try-Hard Life

This winter Robert bought me a book entitled Graceful: Letting go of your Try-Hard Life by Emily P. Freeman.  I just finished it on Monday and wanted to share some of my favorite lines/excerpts with you:

"Rather than admitting you don't know what to do next, you fake it in public and feel lost when you're alone." Who hasn't done that before???

One of my favorite Bible verses: "God can do anything, you know - far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!  He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us."  (Ephesians 3:20, Message)

"Discontentment shows up when we focus on what we can't have rather than what we do have.  We have an enemy who takes a gigantic highlighter to the story of our lives and highlights those areas to remind us."

"What if I told you the work is done?  What if Jesus dying and then coming back to life was actually enough?  What if you don't have to do anything but receive him, say thank you, and then live like it is true?"

The Hebrew work El Shaddai means "God Almighty, the God who is more than enough."

"As soon as you think you've got your pride under control, you realize you are feeling prideful for controlling your feelings of pride.  It's a gritty and vicious cycle.  So what are we to do?  The only thing we can do - receive from Jesus.  Practice thankfulness for the discernment, for the faith.  It's a gift, not a medal.  It's a grace, not an award.  And only through a daily belief in Jesus alone can the events of my life take on a different tone than before."

"I can do all of these things not because I am so strong and great, but because Jesus is.  And he is the Truth.  And he lives in me."

"But when we hold on to Jesus and know he is God, when we believe in him as sure as oxygen and gravity, when we trust him when he says that the only work he asks of us is the work of belief, he will not disappoint."

"The voice of the intellectual tries to convince us that breaks are for the weak, and that we will never be the best unless we work ourselves tirelessly.  Stress is the norm.  A busy schedule means we're accomplishing things.  The problem is, we aren't sure what exactly we're chasing."

"As we release our right to be right, to know everything, and to look good all the time, we will find a new path of freedom.  It's the way of humility, the way of casting all our cares on a loving God, the way of trusting in the Creator of the universe rather than the grade on our paper.  Embracing humility is the opposite of holding on to our rights.  The voice of the intellect says You have to know everything.  The voice of Jesus whispers You just have to know Me."

"Do you dream of becoming an actress?  A writer?  A doctor or teacher or missionary?  Tell him.  He already knows, and chances are you dream those things because he has uniquely gifted you for them in some way you may not even be able to imagine right now."

"Offer yourself in reckless abandon to you loving Father, the heavenly Dream Weaver...When we allow ourselves to dream, God takes sweet delight in reaching into those dreams and grabbing by the fistful - to shape, to mold, to change, and to bring out the beautiful."

"God's biggest story is built up story is built upon beauty made, then destroyed, then remade better.  There is bondage but then comes freedom.  There is blindness but then comes sight.  There is death but then comes resurrection...God is not confined to time and space like we are.  The future is now, and he is waiting, giddy to show up beautiful in this moment...Jesus sings his truth songs over us, moment by moment.  When we trust him, listen to him, believe his words as truth right now, our life song can be unique and graceful too."

"For the words you have to listen to that you wish didn't exist, words like cancer or divorce or funeral or God has a plan, you know - when you wish his plan had a lot less broken and a lot more whole - know that you have a Healer who is close by.  Let him comfort you."

"Being found means God is with you, for you, in you, around you.  He longs for you to take joy in his presence and rest in the safe place he has made for you."

What are some good books you've read lately?