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Drumrollll…… the winners are….

Kristie I would LOVE to win a copy of copy of this book. It seems to be crying out for me to read it!

AND

kasmith03 I have been wanting to read this one…thanks for the chance to win a copy!!

Thank you http://random.org!

I’ll be contacting the winners shortly so I can get your addresses and send them out… thanks everyone for playing!

Ever stumble across something that changes the way you think?

A year and a half ago I stumbled into the gift of Emily Freeman’s blog ”Chatting at the Sky“  Her words gave my heart wings and her artistry helped me see things in life in a new perspective, a healing, encouraging, wonder-filled perspective.

After becoming a regular lurker at Emily’s place I had the incredible privilege to be a pre-release reader of her book Grace for the Good Girl. Squee!

The first night I read 8 chapters.
The next night 5 more.
When I was not reading, I was marinating on Emily’s words and they became a balm to my soul.

Words like…

I want to be perfect in every situation… I was a bad person because I made a mistake and any failure was devastating to me
If you wonder what gives you the authority to define me, it is because you exist
I taught people around me that I had not needs and then was secretly angry with them for believing me
As a good girl, my worship was small and my service was toxic… Service seemed a burden. Worship was contrived.

I simply could not put her book down because…

Whether you are a good girl or not – you are a woman – and we are all familiar with hiding and brokenness.

Even though we hate to admit it, we all go through brokenness, and during that brokenness, it is SO common to hide… hide from self, hide from God, hide from others.  Whether we do it through a good girl persona, a rebellious girl persona, or a wallflower persona – the concept of hiding is universal because as Emily says, ”It isn’t natural to just let the broken things be broken.” We want to “fix” the broken or “hide” from the broken, or “mask” the broken… not just let it exist.

Yet Emily shares with us that in Christ, this embracing of brokenness is a pre-requisite for finding the healing and the freedom we long for in Christ. She gently encourages us to take off the mask and live into Christ abundantly.

She transparently shares her own story of how she has succeeded in breaking up with her masks though she dealt with a debilitating shame that was a ”battle… constant and hovering.”Emily reminds us that “the fact that I needed healing did not mean I was horrible, it meant I was human,” and that truth gives us courage to take the journey with her into finding and embracing who we truly are in Christ. Her gentle words are like a best friend encouraging us to see those difficult places and surrender them to Christ.

Emily’s theology in Grace for the Good Girl is rock solid.

How many times do we pick up “Christian books” only to be fed the same over-used, surfacy theology? This is definitely not the case with Grace for the Good Girl. Emily’s theology is well studied, solid, and gives women who want to go deeper something substantial to chew on for further reflection.

Emily is a born communicator and has the ability to share theology using metaphors and analogies that help create word-pictures to solidify the points she is making. I so appreciate that about her writing!

Because Grace for the good girl feels universally relevant.

No matter where you have come from that has brought you to the place of wearing a mask, or what has led you into the hiding, Emily has the ability – through her artful prose and gentle, yet well-studied theological foundation – to reach tenderly forward and wrap comforting words around the aches of our hearts.

Good girls grown up to be good, bad girls wanting to be good, and we women in general will find something that to relate to in this book.Whether you have it all together or everything is falling apart, Grace for the good girl will speak peace and promise to every anxious soul… it is a must read for every woman struggling to take the next step on their journey.

And the best news? I am giving away TWO copies of Emily’s book!

Just enter a comment in the section below, retweet to your friends and invite them to come and enter too!

I will announce the winners on THURSDAY!!!! 

Want to meet the writer herself? Take a little look at her video!

Available September 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group