Psst... You're Already Amazing. {a review}

Do you ever feel like you aren't enough? (I do.) Do you ever feel forgotten? unseen? tired? (I do.) So when I heard about Holley Gerth's new book, 'You're Already Amazing', I jumped at the chance to read it. But I wasn't convinced that I would agree with her- I have a lot of days when I'm pretty sure I'm not that amazing.

Holley's words from the introduction to the last page make you feel like you really are sitting down with your sweetest girlfriend for coffee. And she whispers the words that Jesus wants you to hear. To soak in. To believe deep in your core. For months now I have been on a journey into confidence in Him. I've been on a long, winding, and ever-rewarding road to discover that the Father truly loves me madly and actually believe it. And this book speaks wisdom right from the pages of God's Word and aims it right at your heart with an arrow that pierces. This is a book about hearing God, finding Him on the path that you're already on, and discerning the way the path is leading you tomorrow.


This book digs in deep and helps you find real ways to discover what God might be calling you to do next. In reading it, I didn't feel like it was Holley just offering her prescription... I've read a lot of those books, and I don't need someone telling me what they think I should do with my life.

I need God.

She asked a lot of open-ended questions that forced me to do my own digging. I like that. I need to discover the way that God created me to live in love, not the way someone else thinks I should... because we aren't one-size-fits-all. She says, "It's about aligning our lives with love in the way God created us to do". Truth.

The take-aways from this book are many. Holley's book is a challenge to give up striving and to soak in the fact that you are loved deep because of Who God is, not because of anything you can do. Holley offers a ton of encouragement that spoke to this girl's heart on many levels. I walked away from each chapter with a great sense of security in Who's I am and who God created me to be! I think y'all will love it! And if you want a great online community to read it along with, the (in)courage Bloom book club has chosen this book for their next selection!

Also partnering with Dayspring, Holley has an awesome collection that echoes the message from the book. As soon as I opened the box with this adorable canvas wrapped block and journal, I was smitten.

I am a girl who LOVES a new journal.

And this journal is a great one. One of my favorite quotes from the book is on the cover~ "She didn't have to be perfect because she was perfectly loved." I love that this journal will be a consistent reminder of that. The pages are also strewn with scripture that repeat the same message. Truth. The 'Dare to Dream' block has earned a sweet place on top of my bookshelf where I will see it often... because we all need to be reminded, don't we?!

I'm praying for you today, my lovelies! That you would know how much He truly loves you and wants you to just soak in that love. You are amazing. And you don't have to do anything but be who He made you to be.

The fine print: Dayspring sent me a copy of 'You're Already Amazing' and the Dream block and journal to read and review. The opinions voiced are expressly my own!

Fear and Rest

Psalm 91:1 "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty."

This week begins the newest (in)courage Bloom book study of Angie Smith's new book "What Women Fear". I must admit, by the title alone I wasn't so compelled to dive in, but as I got to thinking about it I realized that I've got many fears in my life. I've just learned to live with them, to waltz around them as though the elephant under the rug is supposed to be there. That is not the freedom that Jesus offers!

I don't rest in Him, wholly and completely, when I just ignore the things that stir in my gut. Do y'all have fears that have just become part of your normal? A very real example in my life of how fear and rest don't go together is my fear of the dark.

I was fifteen when I became afraid of the dark. I remember lying in my bed on that November night of my sophomore year in high school. Blankets up to my chin, the black in my room was the first place I felt alone. That night I can still recall a growing fear in my gut for the unknown.

Our world had just been rocked, and I can still see my ceiling if I close my eyes. Thinking how everything had changed in an instant, a letter. And the darkness was the place I realized that he wasn't. I knew my mom was downstairs, and I knew I was safe, but I was by myself, beside myself. The unseen seemed to characterize what I was feeling~ worried, uncertain, without defined boundaries.

So I learned to live with this fear by leaving lights on. By checking and double-checking locks. By staying awake until I was so exhausted that I would pass out upon my head hitting the pillow. I would sleep, but this wasn't rest!

"God is light; in him there is no darkness at all"

1 John 1:5

Psalm 91:14 says "'Because he loves me,' says the Lord, 'I will rescue him; I will protect him for he acknowledges my name.'" Learning that I can turn the light out and trust God to control my circumstances has led to peace. With this comfort I can lay my head down and experience true rest. I don't want to simply live with my fear... I want to let God take it!

So what are you afraid of? Are you willing to let it go and trust that God wants you to experience wholeness and freedom? The study starts today, but it's not too late to grab a copy of the book and dive in! You are welcome to jump over there by clicking the button on my sidebar.