Thursday Thought: {W}hole Review and Giveaway

My friend Lisa Whittle has written an excellent book. It's the book we've been studying in our book study each week-- a randomly put together group of us met to hash out what wholeness looks like, and what personal holes prevent us from achieving the wholeness we desire. We talked, we cried, we vented, and-- as Lisa said-- we "went there." {W}hole is a book for people who want to go there-- to dig deeply into those things that we might otherwise not take the time to look at. We talked about how our religion, our roles and our experiences can lead to holes in our life.

I will share some quotes I've underlined:

Religion will always feel bad when we define our relationship with a supreme God by simple trying to perform spiritual things really well.

To gain true and lasting spiritual freedom, I would have to be brave enough to look at those holes without looking away. It would mean the difference in the quality of my life and how much I would be able to experience a real God without limits-- something I had always wanted. And something, as it turns out, that is available to us all.

More than thirty million adults say that their experiences with religion have caused them to question God.

Like me or not, I pray that you cannot deny the presence of God in my life.

One of the most curious things about humans is how hard we resist change. Even when our lives unravel before us, there is still something inside that holds on to the mess just so we don't have to do something different.

The roles we have in life often hold our hearts in their hands, so when the roles are taken away, our hearts are dropped and broken. We have depended on them to fulfill us, and that has created a hole... But these roles do not make me who I am at the very core. They are simply what I am blessed to do while God chooses to leave me on this earth.

When you screw up as often as I do, you're that much more thankful for an all-access God who has no ability to make mistakes and yet infinite capacity to handle ours.

Here's a link to the book site, where you can watch the trailer and learn more about what Lisa is offering in and through this labor of love birthed from her own personal struggles. Suffice it to say that this is an author who has truly lived her words.

If you're looking to "go there" in your spiritual life, I suggest you get {W}hole. This book will challenge you if you let it. It's one I would suggest reading a little each morning, with a pen for underlining and your journal pages open for recording what God reveals about your story as you read.

With that in mind, I am giving away a copy of {W}hole, a journal, and my favorite pen to one lucky winner! Please leave a comment to win, telling me why you'd like to dig into {W}hole!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. GILLIAN WAS THE WINNER-- IF YOU DIDN'T WIN THIS TIME, PLEASE CONSIDER BUYING LISA'S BOOK. IT'S A WONDERFUL BOOK TO GO THROUGH IN YOUR OWN PERSONAL QUIET TIME!