Stronger Than You Think

Stronger Thank You Think

Becoming whole without having to be perfect

Kim Gaines Eckert

How's that for a book title?!

It has me written all over it, doesn't it?!  The funny thing is, God dropped it into my lap - or library bag.  You see I was searching for another title on the library website and it came up.  I thought it was for a completely different subject and added it to my list.

When I got it home days later, I just had to laugh and praise God at the same time since it is exactly the type of book I need to be reading right now.  I was considering telling a few of you about it, but then after I got done reading a bunch of blogs, I decided to just do a post.  It seems that universally most of us struggle from what this book discusses on some level, even if you aren't to the OCD, anxiety-ridden stage like me!

Here are some brief excerpts to entice you into checking it out...

On wholeness:

"If wholeness is equivalent to perfection, then we are all destined for failure.  We will never experience wholeness through sheer will and hard work.  Our hope is that, despite our messy lives and our inability to live perfectly, we have a Savior who has already made us whole.  In Christ we are being restored and healed.  And even though we may not feel whole, wholeness is ultimately not about our feelings.  Isn't that a relief?"

So far, in what I've read, there is theology, psychology and some common sense.  I think it is so far very cool, but there is another excerpt I must share for those of you, like me, who think that this book is the ANSWER to all of your previous inabilities to attain wholeness:

"You may be inclined to believe that a book about wholeness will teach you how to "get it together" by the end of the book:  have all the answers and know how to perfectly manage yourself, your thoughts, your relationships, etc.  {Could this author possibly have received divine intervention into what Heather would seriously be thinking when she started reading this book?} Please be warned that I make no such promise for this book....Wholeness is a paradox.  Jesus is the perfect example of wholeness, though his life was characterized by suffereing.  True wholeness comes from joining with Christ in his suffering and finding healing in that.  God redeems our brokenness through the work of Christ.  God's intent is not to help us avoid pain and maximize pleasure {Darn it!}; rather, God's intent is to grow us up in Christ."

In case, it was not obvious, the above italicized words were added by me.  

I invite you all to read this with me.  She writes about how a focus group read it and discussed it together and how much more it helped them so she adds questions in the back of the book for discussion.  If you are interested, please join me!  As she states, "If you will allow God to help you be vulnerable and join with others on this journey, I wholeheartedly believe you will open yourself up to the possibility of more significant growth and healing than you could find individually."

My prayer is that we can all seek true wholeness through Christ in the midst of our messy lives!