Stronger Woman, Softer Heart

I just finished a great book entitled Strong Women, Soft Hearts by Paula Rhinehart. Don't let the cheesy titled dissuade you from the great treasures inside. It's an awesome read. Written with heartfelt passion, this book dives deep into a woman's heart and makes sense of everything going on in there. As women (especially living in America) we can think that we need one more thing to do or event to add to the schedule. But we lose our hearts in that, and in return we've lost touch with our passions and who we are really meant to be in God. As a Christian woman sometimes I can imagine what my life will be like down the road as a mom or working or traveling the world or whatever, but the reality is that I need to live life NOW. Rhinehart says, "It's strange the way we meander through life, thinking we are moving forward, only to discover that we have left our hearts behind." And that is true. Routine causes me to lose focus on the things I really think God created me for. And I need to take that back each and every day.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

"God made our spirit to respond to him- to hunger and desire beyond ourselves that which is wholly other, Holy Other. He made us incomplete- with gaps, holes, yearnings, desires that woo us to our real home. We make a big mistake if we toss our longings away lightly...Do you ever see Jesus accusing someone of wanting too much? When does Jesus rebuke someone for desiring? If anything, you see just the opposite. Jesus actually fanned the flames of desire."


"I have God's permission to live out the truth of who I am- to believe that my desires are not an accident, a mistake, or a nuisance. It is the definition of joy to be able to offer back to God the essence of what he's placed in you, be that creativity or a love of ideas or a compassionate heart or the gift of hospitality. I am convinced that owning our longings and trusting God with those is crucial in bringing the color and music back into our lives."


"Don't you find that when you offer to the Lord the crumpled mess of the dreams you can't make happen-of all you cannot control- what he gives you in its place is a mysterious sense of hope?"


"But accepting the mystery of what we cannot know will lead us to the heart of God where we trade our craving for explanation for a simple willingness to trust."


"To be vulnerable is to voluntarily place yourself, for the sake of a larger purpose, in a situation that could bring pain. You see something at stake- your own spiritual growth or someone else's- and you are willing to risk your heart in a vulnerable way."


"We may be blameless before God, but we can never be sinless- and that is a crucial distinction. The reality of being forgiven means that we, of all people, have the freedom to admit where we are wrong."


"Loving someone is the one venture in life in which the more you succeed, the more you have to lose. It is so tempting to keep your heart in reserve. To hedge your bets seems a reasonable choice in the face of things. But then, whoever said love was reasonable?"


"God doesn't erase fear from the blackboard of our lives. Rather, he grows our souls by the sometimes largely uncomfortable experience of trusting him as we do the thing that's frightening. And we discover him there, in it all. As Joyce Meyer explains, we don't wait until we have overcome fear to move out as God wants us to. Her word of encouragement is, 'Do it afraid.'"




Those are just some tiny nuggets from a great book. Women need to see just how God created them with passion and HEART and not to lose that in the mundane, the scary, the unknown, or even the bliss.