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Day 247: Present Over Perfect

I haven't really taken the time to organize my thoughts on this yet, but I listened to episode 38 of the Simple Show podcast yesterday, and immediately grabbed the book Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist from my Audible wish list. The podcast episode and the book (I'm almost halfway through) are really speaking to me. I've known since the beginning of the year that 2016 would be one of transition for us, and hoped that it would be one of discovery and of learning about ourselves and of trying to follow God's will in our lives.

While I have found a few things the author has said to be a little contradictory, and while her theology differs some from what I have found to be true, I do like the basis of the book and I relate easily to what she is saying. Her story seems so similar to many women I've encountered, and since she reads the Audible version, it almost feels like she's a friend over for coffee, chatting about real life.

She had found herself living a life of fulfilling others' expectations, of rushing everywhere to do all the things, of never getting around to prioritizing what she claimed was most important to her. She sacrificed her family life, her health and ultimately her happiness to live the way she thought would make her happy, but she hadn't taken the time to really know herself, to see herself as a daughter of God who needn't try to earn His love, and to figure out what her life would look like in order to leave the legacy she pictured.

It's too soon to fully recommend the book, but it has given me so much to think about already. Definitely check out the podcast if you feel like you can relate at all to what I've said above. I'm pretty sure this book and topic will be one I revisit. The holy spirit dropped it in my lap right at the time I needed it.

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