ABOUT THE BOOK

Emily Freeman Invites Women to Stop Trying to Impress God and Rest In Him

She’ll always volunteer to teach Sunday School. If a family needs a casserole, she’s on the list to bring one. She’s seen as dependable, organized, and capable. And she likes it that way. But deep inside she struggles. Is her quiet time long enough? Why does it feel like everyone else in her women’s Bible Study is getting more out of it than she is? What more could God want from her?

In Grace for the Good Girl (ISBN: 978-0-8007-1984-5, $13.99, September, 272 pages), Emily Freeman invites women to let go of the try-hard life and realize that Christ gives us freedom to receive from God rather than constantly trying to achieve for him. As “good girls,” we focus on the things we can handle, our disciplined lives and our unshakable good moods. When we fail to measure up to our own impossible standards, we hide behind our good girl masks, determined to keep our weakness a secret.

“We may have learned to hold our tongue, to raise our hands in worship, to be kind when we feel unkind. We may have learned to act right,” Freeman writes. “But the unseen mind is an unruly battlefield. Even though I know that my spirit has now been united with God’s Spirit and my true identity is found there, my soul still has muscle memory.”

With an open hand and a whimsical style, Freeman uncovers the truth about the hiding, encouraging women to move from hiding behind girl-made masks and do-good performances to a life hidden with Christ.

Chapter by chapter, Grace for the Good Girl helps readers:

Learn how to stop hiding behind performance and reputation
Let go of the try-hard life
Rest in God’s grace instead of trying to impress Him

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Emily Freeman is a writer who loves to read and a speaker who would rather listen. She writes for DaySpring (a division of Hallmark) and has also traveled as a writer with Compassion International to raise awareness for the needs of children in poverty around the world. She received degrees from both Columbia International University and The University of North Carolina Greensboro. She is married to John, a student ministries pastor, and together they live in North Carolina with their three children. Emily extends a daily invitation on her blog for women to create space for their souls to breathe. Come join the community of grace dwellers at www.ChattingAtTheSky.com.

BUSYJULIE'S REVIEW

I enjoyed Emily's book. Her writing style is comfortable and easy. This book is a really good read for someone (that would be....ME) who struggles with perfectionism and a performance-based mindset. I wake up in the morning with a list of "tasks" to be accomplished for the day, then all day long I beat myself up for not doing them quickly enough or well enough, and at the end of the day I feel defeated by the things I did not get done. I am not just talking about chores. If I don't pray enough or if I talk to my kids too sharply, I feel worthless. I am the girl who feels guilty for feeling guilty. This book reminded me that these things are irrelevant and that my identity is in Christ, not in my performance. I am "safe, even in failure." For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10). It's all about HIM, not about me! Praise God!

Available September 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.