For the Love: Fighting for Grace in a World of Impossible Standards

August 18, 2015August 17, 2015 by theseordinarygraces In Books, For the Love 1 Comment

This summer, I had the privilege to be on the launch team for Jen Hatmaker’s new book For the Love. I’ve never been a part of a book launch team so this was a new experience for me. Reading is kind of my thing. I don’t read books more than once. Unless it’s a children’s book. There’s just something about Fox in Socks, am I right? I’ve tried to re-read books and I cannot get past the first chapter before I remember everything about it and lose interest.

But there’s just something about this particular book that makes me pick it up again and again. I sat in a hotel room all summer kicking myself for letting the movers pack it instead of bringing it with me on our trip. I was thrilled to find it in the very first box I unpacked! The state of my house right now may have something to do with finding it again so soon.

This book is what the women of America have been needing. Jen writes like she’s sitting next to you, drinking a cup of coffee and talking about whatever comes up. She is just so relatable. Like an old friend you can talk with about anything. I laughed, I cried, I felt moved to try harder at the things that matter, like friendships, community, marriage, and being present with my kids, and I felt encouraged to let things go that don’t matter, like perfectionism, comparison, and insecurity.

This is a cry for community, real community. Jen takes all our hopes, fears, insecurities, and says loud and clear, “We ALL have something. We ALL feel lonely and insecure, hurt and bruised. We ALL have something to offer this hurting world.” She encourages women to form a network of friends, sisters, confidants to come together and support each other in whatever way is needed. To stand up for ourselves and our time, our beliefs and our passions. To look inside ourselves and trust that God made us just the way he did for a reason, for a purpose, for such a time as this.
There are so many life lessons in this book, from hilarious fashion concerns to heart-rending marriage and parenting thoughts to world-changing ideas, it’s hard to sum it all up. My copy is a jumbled mess of pink hi-lighter and black pen.

I cannot say enough about this book, guys. Bottom line? Order it. Stop by a book store and grab a copy. And then get ready to laugh and cry until you can’t anymore.

You’re welcome.