Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Review: Unlikely Rebel: A Church Girl's Journey Out of Shoulds and Shame by:Kelli Gotthardt

Unlikely Rebel: A Church Girl's Journey Out of Shoulds and Shame
About the Book:
No formulas, no pat answers. Just real life. Real questions. Real transformation. Approach many women in the church and if they're being honest, they'll tell you they
- try hard to keep it all together;
- are frustrated that being good doesn't deliver the perfect life;
- feel trapped in expectations;
- make decisions based on "shoulds";
- feel selfish when they say no; and
- are uncertain of their place in God's kingdom.
Between the desire to please God, the need to feel valued, and the compulsion to make everyone around them happy, women often find themselves denying their desires. It's safer to stay in the life of "shoulds"--even if it means being spiritually and emotionally disconnected.

Kelli Gotthardt knows their pain. Always considered a "good girl," she threw herself into every ministry, saying yes to every request her church family made. On the outside, her life looked completely together--but she was drowning in self-doubt and shame. "Unlikely Rebel" is the story of how Kelly slowly shed shoulds and shame, learning to love God and love who He created her to be.

The journey from the comfort of doing everything expected of a perfect pastor's wife to the uncertainty of living authentically and true to her unique calling is equal parts exhausting and exhilarating. Many Christians condemned her, responding with fear or anger to her greater intimacy with God's calling when it didn't match their own vision. For others, though, her journey inspired courage to embrace God's path for their own lives.

Now Kelli invites other women to discover God's leading in their lives, learning that if they throw off the despondency of undeserved shame, abundant life awaits.

My Review:
 It is very hard for me to say no to church obligations. I feel the same was as the author has with feeling obligated to attend and help with everything church related, so much so that it can cause burn out. I have felt like this at one time or another for years. You have to be very careful and true to yourself and your family because burn out is a hard thing to recover from. Not only will be exhausted but it can also make you very bitter towards your church family.

 Women are hard wired, it seems to be everything to everybody so it can be very difficult to stop that habit. The main thing that I wanted to stress about the book is the author does go into detail and shares many of the hard lessons she has learned along the way. It was nice to peek inside her life for a minute. But she does share with you the way out of the pit which I thought was refreshing.

**Disclosure** This book was sent to me free of charge for my honest review from Book Fun.

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