{"id":11058,"date":"2017-10-01T14:50:03","date_gmt":"2017-10-01T19:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=11058"},"modified":"2017-10-01T14:50:03","modified_gmt":"2017-10-01T19:50:03","slug":"book-review-free-of-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=11058","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Free of Me"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Free-Me-Life-Better-about\/dp\/0801075238\/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1506887030&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=free+of+me\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11059\" alt=\"Miller_FreeofMe_3D-web\" src=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Miller_FreeofMe_3D-web.png\" width=\"500\" height=\"751\" srcset=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Miller_FreeofMe_3D-web.png 500w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Miller_FreeofMe_3D-web-199x300.png 199w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Do you need to take a deep breath?\u00a0 Are you ready to be relieved of the need to do everything perfectly?\u00a0 Pick up a copy of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Free-Me-Life-Better-about\/dp\/0801075238\/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1506887030&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=free+of+me\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Free of Me<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by Sharon Hodde Miller and settle in for a great read that points straight to Jesus.\u00a0 Miller really speaks to me as a wife and mom who highly values theological education.\u00a0 The best part is that she is really sharing a simple message&#8230;God&#8217;s got this.\u00a0 Take a deep breath and get over yourself.\u00a0 I read this book this past week sitting at the beach and it was a great read to refocus on what really matters&#8230;the truth of the gospel being lived out in the way that I approach loving my family, living my calling, and caring for those that God has put in my path.\u00a0 I&#8217;m so grateful for Miller&#8217;s commitment to using the platform of this book to point straight to the truth of Scripture.\u00a0 God has a plan and He is faithful.\u00a0 As Miller shares, &#8220;life really is better when it&#8217;s NOT ABOUT YOU!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>I highlighted several things while reading and have posted those notes below&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><!--?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"no\"?--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>People-pleasing is a funny thing, because it seems \u201cothers-focused,\u201d but it\u2019s not about others at all. \u00a0It\u2019s about you. \u00a0You want other people to think well of you. \u00a0You want people to say nice thing about you. \u00a0You help and you do favors and you struggle to say no because you don\u2019t want people to be mad at you. \u00a0Yes, your self-confidence hinges on the well-being of others, but at the end of the day people-pleasing is really in service to yourself. p. 24<\/li>\n<li>\u201cSearch me, God, and know my heart; test me and uno way anxious thoughts. \u00a0See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.\u201d Psalm 139:23-24 p. 27<\/li>\n<li>\u201cLet us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. \u00a0And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.\u201d Hebrews 12:1-2 p. 32<\/li>\n<li>\u201cLet your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.\u201d Proverbs 4:25 p. 38<\/li>\n<li>How you respond to God when your plans don\u2019t work out, or how you respond to Scripture when it challenges your lifestyle\u2014these responses are a litmus test of the kind of god you follow. p. 48<\/li>\n<li>Our desire for glory is a desire given to us; God created us to seek praise from him. p. 49<\/li>\n<li>\u201cAnd we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord\u2019s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory.\u201d 2 Corinthians 3:18 p. 53<\/li>\n<li>Our God rejoices over us with singing (see Zephaniah 3:17) and lays himself down to make us whole, not the other way around. p. 61<\/li>\n<li>He covers our sins and our innocent shortcomings, which means \u201cChristian parenting\u201d is not perfect parenting, but parenting under the grace of Christ. \u00a0Our call is not to be flawless parents, but to point to the Parent who never disappoints. p. 64<\/li>\n<li>\u201cchoose compassion over comparison.\u201d Jess Connelly and Hayley Morgan, Wild and Free p. 76<\/li>\n<li>When we lower the bar for women around us, expose our weaknesses instead of \u201ckeeping up,\u201d and humble ourselves instead of competing, that is a gift to our sisters. \u00a0In an image-obsessed culture like ours, that\u2019s what love looks like. p. 78<\/li>\n<li>\u201cVanity costs money, labor, horses, men, women, health, and peace, and is still nothing at last.\u201d Ralph Waldo Emerson p. 81<\/li>\n<li>\u201cGreed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.\u201d German psychologist Eric Fromm p. 86<\/li>\n<li>\u201cPeople are trying to build their platform more than their character\u2026I\u2019ve spent more time thinking how I can die a thousand deaths so that the character and nature of Christ can be formed in me. \u00a0As I die more, God gives me greater influence. \u00a0I think what we have is a generation that doesn\u2019t want to die, but wants to have a bigger voice.\u201d Christine Caine p. 107<\/li>\n<li>Dissatisfaction is a torment, but it\u2019s also a teacher. \u00a0It reveals our false idols, and it forecasts our future. \u00a0It\u2019s a cautionary tale of the life we think we want, and in that sense, it\u2019s a grace. \u00a0God is beckoning us, oh so lovingly, away from false satisfaction and into satisfaction that is true. p. 108<\/li>\n<li>\u201cIn Consumer Christianity, our concern is not primarily whether people are transformed to reflect the countercultural values of God\u2019s kingdom, but whether they are satisfied.\u201d Skye Jethani, The Divine Commodity p. 117<\/li>\n<li>\u201cFriendship is not a reward for our discrimination and good taste in finding one another out. \u00a0It is the instrument by which God reveals to each the beauties of all the others.\u201d C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves p. 119<\/li>\n<li>\u201cAnd let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.\u201d Hebrews 10:24-25 p. 124<\/li>\n<li>\u201cWe can\u2019t cure our narcissism by trying to ignore ourselves. \u00a0The solution is to stare at God.\u201d Francis Chan p. 133<\/li>\n<li>\u201cI will keep my eyes always on the Lord. \u00a0With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.\u201d Psalm 16:8 p. 142<\/li>\n<li>\u201cEach of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God\u2019s grace in its various forms.\u201d 1 Peter 4:10 p. 164<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThere remains a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God\u2019s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. \u00a0Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest.\u201d Hebrews 4:9-11 p. 187<\/li>\n<li>Thankfully we don\u2019t have to choose between fulfillment and self-forgetfulness, or between the abundance life and the obedient one. \u00a0We can have both in Christ. \u00a0So I invite you to embrace the freedom of this bigger story. \u00a0Don\u2019t settle for a focus that is partially about Christ but mostly about you. \u00a0Messages about your worth and your belonging are good, but they are also too small a thing, and you were meant for more.\u201d p. 191<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i>Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission\u2019s 16 CFR, Part 255 &lt;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.access.gpo.gov\/nara\/cfr\/waisidx_03\/16cfr255_03.html\">http:\/\/www.access.gpo.gov\/nara\/cfr\/waisidx_03\/16cfr255_03.html<\/a>&gt; : \u201cGuides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you need to take a deep breath?\u00a0 Are you ready to be relieved of the need to do everything perfectly?\u00a0 Pick up a copy of Free of Me\u00a0by Sharon Hodde Miller and settle in for a great read that points straight to Jesus.\u00a0 Miller really speaks to me as a wife and mom who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,14,25,16,23,28,32,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-study","category-book-review","category-education","category-family","category-generosity","category-integrity","category-marriage","category-seminary"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11058\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}