Read Beautiful Words (with Giveaway!)

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     I love reading.

     I will read classics and contemporaries, non-fiction and fiction, theology and sci-fi.

     But what I love most in any book are beautiful words. I want the stories to pull me in and stun me with their beauty. I want the spiritual memoirs to make me pause and take a moment to tuck truth into my mind.

     Today, Ann Voskamp's beautiful new book, The Broken Way releases into the world. If you've read One Thousand Gifts, you know the way she weaves poetry and prose, stories of beauty and pain.

     The Broken Way: A Daring Path Into the Abundant Life.

     What a subtitle! This book is life-changing and renewing. (Confession time: I love The Broken Way more than One Thousand Gifts!)

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     Now that Ann has introduced you to her book, let me share what I love about it. Here's what you're in for when you pick up this book:

     // Metaphors and stories woven so seamlessly that after each chapter, my heart says, "Wow! God did that for her. It reminds me of all the ways He works in my circumstances."

     // What's even better than a bucket list

     // Quotes from the best: C.S. Lewis, A. W. Tozer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Charles Spurgeon, Augustine, Martin Luther, etc. By referencing these greats and contributing her own writing to the spiritual discourses, Ann earns her place among the greatest Christian writers of all time.

     // Finally, a book full of whispered dares to live fully that aren't cheesy!

     // Spiritual encouragement and heart-reorienting for all of us wounded humans

     I flagged so many pages in just the first 100 pages that I ran out of stickies, but I saved enough quotes to share the best here:

"Maybe the love gets in easier where the heart's broke open." (pg. 24)

"What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you choose to remember and how you remember it." (pg. 33)

"Peace isn't a place to arrive at, but a Person to abide in." (pg. 47)

"Anxiety can come out of nowhere. Get busy, get distracted, and you can forget God. Forget God, and you lose your mind and your peace." (pg. 53)

"Is anything you're doing here adding up to anything that matters? And in the end, is what you've chosen ultimately about Christ and His kingdom? If not, then no matter what you're chosen, it won't matter at all." (pg. 54)

"I told her I was trying to remember to put my priorities on all things unseen. Told her I was trying to slay the idol of the seen, break the idols of performance, and believe the state of my house doesn't reflect the state of my soul. And she's confirmed it's the priorities unseen--the prayers, the relationships, the love while doing the work--that hold the meaning, the merit." (pg. 55)

"Take your one container of time and believe it contains exactly the time you need for a meaningful life." (pg. 61)

"We are done waiting for some elusive future moment to say life is good enough. We are done waiting for some big enough house, some big enough step up, some big, exciting enough experience to finally think we've arrived at the abundance of being and living enough." (pg. 87)

~

     This book is for the hopers and the suffering--often the two go hand-in-hand. This book is for the teenager who wonders if she's living her one broken life to the fullest and the middle-aged woman wondering the exact same thing. This book is for the readers who love beautiful words and the readers who love to sit and think about a single sentence. This book is for me, and this book is for you.

     You have the opportunity to win a free copy of this book. That's right: I'm giving away a copy! Just leave a comment below by midnight on 10/30, and I will draw a name and announce it on 10/31.

     I am also giving away an advance copy of the study guide that accompanies this book, which will not be available until December. Let me know specifically if you are also interested in the ARC of the study guide, and I will enter you into a separate drawing.

     The Broken Way challenged me to live a purposeful life of giving and resting in Christ, who is our peace. It's a book that comes alongside you wherever you are and dares you to live fully.

"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." ~John 10:10b ESV

~Madeline

This post is part of my 31 Days to a Better Reading Life series.