Strong Women, Soft Hearts

Are any of you reading the book Strong Women, Soft Hearts with the Bloom Book Club? I am reading this book along with Angie and Jessica and the rest of the ladies at Bloom and am having to slow down and re-read so many parts of this book. I am finding myself underlining quite a few lines…and as I was underlining and praying last night, I felt like I wanted to type out some of these nuggets of wisdom here on the blog so that I can remember. And, if you read some of these lines and are encouraged, maybe you’ll find that this might be a good book for you to read as well!

Just the chapter titles alone are enough to tell me that God has something for me inside this book!

• Ch. 1 ~ Awakening: God Calls Our Hearts
• Ch. 2 ~ Desire: The Language of the Heart
• Ch. 3 ~ Pain: The Crossroads of the Heart
• Ch. 4 ~ Losing Heart: How It Happens
• Ch. 5 ~ Control: Releasing Our Sticky Fingers
• Ch. 6 ~ Trust: The Art of Falling Backward
• Ch. 7 ~ Vulnerability: The Secret Side of Strength
• Ch. 8 ~ Forgiveness: Experiencing a Heart Set Free
• Ch. 9 ~ Sexuality: The Heart’s Unsuspecting Mirror
• Ch. 10 ~ Loving Beyond Reason
• Ch. 11 ~ Living Beyond Fear
• Ch. 12 ~ Longing For Resolution

Wow. I dare say that I think every woman could benefit from some part of this book. 🙂 I am through chapter 8 at this point, and have thoroughly enjoyed the videos that Jessica and Angie have done for us along the way. If you end up reading this book, please do check out these videos as you read through the book. For me, I just love hearing another woman’s perspective while we are reading through the same book.

Helpful Bloom Links

• Note from the author, Paula Rinehart
• Chapter 1 – Video and Discussion Questions
• Chapter 2 – Video and Discussion Questions
• Chapter 3 – Video and Discussion Questions
• Chapter 4 – Video and Discussion Questions
• Chapter 5 – Video and Discussion Questions
• Chapters 6, 7, 8 – Video

I know this post is getting long, but I really wanted to share a few of the highlights with you that I have read thus far! So…here are some of the lines from this book that have really hit me the hardest at this point…

“The very struggles we would just as soon skip past become the ticket to gaining what we lack, as though God knew just the grist we needed to become what He had in mind.” from Ch. 1

“Relationships defy our attempts at control.” from Ch. 1

“It’s as though we still have a memory of the Garden of Eden, and we are homesick for something we just can’t quite get our hands around here. These longings are the holes in our soul. They tell us something important – that we need God…These longings are not meant to go away this side of heaven. ‘We are like Swiss cheese, and the holes in us are actually supposed to be there. The holes are the things that make us who we are. The holes are the places God has reserved in us for Himself! The longings identify our real hunger. A hunger that drives us to Him to be satisfied.'” Swiss cheese quote from C.S. Lewis, from Ch.2

“If you want to know real joy in life, then be willing to let pain tutor your soul.” from Ch. 4

“Trust does not come by working harder…being able to trust God is grounded in staking the whole of my being on the reality that He loves me.” from Ch. 6

{when Mother Teresa was asked to pray for clarity for a young man, this was her response.} “Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of. When the young man commented that she always seemed to have the clarity she longed for, she laughed. ‘I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God.’ The real need is not clarity, as we think, but to be able to trust. The path will always appear no clearer than one little step at a time.” from Ch. 6

“Vulnerability means stepping into the uneasy silence and past the fear of the fishy stare, believing that God means for us to have real relationships in His Body.” from Ch. 7

“The truth is that none of us can do the superwoman thing all that long before the edges start to fray. Our humanity bleeds through.” from Ch. 7

“It is essentially a worldly goal to live without a sense of need…needs are not enemies to conquer, they are part of what keeps us returning to the Lord.” from Ch. 7

My favorite chapter thus far has been Chapter 7 on vulnerability. This is partly where the title of the book comes from too. So often in this world, strength is looked upon as powerful, having it all together, never missing a step, being able to do things in your own strength, etc. However, in this book, we are reminded that Christ made Himself vulnerable – He went against the grain – He became a servant and was called the Lamb of God! A lamb is a pretty defenseless animal; yet that is the strength of our Lord. And, if we are to model after Him, to walk in His footsteps, we will also need to walk in humility and be vulnerable with each other. Paula Rinehart calls this vulnerability true strength. I love this.

If you see any words here that you feel might encourage you, I highly recommend this book. And I’m not even finished with it yet! 🙂 If I can remember, I will come back and update this post once I have finished the book as well!