31 May Flourish

Nearly four years ago, in the midst of a very dark season, I threw open my Bible at the beginning, exclaiming angrily, “I’m going to know you, God, whether you like it or not.”

I didn’t know it at the time, but my misguided anger would lead me into the most wonderfully fulfilling season of my life, reveal my creative passion, and help me begin to walk as the woman God intended me to be—all this from a temper tantrum on my couch.

As a lifelong Christian, I had never read through the Word of God in its entirety, and I decided it was high time I knew God’s character, to see if he really is as trustworthy as he claims. Unsurprisingly, he is. He is true to his Word, “When you seek me, you will find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). God met me in my doubt and anxiety; he quieted my whirring mind and asked me if I’d like to lay down my worries and walk with him instead. At first, I answered, “Yes, I think so,” in a hoarse and hurried whisper, but that tiny declaration of faith eventually grew into a resounding “YES!”

Slowly, bit by bit, I started writing down the things the Lord was teaching me. He asked me if I would like to deal with my envy and my anger, and I said yes. Little by little, he revealed and healed other areas in my heart that were in dire need of his touch.

We began a rhythm of call and response, a form of liturgical worship—he ministered to me through his Word and I started to see the woman he intended me to be, that I was created to declare his goodness to anyone who will listen. He “set me free from the law of sin and death” and I’m never looking back from the fullness of joy and peace I’ve experienced since embarking on this adventure with him (Romans 8:2).

Those little gems he gifted me with along the way ultimately became Flourish. Flourish is a devotional memoir, a raw and redemptively vulnerable chronicling of my journey through the entirety of God’s Word. My hope is that after reading this book, women will pull out their own Bibles and begin to drink deeply from the living water God has for us in his Word. You will not walk away from him disappointed. You will walk away renewed and refreshed after communion with the Maker of your soul, and it will be time well spent.

Flourish is available here. Thanks for letting me share this special project with you. One reader selected from our email subscriber list will receive a free copy of Flourish. If you’d like to enter, you can sign up to receive Missionary Mama posts in your inbox here.