Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Grace for the Good Girl

 i am honored and tickled
& humbled and excited
to share with you
by my friend

grace for the good girl by emily p. freeman


i climbed in bed tonight with the manuscript that i received back in the spring.
we were supposed to sorta pace ourselves
& read a few chapters a time,
then follow up by
 answering a few questions at the end of each chapter on a specified date.

well
i could hardly put this book down.

tonight as i peruse the manuscript again
it brings a smile to my face to find it
 filled, line after line highlighted in neon yellow.
pages are dog eared
&
starred with my favorite blue pen.
i have written notes in the margin 
&  things like "AMEN SISTER!" beside some of my favorite parts.

i began prayerfully and thoughtfully "re-highlighting" my most favorite quotes
or pages in preparation for the release this month.
only to find that i had used orange post it note tabs
on 24 out of the first 36 pages.
that is how much i LOVE this book!

emily personifies the qualities i highly admire in a person.

it's easy for those of us who personally author a blog
to put our best face on for you to read. 
we tidy up our kitchen before we take the picture
& post the images where our family looks its best...as we would for any company that
we invite to our real life brick & mortar home.

but emily balances that perfectly.
emily is the real deal, my friends.
emily is fragile and yet brave at the same time.
emily is an artist whose words create a safe haven for a tender heart.

emily is that same, real deal, sweet girl
who brings a daily dose of hope through the words in her own blog.
as i often do when reading fiction,
i can 'hear' the characters in my mind.
emily writes in such a way that i truly feel as if we are sitting together
chatting and laughing, feet curled up underneath, holding a coffee cup with two hands,
hair falling in her face, sweet southern drawl and all.
she does that to me
& i think she'll do that to you too.
you'll feel like she knows you.
that she may even know your own 'good girl'.

emily will
 encourage you to lay down your lofty,
often times unattainable,
high expectations you've set before yourself,
to re-set your mind
& fully lean on His love.


and then she'll tell you it's ok.
that there is peace & healing in the "being found".
that truly living in His spirit is freedom.
that you can lay down that mask.
you can walk out , maybe unmasked for the first time, ever,
and truly live.

she'll tell you that your new life is in Christ-a new life, living outside of yourself,
outside of whatever good girl you must present to the world around you,
that He is "unoverwhelmable" 
that He can handle whatever you feel you must handle
that He has a limitless supply of grace
& love
& peace
for you.
that you are dearly loved
& that you can rest.
you can lay down that mask 
once & for all
and truly belong to Him.
& be 
be all He created you to be.


i'll introduce my own 'good girl' next post
& how i called her out 
thanks to emily's tender, sweet words.

oh & 
 i have a copy to give away this week too
so stay tuned for that!


Available September 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, 
a division of Baker Publishing Group.

& ps.... emily
you know it didn't go unnoticed by me
& it makes me love you even more
that your name on the front cover
is in all lower case!
atta girl!!

19 comments:

Privet and Holly said...

Been looking
forward to this,
as a recovering
good girl : ) Thanks
for the sneak peek!!
xx Suzanne

Carol S. said...

Oh my, this speaks to me today. Thank you. Wondering of the symbolism of the photo on front. Sounds like a life changing read. Thanks Paige.

Love Being A Nonny said...

CANNOT wait to read this! She lives in my hometown. I will be buying a copy for ME and all my girls!

Between You and Me said...

I'm waiting on my copy of the book so that I can dive in and let the words on her pages devour me!

traci said...

looks like a wonderful book - the message and the cover. i will be adding that to my reading list. thanks for sharing paige.

Jboo said...

Sounds like a wonderful book! How special!

Janet

Jennifer said...

going now to try and order this book! my soul is longing for this type of encouragement!

christina said...

i SO want to read this. gotta put it in my cart!
xo

Sheri said...

I got my copy today. Cannot wait to read. Maybe it will take my mind off missing my favorite boy. Still not doing so well with that. xoxo

Kat said...

I can't wait to read this!! Staying tuned for the giveaway and crossing my fingers.

Anonymous said...

My fellow Christian friend. I have been following you for quite some time now...our bond in Jesus brought us together and today your words were given to me from our Friend and Saviour. You see...a year ago this past June my beloved father died and I was heartbroken. Just a little over one year later - this past June, my mother joined my dad - they had been married 66 years and she couldn't live w/out him. Tomorrow it will be one week since I recieved news over the phone that my big brother - died suddenly and unexpectantly. In fourteen months I lost my dad, mother and brother. It is just my sister and I left...at 56 years of age this is still almost more than I feel I can bear. But in my heart I know if I can't carry the burden myself then my Saviour will help me w/ the load...and get me through it. I just decided to pull up one blog today - it's been about a week since I've had the time to read my favorites...and I know why it was your blog that God took me to! Reading about your girls is fun for me as I have two daughters of my own and four grandchildren. We are kindred spirits in many ways and I just wanted to thank you for being God's instrument today...for me.

Mary said...

After reading your post and the excerpt on Amazon, I purchased the Kindle version. Can't wait to get started!

Bonnie said...

Thank you for your review. It sounds like something I need. I haven't commented in a while but enjoy all your posts very much. I am amazed you have the time to blog with your busy schedule.

Bravehearted Beauty {formerly LLH Designs} said...

I absolutely cannot WAIT to read it. Being the good girl wore me out. God's grace has won me over.

Suzanne said...

I've been waiting on this book since hearing the title. It sounds like exactly where I'm at right now, or rather want to be. Thanks sweet Paige, for your words which are also such a blessing!
Hugs, Suzanne

sle said...

I need this book and will be ordering! Thanks for the post, Paige!

Anonymous said...

I know that this is a book I'm going to need to read. I also know that I'm going to need to buy copies for a few of my sweet, try too hard, good girl, friends too. Destiny

cbg said...

Beautiful post! Would love to read this book!!

Annie said...

can't wait to read this!!