Blogtember Day 16: A Book Review

Today's Blogtember assignment is to write a review on a book, place or product. When I read through all the prompts back in August and saw this one, I knew exactly which book I wanted to share!

I heard Lysa TerKeurst speak at a women's event more than a year ago, and thought, "gahhh I want to be that lady's friend!" She's sarcastic and sassy, yet poised, humble and so wise. I really look up to her! Reading her book Unglued after hearing her give a message in person, it was almost like I was sitting in her living room, listening to story after story of her life. I could hear her inflection and I laughed out loud on several occasions. I could not recommend this book more highly!!

I've shared a few of my favorite quotes below, but a short summary of the book goes a little something like this: as women, we are so totally controlled by our emotions, which can complicate life a whollllle bunch. We overreact, we overanalyze, we overwhelm ourselves with hypothetical or imaginary scenarios... if you're OVER all of that mess, this book is for you.

Lysa teaches in this book that "people come unglued in one of two ways, either by exploding or by stuffing. Exploding means pushing emotions outward. A rush of feelings surge up and out of our mouths and bring a whole host of lovelies with them -- stern words, harsh looks, raised voices, condemning attitudes... exploding feels good in the short term but awful in the long term. Stuffing means pushing emotions inward. We swallow hard and lock our hurt feelings inside, not in an effort to process and release them, but to wallow in the hurt."

I'm most definitely a stuffer. I internalize. I sweep things under the rug because I don't do conflict. I want peace, calm, happiness, comfort. But stuffing emotions doesn't solve anything, amen? At a certain point, I can't fit anything else into that stuffing space, and I become an exploder. The tiniest thing sets it all off and it seems like my world is crumbling around me because I haven't dealt with alllll the junk that's been making me sad.


Okay, I'll quit talking because I could honestly go on and on and on about all the things this book has taught me. Pick up a copy ASAP. It is SO GOOD.



Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions



  • "Sometimes we girls think if we don't make instant progress, then real change isn't coming. But that's not so. There is a beautiful reality called imperfect progress."
  • "God gave us emotions. Emotions allow us to feel as we experience life. Because we feel, we connect. We share laughter and know the gift of empathy. Our emotions are what enable us to drink deeply from love and treasure it. And yes, we also experience difficult emotions such as sadness, fear, shame and anger. But might these be important as well? Yes, but I must remember God gave me emotions so I could experience life, not destroy it. There is a gentle discipline to it all. One I'm learning."
  • "Perspective taught me a valuable lesson... I can face things that are out of my control and not act out of control. Acting out of control only adds to my troubles."
  • "You see, if I know there is potential good hidden within each chaotic situation, I can loosen my grip on control. It's easier to loosen my grip when I can see the good. When I can't immediately see the good, loosening my grip becomes a matter of trust."
  • "When I feel unglued, the integrity of my soul unravels."
  • "Saying 'I'm fine' to keep the peace, when we're really not fine, isn't honest. It may seem godly in the moment, but it's false godliness. Truth and godliness always walk hand in hand. The minute we divorce one from the other, we stray from soul integrity and give a foothold to the instability that inevitably leads to coming unglued." 
  • "We must bring all of our raw reactions under the authority and truth of Jesus."

And lastly... I shared this little snippet with Thomas when I was reading, and now we both say this to each other when something is frustrating us. 

"If this is the worst thing that happens to me today, it's still a pretty good day."


Happy reading!


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