Chapter 4-You're Already Amazing Book Talk

Chapter 4, Why Do I Feel This Way?

This chapter couldn't have come at a better time for me. My picture would probably be listed in the dictionary under the word emotion. I am one emotional girl, and come from a very long line of emotional women. In fact, I am raising an emotional drama queen right now. Just last weekend, I had a heart to heart with my best friend about my emotions getting out of control. Holly Gerth, the author of our book, had a lot of wisdom for me this week, just when I needed it most.

This chapter is about our emotions. Holly says, "All of our emotions are gifts from God to help us process everything we experience. Emotions are also a big part of what makes you amazing. Our emotions display our hearts-our beautiful, broken, blessed, glorious hearts."

On page 57, Holly gives an exercise to determine wheter our "head" or "hearts" are the dominant force when it comes to how we approach to our emotions. In all but one area, I fell into the "heart" catergory. She explains that if you are dominated by your heart, "you're more vulnerable to being controlled by emotions. You may jump to conclusions or make decisions without getting the facts you need." Um yeah, that would be me. When my emotions are in line with God, I am good. I am serving him, I am actively seeking to be a light to others. But girls, when they aren't in line with Him, I am a wreck. I am one of those girls who reacts without thinking sometimes, and this leads to a lot of guilt.

She helps us to see how God wants us to respond to our emotions. She says, "at the end of the day, we've got to listen and follow God's Spirit more than our own hearts. He's the ultimate reality check. We also need sisters of fiath who will speak truth to us when we can't see or simply don't have the strength to believe it in that moment."

I underlined or highlighted practically this whole chapter, so I won't go into my favorite quotes because this post would be entirely too long. Just read it, you won't be sorry.

Below are a few things that go with this chapter:

Video from incourage.me with Holly Gerth on Chapter 4

http://www.incourage.me/2012/04/youre-already-amazing-chapter-4.html

I found this quote from Lysa Tekeurst that I loved. This is from her book, Unglued.

 

Song: "All About Your Heart" by Mindy Gledhill

 

Discussion Questions:

1. Are you dominated more by your head or heart?

2. Which description most fits your family growing up- stuffers, screamers or surfers? What parts of your emotional history still fit you well and which ones have you outgrown?

3. What is one specific way you can guard your heart this week?

Chapter 2 and 3-You're Already Amazing

Chapters 2- Who Am I, Really?

In this chapter, Holly focuses on three places that together help us figure out who we are.

She says, "Your strengths+ your skills+ who your called to serve= you making a difference in the world in your own amazing ways."
1. Strengths- "a personal characteristic that can be used on behalf of God in service to others"
2. Skills- "a strength expressed in a specific way that builds others up and benefits His kingdom"
3. Your Who- Your "heart relationships, personal relationships, and functional relationships"

Holly does a great job of using activities within this chapter of helping us to go within ourselves to identify those above. I hope you will take the time to really pinpoint these in your life. For me, this was challenging, because I haven't really looked at these in depth but I am so glad that I did.

Some of my favorite quotes of this chapter: (all quotes come from Chapter 2 of You're Already Amazing)

"The goal is not perfection. It's simply to be in an intimate relationship with Christ, each day, fully embracing who he created us to be, and seek to fulfill the purpose he has for us. He is our greatest strength- and the One who enables us to live out all the others strengths he's placed in us."

"In the end, what he wants most is simply us. Our hearts. Our dreams. Our days."

" We have something to offer that no one else can bring... and the world is waiting."

Video from incourage.me with Holly over Chapters 1&2 are found below:

http://www.incourage.me/2012/03/youre-already-amazing-chapters-1-2.html

 

Printable from Chapter 2 Below: (from www.incourage.me)

http://www.incourage.me/2012/04/schedule-change-and-freebie-of-the-week.html

Chapter 3: Why Is It So Hard To Believe I'm Amazing?

In this chapter, Holly uncovers some of the lies we tell ourselves and replaces those lies with God's truth.
Lie #1- " I have to be perfect"
TRUTH: God's goal in our lives is growth. Growth is about who we are becoming in Him.
Lie #2- " I need to be more like her"
TRUTH: I love what Holly says in this section, " Your story and strengths belong to you. God doesn't compare them (or you) to anyone else, and you don't have to either. Go for these three steps. Share, care, prayer. And skip the compare."
Lie #3- " I don't have anything to offer"
TRUTH: We do have something to offer ladies, and God says it's good
Lie #4- " Being confident will make me prideful and selfish"
TRUTH: Holly says in her book, " Jesus shows us: true confidence leads to service."
Lie #5- " I am who others say I am"
TRUTH: "God has the ultimate word on who you are. He declares you are loved, valuable, acceptable and irreplacable."

Chapter 3 Video with Holly Gerth from www.incourage.me below:

http://www.incourage.me/2012/03/youre-already-amazing-chapter-3.html

Chapter 3 printable below from incourage.me:

http://www.incourage.me/2012/03/youre-already-amazing-freebie-of-the-week.html

 

I don't know if you have heard of the band Mumford and Sons. This is a beautiful song and illustrates to me what God wants from me. He just wants me to open my eyes to see His light. He wants to shine His light on me so I can shine it onto others. One of my favorite quotes from the song is, " in these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die. Where you invest your love, you invest your life. Awake My soul... for you were made to meet your maker."

"Awake My Soul" by Mumford and Sons

 

Discussion Questions:

1. Look back at your "Find Your Who" exercise in chapter 2. Who does it seem God most wants you to use your strengths and skills to serve?

2. What lie do you find you most often tell yourself? What truth can you replace that lie with? Are there any scripture that you have found that can help with this?

 

 

 

 

 

You're Already Amazing- Chapter 1

Chapter 1: A Heart to Heart Talk

I hope you have had the chance to get your copy of the book, You're Already Amazing. If not, you still have time. This is designed to be an outlet for open communicaton between a community of girls who are trying to grow to be who God created them to be. Chapter 1 for me was a beautiful way to start this book. Holly describes three different types of women in this first chapter.

The friend sitting across the table at lunch- this is the woman who is constantly trying to juggle it all. It is the woman who is always trying to keep up with life. She feels like she has to do more, be more, give more of herself... only to be losing peace in the process. She's the one who says, "Sometimes I don't even like my life. And I feel so guilty because I am so blessed."

A women settling on the couch at the counselors office- She has dealt with abuse, with rejection, words spoken that have broken her heart. This is the woman who, because of deep hurt and brokenness, whispers, " I will never be enough".

The woman who writes the email from across the world- She feels meaningless and wondering if she has anything at all to offer. She says, "Everyone else matters but me. Everyone else has something to of offer but me. God must be so disappointed."

Holly says that there is a commonality of the women she encounters: "I know what it's like to wrestle with insecurities, guilt and the impossible standards of my own making."

On page 16, Holly describes the "it girl". Everything she wrote here, I related to. I don't know about you, but there are many times that I just don't feel like I can measure up. I tend to compare myself a lot. It may be with the girl who is running down the street, as I am driving in the car eating my children's leftover lunch. It could be the mom who has sent her child to school with the personalized snack, while I forgot to even pack one that day. Or the friend who's house always smells as if Mr. Clean actually lives there. It is the race we all run, and can never seem to finish...the exhausting race. I love how she says, "there aren't 'it girls'. There are only 'is girls'.

"God looks at you and says, 'She is loved, acceped and valued. She is created just the way I wanted her to be."

That is what this book is about. Us learning that message of Him creating us for something beautiful that only WE can accomplish. Everyone has their part in this beautiful design. Our goal isn't about looking at everyone elses, it is about finding ours.

She writes, "There's no competitition-only complementing and completion. Part of the beauty of that is how different we are from each other."

I am so excited about diving further into this book. I hope those of you reading this, will dive deeper with me.

So let's get this girl talk under way. In the comment section, would you mind sharing your answers to any or all of the following questions...

1. Which story at the beginning of the chapter could you most relate to (the lunch friend, counseling client or the woman who sent the email)?
2. The "it" girl is thought of as a woman everyone wants to be like in our culture. Do you ever feel pressure to be like women in the media or community? Share an example.
3. God says we are the "is girl". From the list in the picture below, which one does your heart need to hear the most?

 

I found this great printable from the website below:

www.deepsouthsweets.blogspot.com



Click on the link below to print a copy

http://deepsouthsweets.blogspot.com/2012/03/sweet-life-bloom-book-club-youre.html

 

 

Beautiful song by Bethany Dillon

You're Already Amazing Book Talk Starts TODAY!!!

I am so excited to be starting this book today. We will start reading Chapter 1 today and discuss on Wednesday. So excited! In the meantime, I found a beautiful printable for you from a great website at www.wunderbarwanderings.com

You can find it here:

 

http://www.wunderbarwanderings.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/amazing-free-printable.jpg

Also a song to get your morning going:

You're Already Amazing Book Talk Starts April 22...Join Me!

One of my most favorite things in life is womens bible study. I love meeting with ladies in my home twice a month to study together. Because it is almost summer, we aren't going to start a new study, but we are going to take part in a book study on You're Already Amazing by Holly Gerth.



I found this book through one of my favorite devotional sites at www.incourage.me . Holly Gerth is the co-founder of this site. Her message is that women don't need to do more and be more: they can just be, because they are already amazing the way God created them. She describes this book in her own words in the video below.

 

I would love for you to join me reading this book. There are a few ways to take part in this.

 

1. Buy the book and read it at your own leisure. You can find the book at Lifeway or online at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_sabc?url=search-alias%3Daps&pageMinusResults=1&suo=1366145713457#/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_7?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=your%20already%20amazing&sprefix=your+al%2Caps%2C206&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ayour%20already%20amazing .

 

2. If you are interested in really focusing in on this book, Holly provides a study guide that you can download on her site http://holleygerth.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Youre-Already-Amazing-by-Holley-Gerth-Interactive-Tools.pdf .

 

3. I will be writing about this each week and offering up questions for us to discuss through this blog. I will also share videos of the chapters that I have found on the incourage.me website, as well as songs that relate to our chapters, and printables that I have found for all of you. This is where I am hoping we can learn from each other, gain insights, and share our thoughts as we are reading. If you are interested in signing up to receive the posts, please put your email on the upper left side and I will make sure you receive the weekly posts. Also, please let me know in the comment section if you would like to take part through this format. The dates for the reading and posts are below:

 

Schedule:

Monday, April 22: Kick off

Wednesday, April 24: Chapter 1
Friday, April 26: Chapter 2 and 3 and freebie from www.incourage.me
Monday, April 29: Chapter 4
Wednesday, May 1: Chapter 5 & 6
Friday, May 3: You’re Already Amazing Freebie from www.incourage.me
Monday, May 6: Chapter 7
Wednesday, May 8: Chapter 8
Friday, May 10: You’re Already Amazing Freebie from www.incourage.me
Monday, May 13: Chapter 9 & 10
Wednesday, May 15: Chapter 11
Friday, May 17: You’re Already Amazing Freebie and wrapup from www.incourage.me

Invite your friend, maybe even a few of you can commit to doing this and meeting together to share. My prayer is that no matter what, at some point this book will find its way to you hands as well as your heart.

If you have any more questions, please feel free to email me at andrearoberts13@gmail.com