Heart Wide Open

I haven't blogged in awhile, nor have I read very many books. I have let life consume me even though mine is slow and drab compared to many of my friends. I have been feeling overwhelmed by my lackluster walk with God. Feeling empty and wanting more. So I took a look at the  Blogging for Books website to see if there was a book that would catch my interest and maybe inspire me. I believe God led me there purposely. (It has been well over a year since I had visited there.) He led me to this book by Shellie Rushing Tomlinson called Heart Wide Open, Trading Mundane Faith For An Exuberant Life With Jesus.

Once I read the description of this book I knew I had to get it, if for no other reason but to jumpstart my flailing spirituality. Now I am hoping to inspire you to get it for yourself. Here is part of that description: As a Bible-believing churchgoer, author Shellie Tomlinson harbored a secret in her good-girl heart. She longed for something more than routine faith; she wanted to love God with a genuine, all-consuming passion. So she got honest with Him: “I admit it. I don’t love you like I should, but I want to love you. Help me!”  

It is exactly how I had been feeling lately. "God, I love you, but I don't love you like I should. And I want to want to. " The title of her first chapter;  "When All You Can Bring Him Is a Broken Want-To" is so fitting for me. (You can read the first chapter here: Read Chapter One) I know that this is a book I will read over and over again. I related to the author  a lot in this book. She gave examples of her own failures and also her victory in falling more in love with God. 

She also pointed out that this is NOT a one and done kind of "fix-it" book.  It is a present tense, ongoing adventure for life. "The more He answers these prayers, the more earnestly I petition Him for more. I ask God to give me more love for Jesus, more courage to go further, higher, and deeper. I want more hunger for His Word, more awareness of Him in my days, more faith through a growing obedience born out of gratitude, more of Him and less of me, and more love for those with me on the journey."

It is written in a "girlfriend to girlfriend" point of view, which was only a tad off-putting because I could think of a few men who might enjoy this book but might be a little wary of being called "Girlfriend". But if you can get past that I think everyone and any age can enjoy it. It would be a great book for new converts too. Especially since many might find a "fading" of joy after their initial conversion. But only because they don't know how to seek more of God, and how to get past the lies of the flesh telling us of our unworthiness to approach God.

In her final sub-section of the book, which is called "Chase Him Until He Catches You" she describes how she chased her husband while letting him think he was doing the chasing. She points out that we may have been acting on a whim when we picked out this book, but that it was no accident. "Whatever stimulated your interest, the yearning didn't originate with you. You're in God's cross hairs....What you're feeling is the Holy Spirit wooing you to the Father." I agree...it was no accident that I happened to go to that book blogging website and that this book happened to be available for reading. I was in God's cross hairs.

Thank you, Father :) I am ready to fall more in love with You,with Your help, of course.


I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review. I did not have to post a positive review.