I fully admit that I requested to review Mark Driscoll's new book Who Do You Think You Are? at the prompting of my husband...but I am so glad I read this book. Driscoll works through Ephesians and helps to give specific words to our identity in Christ (I am: in Christ, blessed, saved, adopted, etc). The writing is excellent, and he uses a host of stories from his own personal life and history as some great illustrations.
I'm not going to lie- the book had me in tears at certain spots...maybe it's just because of the stage of life in which I currently find myself, but this book was a breath of fresh air for me spiritually. One day, I was having a particularly hard time with our almost-four month old. She had been fussy for several days, wasn't sleeping well, and just wasn't her usual happy, smiley, and chatty self. No matter what I did, I found myself holding a screaming baby trying to calm her using whatever new-mommy skills I had (which, admittedly, aren't many). She finally fell asleep at one point when I was rocking her, and too scared to set her down for fear she would wake up screaming, I picked up this book and continued to rock her. I was reading the chapter titled 'I am Heard' and came to this passage:
Jesus loves you. How do you feel when you read that? Do you doubt it because you're suffering? Do you disbelieve it because there's great sin in your life? Do you disregard it because it seems trite, overly simple, and not something you have truly plumbed to its depths? Do you dismiss it because you're so busy with life and its cares that you don't have time to dwell on deep truths?I was in tears at this point because for the past several days, that was exactly how I felt. I wasn't suffering like many people have suffered and continue to suffer, but I was struggling with my daughter's perpetual state of fussiness...and yes, sometimes when people tell me that Jesus loves me, I do find it rather trite. But not this time. This time those three simple words reached deep into my heart and comforted me during my difficult season of motherhood. I looked at my beautiful sleeping daughter through my tears and knew that I love her and that I will always love her...but I also knew that Jesus Christ loves her far more than my husband or I ever could. And I remembered that he has the same love for me. Sometimes, it just takes a little reminding.
I highly recommend this book! I am planning on rereading it in the new several months. I think it would also make a great group study through Ephesians!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
