Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Present over Perfect
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.shaunaniequist.com/
CITY: Chicago
STATE: IL
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
http://religionnews.com/2016/08/19/how-shauna-niequist-became-successful-by-not-trying-to-be/ * https://www.amazon.com/Shauna-Niequist/e/B001IGV09A
RESEARCHER/WRITER NOTES:
Library of Congress entry on Cold Tangerines:
Shauna Niequist lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with her husband Aaron, who is a worship leader, and their son Henry. She grew up at Willow Creek, then studied English and French literature at Westmont College, in Santa Barbara, California. She worked in Student Ministry at Willow Creek for five years and as the Creative Director at Mars Hill for three years. Shauna’s first book, Cold Tangerines, is a collection of essays about the extraordinary moments in our everyday lives. Her very favorite things are throwing dinner parties, taking full advantage of Michigan summers, and reading great books.
Mars Hill Bible Church is an American non-denominational Christian megachurch located in Grandville, Michigan near Grand Rapids.
=====
Amazon.com
Cold Tangerines―now available in softcover― is a collection of stories that celebrate the extraordinary moments hidden in your everyday life. It is about God, and about life, and about the thousands of daily ways in which an awareness of God changes and infuses everything. It is about spiritual life, and about all the things that are called nonspiritual life that might be spiritual after all. It is the snapshots of a young woman making peace with herself and trying to craft a life that captures the energy and exuberance we all long for in the midst of the fear and regret and envy we all carry with us. It is both a voice of challenge and song of comfort, calling you upward to the best possible life, and giving you room to breathe, to rest, to break down, and break through. Cold Tangerines offers bright and varied glimpses of hope and redemption, in and among the heartbreak and boredom and broken glass.
Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, IL
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| 670 | __ |a Niequist, Shauna. Bittersweet, c2010: |b ECIP t.p. (Shauna Niequist) data view (b. 08-17-76) |
| 953 | __ |a sh48 |b rc13 |
PERSONAL
Born August 17, 1976; daughter of Bill (a pastor) and Lynne (an activist) Hybels; married Aaron Niequist (a pastor, worship leader, and musician); children: Henry, Mac.
EDUCATION:Attended Westmont College.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, IL, former student minister; Mars Hill Bible Church, Grandville, MI, former creative director; writer and inspirational speaker.
AVOCATIONS:Reading.
RELIGION: Evangelical ChristianWRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Shauna Niequist has spent much of her life in the public eye. She is the daughter of Bill Hybels, pastor of the Willow Creek mega-church, which boasts a membership of nearly 25,000 souls. She is the wife of Aaron Niequist, Christian educator, worship leader, and songwriter. Her life has been filled to overflowing with church-related responsibilities and personal family commitments, yet she has always found time to commune with friends around the kitchen table. Her first writings emerged from that spirit of communion.
Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life is a collection of forty essays on incidents that touched Niequist’s own life, for better or worse. Topics range from a health crisis to a holiday with a new baby, from planning a party to restoring a home, from carrying her own weight to writing in pencil. The author’s message is a call to appreciate the moment, large or small. “Niequist’s subtle, yet clever approach to life is endearing, humorous, and challenging,” observed Jeff Goins in the Englewood Review of Books. In Cold Tangerines, Niequist established a pattern of using experiences from her own life to illuminate Christian teachings. Then she added a tasty twist.
Bittersweet
In Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way, Niequist explores the notion that the sweetness of life cannot be fully appreciated without the opposite counterbalance of bitterness. Three years passed between her first two books, during which the author experienced her share of both. A reviewer at Packards’ Progress explained that it was “a season of great celebrations and beautiful memories, but also a season of loss and pain,” including a heartbreaking miscarriage. Throughout all of it, however, Niequist was aware of God’s grace all around her, especially at “thin places” like Christmas, when she believes the boundaries between the physical and the spiritual worlds seem most permeable.
At To & Fro, reviewer Courtney Fricke reported that Niequist matured considerably in the three years after Cold Tangerines was published: “Her story didn’t end with a ‘happy ending’ per se, but still ended with hope.” The tasty twist, according to Fricke, was “her way of adding food into most, if not every story.” It would become a primary ingredient in Niequist’s future body of work.
Bread & Wine
Food takes on even more importance in Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life around the Table, with Recipes. Niequist welcomes readers to her kitchen, where she has entertained relatives and friends for years. This volume revolves around the theme of hospitality: offering people a down-to-earth setting where they can relax and feel as if they belong. In culinary terms, that means paying attention to a guest’s dietary needs or restrictions. In conversational terms, Niequist offers bonding moments based on vignettes from her own life: issues of infertility, body image, childhood as a minister’s daughter, and more. “She introduces you to her varied circles of friends,” observed Christina Krost at Brain, Child—“church friends, musicians, family, neighbors, and her cooking club.” A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that “Niequist writes with vulnerability and honesty that makes the reader hunger to … grace her table.”
Like her previous titles, Bread & Wine is a book about the nourishment of the soul, augmented for the first time with Niequist’s original recipes, developed over years of international travel and experimentation. They range from the simplicity of blueberry crisp to the sophistication of steak au poivre with cognac pan sauce and to unusual concoctions like breakfast quinoa and watermelon feta salad. Although some of the recipes lean toward the “exotic,” according to Krost, Niequist emphasizes that true hospitality is not meant to impress but rather to evoke a sense of safety, inclusion, and comfort. The Packards’ Progress writer recommended Bread & Wine: “Read your way through it, cook your way through it, and open your home, table, and heart to those around you.” Also, in a first for Niequist, Bread & Wine includes an appendix containing a discussion guide and menus for book clubs, along with a recommended reading list.
Savor
Savor: Living Abundantly Where You Are, As You Are offers readers a different format for Niequist’s messages of faith and hope. This volume falls into the category of a daily devotional: a message for each day of the year—with a difference or two. The narrative is, of necessity, brief: a verse of scripture, a short explanation or example from the author’s personal life, and short questions intended to inspire reflection. She sometimes includes lists that serve as her reminders of things to do, things to avoid, things to “give up,” which prompted some readers to invent lists pertinent to their own lives.
Reviewers reported that Savor also differs from traditional devotionals. Niequist “always writes from a personal place,” commented Anelise Farrison at the Homeschooling Now blog, but her message is “not geared to one specific woman or age group.” Farrison especially enjoyed the recipes, which ranged from pumpkin banana anything muffins to grilled peach and caramel sundaes to Jennifer’s catbirds/carnitas. A writer at Living Unabridged recommended Savor as “a book that encourages you to savor this life we’ve been given. … You may find yourself looking at your day a little differently.”
Present over Perfect
Niequist continued to explore new ways to share her message of faith and fellowship, but she reached a point where the hectic, multitasking schedule of a wife, mother, homemaker, cook, writer, devotional speaker, and accessible friend had left her exhausted, drained of the energy to follow her own advice to enjoy the moment. She realized it was time for a change. Present over Perfect: Leaving behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living reveals how she turned her life around. Niequist began to slow down, center herself in prayer, take an occasional vacation, appreciate the silence, and enjoy her own company.
The author told interviewer Jonathan Merritt of the Religion News Service: “I have missed so many sweet and tender things along the way because I was too busy pushing and proving, believing that I had to hustle in order to be loved and accepted.” She learned how to say no, accept her limitations, and replace her relentless drive for perfection by “showing up anyway,” she told Merritt, and it was more than enough. Present over Perfect showed up on the New York Times best-seller list and topped the lists of both the Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly. A Publishers Weekly contributor suggested that “women will find the advice hits closest to home,” concluding that Present over Perfect is Niequist’s “most satisfying blend of mindfulness, scripture, and self help to date.” At Psych Central, K.M. McCann called it “a beautifully written, near confessional look at one woman’s journey from noise to silence … that will resonate with any audience.”
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
Niequist, Shauna, Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life, Zondervan (Grand Rapids, MI), 2007.
Niequist, Shauna, Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way, Zondervan (Grand Rapids, MI), 2010.
Niequist, Shauna, Bread & Wind: A Love Letter to Life around the Table, with Recipes, Zondervan (Grand Rapids, MI), 2013.
Niequist, Shauna, Savor: 365 Devotions; Living Abundantly Where You Are, As You Are, Zondervan (Grand Rapids, MI), 2015.
Niequist, Shauna, Present over Perfect: Leaving behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living, Zondervan (Grand Rapids, MI), 2016.
PERIODICALS
California Bookwatch, October, 2010, review of Bittersweet.
Publishers Weekly, August 13, 2007, review of Cold Tangerines, p. 63; January 14, 2013, review of Bread & Wine, p. 55; June 13, 2016, review of Present over Perfect, p. 93.
Success, August, 2016, Chauncey Mabe, review of Present over Perfect, p. 88.
Today’s Christian Woman, March-April, 2008, review of Cold Tangerines, p. 12.
ONLINE
Brain, Child, https://www.brainchildmag.com/ (November 28, 2014), Christina Krost, review of Bread & Wine.
Englewood Review of Books, http://englewoodreview.org/ (November 20, 2009), Jeff Goins, review of Cold Tangerines.
Homeschooling Now, https://blog.hslda.org/ (June 6, 2016), Anelise Farrison, review of Savor.
Living Unabridged, http://livingunabridged.com/ (May 15, 2015), review of Savor.
Packards’ Progress, https://packardsprogress.wordpress.com/ (December 16, 2014), review of Bittersweet; (March 13, 2015), review of Bread & Wine.
Psych Central, https://psychcentral.com/ (February 27, 2017), K.M. McCann, review of Present over Perfect.
Religion News Service, http://religionnews.com/ (August 19, 2016), Jonathan Merritt, author interview.
Shauna Niequest Home Page, https://www.shaunaniequist.com (March 22, 2017).
To & Fro, http://www.courtneyfricke.com (February 21, 2012), Courtney Fricke, review of Bittersweet.
Working Mom’s Balance, http://www.workingmomsbalance.com/ (October 26, 2015), Tracy Kulwicki, review of Savor.
Shauna Niequist is the author of Cold Tangerines, Bittersweet, Bread & Wine, Savor, and her most recent, Present Over Perfect.
She is married to Aaron, and they live in Chicago with their sons, Henry & Mac.
Shauna is a bookworm, a beachbum, and a passionate gatherer of people, especially around the table.
How Shauna Niequist became successful by not trying to be
By Jonathan Merritt | August 19, 2016
Image courtesy of Shauna Niequist
When you’re the wife of prominent musician Aaron Niequist and the daughter of mega-church pastor Bill Hybels and activist Lynne Hybels, it’s easy to become known for who you are related to. But Shauna Niequist has refused to live in another’s shadow.
As a popular blogger and author, she has become known for uncommon spiritual insights and homespun wisdom. And yesterday, Niequist achieved a new level of recognition when her book, Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living, landed the #2 spot on the coveted “New York Times” bestsellers list. (It also hit #1 on the Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly lists.) Going forward, Shauna’s notable relatives may be known by their relation to her.
Interestingly, this success did not come just from writing a beautiful piece of literature. Although the book qualified. It also didn’t come through snippets of practical advice, though the book is chock full of those, too. No, her success came from not trying to be successful. From just being herself.
Present Over Perfect is a gut-wrenching confession about a life mired in busyness, expectations, and striving. Which is to say, the life most of us live. But Shauna refuses to leave readers in the dark chasm of confession, and shines a hopeful light down the hallway toward meaning and purpose. Her message is simple: Be you and be present. Here, I talk with Shauna about the insights that that is resonating with the widespread hunger for authenticity, vulnerability, and deeper ways to live.
Image courtesy of Zondervan
Image courtesy of Zondervan
RNS: As a middle child, I wrestle with perfection. How does the desire to be — or appear to be — good enough or successful enough show up in your life?
SN: I think this drive for perfection manifests first of all in the the tendency to put our lives on hold, waiting for “things” to be perfect, whatever those things are for each of us — jobs, homes, relationships. And second, it’s the impulse to prove and perform, instead of allowing our vulnerabilities and weaknesses to be seen.
I have a deep sense that when I finally get it all together — my messy house, my weight, my all-over-the-place emotions — then I’ll finally be happy and whole. But the word that’s guiding me right now is anyway. I wish all sorts of things were different about me, but I’m <
And<< I have missed so many sweet and tender things along the way because I was too busy pushing and proving, believing that I had to hustle in order to be loved and accepted.>> That myth has shaped so much of my life, and the work I’m doing now is to believe the truth: love is never, ever earned, and it was, in fact, there all along.
RNS: And what about with your family and kids?
SN: For many years, I was so deeply invested in being known as a capable, get-it-done, team player that I worked too much. My husband and kids were given my emotional leftovers. That’s not fair to them, and I regret it. These days, I’m working on changing that math: giving the very best I have to them, and whatever remains can be given to my work-life or outside obligations.
RNS: I love your Instagram feed, but I sometimes think, “Shauna’s life looks almost too … perfect.” The home-cooked meals and family outings aren’t staged, of course, but how is your life different than what people see online? Anything that would surprise us?
Shauna2SN: First, I’ve been a little more vocal recently on social media about my health challenges. That’s been a very intentional choice. I sometimes don’t post the harder sides of life on social media—both because there’s not always enough room for nuance, and because I know that my hard moments are so much less hard than many other people’s.
I tend to feel pretty comfortable talking about the dark stuff and the hard stuff in books, because we’re spending enough time together to understand the whole scope of it. Social media sometimes feels like a drive-by, and it’s tricky to get that right. But it has been a difficult season for me, as I’ve struggled for the better part of this year with some health problems that have included both the physical and mental sides of health. I’ve intentionally made space for that in my social media posts. All that to say, I hope no one looks at my Instagram feed and only sees perfection. I hope they see beauty and silliness and honesty and funny kids…and lots of breakfast sandwiches.
RNS: Speaking of social media, what warnings or advice would you offer people who love social media but are striving to be more present?
SN: I really like social media, but I’m finding that I spend less and less time on it these days. Often, I switch over to texting or to my Kindle app. Texting offers connection to actual people, and Kindle offers connection to a story. Those things make my life richer than lots and lots of mindless scrolling. Social media is a tiny part of this big beautiful, weird world, and I think there are consequences for our lives if we let it grow too big in our consciousness.
RNS: You talk about “fake-resting” in the book. What is this, and how can it harm us?
SN: “Fake-resting” is when I wear my cozy pajamas and settle in at home to relax and connect, but underneath all that, the engines of efficiency and accomplishment are whirring inside me. I swing by each bedroom dropping off clean laundry. I stop at my computer to reply to another couple emails. I make sandwiches, refill juice cups, line up deadlines. While the rest of my family actually rests, plays, connects, I push and work and circle, ignoring my exhausted body, mind, and spirit. That’s fake-resting.
RNS: How have faith traditions other than Christianity helped you in your journey?
SN: I’ve learned so much about Sabbath from the Jewish tradition, and I’m so thankful for that. I’ve read some great books written by Jewish rabbis, and I’d recommend Abraham Heschel’s The Sabbath. I’ve enjoyed attending Shabbat services and learning about the practice from our rabbi friends.
RNS: Talk about any regular practices that you’ve implemented into your life that help you on the journey?
SN: Most mornings and evenings, I practice centering prayer—I’m very much a beginner, but it’s helped me so much to begin and end the day focused on God’s unconditional love. And I find that silence as a practice is very helpful for me. If I’m not careful, I’ll go-go-go all day. Regular intervals of silence, even small ones, invite me to listen to my own heart and to God’s whispers.
RNS: Let’s take a sharp left turn. Lots of people love the fabulous food you make. Give us one of your best recipes that you’ve never shared online.
SN: Well, it’s summertime, when we tend to keep things really, really simple, so this is barely even a recipe, more like a rambly suggestion. I make this ahead of time, then serve it alongside grilled pork tenderloin or marinated chicken skewers.
Quinoa is great because it’s gluten free and high in protein, and I love any combination of feta and mint. My mom grows crazy amounts of mint up at the lake, so we basically put it in everything.
Quinoa with Peas, Feta and Mint
4 cups quinoa, cooked and cooled
2 cups peas—frozen are fine, just thaw them to room temperature
1 cup crumbled feta
1 small handful fresh mint, torn roughly
Salt and pepper to taste
In a mixing bowl, stir together the quinoa and peas. Add the feta and mint, reserving a little bit of each to sprinkle over the top right before serving. Salt and pepper to taste, and then refrigerate, adding the reserved feta and mint before serving.
Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for
a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living
Chauncey Mabe
Success.
(Aug. 2016): p88.
COPYRIGHT 2016 R & L Publishing, Ltd. (dba SUCCESS Media)
http://www.successmagazine.com/
Full Text:
PRESENT OVER PERFECT
Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living
By Shauna Niequist
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
The gist of Shauna Niequist's message could be written on the back of a matchbook: Love yourself. If you aren't going
to truly love yourself, then how will you live? That's what the rest of the book is about. Writing in the calming tones of
a smart and kind older sister, she avoids the sentimentality that could easily ruin such a message.
Instead Niequist draws on a wide range of literary and cultural sources to buttress her lessons, from poet Mary Oliver to
rock group Florence + the Machine, Shakespeare, Rumi, the Indigo Girls and the Bible. None is more relevant than the
quote she attributes to F. Scott Fitzgerald: "1 hope you live the life you are proud of. If you find that you are not, I hope
you have the strength to start all over again." (August; Zondervan; $23)
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Mabe, Chauncey. "Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living." Success,
Aug. 2016, p. 88. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA458680294&it=r&asid=e205efd0ac95c9fa653fcd58fd50b10b.
Accessed 26 Feb. 2017.
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Present over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for
a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living
Publishers Weekly.
263.24 (June 13, 2016): p93.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Present over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living
Shauna Niequist. Zondervan, $22.99 (240p) ISBN 9780310342991
Returning to the theme of decluttering everyday life and concentrating on what is truly important, Niequist (Savor)
weaves together a series of essays concerning her personal experiences overcoming a life overwrought with busyness,
stress, and feelings of inadequacy. After years of frantic living, Niequist has come to the realization that she's missing
out on the beauty of everyday life with her husband and childrenthat it will all speed past her if she doesn't slow down
and simplify, learn how to say no to demands on her time, and stop worrying about others' opinions of her. "Present
over perfect living is real over image, connecting over comparing, meaning over mania, depth over artifice," she writes,
explaining along the way that she's found a new "strength" in embracing quiet surroundings and in spending time alone.
To emphasize her points, she quotes Scripture, but does so sparingly and intentionallymore often than not, her
included references to her faith are intended only to bolster her own experiences of mindful living. Her style is
conversational, friendly, inviting, and never heavyhanded, making the book accessible to people of all faiths. <
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Present over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living." Publishers Weekly, 13 June
2016, p. 93. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA458871777&it=r&asid=62e5b41ad56f6caf9eb3f9cae33b5222.
Accessed 26 Feb. 2017.
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Bread & Wine: Finding Community and Life
Around the Table
Publishers Weekly.
260.2 (Jan. 14, 2013): p55.
COPYRIGHT 2013 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Bread & Wine: Finding Community and Life Around the Table
Shauna Niequist. Zondervan, $18.99 (272p) ISBN 9780310328179
Pull up a chair, pour yourself a glass of wine, and enjoy the friendship and hospitality found around Niequist's table.
The author of Cold Tangerines and Bittersweet serves up portions of friendship, family, and faith, with sides of humor,
insight, and favorite recipes, for a satisfying read that can double as a group study. (A discussion guide and
recommended readings are tucked in the back of the book, with recipes and a sample menu for book/cooking clubs.)
<
who <
are among the life events discussed against the backdrop of meals. Cooking enthusiasts, whether they are experienced
or are novices, will enjoy the talk about food and will want to try the recipes featured at the end of each chapter. Yet
while recipes for baconwrapped dates and dark chocolate seasalted butter toffee sound yummy, the emphasis is more
on spiritual nourishment and how God feeds hungry souls through relationships. (Mar. 26)
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Bread & Wine: Finding Community and Life Around the Table." Publishers Weekly, 14 Jan. 2013, p. 55. General
OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA315370314&it=r&asid=db0fe89d71b536076dcfd992a32c842b.
Accessed 26 Feb. 2017.
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Bittersweet
California Bookwatch.
(Oct. 2010):
COPYRIGHT 2010 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Full Text:
Bittersweet
Shauna Niequist
Zondervan Publishing House
5300 Patterson Avenue, S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49530
9780310328162, $16.99, www.zondervan.com
BITTERSWEET: THOUGHTS ON CHANGE, GRACE, AND LEARNING THE HARD WAY provides an
outstanding survey which maintains that to live a balanced life, we need both the bitter and the sweet. Bittersweet
contains depth and complexity: it's offered in change and in recognition of spiritual gifts, and is presented here as a
positive, moving force in any life. Spiritual and new age libraries alike will relish the concept!
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Bittersweet." California Bookwatch, Oct. 2010. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA239349911&it=r&asid=3625243ee4e24ce4d715e6030472833a.
Accessed 26 Feb. 2017.
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Cold Tangerines
Today's Christian Woman.
30.2 (MarchApril 2008): p12.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Christianity Today, Inc.
http://www.todayschristianwoman.com
Full Text:
COLD TANGERINES by Shauna Niequist ($17, Zondervan). After the first exploratory bite, you often forget to relish
fully the remainder of a fruit's unique flavor. If you're rushing past the myriad flavors bursting in the present, Godgiven
moment, let this collection of essays reinvigorate your senses. As its firsttime author cracks open the wonder of
her simple, everyday life, she invites you to celebrate the deliciousness of your own ample breakfasts or luxurious
showers. Once you taste the tang of Cold Tangerines, you'll leave it on the coffee table to savor satisfying bites again
and again.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Cold Tangerines." Today's Christian Woman, Mar.Apr. 2008, p. 12. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA176987813&it=r&asid=fa76e8fdbd2c151fe2b863df1a3c9d21.
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Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary
Nature of Everyday Life
Publishers Weekly.
254.32 (Aug. 13, 2007): p63.
COPYRIGHT 2007 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life SHAUNA NIEQUIST. Zondervan, $16.99
(224p) ISBN 9780310273608
Niequist, a 30yearold mother and firsttime author, wants readers to look around their ordinary lives and celebrate all
their manifold, quotidian blessings. To that end, she offers 40 short essays, each an exploration of something mundane
and wonderful: getting pregnant, throwing parties, collecting champagne flutes. She recalls a breakup that deepened her
relationship with God, and explains why moving into a fixerupper helped her learn that God loves us as we are. A
lovely, honest and wistful tone characterizes the title piece, an ode to living a life of gratitude and joy. Essays on a
friend's health scare, the power of art and experiencing Christmas with a newborn are especially powerful. Yet
Niequist's relentlessly firstperson reflections would have been leavened by more fully developing some of the other
characters, the relatives and friends who pop up. Sometimes her prose is annoyingly abstract ("if we cultivate a true
attention, a deep ability to see what has been there all along, we will find worlds within and between us"), and there are
cliched observations. Still, with a bit of seasoning (and more vigorous editing), Niequist could be a writer to watch.
(Oct.)
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life." Publishers Weekly, 13 Aug. 2007, p. 63.
General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA167696706&it=r&asid=2ceaee90d9beb72e7f87e66811dc7f5c.
Accessed 26 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A167696706
Book Review: Present Over Perfect By Shauna Niequist
Reviewed by K.M. McCann, PhD
~ 2 min read
Book Review: Present Over Perfect
You do not have to quit your job and move to a cabin in the mountains in order to live a simpler, happier life. All you need to do is train yourself to find the beauty in the ordinary, present moment. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Well, yes and no. In Shauna Niequist’s new book, Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living, she reflects on her rude awakening from the mythical American dream. Where was the happily ever after that so many children’s books had promised? Why can’t a job, a family, and a house be enough to equal complete and utter bliss? Perhaps most upsetting is the often unanswered question, “Why, despite what we are conditioned to believe, can’t we truly have it all?”
First, says Niequist, we need to come to terms with the fact that saying ‘No’ is okay. We must set realistic expectations for ourselves, and for those around us. Having ‘Yes’ as a default setting leaves everyone exhausted, both physically and emotionally.
“We disappoint people because we’re limited. We have to accept the idea of our own limitations in order to accept the idea that we’ll disappoint people. I have this much time. I have this much energy. I have this much emotional capacity,” writes Niequist. (Italics Niequist’s.)
Furthermore, take vacations, advises Niequist. This does not mean a month-long jaunt to do a Grand Tour of Europe; instead, it means short weekend trips, or even weeklong getaways that put you close to nature. There is a unique magic in being elsewhere; “it’s away, and away allows us to see the rhythms and dimensions of our lives more clearly.” Whatever you decide, research shows that spending money on experiences, not stuff, increases happiness.
Throughout the book, Niequist charts her journey of rebuilding a more realistic, more manageable version of contentedness, customized to fit her own life. As the title implies, no one is perfect; instead, we are all perfectly imperfect. “Perfect calls to mind stiffness, silicone, an aggressive and unimaginative relentlessness. Perfect and the hunt for it will ruin our lives—that’s for certain.”
Niequist shares moving and deeply personal reflections on motherhood, marriage, and her faith, all of which offer support, purpose, and, sometimes, anxiety and stress. And that’s okay, she says, because balance is beautiful and without the downs it would be difficult for us to truly appreciate the ups in life.
Perhaps one of the most important themes in Niequist’s book is to simply Let Go. Let go of the need to control every detail, let go of the illusory ideal of the American Dream, let go of the need to please everyone else, and, of course, let go of rumination, pain, and anger. Ruminating on past failures, near misses, and regrets adds fuel to the fires of depression. In order to more fully appreciate the present, we need to clear away the past. “Of all the things I’m learning to leave behind,” says Niequist, “one of the heaviest is the opinion of others…it devolved into care-taking and people-pleasing at the expense of my own self.”
There is a theme of silence throughout Present Over Perfect, but in this context silence does not mean failure to speak. Silence is something that is carried within; a state of living in the world that contemplative therapists might call mindful awareness or direct perception. In other words, this is a way of seeing the beauty in each moment, no matter how mundane, and accepting that those small, ordinary moments are the ones that compose the bulk of our lives. Although Niequist approaches the topic of being present from a Christian worldview, her message spans spiritual and religious boundaries and speaks to something uniquely human in all of us — the desire to feel at peace in our lives.
At the moment, there is no shortage of books on mindfulness, being present, and simple living. Niequist offers readers <>. Her personal experiences as an affluent mother and wife may not appeal to everyone, but there are certain messages about contentedness and the need to speak our truth in her book <
Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living
Zondervan, August 2016
Hardcover, 240 pages
$22.99
Feeling Nourished—Review of Savor: Living Abundantly Where You Are, As You Are
by Anelise Farris on June 6, 2016 in Reviews, Teaching Tips 1 Comment
Feeling Nourished—Review of Savor: Living Abundantly Where You Are, As You Are | HSLDA Blog
Every Christmas when I was growing up (still living at home), my mom would give me a new devotional book. As much as I appreciated the gesture, each year I faced the same discouragement.
I just didn’t get it: the flowery language, the long impersonal prayers, and the façade of perfection. And, as much as I appreciated the supposed draw of “5 minutes and done,” I was never being fed, challenged, or inspired. For a long time, I felt that something was simply wrong with me—that I just wasn’t the “right” kind of Christian or not mature enough in my faith to get what I was supposed to from a single verse, a speech, and a prayer. But, I did them, dutifully reading the devotion for that specific day and marking it off my to-do list. As a result, my faith much too often felt like nothing more than routine.
I’m not the kind of person that settles. I wasn’t satisfied. I couldn’t accept that all devotionals were the same, and that not one of the gazillion out there could speak to me. Something I gradually came to understand is that, just like not all people serve and love in the same way, not all people grow in their faith in the same way. So in my years of being unsatisfied with devotionals, I would supplement my Bible reading with writings on spirituality by people like Don Miller and Francis Chan, among others. I felt that these writers understood me. They were honest and bold and relational. And this is how I came across Shauna Niequist, a contributor to Don Miller’s Storyline blog.
My husband bought me Niequist’s devotional Savor: Living Abundantly Where You Are, As You Are for Christmas this year, and I am beyond thrilled to review a work that has renewed my hope in the devotional book. The book itself is arranged like a traditional devotional book. It is in a 365, a devotional a day format, and each entry has a scripture verse, exposition by Niequist, and a few questions for reflection.
So, what makes Savor unique?
First, Niequist radiates an incredible humanness. She <
One of the devotionals (or a series of devotionals) that really spoke to me recently began with an April devotional titled “What You’re Willing To Give Up.” Niequist writes, “…it’s not hard to decide what you want your life to be about. What’s hard…is figuring out what you’re willing to give up in order to do the things you really care about” (113). This devotional was followed with two others that grew from this premise. In the first, titled “Things I Do,” Niequist shares a list of things that she feels called and committed to do at this time in her life: keeping her faith at the center of everything, devoting time to her family, growing as a writer, and living in “daily, honest, intimate community with a small group of people” (114). The second follow-up devotional, titled “Things I Don’t Do,” involves, what Niequist rightly observes, to be “the more important list” (115). She poses the question: “What am I willing to not do in order to do the things I believe in” (115). Niequist’s list includes no gardening, no perfect home décor or housekeeping, and no scrapbooking. These are simply not what Niequist enjoys or feels called to do, and she is not in any way saying that they don’t have value—just not for her, and that is perfectly okay.
This is a really important concept. I’m a type-A personality to the extreme. I live in this illusion that I can and should do it all, perfectly. This is not a healthy illusion to entertain. As Niequist writes, “This list [of “Things I Don’t Do”] sets me free. Time is finite, as is energy. One day I’ll stand before God and account for what I did with my life. There is work that is only mine to do: children that are ours to raise, stories that are mine to tell, friends that are mine to walk with” (115). And, thanks to Niequist, creating my own lists of “Things I Do” and “Things I Don’t Do” is one of the most valuable things I have done this year. These lists have helped to me to focus more on what I feel God created me to be and do at this time in my life.
Second, the recipes! Glancing at the titles of Niequist’s other books (or even just the title of this devotional), one can gather that she values fellowship that occurs around the table. Over twenty recipes are sprinkled throughout the devotional—everything from muffins to pasta salad to sundaes. Having tried numerous recipes thus far, I can avow that Niequist has a gift for sharing healthy and hearty dishes that are manageable for cooks of any skill level. As summer will soon be upon us, I thought I’d share a great recipe from Savor to try as you begin making those early trips to your local farmer’s market!
This is a recipe for “Summer Salad” (170):
Feeling Nourished—Review of Savor: Living Abundantly Where You Are, As You Are | HSLDA BlogIngredients—
6 ears of corn, cut from ears, raw
2 cucumbers, diced
4 peppers, red, yellow, or orange, diced
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved*
1 bunch of fresh dill, chopped
1 bunch of fresh basil, chopped
8 ounces of feta, crumbled
salt & pepper to taste
*I didn’t have any grape tomatoes on hand, so I used plum tomatoes
Directions—
Combine all ingredients together, and adjust the seasoning as you like!
My absolute favorite part of this recipe is that it can be either prepared right before a meal or made-ahead! Personally, I’m all for make-ahead dishes. Assembling the salad earlier in the day, and leaving it in the refrigerator until mealtime, allows the flavors to fully blend and sharpen.
Also, as I am a vegetarian, and my husband is not, I am constantly looking for recipes that will suit us both—as this one does. I’d pair this salad with the option of grilled chicken (or grilled tofu, for myself!) and freshly-baked bread. Simple and nutritious.
Finally, what is also wonderful about this devotional is that it’s <
Please let me know your thoughts if you pick up Niequist’s book (or other writings by her), try this recipe, or have recommendations about other inspiring devotionals.
Cheers!
Book Review: Savor by Shauna Niequist
May 15, 2015 By Karen Leave a Comment
savor by shauna niequist
This may sound unusual, but I haven’t actually read any of Shauna Niequist’s other books. I’ve seen bloggers and book reviewers I know and respect recommend her work, but I just hadn’t gotten around to reading any of it yet.
So, when the chance came along to review her new devotional, I decided to go ahead and make the leap.
Here’s the tricky part: reviewing a devotional isn’t like reviewing a book that you read straight through. This book has 365 short (one page each) devotions. Each devotion (which is usually a story or insight from Niequist’s life) has a featured scripture and then questions which would serve as a journaling prompt for the person reading her way through the devotional.
Did I mention the recipes? There are also 21 recipes sprinkled throughout the book. There’s an index for all the recipes at the beginning of the book, so you don’t have to worry about not being able to find that mouth-watering summer salad recipe again. (Full disclosure: I haven’t actually tried any of the recipes yet. But the summer salad sounded yummy.)
This is a gorgeous hardcover book, with a ribbon bookmark (so helpful in case you miss a day or two) and a cloth cover. They really did a great job of designing a book to be savored, even though this one doesn’t have pictures. It would make a great gift for a female friend in your life who could use encouragement.
As for the content, well, I haven’t read the entire thing. I found the devotions themselves to vary. Some I loved and some I could have skipped, honestly, but that’s to be expected in a book that contains 365 of anything.
If you’re tired of rushing through life, or if you only have a few minutes of reading time in the morning or evening, maybe it’s time to sit down with <> The devotions are short, but poignant. And you may find yourself looking at your day a little differently.
This is one I plan to keep in my book stack for the next year or so, and I’ll be savoring each entry as I come to it.
Savor by Shauna Niequist – Book Review
October 26, 2015 | Leave a Comment
(Disclosure: I received a free copy of Savor through the Blogging for Books program in exchange for an honest review. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.)
Savor: Living Abundantly Where You Are, As You Are by Shauna Niequist is a 365 day devotional. Each day provides a scripture reference and a short reading designed to help you pause in your day, consider your everyday life, slow down, and notice the beauty right where you are. Each reading usually ends with a question or statement to ponder throughout your day.
This book is not an in-depth Bible study style of devotional. You will not learn great and important details about the Bible by going through this devotional. It’s more like chatting over coffee with a friend, learning to slow down and embrace the goodness of life. It offers a daily reminder that the most important things in life are right in front of you. It’s not your to do list, it’s not your dreams and goals, it’s not ten years down the road when you finally find that perfect balance in life. Your life is today, in the everyday moments.
savor the everyday moments
“I believe this way of living, this focus on the present, the daily, the tangible, this intense concentration not on the news headlines but on the flowers growing in your own garden, the children growing in your own home, this way of living has the potential to open up the heavens…” (quote from January 5th reading in Savor).
This is not a devotional that I would have typically picked up on my own. But I had a friend who kept quoting parts of it on Facebook and I decided that I needed to read it for myself. I really enjoyed reading through the book and using it as a regular reminder to stop living so frantically, to take on the motto of “more love, less hustle”.
To recognize that this life matters, the quiet everyday, the small, seemingly insignificant steps forward that we take, not sure if they will amount to anything, but trusting that they matter, because they do. Life is lived today, the abundance of life is not something to be achieved, but something to savor every moment of the journey.
This book is full of small little nuggets, tiny reminders that I want to write on little cards and hang around my house. Things like, “it doesn’t matter how much you love someone. What matters is that they know it.” or “I want my every day to make God belly laugh, glad that he gave life to someone who loves the gift.”
As an added bonus the book has delicious recipes sprinkled throughout. Because what better way is there to enjoy our everyday than with delicious foods enjoyed around the table with the people we love.
Gathering Around the Table with Bread & Wine – A Book Review
November 28, 2014
By Christina Krost
imagesBread&WineI’m balancing my lunch plate on my lap, trying to enjoy a sandwich slapped together after feeding my one-year-old. She toddles up to me, eyes focused on my plate. Her gaze meets mine as if to say, “Some for me?” I tear apart some bread crust and hold it out for her pudgy fingers to grab. She mashes it into her tiny, drooly mouth. Sometimes the youngest among us understand best how to be nourished.
Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes by Shauna Niequist is about the sometimes complicated desire to nourish ourselves and the ones we love. Niequist writes from her experiences as a pastor’s kid, musician’s wife, and mother of two boys. And she knows how to feed her people well.
But it wasn’t always that way. Like many girls growing up in the 1970s and 80s, Niequist’s own mother shooed her out of their kitchen, seen as a place of oppression for many women of her generation. Instead Niequist’s cooking chops were earned piecemeal, by devouring cookbooks like trashy romance novels in her college and newlywed years, throwing elaborate dinner parties, and learning (often humorously) by trial-and error.
Niequist saw her cooking forays as exotic, intense, and satisfying. She tried new-to-her combinations—savory bacon-wrapped dates, simple-yet-impressive mango chicken curry, and rich dark chocolate sea salted toffee—which she shares here. The collected recipes remind her of her travels to Spain, Paris, and Italy alongside memories of home in western Michigan, San Francisco, and Chicago. The variety of tastes and favors she cultivates in her cooking helps her articulate her desires for her family. She writes, “I want my kids to taste and experience the biggest possible world, because every bite of it, every taste and texture and flavor, is delicious.”
For those that don’t find cooking thrilling or easy, Niequist offers some advice: “I believe every person should be able to make the simple foods that nourish them, that feel familiar and comforting, that tell the story of who they are…to nourish ourselves in the most basic way and to create meals and traditions around the table and tell the story of who we are….And the only way to get there is to start where you are.” Though this book highlights spiritual nourishment, readers need not be practicing Christians to appreciate her message.
Through different vignettes that jump around her timeline of early marriage and motherhood, Niequist tackles infertility and pregnancy, grief and loss, body image and acceptance, multitasking and being present, fasting and feast. <
Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes is a must-read for those who love to entertain or those who want to learn. Definitely not a Martha Stewart kind of how-to book, Bread & Wine presents tried and true recipes with helpful guidance from the author. As we grow closer to holiday celebrations that gather our own loved ones around our tables, Niequist helps remind us that the stress that comes with the holidays is often self-imposed. If you’ve ever invited over friends or cooked for any number of people, you understand how much thought and preparation goes into every bite. Niequist gently guides us to the idea that if you are going to feed the people you love, it’s best to try to do so equitably and safely (whether that means gluten free, nut free, meat free, etc.).
Perhaps the most resonant of Bread & Wine’s lessons is that “What people are craving isn’t perfection. People aren’t longing to be impressed; they’re longing to feel like they’re home. If you create a space full of love…they’ll take off their shoes and curl up with gratitude and rest, no matter how small, no matter how undone, no matter how odd.”
Take a lesson from my daughter: turn to the ones you love, ask for what you need, and eat.
Christina Krost is an elementary teacher turned full-time mom turned United Methodist pastor’s wife. She lives with her husband and three daughters in rural central Illinois and blogs at thekrostfamily.blogspot.com.
Book Review: Bread & Wine, by Shauna Niequist
MARCH 13, 2015 / PACKARDS PROGRESS
I (Helen) first read Shauna Niequist’s work while we were in Mexico in the Fall, starting with her second book, Bittersweet. I loved her honest writing style immediately, and quickly set about reading her first book, Cold Tangerines. Bread & Wine is Shauna’s third book, and my favorite of the three. Not only is it beautifully written and thoughtfully presented, it includes recipes! There’s no better way to describe this book than its subtitle: “a love letter to life around the table with recipes.”
breadandwineshaunaniequist
Bread & Wine is an appropriate read for me right now, as I am currently managing Food Services at YWAM Turner Valley. This means I set the menu each week, do the grocery shopping, and cook many of the meals we eat as a community. While I can get pretty grumpy when a quiche takes twenty minutes longer to cook than the recipe says, on the most part, I really love this job. I love developing menus I know will be appreciated by the staff and students in our community, whether it’s because I know so-and-so really loves gravy and mashed potatoes, or because nothing gets anyone more excited than naan bread, or because I know the majority of our community loves Thai food and has tasted the real thing in Thailand. I love catering the menu to what people will enjoy, while doing my best to be a good steward of the resources we have. It’s creativity and problem-solving together, two of my favorite things.
Another reason Bread & Wine is a good read for me right now is because I just got back from a trip to Edmonton, where I was shown exemplary hospitality. Shauna puts language to hospitality when she says “the heart of hospitality is about creating space for someone to feel seen and heard and loved.” This sentence sums up hospitality in so many ways for me, and it sums up the hospitality I received in Edmonton as well. The sentence comes from a chapter about hosting those with food intolerances and allergies, which is important to me as someone with a long list of things I can’t eat, but more than that, this sentence is a reminder that hospitality doesn’t have to be matching napkins, woodland village centerpieces, and a remodeled bathroom. Hospitality is about making people feel safe and welcome: comfortable. I felt so welcomed into the home I stayed at in Edmonton; every allergy was accounted for, but more importantly, I felt part of the life of the house for a few days. Hospitality was extended by the youngest and the oldest, and it was so encouraging and rejuvenating.
Bread & Wine is a collection of short essays about life around the table, but it’s also a discussion about the role food plays in our lives, our homes, and hospitality, whether your “table” is a coffee table or a dining room table, a nightstand or your own hand as you grab something on the way out the door. It’s about baby showers and weeknight meals, dinner parties and the occasional dinner in front of the TV. I loved it.
As for the recipes, I’ve made Shauna’s basic vinaigrette, gaia cookies, and an updated version of her mango chicken curry, available on her blog. I can’t wait to try more, as all three recipes have been excellent, adaptable, and dependable.
If you have a heart for hospitality, or if you feel God calling you to community-building where you are at, I encourage you to pick up Bread & Wine.<< Read your way through it, cook your way through it, and open your home, table, and heart to those around you.>>
Book Review: Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist
2/21/2012 0 Comments
A Long Way from Cold Tangerines.
I was first told about Shauna's work from a few different friend's referencing her first book,Cold Tangerines. I trusted their advice enough to get a copy and read it last year. After finishing the last page, I decided that I had enjoyed reading the book but that it wasn't a book that I had fallen in love with. The author's style of writing and ability to tell her story, on the other hand, became something that I loved. That is why I found it easy to buy, read and even enjoy it's sequel, Bittersweet.
But there is something that should be noted about the two books. Cold Tangerines, like I said, was a good book that I liked but for more than one reason, I didn't care for it enough to fall in love with it. But Bittersweet evoked an entirely different response out of me. I l-o-v-e-d it! Why such varying results from the same author? Why was one book so much more gripping than the other?
Sincerely, I'd like to credit the trials that Shauna went through. It was in those hard times that I can sense greater maturity and deeper perspective was forged. We all despise the hard times, but we can't help but love what it creates in us.
So I'm thankful for the journey that the author's personal life took since she wrote her first book. She's come a long way and it's evident in her work. She has weathered some heavy storms and through them some solid truths found a home on the pages of Bittersweet.
Picture
Simplicity Meets Authenticity.
I'm not the first to say this by any means, but Shauna's ability to tell a story by causing simple words to dance upon a page is nothing short of magical. As a reader, I really enjoyed the simple yet difficult craftsmanship of her stories. Surely my own stories don't come out the way her's do, but then again, all along I felt like I was sitting with a friend and catching up on her life.
If you take a look at my bookshelves, you will find a variety of types of literature ranging from commentary to fiction. But I found that Bittersweet was neither of those types. Many spiritual books that you read about today are saturated with knowledge, which is a good thing, but sometimes they can be so weighty with facts that it's hard to take anything away from them because your mind is overwhelmed. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you find that the fiction novels can be so unrealistic that you can't apply them to your life.
I, myself, found this book to be a relief from some of the other books that I read. All the facts and knowledge can help but at some point, you just need real life. That's what I felt that Shauna offered me as a reader.
Heartache Sealed With Hope.
In real life, trials come, issues arise and for some of us, our hearts are broken. This is what I find to be true in my life and as I read books to help my walk with Christ, I find myself most thankful when an author actually involves truth with reality. This is where I think Shauna is strongest as an author.
She faced trials, issues did arise and her heart did ache with brokenness but she didn't fail to bring truth into those very real reailties. The fact that<< her story didn't end with a 'happy ending' per se, but still ended with hope>>, filled my heart with joy and expectancy.
Because of her authenticity, there were moments when I could connect my pain with hers. But her authenticity left a lasting impression when she introduced real truth for my real heart that was aching with real pain.
I'm thankful for the moments when she reminded me like on page 16 that "the heart of the story [is] the part where life always comes from death." That, the concept of resurrection and beauty from ashes, she proclaims is the central message of Christianity. And to that, I heartedly agree.
More Than Just Tears.
On a way less serious note, I really appreciated <
Also, another thing that I was thankful for was the insight into her life that she gave. Yes, again, the whole authenticity thing. She shared the simple parts of her life as a believer, a friend, a wife, a mother, an author, etc. Those are all things that I aspire to be and some that I currently am, so I always appreciate little tid-bits of advice from those who are living it now. It's always refreshing to hear the 'how-to's' and the 'what-not-to-do's'. Don't you agree?
What Will Remain.
From all of her countless stories, I think these three things will leave an impact within me, at least for a while, from this book.
1. The bitter can be sweet.
2. The little things count.
3. Telling your story matters.
I could expound upon each of these with so many words, but I think excerpts from Shauna herself will hopefully explain them best.
1. Listen closely. Hear the truth behind these words convincing you that even the bitter moments in your life can produce something sweet and worthwhile if you choose to grow from them.
"The question is not, will my life be easy or will my heart break? but rather, when my heart breaks, will I choose to grow? Sometimes in the moments of the most searing pain, we think we don't have a choice. But we do. It's in those moments that we make the most important choice: grow or give up." (page 233)
"This is what I know: God can make something beautiful out of anything, out of darkness and trash and broken bones. He can shine light into even the blackest night, and He leaves glimpses of hope all around us." (page 234)
2. I very easily overlook the little things in life that matter. I do this all the time but I am learning that He doesn't overlook them, not even once. I have to trust that He's at work, even actively at work, in the little things in my life whether that be relationships or the unnoticeable in creation. For me, I'm continuing to find God in many small things these days. They really do matter. They tell me that the big God Almighty of the Universe is actually intricately involved in my tiny life and He proves it by showing me meaningful signs by using little, otherwise unimportant, objects or moments.
Shauna does a great job of pointing us back to the importance of close friendships in our lives. That's an area that I seem to easily forget sometimes, but it's a little (perhaps big) place that He reveals Himself to us. Secretly, I'm always thankful towards anything and anyone that encourages me to fight for the meaningful relationships in my life.
"Because there really is nothing like good friends, like the sounds of their laughter and the tones of their voices and the things they teach us in the quietest, smallest moments." (page 66)
"(in referencing how things began to become easier in her life) It wasn't all one thing, but a thousand big and little things, and for every single one of them, I'm thankful." (page 211)
3. I'm a story-telling type of girl. I think that every good story has great characters and that the details matter. You don't have to convince me that stories are great but sometimes, I do need help believing that my story is worth telling.
"You tell what you know, what you've earned, what you've learned the hard way." (page 237)
"They (really, we) stopped believing that their story was enough, and they started saying all the phrases and quoting all the verses we've all heard a thousand times, turning them from sacred songs into platitudes and cliché's." (page 239, addition by me)
"We dilute the beauty of the Gospel story when we divorce it from our lives, our worlds, the words and images that God is writing right now on our souls." (page 239)
"And when we tell the truth about our lives--the broken parts, the secret parts, the beautiful parts-- then the Gospel comes to life, an actual story about redemption, instead of abstraction and theory and things you learn in Sunday school." (page 240)
"Only I can tell my story." (page 241)
"When Christ walked among us, He entrusted the Gospel to plain old regular people who were absolutely not religious professionals." (page 241)
"Your story must be told." (Page 241)
Only Good if You Share.
If I could recommend this book to anyone I would say that it's for the faint of heart, the weary soul and the perplexed mind. That pretty much sums up most of us, yet maybe not all of us.
To condense my review of this book, I'd say that it is just enough simplicity to remind the spiritually mature of where our maturity comes from and just enough experience to convince the naive to cling to Jesus when, not if, those troubled times come and to trust that something sweet can come out of the bitter times.
So I suggest for you to find yourself a copy and to join Shauna as she shares her story, even if you only take it one small chapter at a time. Her story is worth hearing and the truth that she imparts is something that we could all use.
- See more at: http://www.courtneyfricke.com/book-reviews/book-review-bittersweet-by-shauna-niequist#sthash.4194UAKC.dpuf
Book Review: Bittersweet, by Shauna Niequist
DECEMBER 16, 2014 / PACKARDS PROGRESS
At the beginning of 2014, I (Helen) set a goal to read 20 books within the year. Bittersweet, by Shauna Niequist, is book #20! If you’re curious, this is what I read in 2014 (those with links will connect you to book reviews by myself or Michael):
Half the Sky, by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
I am Malala, by Malala Yousafzi
Call the Midwife, by Jennifer Worth
Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, by Elizabeth Cline
In the Shadows of the Workhouse, by Jennifer Worth
Farewell to the East End, by Jennifer Worth
Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples, by Francis Chan
The Autobiography of George Muller, by George Muller
Proverbs, Commentary by Katherine M. Hayes
The Hiding Place, by Corrie Ten Boom with John and Elizabeth Sherrill
Surprised by Joy, by C.S. Lewis
The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
Quitting Church: Why the Faithful are Fleeing, by Julia Duin
Holy Fire: A Balanced Biblical Look at the Holy Spirit’s Work in our Lives, by R.T. Kendall
God’s Smuggler, by Brother Andrew with John & Elizabeth Sherrill
Seven Laws of the Learner, by Bruce Wilkinson
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, by Gordon D. Fee & Douglas Stuart
Foreign to Familiar, by Sarah Lanier
Discipling Nations, by Darrow Miller
Bittersweet, by Shauna Niequist
Some of these books were required reading for Titus or suggested reading for SBS and other teaching opportunities, while other books were read for pleasure or spiritual development. Bittersweet, book #20, was both a pleasure and an encouragement in my walk with God.
bittersweetbyshaunaniequist
I’ve been meaning to read Shauna Niequist’s work for quite a while (she has three books published, and another coming out in March), but they’re not available at my library. As Titus drew to a close, and I found I had quite a bit more time on my hands as teachings wound up for this season, I purchased her second book, Bittersweet, for my Kindle. I wanted to savor the book, so I tried to read it over the course of a week, rather than gobbling it up in a day, but I could have easily read this book in an afternoon.
The book is comprised of about forty short essays, in which the author recounts some of the sweetest and most difficult moments of the season she found herself in – <> While I haven’t experienced many of the things Niequist writes about, particularly motherhood and miscarriage, her heart of seeing God work in and through even the most difficult times in her life, was easy to connect with. Niequist writes the way I would love to write – a beautiful balance of painting pictures with words, and telling stories with honesty and vulnerability.
Two of my favourite essays were “Grace is new math” and “Thin places.” In “Grace is new math,” Niequist shares how the theme of grace was standing out to her everywhere in her life at the time she was writing. She writes of how she doesn’t want to need grace, and how it’s much easier to believe that there is a mathematical formula to life and relationships – that the “good things” about her outweigh the “hard things” about her, and because of this, she can “net” on the right side of things. But,
Grace isn’t about having a second chance; grace is having so many chances that you could use them through all eternity and never come up empty. It’s when you finally realize that the other shoe isn’t going to drop, ever. It’s the moment you feel as precious and handmade as every star, when you feel, finally, at home for the very first time.
Grace is when you finally stop keeping score and when you realize that God never was, that his game is a different one entirely. Grace is when the silence is so complete that you can hear your own heartbeat, and right within your ribs, God’s beating heart, too.
Grace of course isn’t a new concept, but at a time in my life where the theme of grace is standing out to me, especially after these last months as part of Titus Project, Niequist’s words were a great encouragement.
In “<
Christmas is a thin place, a season during which even the hardest-hearted of people think about what matters, when even the most locked-up individuals loosen their grasps for just a moment, in the face of the deep beauty and hope of Christmas. The shimmer of God’s presence, not always plainly visible in our world, is more visible at Christmas.
When we find a thin place, anytime, anywhere, we should live differently in the face of it, because if we don’t, we miss some of the best moments that life with God has to offer us. These thin places are gifts, treasures, and they’re worth changing our lives for…A thin place is an opportunity to be more aware of the divine fingerprints all over this world, and Christmas is one invitation after another to do that.
This describes Christmas for me so perfectly. When all the lights are turned off in the church on Christmas Eve, the band plays or the choir sings Silent Night, and everyone holds their candle in the darkness, that is a thin place – a place where God’s presence feels so real, almost visible in the very air.
Bittersweet is a beautiful read, the kind of book I want to give to everyone I know. The best endorsement I can think of for this book is that I’ve already started reading Cold Tangerines, Niequist’s first book, which will undoubtedly be finished before 2014 comes to a close. Number twenty-one.
Brief Review: COLD TANGERINES by Shauna Niequist [Vol. 2, #45]
November 20, 2009
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A Brief Review of
Cold Tangerines:
Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life.
Shauna Niequist.
Hardback: Zondervan, 2007.
Buy Now: [ ChristianBook.com ]
Reviewed by Jeff Goins.
One day, my wife came home from a book reading in Franklin, TN, absolutely in love. Being her husband, I was a tad jealous that something had stolen her affections. When I realized that the culprit was a book – albeit, an excellent book – I could empathize (I, too, am a sucker for good books).
The book was Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist. Subtitled “Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life,” Cold Tangerines is a collection of essays and reflections on faith and the simple pleasures in life. Written in a memoir-esque fashion (a la Donald Miller’s writing or Anne Lamott’s essays), this is a charming book that is both approachable and enjoyable for the reader. <
Niequist is the daughter of Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Church in Chicago, but her story is full of much more than the stereotypical mega-church anecdotes and hyper-spiritual platitudes (no offense to Hybels). Her story is one of struggle and disappointment, of finding beauty amidst pain and trial, of ultimate redemption in the little things that get neglected in a 50-minute service that concludes in an altar call.
As my wife read through the book, sharing portions of it with me, she helped me understand why this book was so important to her (and many others) It reminded her of the beauty that was all around her – in simple things, like the changing of the seasons or a childhood memory. She would keep me up in bed at night, laughing out loud at the funny parts and sniffling at the sad parts. When we would go on road trips, she would read short chapters to me. She was enthralled by it, and I, too, began to appreciate Niequist’s pensive collection of reflections on the seemingly mundane and ordinary.
It’s nothing novel to say that we live in a fast-paced, consumer-driven culture, where everything we want (and more) is available to us in the blink of an eye. It doesn’t make a lot of rational sense to slow down and enjoy the scenery in a culture like this, but that is precisely what we need to do. That is, according to Niequist, if we are to embrace how extraordinary every day can be.