Freeman - Grace for the Good Girl

2011 by Emily P. Freeman

Published by Revell

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.revellbooks.com

Ebook edition created 2011

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-4412-3406-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations labeled AMP are from the Amplified Bible, copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations labeled BBE are from the Bible in Basic English.

Scripture quotations labeled ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007

Scripture quotations labeled Message are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. TM Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations labeled NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations labeled NLT are from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

To protect the privacy of those who have shared their stories with the author, some names and details have been changed.

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Grace for the Good Girl holds up a mirror and shows me myself. It peels back the layers, and exposes a sputtering, floundering good girl whos struggling just to keep her head above the water. And then it throws a life raft, pointing the way to the rescue and restoration found only when I give up the striving in favor of receiving rest and peace from the One who gives both in abundance.

Kristen Pittman

This book has been life-changing, a powerful message of freedom and deliverance and what it really means to rest in Christ. I wish Id had it years ago. I laughed and cried and scribbled in the margins and reread entire sections. It will continue to be a go-to book for me, a beautifully written masterpiece that has redefined the way I see myself.

Marian Vischer

In the midst of coping and living out my life without so much as a clue as to how to unravel the story, Grace for the Good Girl found me. With book in hand, Im opening doors in my heart that hold stuff I thought Id dealt with. Im facing the Good Girl and looking her straight in the eye. But this time, I have a friend, a tribe.

Stacey Thacker

Grace for the Good Girl was written for every Good Girl as well as every Not Quite Good Enough Girl. In luminous and engaging prose and a voice as vulnerable as it is relatable, Emily Freeman casts light on truths that were always right there, but that were buried deep under a piled-up heap of striving and self-judgment. I walked away from this book with a clearer understanding of who Christ already is in me , and that changes everything.... It makes me want to really live.

Shannan Martin

I love it. I feel like I can hear Emilys precious voice in my ear, as if she were sitting on my back porch just chatting and sharing with me.

Paige Knudsen

I used to think of myself as a wild child. After reading this book, Ive seen that my hiding places are not so different from a good girl. We both feel inadequate unless we measure up, and we never measure up. We both struggle to see ourselves as Christ sees us, and we both desperately want to be loved... no matter the costs. The truth that is spoken about so eloquently and personably in this book is that we are free to stop striving and simply receive what has already been given. What has already been done, and who we already arecomplete in Christ.

Melissa Lewkowicz

Grace for the Good Girl is full of Spirit and truth. Its gentle and bold, tender and powerful.

Holley Gerth

Being a good girl seems smart. It seems wise. It seems safe. But being a good girl comes with an unrelenting problem: the good girl can never be good enough. This book unpacks the myths of the try-hard life, exposing them for the enslaving traps they really are. Even with the myths exposed, the journey from the good girls slavery to true freedom in Christ can be long and arduous. Emilys book is a good and reliable guide for the trip.

Richella Parham

Emily,

So I come into your book with all this mess, and you move me to tears and to hope, and you make me smile and you make me laugh, and sitting down with you in the middle of this insanity has been one of the best gifts Ive ever been given.

Kelly Sauer

Grace for the Good Girl shares beautiful truth in a loving and grace-filled way. Emily is genuine and true, a beautiful example of living a life of grace.

Vicky Maness

Emily Freeman is one of those rare writers: profoundly biblical, lyrical, transparentmemorable. Her emancipating words on these pages offer the needed keys to all the good girls longing to take wingand soar home to Gods heart.

Ann Voskamp, New York Times bestselling author of One Thousand Gifts

For John,

who lives and breathes the mystery of

Christ in you, the hope of glory .