Heather Holleman - Chosen for Christ: Stepping into the Life Youve Been Missing

God chose us first. Its a comforting truth about our past, but its also electric power in our present. In her book Chosen for Christ, Heather Holleman describes all the promise and passion bound up in the simple fact that God picked us. If you have ever struggled with feeling left out, unloved, or overlooked, this book will bring you healing, but it will also inspire you to more.

SHARON HODDE MILLER

Author of Free of Me: Why Life Is Better When Its Not about You

Too often we gauge our worth by our career success, relationship status, or number of likes on our social media posts. We desperately need a different measuring stick, and Chosen for Christ offers just that. With humility, vulnerability, and a serious study of Scripture, Heather Holleman shows us that God chooses usnot for some distant future greatnessbut here and now. Chosen for Christ unfolds glorious potential for our ordinary days, transforming them into an extraordinary journey. This book is a resounding YES for anyone questioning if they are called or chosen by God.

ERICA YOUNG REITZ

Author of After College: Navigating Transitions, Relationships and Faith

For everyone who has felt uninvited, this book is for you. Heather writes brilliantly and beautifully showing you your status as Gods chosen one. Living a chosen life will change everything about how you live your life. I highly recommend this book!

BECKY HARLING

Speaker and author of How to Listen so People Will Talk and Who Do You Say That I Am?

Our media-soaked world inundates millennials 24/7 with compelling promises of where to find their identity, purpose, and value. Problemthey are all empty, chaotic promises. Theres only one place they will find contentmentin Christ. Chosen for Christ is a brilliant work that challenges all of us in our personal journey, as well as in our commitment to mentor next-generation leaders.

DANITA BYE

Author of Millennials Matter: Proven Strategies for Building Your Next-Gen Leader

2018 by HEATHER HOLLEMAN

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture passages marked ESV are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Published in association with the literary agency of D. C. Jacobson & Associates LLC, PO Box 80945, Portland, OR 97280.

Edited by Pamela J. Pugh
Author photo: BowerShots Photography
Interior design: Ragont Design
Cover design: Kelsey Fehlberg and Erik M. Peterson
Cover photo of greenhouse by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Holleman, Heather, author.

Title: Chosen for Christ : stepping into the life youve been missing / Heather Holleman.

Description: Chicago : Moody Publishers, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018025690 (print) | LCCN 2018035239 (ebook) | ISBN 9780802496485 () | ISBN 9780802416872

Subjects: LCSH: Vocation--Christianity. | Christian life.

Classification: LCC BV4740 (ebook) | LCC BV4740 .H566 2018 (print) | DDC 248.8/43--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018025690

ISBN: 978-0-8024-1687-2

We hope you enjoy this book from Moody Publishers. Our goal is to provide high-quality, thought-provoking books and products that connect truth to your real needs and challenges. For more information on other books and products written and produced from a biblical perspective, go to www.moodypublishers.com or write to:

Moody Publishers
820 N. LaSalle Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60610

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Printed in the United States of America

For Ashley

Friend,

Thank you for choosing to read this Moody Publishers title. It is our hope and prayer that this book will help you to know Jesus Christ more personally and love Him more deeply.

The proceeds from your purchase help pay the tuition of students attending Moody Bible Institute. These students come from around the globe and graduate better equipped to impact our world for Christ.

Other Moody Ministries that may be of interest to you include Moody Radio and Moody Distance Learning. To learn more visit www.moodyradio.org and www.moody.edu/distance-learning.

To enhance your reading experience weve made it easy to share inspiring passages and thought-provoking quotes with your friends via Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, and other booksharing sites. To do so, simply highlight and forward. And dont forget to put this book on your Reading Shelf on your book community site.

Thanks again, and may God bless you.

The Moody Publishers Team

Whos going to want me? Whoevers going to want me? Nobody will.

GRACE IN NICHOLAS EVANSS THE HORSE WHISPERER

I roam around this snowy Pennsylvania neighborhood as the wind at my face feels like tiny teeth biting my cheeks. My teenage daughters will soon arrive home from school, and Ill welcome them with snacks of robust cheese, fresh bread, and dark chocolate while I prepare the lasagna, just like my friendthe neighborhood Italian Mamataught me back in the days of our Italian cooking lessons. But first, I walk the streets Ive now walked for ten years: past the glossy shrubs where Ill find sparrows nests with speckled eggs in the spring, past the parking lot where I once led the neighborhood children in jump rope games, and back to the oak tree that one autumn provided enough acorns to make acorn flour for hearty bread. In a few months, the weeping cherry outside the bedroom window will bloom like pink fireworks. Then, Ill search the garden for yellow daffodils and the first signs of green leaves on the raspberry canes. This is the life God gave me. This is the life He chose for me.

But winter wont leave yet. And it feels like a bitter winter in my heart, too. Im walking to calm a brewing storm inside of painful emotions that ruin the beauty of a winter walk and embarrass me with their immaturity: Once again I feel overlooked, ignored, and rejected because of an array of infractions like unavailable friends who socialize without me or how other women broadcast their writing and speaking success on social media as if to personally hurt my feelings. Its terrible. If someone else receives an honor at Penn State, I wonder why I wasnt picked. If someone else gains adoration and influence on social media, I wonder if Ive squandered my time and should work harder at promoting myself so everyone will choose me to quote and to headline as their keynote speaker.