Endorsements
Author Jennifer Watson shares how to leave behind the pain and embrace supernatural peace once and for all in her new book, Freedom! No matter where you are on the path to wholeness, this book will comfort, equip, and challenge you to keep pressing forward, past heartbroken to totally healed.
Michelle Medlock Adams, award-winning and bestselling author
We all struggle with pain from our past. Places where brokenness continues to cut deep into the fabric of our soul. Freedom! showcases how brokenness is not our destiny but instead is the very thing that can lead us into a deeper experience of freedom in Christ.
Dr. Michelle Bengtson, board-certified clinical neuropsychologist, international speaker, and author of the award-winning Hope Prevails: Insights from a Doctor s Personal Journey through Depression and the companion Hope Prevails Bible Study
Jennifer Watson is both funny and deeply rooted in faith, a combination that makes this book both fun to read and liberating. She invites us to take a gutsy look at those things that keep us from living free, and cheers us on as we find the freedom Christ offers. I highly recommend this book and the woman who wrote it.
Suzanne Eller, ECPA bestselling author, international speaker, and cohost of More Than Small Talk
Life can be cruelfull of broken dreams and gut-wrenching painbut Jennifer Renee Watson reminds us of the wonderful truth that breakdowns are often opportunities for our greatest breakthroughs. Every tear we cry, every heartache we face is a chance to grow closer to God and become who He made us to be. As you work through the pages of this book, youll discover helpful ways to leave your hurt behind in exchange for the faith, freedom, healing, and unending joy Christ died to give you.
Lauren Gaskill, author, speaker, and founder of She Found Joy
Jennifer Watsons words are a battle cry, manifesto, and life-changing invitation for any woman whos ever felt stuck in her brokenness. Her relatable style, scriptural stories, and heartfelt, practical application make Jennifer a friend and guide who will take you to a new place of greater joy, healing, and, of course, freedom!
Holley Gerth, bestselling author of What Your Heart Needs for the Hard Days
Jennifer Renee Watson knows brokenness and beauty. She eloquently and powerfully shines a light on the messiness of life and the trauma many of us experience. Her story of holding on to hope, clinging to a God who redeems, and pushing through to a breakthrough will inspire, encourage, and provide a love letter of encouragement to every reader. This book is not to be missed.
Jenny B. Jones, award-winning author of In Between and Engaged in Trouble
We all have issues, dont we? But Jennifer Watson declares, our tears arent just battle marks, they are how warriors are made. With fiery wit and southern-girl class, Jennifer is the ride-or-die friend we all need who pushes us to find true freedom in Christ. Ready to live beyond brokenness? Read this now.
Sarah Philpott, PhD, award-winning author of Loved Baby: Devotions Helping You Grieve and Cherish Your Child After Pregnancy Loss
Half Title Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
2019 by Jennifer R. Watson
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2019
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.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-1731-5
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are 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
Scripture quotations identified AMP are from the Amplified Bible, copyright 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org
Scripture quotations identified AMPC are from the Amplified Bible, copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org
Scripture quotations identified CEV are from the Contemporary English Version 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations identified 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: 2016
Scripture quotations identified ISV are from the International Standard Version, copyright 19952014 by ISV Foundation. All rights reserved internationally. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
Scripture quotations identified KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Scripture quotations identified MESSAGE are from THE MESSAGE, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Scripture quotations identified NET are from the NET Bible, copyright 19962016 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations identified NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations identified NLT are from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Cover design by Brand Navigation
Author is represented by the Blythe Daniel Agency.
Dedication
To Whitley and Elise,
my favorite Gutsy Girls.
Contents
Cover
Endorsements
Half Title Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Foreword
Introduction
Gutsy Girl Mandate
Part 1: How Warriors Are Made
1. More Issues than Vogue
2. Gutsy Girls
3. Taking It Back: The Same Kind of Stuck
4. Battle Cry: When the Sky Is Falling and People Are Cray Cray
5. Questions Jesus Asked and Why We Still Need to Ask Them
6. Freedom from Your Inner Mean Girl
7. The Mending Mindset: Reclaim Your Role as the Leading Lady
8. The Price of Breakthrough
10. Beyond the Breakthrough
Part 2: I Thought I Had Experienced a Real Breakthrough, So Why Do I Feel Like This?
11. Abundantly More, Ending Our Tug-of-War with Joy
12. Healing Sisterhood
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Notes
Back Cover
Foreword
I SAT HUNCHED on my kitchen floor, my head between my knees and shoulders thrashing as the tears flowedmy heart broken in a hundred ways.
Somewhere deep down I knew I was still a daughter of the King even in my brokenness and shattered plans. I knew God still had good plans for me, and I knew Hed already paid the price for my healing. But from my tearstained puddle on the kitchen floor, I simply didnt know how to get there.
Freedom! is the manual how.
Jennifer Renee Watson manages to pry the pity party out of the paws of her readers with the gentle nudge of a mamas heart. She tells truths that would sound hard if said by anyone else, yet Jen makes you feel like youre sitting at her breakfast nook eating blueberry pancakes smothered in sweet, sticky syrup.