We're so excited that it's time for our first book for our Online Book Club! February's book is Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis and we can't wait to share a few of our favorite parts with you! If you've read it, we hope you'll share what you love about it. And if this book is on your To-Read list, we hope this gives you a good idea of what you have to look forward to!
Each chapter of Girl, Wash Your Face begins with a specific lie Hollis once believed that left her feeling overwhelmed, unworthy, or ready to give up. As a working mother, a former foster parent, and a woman who has dealt with insecurities about her body and relationships, she speaks with the insight and kindness of a BFF, helping women unpack the limiting mind-sets that destroy their self-confidence and keep them from moving forward.
From her temporary obsession with marrying Matt Damon to a daydream involving hypnotic iguanas to her son’s request that she buy a necklace to “be like the other moms,” Hollis holds nothing back. With unflinching faith and tenacity, Hollis spurs other women to live with passion and hustle and to awaken their slumbering goals.
Excerpt from girlwashyourface.com
Emily and I both felt like reading Girl, Wash Your Face was like having a fun and heartfelt conversation with our best friend. Rachel Hollis keeps it real and there’s so many experiences that she shared that I totally relate to! So here are 5 of my favorite chapters and just a little bit about why I loved them so much!
- CHAPTER 1:
THE LIE: SOMETHING ELSE WILL MAKE ME HAPPY
In this world of social media and how easy it is to get caught up in comparing ourselves with others. This message is one that we all need to be reminded of from time to time. My favorite thing Rachel said in this chapter is, “When you’re engaged and involved and choosing to enjoy your own life, it doesn’t matter where you are or frankly, what negative things get hurled at you. You’ll still find happiness because it’s not about where you are but who you are.”
So who am I? I’m a wife, mom, sister, daughter, business owner. friend, etc. Finding and embracing joy in these has brought me more sincere happiness than any home, car, or item ever has.
2. CHAPTER 6:
THE LIE: NO IS THE FINAL ANSWER
As a mom of the cutest two year old, I hear the word no quite a bit! Ha! One thing I can learn from my determined little girl and from this chapter is to not give up when you hear the word no. Rachel said, “I am successful because I have never once believed my dreams were someone else’s to manage. That’s the incredible part about your dreams: nobody gets to tell you how big they can be. When it comes to your dreams, no is not an answer. The word no is not a reason to stop. Instead, think of it as a detour or a yield sign. No reminds you to slow down—to re-evaluate where you are and to judge how the new position you’re in can better prepare you for your destination.”
When Emily and I started this little business 2 1/2 years ago, it looked a lot different than it does now! We made completely different items and I had never made a paper flower before! Emily made them and they were a very small part of what we wanted for this business. You all had other ideas. Out of everything that we sold, paper flowers became our focus. So, I learned to make them. I practiced and practiced some more. Now, the very thing I had never done is the center of everything Emily and I make. If we had been stubborn and stayed with our original plan, we wouldn’t be where we are today!
Some of my very first flowers:
Practice makes progress:
3. CHAPTER 10:
THE LIE: I SHOULD BE FURTHER ALONG BY NOW
This lesson is one that I learned the hard way. When life wasn’t going the way I thought it would, I had to wait. I had to learn to find the miracles, the growth, and joy in the wait. My husband and I had been married for about 16 years before our daughter joined our family through adoption. During that time, you bet I had moments where it was so easy to get caught up in wondering why my life wasn’t going the way I thought it should. Certain milestones and the passing of time was sometimes difficult.
In this chapter Rachel said, “Nothing is wasted. Every single moment is preparing you for the next. But whether or not you choose to see this time as something wonderful—the time when God is stretching you and growing you or maybe forging you in fires hotter than you think you can withstand—all of it is growing you for the person you’re becoming, for a future you can’t even imagine. God has perfect timing, and it’s highly possible that by not being where you thought you should be, you will end up exactly where you’re meant to go.”
Don’t you just love that! It’s so true! I had to learn to forget my plans and focus on God’s plan for my life. Then I could begin to see all of the opportunities and miracles that were happening because my life didn’t go according to my plan. The growth I experienced was necessary in order to be prepared for our adoption. Nothing is wasted.
4. CHAPTER 14:
THE LIE: I’M A TERRIBLE WRITER
This chapter speaks to the maker in me! After receiving her first bad book review Rachel learned an extremely important lesson: SOMEONE ELSE’S OPINION OF ME IS NONE OF MY BUSINESS. She said, “Those words are never more profound than when we’re creating something. You create because you have a God-given ability to do so. You create as a gift to yourself and to the higher power who blessed you with those abilities. You have to decided that you care more about creating your magic and pushing it out into the world than you do about how it will be received.”
Aside from being a wife and mother, being a maker….creating brings me so much joy! I know they’re just paper flowers, but seeing them come to life makes me so happy! Creating fills my soul! It’s who I am!
5. CHAPTER 16:
THE LIE: I CAN’T TELL THE TRUTH
Adoption is beautiful. It’s the biggest miracle my husband and I have experienced. Adoption is also hard.
Rachel said, “Because at the end of all this, I don’t want you to see someone who went through a long, intense process to adopt a little girl. I want you to see someone who kept showing up again and again, even when it was tearing her apart. I want you to see someone who kept walking in faith because she understood that God’s plan for her life was magnificent—even if it was never easy. And even if it wasn’t easy, she was bold and courageous and honest even when the truth was hard to share.”
Reading this chapter of Girl, Wash Your Face brought back so many memories of our adoption experience. We had a 9 month fight for our little girl to legally be ours. And boy was it a fight. Our story is one that I treasure because despite all the hard, miracles were constantly happening. I learned to walk in faith even when I had every reason to be scared.
Now that you’ve heard a few of my favorite parts of Girl, Wash Your Face and a some of my stories, we want to hear what your favorite part of the book is!
And if you’d like to follow along with our Online Book Club be sure to pick up our book for March…These Is My Words by Nancy Turner!
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