I recently read a book that resonated with me so much! If you have ever struggled with moving past the tough stuff in life, this book is for you! And my friend, Jennifer is giving away a copy of FREEDOM this week! Along with her book, the winner will also receive a signed copy of my book Anchored In! To enter to win just leave a comment on the Facebook post and share the post. Winner will be announced Wednesday!

I invited Jennifer to share a few words about her book! I promise, you will love her, but also you will be encouraged and challenged by her message. I was highlighting and nodding on the very first page! Here’s a word from Jennifer.

I wrote Freedom! The Gutsy Pursuit of Breakthrough and the Life Beyond It after going through a long season of being stuck and circling the same issues. I was ready to get to the root of the issues and make real progress in my life.

Something shifted in my heart and mind when I realized that I wasn’t just celebrating my brokenness- I was magnifying it.

I was ready to do whatever it took to live all the way free, not the pseudo-freedom I was settling for. I traded the internal train wreck that I had welcomed as my norm for unwavering peace that was waiting on the other side of my bloody battle. I broke rank, took back enemy territory, and prayed that I would be able to help other women to do the same thing.

This is not a pull yourself up by the bootstraps message, or a jump through a million hoops to be worthy enough message. It’s a battle cry.

“We all have a story and a majority of them are messy ones, but each one can lead us to the intersection of breakthrough and letting go.” #FreedomBook

Our natural tendency is to run and hide instead of facing our battle. 

It’s not the wins that make a warrior, it’s all the bruised knees and the sheer determination to get back up. Everything that has happen to you becomes something that makes others beam with pride at how far you have come. 

Each painful moment in our life should lead to some kind of breakthrough.

Most of the time we give up right before our life-changing breakthrough happens.

Why?

Because this is when it hurts the most. 

But, breakthrough is hope moving forward even when life hurts. That moment that hurts and cuts you to the core can be your starting place where the ultimate destination is wholeness of soul.

God never wastes our pain and he sees us like no one else can – whole and wholly his.

Brokenness is not our destination, wholeness is. No matter what we have been through in life, the Holy Spirit will always be more powerful than the moments that try to break us.

 Jennifer Renee Watson is a blogger, speaker, youth minister, pastor’s wife, and mom who has been featured on (in)courage, Guideposts, The Mighty, She Believes, For Every Mom, and more. She co-founded Broken Girl Ministries in 2011 to help women find the same healing she found in Jesus Christ. Jennifer lives with her husband and two children in Northwest Arkansas. Learn more at jenniferreneewatson.com.