"The Well-Watered Woman"

Something for everyone... but you may have to search a bit to find that something. Recommended for a small group study, over individual.

Summary:

In the chaos of our everyday, it can be difficult to live out and apply the truths of Scripture. We want more of Jesus, but we try to find worth in our own accomplishments, leaving us dried up, discouraged, and longing for more. Using Scripture and her own personal story of surrender, Gretchen Saffles offers spiritually hungry women tangible tools to not only know Jesus more but to live a life that thoroughly enjoys Him, seeks Him, and follows Him into freedom.

Verdict: 6/10

I don't pick up Christian self-help books as much as I should, mostly because the book jackets sound so corny or fake. Now I know there are a handful that people have found useful, and I don't want to talk those down at all! But when it comes to literature on faith, I go by recommendations from people I know. In this case, a recommendation/choice by my women's group.

It's a small group made up of the four of us. The other three are in their 30s-40s with kids in high school while I'm married in my 20s with only a dog for responsibility (thank goodness). So we wanted a book that all of us could find useful. And I'll say this book accomplished that.

While some chapters didn't speak to me as much, someone else in my group would glean something from it and then share about it. Other times, I would really connect with a chapter and others wouldn't. So for that reason, we still got a lot out of this book.

Saffles is less about practical applications and steps, and more about connecting the Bible to everyday life through anecdotes about plants. I'm not much of a gardener but I still throughly enjoyed hearing how wildflowers connect to us as unique and unrecognized Christians. Or how keeping weeds out of your garden is much like sorting the lies we tell ourselves from the truth God tells us. But after reading sections, I often was left wondering 'that's great. Now how do I apply that to myself.'

Without next steps, I often made up challenges for myself (like writing out small things that reminded me of God in Ch. 8 or listing the hard times in my life and how I saw God working through them in Ch. 6). You just have to get creative in how to apply some of the abstract things she talks about.

I also found that most of the verses and stories she takes from the Bible are pretty standard. Meaning a beginning Christian has probably heard and can recall the stories of creation or of Abraham. Except when I read studies, I like to focus on different stories or learn something new about a well-known story. In that case, I think her scriptures were slightly lacking. I got more out of the outside quotes from famous Christians that she brought in because they were new to me - not repetitive like going over the parable of the mustard seed for the thousandth time.

Despite the drawbacks, I think my reading of this was still enjoyable. Saffles did have some interesting thoughts that I could apply to myself. But I think I got the most out of this because my group was so good about sharing and delving into things.