Book Review: "Ms Understood:Rebuilding the Feminine Equation" by Jen Hatmaker

You guys. I have had a rough past week or two, if we're being honest. It's nothing serious, it's just the real life hurts and crummy things that come along with being a human being. Heart hurts happen.

And lack of sleep makes me overly philosophical and weird and irrationally upset about things. I was really irritated yesterday when I went to a library that had put "Animal Farm" in the YA section, but not "1984". Like I was angry about that for like an hour.

So anyway, when I read this book I was all gushy and in love with it and it made my week so here's the review to get me back in that happy feeling and maybe spread it to you too. I also bought swiss cake rolls last night, but I'm not sharing those. Let's not get nuts.

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I know that title sounds a little like something you'd have to read for a gender studies class where you buy this huge $300, 60 lb book that you don't use once, and then you try to sell back to the campus bookstore and they're like, I'll give you $30 bucks and you run out of the room screaming like attic lady from Jane Eyre.......

Sorry, flashback. This book isn't like that at all.

Jen Hatmaker is awesome. She is funny and smart and sassy and does not have it all together and she makes no qualms about it. She has also written a bunch of books. The first one I read by her was called "7:An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess" which I loved. She takes the 7 areas of her life where there is the most excess (food, clothes....something something) and cuts it down to 7 items for a month. So for one month she only wears the same 7 pieces of clothing (with unlimited underwear and bras because let's not get crazy). She does this experiment after finding out about the kind of conditions her soon to be adopted kids in Ethiopia are living in. She prays about it a lot, gets a lot of funny looks, but she barely cheats at all. Apparently this book has a bible study and it's popular in women's bible classes too. So even if you're not religious the book is interesting because it talks about all the excesses we have that we don't even realize.

So this book, basically talks about how women are glorious and worthy of all good things and how God always works for our good even if we don't know Him or struggle with Him. She also talks about the women in Jesus bloodline who weren't perfect (obviously) but play incredibly important roles.

Here's just a couple of quotes that I'm going to leave here that I hope will inspire you to read the book. I'm having a "it's a really good book but I don't really know the best way to describe it to you to make you want to read it" moment.

-"Before you were a daughter, sister, wife, mother, you were a delight to God, who designed every facet and sent you to earth, a gift to all who would know you" .                   (I'm  sure I'm not always a gift, haha)

-"I have chosen you, and my Son prays for you when you feel condemned" (Romans 8:33-34)

-"You are somebody's answer. You are something's answer. There is a problem out there only your presence can solve. There is a broken and wounded hear to which only you can administer healing. You are not a victim; you are an answer".


In summation: women are awesome, women are not perfect, women in the Bible are super important even if they don't look like "typical" Bible heroes,you personally are awesome and are capable of great things. 4 outta 5 stars!