Ruby Slippers: How the soul of a woman brings her home

Hi Friends,
I want to introduce you to a very insightful lady. Her name is Jonalyn Grace Fincher.








She's just written a very timely book called, Ruby Slippers: How the soul of a woman brings her home.

This book is published by Zondervan and available in stores now. Jonalyn also has a blog with a lot of helpful tidbits directly related to the topic of a woman's soul and uniqueness in her femininity. You can find it here.

In addition, she has a wonderful interactive website full of opportunities for you. From podcasts to study helps to live chats on Mondays! Really, this is one excellent ministry. When you're all done visiting here with me, I think you'll have a great time visiting Jonalyn too :-)

On page 19, I noticed the timeless story of Cinderella and the step-sisters. Women so desirous for slippers that don't fit. Is it possible that we ladies even allow others to try and "mold" our feet to fit that slipper? Tell me friends, what do you think?

How do we begin to free ourselves from ill-fitting "shoes" or situations? Jonalyn suggests we begin to recognize who we really are and how we are truly made. Are you really what someone else determines?

I love that she tackles this hidden issue in her book.

My husband and I have had a recent chat about the subtlety of women. How we can say something so nice on the surface and mean something completely different. Have you felt or noticed women seem to need to size one another up or put each other in place? We can free ourselves and our sisters from that condemnation. It takes paying attention to our own internal senses. Jonalyn reaches into some great stories to show us how in Ruby Slippers.

Okay, time for the big question...we can't avoid it in any discussion of women's roles in society. So I'm not dodging it here...What about the servant thing? Were women made to serve men? Is that our lot in life for being an, ahem, woman?

Personally, I don't think so. I think God wants us to serve Him and whatever He puts before us. That may mean caring for a man or woman. That doesn't make us subservient. It makes us servants to God and His purpose based on how he individually made each of us. See what you think after reading Jonalyn's book.

I am offering a prayer for ladies looking to rediscover themselves and their femininity. That is everyone of us any more. You are not alone in this rush-rush world.

Dear Lord Jesus,

We need your help to define ourselves by your hand and heart and not by the heart of humankind. Please help each woman reading this to release her soul into your care. Help each one of us to let go of all the cultural expectations and embrace your plan for our femininity. We get lost and trapped and can't see the way clearly. But you made us and can lead us. Lead us back to you and to the comfort of being woman here and now. Lead us into being who you want us to be regardless of all the misconceptions and misled people along the way.
In Jesus Name,
Amen

For your own copy, you can click here.

Now don't forget, Part 1 is over at the F.A.I.T.H. Girls blog dated Wednesday, Oct 15th. It's a little more relaxed and has a bit of personality, lol.

Author Bio:

Jonalyn is a passionate apologist and cultural critic committed to strengthening others to become more appropriately human.

She and her husband Dale travel nationally as a husband-wife speaking team addressing schools, churches, camps, and conferences on behalf of their non-profit, Soulation (www.soulation.org). With a double Bachelor’s in literature and history from the University of Virginia and a Masters in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics from Talbot School of Theology, Jonalyn engages with her clarity, gentleness and storytelling, emotionally engaging audiences of all ages on various apologetic themes. These include cultural apologetics, spiritual formation and why Jesus is good news for women. Her expressive teaching style makes her presentations both refreshingly appealing and accessible.

For the last four years Jonalyn has been speaking and writing on how women are distinctly and fully made in God’s image. Her work has appeared in Marriage Partnership, Gifted for Leadership, Radiant, Fullfill, Today’s Christian Woman and more recently in UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity, and Apologetics for a New Generation.Her first book Ruby Slippers: How the Soul of a Woman Brings Her Home (Zondervan, 2007) offers a defense for women’s uniqueness and dignity. She regularly updates her blog (www.jonalynfincher.com) sharing her insights about womanhood and the soul.

Jonalyn and Dale love to take walks with their three Welsh Corgis in their hometown of Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

[If you use Facebook, feel free to add Jonalyn as a friend!]
Thanks so much,
Angie