When You Embrace a Little Mystery, You Learn to Lean In to a Curious Faith - a book review.

So y'all know how I love me some books. (#ermagherdberks!)  And if you have been around my little corner of the Interwebs at all, then you know that I have some seriously amazing friends who just so happen to write books.

It's always a bonus when the two converge and I love both the book and the author.

Curious Faith by Logan Wolfram falls into that category from cover to cover!

I 'met' Logan online before I met her in real life at Allume.  She is one of the most genuine, authentic people I've ever met and she makes you want to live that kind of life!

Reading Curious Faith is like enjoying a slow meal with a close friend, with only a table between you.

Logan writes the way she talks, with all of that Southern charm and laugh out loud honesty. But don't be fooled... she can make you cry with the best of them, too!  

Her candid style of telling it like it is when it comes to living out a faith that has learned to embrace a bit of the unknown, that is bold enough to doubt, and brave enough to hold on when all you want to do is let go and give up --well, reading her journey just may enable you to live out yours with a little less fear, and a bit more freedom!

"Your perspective when defined by worry will always be small. You'll never see what could be if you allow fear to define where you go." ~Logan Wolfram, Curious Faith

Curious Faith arrived in my hands at a time when I felt I was already stretching and being brave! I felt 2015 held a TON of changes and risky yeses and I was coming to terms that I was not, in fact, ever called to live a safe, small life! 

I lived much of my life trying to be quiet and soft... loving and kind, but I was never much of a risk taker. I thought if I lived hushed, nothing bad would happen to me.  Now, of course - this is not true... and I didn't realize that I was living like that... until slowly, one hard thing after another began happening, and life shattered any illusion that I was owed safety or exemption.

Last year, all. year. long. God kept answering my hesitations and excuses with this one phrase: "Who told you you could have a Comfort Zone?"

Ouch... apparently not Him! Maybe it was me... maybe I had convinced myself that comfort zones were a good thing.  They are not bad, per say, but we are never called to stay inside of them!

I hadn't realized that my need want for a comfort zone was really a lack of trust... and then I read these words by Logan and it all clicked:

"Worry is a stunter of faith, because it convinces us not to trust God. But when we trust in the power of the One who puts everything together in the first place, then we can trust that the things that break us won't define us." ~Logan Wolfram, Curious Faith

I had learned long ago to not entertain worry, but moving it forward to entertaining trust instead - well, that makes all the difference!

Here are just a few more quotes that really stood out to me, and are now highlighted, underlined, and dog-eared in my copy:

"Are we willing to be curious enough while we wait to wonder what God may be up to? Curious enough to wonder what He may be preparing us for? Waiting is not a delay of the thing we have in our mind's eye. It is about being present in the now, and placing a longing hope in God. It is the space in which we root ourselves in truth and learn to want God more than our own desires." ~Logan Wolfram, Curious Faith

"If we completely give into the stresses of living, then we might miss the beauty of gifts God has lining up around us. If we let ourselves only celebrate the goodness, then we don't see the ways that the Lord wants to speak to our heart in the midst of the hardships, too." ~Logan Wolfram, Curious Faith

"When we make space to get outside of ourselves, it can take a bit to catch up with knowing who we are meant to be. Sometimes, we must lose ourselves to find ourselves. But, I've found that when I lose me, I find God. Interestingly enough, in looking for more of God, you'll be surprised how much of yourself you'll discover without even trying." ~Logan Wolfram, Curious Faith

I had been chatting with Logan for months via facebook and emails in 2013 before heading to her corner of the world in South Carolina for Allume, a bloggers conference that she is in charge of.  She was super helpful and full of ideas as my Honey was traveling with me and would need a few day trips around the area during the conference dates... plus, you know, since we were so far away from home - we needed some suggestions on where else to go too!  Thanks to Logan, not only did we fall in love with downtown Greenville, but we walked around Falls Park and when Allume was over, we drove to Asheville, NC and meandered through The Biltmore Estates before heading East to Charleston!

Because she was over the top helpful in the midst of planning an entire womens' conference, I felt like I already knew her. But I was just one of many, many women who she was graciously hosting before any of us set foot on a plane to get to Allume. I never, in a million years, thought she would recognize me in person or have any recollection of any of our conversations.  However, on Day Two of Allume, she was running to catch the elevator and as she jumped in, she looked right at me and said, "Karrilee!  It's me, Logan!" and went on to ask about our Biltmore plans and make sure my husband had found the man cave in the hotel!

Precious, I tell you!  She is precious - and the real deal!

What she couldn't have known in that moment was how invisible I was feeling in a crowd of people. An introvert who was riding the elevator to retreat in her room for a minute or two to regroup and she not only saw me... but she felt the need to tell me who she was! Priceless. 

What a gift! Not just in introducing herself and being an amazingly gracious host... but in living a life wide open and real, that invites others to put on brave and lean in to a curious faith of their own! 

Sometimes it helps just to know that you are not alone... and that you don't have to know all the answers to still be all in with Jesus. In fact, most often, it's better when you discover that you don't - and will not ever - have all of the answers anyway. 

Like Logan, I have come to find that I may not (read: do not) know it all... but I know the One who does... and I can trust Him!  

It's the mystery... it's those unknown parts that call us out further into the deep... it's the curious faith that He stirs within us that pulls us out away from the shore, and beckons us to walk on the water with Him!

* I was honored to be a part of Logan's Book Launch Team for Curious Faith. I received an Advance Readers copy from David C. Cook and the above review is my honest opinion. No Affiliate links were used.

P.S.  I'm linking up with these lovely writers:

Kelly Chripczuk  for #SmallWonders 

Holly Barrett for #TestimonyTuesday

Kelly Balarie for #RaRaLinkUp

Holley Gerth for #CoffeeForYourHeart

Jennifer Dukes Lee for #TellHisStory

One of my favorite parts of Curious Faith is that it includes both some of her personal journey, as well as  Scripture... and a Digging Deeper option as well! This is a great read, but even more than that, it's a great tool that God will use to heal and help each of us to live out a glorious curious faith!