Kate Bowler is a gift to the world right now. I thankful for her work. This book, The Lives We Actually Have, is filled with blessings. I do not view this book as one to sit down and read, but rather a resource for moments in time. The book is organized around types of human experiences and each section contains numerous blessings. My aunt passed away this week and I read the blessing for grief at the graveside service. Each of the blessings is written in practical, accessible language that I think can relate to everyone whether they are “religious” or not. Highly recommend. Thanks to NetGalley, Kate, and the publisher for sharing this ARC with me.

Kate and Jess come with lived experience about the hard, the messy, the beautiful. These blessings and prayers give me language when I can’t seem to find any myself. They are not religious platitudes that will tell you to suck it up or pray more. They are real. Honest. Truthful. Light-bringing. Hope-giving.

While these blessings are framed towards God I’ve seen several folks say they’ve enjoyed it regardless of religious/spiritual beliefs. I definitely recommend this one if you need some hope and light in the life you have right now. Kate and Jess remind us that now is okay; we don't need to rush to tomorrow.

When I saw Beth Moore shared this book on social media, I knew I had to try it out. I actually purchased a copy for my friend, who is going through a difficult time, before I opened my own copy. What a sweet book of blessings this is going to be. To feel seen and for hurt to be acknowledged is huge. It’s incredible to have a prayer and scripture to read through that addresses our feelings. God’s word is alive and active.
Wonderful book that I will be purchasing more of for friends.
Five stars!

I love this book so much because it is a book that you read more than once or just read parts of it on different days. The daily prayers were so meaningful for each day that was represented rather than just going by the date numbers in order. There are prayers for different moments in your life, good days and bad days, special days and also holy days. I am so glad I requested this book because it is a book that I can really keep reading throughout my life as different events occur and as different feelings rise in me. I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for strength throughout the year and their lives!

This book is very unique. It is exactly what the title suggests - daily meditations or blessings for your *actual life*. There are blessings for your ordinary life and your lovely life but also for your garbage life and overwhelming life. There is nothing preachy happening here, just wise, heartfelt words for your very ordinary life.

I have purchased countless daily devotionals. I can never keep up and get pissed off trying to read several days at once or the reading for that day doesn’t always match what I need. I love that this book is organized and searchable by the way I am feeling. Grouchy? This book handles it. Overwhelmed? Covered. Can’t sleep? There’s a blessing for that, too. Read 1 a day, 1 a month, 10 a day - use as needed.

“We have been pulled into the unknown
without our permission.
But the challenge is the same:
reveal truth in love in the midst of seeming chaos.

Blessed are you who realize that
community can help see truth more fully
even if your chin has to be turned gently toward it.”

Kate Bowler has done it again. Writing blessings for today, this day, when I need them. This beatuiful book of liturgy and blessings felt instantly like it "understood" what I needed today. It's not a book you devour cover to cover, it's a book you read slowly when you find the blessing you need. I can see myself returning to favorite pages time and time again. Keep some sticky notes nearby (or be prepared to dog ear the book) because I marked a lot of favorites on my kindle. I highly recommend this book for your shelves (and for a friend).

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Highly recommend this one! I really like the way that the devotionals are each geared to a certain kind of day or situation, so that you can dip in to find something that speaks directly to what you are facing at that moment. Lovely and encouraging book!

I really enjoyed this book. I finished it quickly and then realized that this book would be great read daily. Reading blessings daily, individually or as a family, would be an excellent way to connect to God and to others. As always, Kate Bowler and her team at Everything Happens, wrote a book needed for this world in which we find ourselves.

I love Kate Bowler’s writing and also loved this book, a collection of blessings, not for the big moments of life, but for the ordinary days we live.

While some of the blessings are not relevant to my life at this time, I think I will continue to use this book as the authors intended, to dip in and out of, to give beautiful words to help pray into situations.

It's in the regularly imperfect days of our lives that we most need to receive blessings. So we ask God for blessings. We say blessings over each other.

If you need words for these blessings, you'll find 100 beautiful blessings in this book. Each blessing is short, heartfelt, and sometimes funny, too.

The blessings are divided into 10 categories.

Bless this ordinary life
Bless this tired life
Bless this lovely life
Bless this grief-stricken life
Bless this overwhelming life
Bless this painful life
Bless this garbage life
Bless the lives of others
Bless this beautiful, limited life

And then a special category of readings for Lent and Advent:

Bless this holy life

There's something here for everyone for every kind of day.

"Draw me closer to a different vision, one that sees that I don’t need perfection— I need love. Free me from the expectation that life should always be better."

My thanks to NetGalley + Convergent Books for the review copy of this book.

“Blessed are you, the strange duck.
You with the very intense hobbies.
Or the collection of movies or mugs or sneakers.
You with the hometown or home team that makes you very, very proud.
You, my dear, in all your intricacies . . . are a marvel.“

Some people want you to know they are #blessed.

Some just want to #livelaughlove.

Others, like me, look around and think, #wtfjesus?

This book is for that person.

Whether you need a blessing for when you’re too tired to cry, or for the gift of doubt, or for when all hope seems lost, Kate Bowler (who has Lived. All. Of. It.) has you covered.

This book of blessings is for not for the lives we long for, or the one we feel we deserve (because no one deserves cancer/pain/loneliness) but for the life we actually have.

9/10

Thanks to NetGalley and Convergent Books for this beautiful ARC.

This beautiful book of blessings was the perfect book at the perfect time for me. These blessings are thoughtful, encouraging, realistic, and often times quite hilarious. A wonderful gift for anyone, especially those going through difficult times.

” You have made us and drawn us to yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
~Augustine of Hippo

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Lives We Actually Have
ARC – Publishing Tomorrow, Feb. 14, 2023
Authors: Kate Bowler and Jessica Ritchie

I waited until this evening before publication day to write this review because the authors have created a glorious book of blessings that are so easy to understand and yet dig soul deep. Like many, I have lost some beloved close friends recently, which becomes yet another time of transition. My parents, who have moved on, have been gone for more than a decade, and it seems so impossible because, in my mind, they are very real and alive. The fact is…for me, they are both. Billy Graham once stated (I paraphrase), “I have not gone; I have just changed address.” This book is NOT sad. It is a book of blessings, and that is what we should remember. We. Are. Blessed. This is the first time I have pre-ordered a book well before publication because THE LIVES WE ACTUALLY HAVE will be a bedside book to comfort, remind, and encourage me. I have long been a fan of Kate Bowler and Jessica Ritchie, and this book will stay with me, and I will write in it, pray with it, read through Lent this year (the authors provide instructions), and be blessed by it. “May my mortality feel as beloved as my efforts. Because, in all things, I long to be yours.” #blessings #love #faith #trials #tribulations #encouragement #beliefs #God #grace @katecbowler @jesstrichie @netgalley @convergentbooks #TheLivesWeActuallyHave
📿
#book #books #bookaddict #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookstagramer #bookshelf #booksbooksbooks #readersofinstagram #reader #booklove #bookreader #reader #reading

I received a complimentary copy of this e-ARC. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to Convergent Books, NetGalley, and the authors for the opportunity to read this book. Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2023.

Non-fiction - Christian

Another stunner!

Part self-help, part poetry, part devotional, but mostly religious prayer, The Lives We Actually Have creates 100 blessings for imperfect days.

The authors define a blessing as a form of poetry that calls on God and stirs up the hearts of its listeners. The act of blessing is the strange and vital work of noticing what is true about God and ourselves.

So many of the blessings speak to me and the authors encourage the reader to use the table of contents as a guide to search for one that speaks to you on any given day. Although, there are some that are directly written for Lent and Advent.

This one spoke to me today:

for this beautiful,
limited day
_____________________
Blessed are we who see the impossibility
of solving today.
It can't be done.

God, there are lists on lists
and errands on errands
and a taste, like tin in my mouth,
of the unfinishedness of my life.

Am I counting items
instead of knowing what counts?

God, help me live here,
seeing the whole truth of what is.

Blessed are we who walk toward the discomfort,
bringing what gifts we have,
and our sufferings too,
whether of illness or loss,
grief or betrayal,
confusion or powerlessness.

Blessed are we who scoot up close
so we can whisper our loves, our fears,
all that feels too heavy to carry alone,
and all that we wish we could hold onto for longer.

Show me what I love.
Show me what I never want to lose.
Show me what I no longer need
here in this beautiful, limited day.

Gorgeous! After reading Good Enough last year, I will never not read Kate Bowler.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Convergent Books for the ARC. I loved this book of blessings. I found myself tearing up and laughing, experiencing a whole range of emotions while reading. This book is not filled with platitudes or easy answers, but explores how to bless the days we are actually living. The section titles alone tell you how different this title is that what you might expect from a book of this genre, particularly, Bless this Grief-Stricken Life and Bless This Garbage Life.

The opening lines to blessing 20 (for when you're hanging on by a thread) got me as did so many other lines: "The coffee is probably cold // because it's been reheated in the microwave once already, // and long-forgotten mugs are scattered around the house. // The kids are fighting in the other room."

I related to so many of these beautiful words, the blessings for issues big and small--for sleepless nights, learning to love the people you disagree with, surviving another day without a loved one you've lost, and more.

This is one I'll purchase in print and set on my nightstand; also one I'll gift to friends in times of heartache and overwhelm. The authors admit in their acknowledgements, they wirte "medium-sad works," but their works are desperately needed.

Kate Bowler is known for her trademark writing style, which is very open and transparent. In her newest book, "The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days", she is joined by author Jessica Richie as they write 100 poetic blessings. This book is split up into a variety of sections, including blessings for those who feel ordinary, tired, lovely, grief-stricken, and more. My favorite blessing included these words:
"Blessed are we, swimming upstream
against the current of our own human frailty,
our fears and emotions,
and willing to be wrong for a second.
To reconsider. And hold to our integrity
with kindness."

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Bowler's previous books or to anyone who is looking for inspiration. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

When people talk of blessings, they usually spout the social media version of a shiny life. Bowler & Richie look at it in a different way. They suggest that the act of offering a blessing is a kind of re-ordering of things, inviting God into the world as it is. This book is filled with such blessings, ranging from ordinary days to grief-stricken lows.

Bowler and Richie strike a well-crafted balance between real talk and glimpses of hope. These blessings read at times like poetry, full of sentiments that I've felt myself but not had the words to describe.

This is a fantastic book to get anyone, everyone, who hopes to be seen. These authors truly see how we stumble through both the beautiful & terrible bits of life.

These blessings are like a warm blanket for the journey: not the cure, but a welcome companion.

Thanks to Netgalley, Kate Bowler, Jessica Richie, and Convergent Books for the free advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

I enjoy Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie a lot and have enjoyed their other books in the past.
This book is a little all-over-place but I liked it. It’s quirky and each daily blessing entry is short and thought-provoking. There are 100 entries in all, each given little titles to help you find one that will be applicable for your day or maybe your season. In many ways these blessings are really prayers, words to use in describing how we feel and what we may be needing from the Lord in different moments of life.

I read it all in order, of course, because that’s a hard habit to break for me, but I can imagine using this book of blessings in the future, to send the perfect one to a struggling friend (already have, in fact!) or to use in a sermon or some other sort of communication. I think it’s really helpful in giving voice to many emotions and situations that feel unbelievably difficult to describe on our own.

This book made me smile and also made me feel and I can imagine that’s exactly what Kate and Jessica had in mind in the writing.

It would be challenging to pick a favorite blessing/prayer, because I am sure that that number would change depending on each person’s own actual emotions and actual seasons of life…but a few of my favorite lines are …
“Blessed are we who discover we are loved and held in arms that are strong enough to hold that which we cannot.” From 17
“Hope is an anchor dropped into the future” from #19
“Along the way show us how to live when we’ve lost the things we cannot get back.” From 34
“You count, dear one. And so does your pain.” From 52
“You remember me when I am a stranger to myself, and an outsider at my own address.” from 58
“Grace is never neutral,” from 76

May we always seek to see our blessings in each beautiful and difficult day. May we always search for words to speak to God about each one. The lives we actually have matter so much more than the lives we wish we had and God cares about our actual lives.

My thanks to NetGalley and Convergent Books for the opportunity to read this advance copy of The Lives We Actually Have.

A great tool for taking time each day to reflect on life and what is going on in one’s life. Worth a look.

To be very up front, this genre of book is not one I tend to enjoy. I picked this one up, though, because I've enjoyed Kate Bowler's previous books and her podcast. I'm so glad I did. She gets to what's real in so few words, not dipping the reader in what's horrible, but coming alongside difficult, tired, or overwhelming moments with a gentle, "I hear you. Me, too." The Lives We Actually Have is encouragement and support for those who are tired of pithy, empty phrases. There's rest and a hug to be found her.