I recently attended Girlfriend Weekend, the Pulpwood Queens Book Club annual gathering. This year's event included a vintage fashion show & I was asked to model a vintage dress (vintage clothes are tiny y'all!). As I'm half-dressed and laughing my head off with several other women, I stop mid-sentence and ask one of the ladies "are you Shellie?" She confirmed that she was in fact author Shellie Rushing Tomlinson. I was starstruck as I was on the launch team in 2014 for Shellie's book Heart Wide Open & I was honored to be asked to join her launch team for Finding Deep & Wide: Stop Settling for the Life You Have and Live the One Jesus Died to Give You. Isn't that an amazing title!?
Over the last year & a half, I have committed to getting up earlier than my family to have time to focus on my devotionals & work to pray more intently. I yearn to feel a close connection to God; however, sometimes I struggle to focus. I know I'm not alone as Shellie has written a whole book dedicated to helping us find a deep & wide connection with God.
Shellie is raw and honest saying she spent too many years of her Christian life feeling like God was with her while doing something considered holy, but the rest of the time He was shouting distance away. Can’t we all relate? Shellie breaks down the scriptures in an easy-to-understand way showing us that through Jesus we have access to God in every moment of our lives. She helps readers see that we don’t have to be on a visitation schedule with God - we can love with Him and in Him 24/7 with a deep and wide relationship.
Shellie has an amazing talent for breaking the ice with her terrific sense of humor that segues into God’s word and how it applies to our everyday lives. Reading this book is like sitting down with you Southern best friend (she is from Louisiana y’all) while she shares her testimony in a genuine way that opens your heart up to a closer relationship with the Lord. This book is not hard-to-read theology, but pure love poured from God through Shellie for us to utilize in our journeys.
I’m sure so many of us need to hear this - God is with us in ALL moments. We don’t have to wait for quiet time and seclusion. God joins us in the thick of life. Talk about good news! Shellie teaches us about the forever favor we have with God through Jesus so we will be “less prone to settle for status quo twenty-first century Christianity and the more courage we’ll have to reach for the deep and wide life.” I pray you will give this book a chance and let it work on your heart as it has mine.
Note: This book is available for purchase through well-known book selling sites; however, I recently discovered Bookshop.org that uses a portion of sales to support independent book stores! Shellie's book is available here.
