Shauna Niequest speaks honestly and from the heart in her book, “Bitterweet”. I enjoyed reading this book greatly, she had such great ideas and insight into everyday situations. It is great to read stories about real life and how hard times can be, but it is even better to see how she handles the situations in ways that are glorifying to God. This story of Shauna’s life has brought courage, confidence, and light to my life, I now know that if will not always be a fairytale and that you will have to work at the things in life that really matter.
I personally have not gone through many of the things that Shauna talks about in her book because they are mostly about life after college and being married. But it is so interesting to hear about and to better understand what it means to live a life that doesn’t include homework. It brought so much light to the situation for me, that life really will not get easier after school, that other things come up that are just as much work and if not even more work. But that the work is worth whatever you are striving for in the end whether it be a better relationship with your spouse, spiritual life, or everyday tasks. Some parts of Shauna’s journey were similar to mine in that I hope to do many of the things that she has done in her life. One story in particular stuck out to me, it was about staying in contact with her girlfriends from college and how they made the effort to spend a weekend away together intentionally spending time together. I pray that when I graduate from college that my friends and I will follow the model that these ladies have set before us. I hope that one day when we all have little children like Shauna and her girls that we too will bring them and share life together just like the old times. This is so important to me because these relationships we are forming in college are so tight, deep, and truly special that if I had to give them up after graduating I would be devastated. Yes, there will be many people that we will loose contact with but the ones who truly were there and that we made deep connections with will share in the commitment to continue a relationship later in life.
Being a woman influenced Shauna’s writing in many ways, mostly through her life experiences. She spoke a lot about being a mother and wife. These experiences and positions that she chose to be and was also asked to be shaped her into the women she is and also what her everyday looked like. She painted the picture of what real life looks like to be married and to have a child while also balancing sanity. Shauna also talked many times about her struggles which included many instances which only women can face such as; miscarriage, being a wife, and the desire to compare herself to other women her age different than herself. It was interesting for me to gain insight into an older woman’s life and see what it is truly like for her. To see that she too struggles with things and that these struggles will not go away any time soon for me. This opens my eyes to see that I need to stop ignoring them or waiting for them to go away because they really aren’t going to. I need to find a way to get a handle on my struggles so that I can learn ways to become better and not be as susceptible to falling into the same traps again and again throughout my life’s journey.
I would recommend this book to other women, or girls who want to gain insight into real life. To see what it means for a woman and how even the simplest things can become a struggle. Shauna illustrates that despite these daily trials it is possible to persevere and live a life that brings glory to God and love to those around her. This is a lesson that every person needs to learn. We all could use a story that shows us how to live in this way and how it can help get us through the hard times. If we turn to Jesus in our times of hardships then He will help us through them. My favorite part of this story is just the inspiration that it gives me to live my life today, and not live for the future. Yes, I need to prepare myself for the woman, wife, and mother that I will become later in my life but I should begin to live my life as if I were coming closer to that woman with every decision that I make. That I would be happy with the decisions that I am making right now if I looked back to this time in my life. I am so thankful for great role models such as Shauna who can bring light to what living life should truly look like for a woman of God.
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