I know what all of my friends will be getting from me for Christmas, Hanukkah or any life events in the coming months (birthday, anniversary, promotion at work), if it’s special, you’re getting my most recent read.

Jen Hatmaker’s book Of Mess and Moxie: Wrangling Delight Out of This Wild and Glorious Life spoke to me. I mean I read it, the book didn’t actually speak to me, but every single word rang terribly true to my life. There isn’t a book in my very recent past that has resonated more with my stage of life, my experiences in life, my joys and fears about life and my faith journey than Of Mess and Moxie has.

I came to know who Jen Hatmaker was while her and her husband Brandon were on the HGTV series Your Big Family Renovation. They were the Chip and Jo before there was a Chip and Jo. A Texas based couple, renovating their home with their babies in mind, while honoring ministry and faith along the way. If you have heard of Jen Hatmaker then you know faith, Jesus and Brandon’s career leading a church are the center of who they are. And Jen just happens to be a Christian author.

Here’s the twist though, Jesus is surely present in Of Mess and Moxie, but in the most beautiful ways. If you are faith based, this book is refreshing and solidifies your beliefs. If you are lightly faith based, this book hits home in the way you probably feel about Jesus, it’s relatable, honest, loving and simplified. If you don’t have faith and are seeking it, this is a great place to start. And if you choose not to believe, this book is about so much more than faith, it is about family, friends, community, career, the life journey in general. I’d say, that’s the most compelling way to interweave faith into community. Easy, breezy, inclusive and honest.

Faith wasn’t even the part of the book that resonated most… It truly was Jen’s (because we’re best friends now) sarcasm, sass, honesty and ability to share such raw stories that are so relatable. I was in stitches, laughing out loud in lobbies and texting J many a excerpts throughout the days of reading this gem.

Throughout Of Mess and Moxie Jen weaves deep discussion in one chapter with pure levity in another. There are chapters threaded through the book titled How To (Part One), How To (Part Two), etc. I have never laughed so honestly as I have reading these nuggets within the book. They were submitted by the Jen Hatmaker tribe of loyal women willing to share their honest experiences with humor and add delight to this book. I absolutely adored reaching these chapter. My Instagram followers know this all too well. And the Target excerpt was #truth.

This book was like a tall glass of water on a hot day and yet also so much like being wrapped in a cozy blanket in the middle of winter, warming your soul. It was like sitting on your friends couch just catching up for hours and also like an adventure full of energy. Jen had a beautiful way of sharing stories about nearly every stage of life. So, no matter what you are currently traveling through, there is a topic that covers something quite similar.

I don’t want to give much more away, because I want you to experience it for yourself, in your way. My most prevalent take away was the value of community. The community you build and surround yourself with. The love your community shares. The choice your community members make to be supportive and caring through life’s journeys. The fact that community is ever evolving. The community of family. The community of friends. The community of business and career. Community.

I am beyond inspired to build my community. To honor those that go deep with me, those that challenge me to grow and are honest with me, those that love me unconditionally, those that I love unconditionally. I am inspired by how we all experience community differently and yet the same. And as I result I am going to be far more aware of how I add to community.

It’s true, life is messy and to see the other side of the mess take a whole lot of moxie, thankfully every single one of us if made Of Mess and Moxie.

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