Captivating

Currently reading: Captivating by Stasi Eldredge

Quotes that have inspired me from the new book:

There has been precious little wisdom offered on the path to becoming a woman.

An underlying, gut feeling of failing at who she is. I am not enough, and, I am too much at the same time.

We feel unseen, even by those who are closest to us. We feel unsought - that no one has the passion or the courage to pursue us, to get past our messiness to find the woman deep inside. And we feel uncertain - uncertain what it even means to be a woman; uncertain what it trulty means to be feminine; uncertain if we are or ever will be.

But the desires set deep in our hearts seem like a luxury, granted only to those women who get their acts together. The message to the rest of us - whether from a driven culture or a driven church - is try harder

Your feminie heart has been created with the greatest of all possible dignities - as a reflection of God's own heart.

Why am I embarrassed to tell you this? I simply loved feeling wanted fought for. This desire is set deep in the heart of every little girl - and every woman. Yet most of us are ashamed of it.

He saw me and knew me and pursued me. I loved being romanced.

Now, being romanced isn't all that a woman wants, and John and I are certainly not saying that a woman ought to derive the meaning of her existence from whether or not she is being or has been romanced by a man... but don't you see that you want this?

There is something fierce in the heart of a woman.

And what about women like Esther and Mary and Ruth? They were biblical characters who had irreplaceable roles in a Great Story. Not "safe" and "nice" women, not merely "sweet," but passionate and powerful women who were beautiful as warriors.

An adventure that is shared. We do not want the adventure merely for adventure's sake but for what it requires of us for others. We don't want to be alone in it; we want to be in it with others.

Our lives were meant to be lived with others. As echoes of the Trinity, we remember something. Made in the image of a perfect relationship, we are relational to the core of our beings and filled with a desire for transcendent purpose. We long to be an irreplaceable part of a shared adventure.

We desire to possess a beauty that is worth pursuing, worth fighting for, a beauty that is core to who we truly are. We want beauty that can be seen; beauty that can be felt; beauty that affects others; a beauty all our own to unveil.

Women don't fear a man's strenth if he is a good man. In fact, passivity might make a man "safe," but it has done untold damage to women in the long run. It certainly did to Eve

There is nothing that inspires a man to courage so much as the woman he loves.

This is not to say that a woman is a "helpless creature" who can't live her life without a man. I'm saying that men long to offer their strength on behalf of a woman.

A woman in the presence of a good man, a real man, loves being a woman. His strength allows her feminine heart to floursih. His pursuit draws out her beauty. And a man in the presence of a real woman loves being a man. Her beauty arouses him to play the man, it draws out his strength. She inspires him to be a hero.

A journey toward the restoration and release of the woman you always long to be..

A woman who at her core was made for romance, made to play an irreplaceable role in a shared adventure, and who really does possess a beauty all her own to unveil. The woman god had in mind when he made Eve..and when he made you. Glorious, powerful, and captivating.

A woman's struggle with her sense of worth points to something glorious she was designed to be.

"What is a woman - what is her design?" and, "Why did God place Woman in our midst?"

She is the crescendo, the final, astonishing work of God.

She fills a place in the world nothing and no one else can fill

"The whole, vast world is incomplete without me. Creation reached its zenith in me.

And she, too, bears the image of God, but in a way that only the feminine can speak.

When you are with a woman, ask yourself, what is she telling me about God? It will open up wonders for you.

First, You'll discover that God is relational to his core, that he has a heart for romance. Second, that he longs to share adventures with us - adventures you cannot accomplish without him. And finally, that God has a beauty to unveil. A beauty that is captivating and powerfully redemptive.

The vast desire and capacity a woman has for intimate relationships tells us of God's vast desire and capacity for intimate relationships.

Not only does God long for us, be he longs to be loved by us.

He wants us to love him. To seek him with all our hearts. A woman longs to be sought after, too, with the whole hear of her pursuer. God longs to be desired. Just as a woman longs to be desired.

So God endows Woman with certain qualities that are essential to relationship, qualities that speak of God. She is inviting. She is vulnerable. She is tender. She embodies mercy. She is also fierce and fiercely devoted...a woman's righteous jealousy speaks of the jealousy of God for us.

All that human beings were intended to do here on earth - all the creativity and exploration, all the battle and rescue and nurture - we were inteded to do together. In fact, not only is Eve needed, but she is desperately needed.

God is essential. He wants us to need him - despearately. Eve is essential. She has an irreplaceable role to play. And so you'll see that women are endowed with fierce devotion, an ability to suffer great hardships a vision to make the world a better place.

Beauty is the essence of God

Nature is not primarily functional. It is primarily beautiful.

And isn't that just what a woman longs to hear? "You are radiant this evening.

God gave Eve a beautiful form and a beautiful spirit.
She expresses beauty in both. Better, she expresses beauty simply in who she is. Like God, it is her essence.

Stasi asked me, "Have you seen one painting of a naked man?" The point was startling....For one thing, men look ridiculous lying on a bed buck naked, half-covered with a sheet. It doesn't fit the essence of masculinity. Something in you wants to say, "Get up already and get a job. Cut the grass. Get to work." For Adam is captured best in motion, doing something. His essence is strength in action.

Beauty also invites. Recall what it is like to hear a truly beautiful piece of music. It captures you; you want to sit down and just drink it in.

Beauty nourishes. It is a kind of food our souls crave.

Beauty comforts...After I lost my dearest friend, Brent, there were months when only beauty helped. I could not hear words of counsel. I could not read or even pray. Only beauty helped.

Beauty inspires.

Beauty is transcendent. It is our most immediate experience of the eternal. Think of what it's like to behold a gorgeous sunset, or the ocean at dawn. Remember the ending of a great story. We yearn to linger, to experience it all our days.

One of the deepest ways a woman bears the image of God is in her mystery..."It is the glory of God to conceal a matter," says the book of Proverbs, "to search out a matter is the glory of kings"(25:2). God yearns to be known. But he wants to be sought after by those who would know him.

There is dignity here; God does not throw himself at any passerby..."You cannot simply have me. You must seek me, pursue me. I won't let you in unless I know you love me.

Tags: Bible, Jesus, woman, Stasi Eldredge