“I am not alone in this nagging sense of failing to measure up, a feeling of not being good enough as a woman. Every woman I’ve ever met feels it—something deeper than just the sense of failing at what she does. An underlying, gut feeling of failing at who she is. I am not enough, and I am too much at the same time. Not pretty enough, not thin enough, not kind enough, not gracious enough, too strong, too opinionated, too messy. The result is Shame, the universal companion of women. It haunts us, nipping at our heels, feeding on our deepest fear that we will end up abandoned and alone.”
Stasi Eldredge, together with her husband, John have tackled a theme of extreme importance—what it means to be a woman.
The Eldredges acknowledge that there have been many books written on women’s roles, but they believe in all these books, something has been missed—the heart of a woman. They believe “that every woman in her heart of hearts longs for three things: to be romanced, to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, and to unveil beauty.”
The Eldredges take us back to the beginning—back to the first woman—to see what God’s original plan was for women, the crown of creation. “Eve was created because things were not right without her.” Romance, adventure, and beauty would be diminished without her.
God’s creation of woman reveals His own heart, contends Eldredge. Woman’s vast desire and capacity for intimate relationships tells us of God’s vast desire and capacity for intimate relationships. Woman’s desire for beauty tells us of God’s desire for beauty. No wonder He finds her captivating—He has put the longings of His heart into hers.
This is not an easy thing for many women who have been downtrodden and abused to believe. The wounds of troubled human relationships cloud our ideas of a relationship with God. Stasi Eldredge knows this first-hand, and takes the readers through her own wounds and disappointments to a place of understanding, healing, and joy.
The subtitle of Captivating is Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul, and the Eldredges have a clear mission statement for their book: “Not to learn one more set of standards you fail to meet. Not toward a new set of rules to live by and things you ought to do. Something far, far better—a journey of the heart. A journey toward the restoration and release of the woman you always longed to be. This book is not about what you ought to do or who you ought to be. It’s about discovering who you already are, as a woman….The woman God had in mind when he made Eve…and made you. Glorious, powerful, and captivating.”
Wounded or not, all women need to understand the Father’s great love for her as a woman. This is just the book to help you do that.
