Ever since I penned Girls’ Love Letters from God, I’ve had a fascination with the women of the Bible. So when I saw a new book called Grit and Grace appear on the bookshelves, I was intrigued.

In Grit and Grace: Heroic Women of the Bible, author Caryn Rivadeneira steps into the shoes of fifteen women and re-imagines their stories. With a powerful foreword by Sarah Bessey, this lovely book draws the reader right into the lives of these women, so that you become part of their stories too.

Described by Publishers Weekly as A provocative exploration that gives welcome voice, attention, and ink to women often relegated to the margins of biblical stories, this new title certainly deserves a place in the hands of your daughters, your sons, and on the shelf in every church library. Here’s some of my favorite snippets from the book:

From the author’s Introduction:

My favorite thing about the Bible is that God gave it to be wrestled with and wondered about. I don’t believe for one moment that God lays out everything perfectly clearly in the Bible. Some things are really hard to believe or make sense of. So if you find yourself asking “What on earth?’ or “How can that be?” or even if some stories make you wonder about God’s goodness or faithfulness, that’s okay.

From the story of Rahab:

The God who had parted the seas and toppled thick city walls, who had led the people out of slavery, had also saved me. But the story didn’t end there. The strangest part of my story happened centuries and centuries later. God used me – a harlot, an embarrassment to her family, a nobody, a refugee – to be in the ancestral line of the great kings and the Savior of the world. Imagine that.

From the “Prayer Prompt” included at the end of every story. This one is from Mary Magdalene’s story:

Find somewhere quiet to sit. Maybe your room. Maybe a closet. Sit down and close your eyes. Breathe in and breathe out. Thank God for calling your name. Ask Jesus to help you focus on the love he has for you. And ask him to help you ignore those negative thoughts that sometimes overwhelm our minds. Ask God to remind you how wonderful and loved you are.

If you are a parent, grandparent, or teacher of pre-teens, I can highly recommend Grit and Grace.

Glenys