She Makes It Look Easy by Marybeth Whalen

I finished She Makes it Look Easy by Marybeth Whalen a while ago, but I wanted time to process the story before I wrote about. I loved the book. I really did. But not in the “what a fun story” kind of way. More like in the “ouch, that hurt, but it made me think” kind of way.

The story isn’t anything out of the ordinary, really. At least not out of the ordinary in the lives of most women. At its heart, it’s a story of a comparison and contentment—or rather, the search for contentment. Honestly, I could identify with Ariel and Justine. I’ve been both of them, at times ordering my life to mask the discontent that writhed within me, at times desperately searching for acceptance and affirmation, for the serenity that seemed in abundance in every other woman’s life I knew. So as I read, I hurt for their pain, because it had been my own. Yet I also rejoiced, recognizing that God faithfully brought me through to a different place, one that more fully reflects who I am because I am His.

It was a bittersweet read for me, too, because I lived eight years with my friend in my backyard, like they did. Kids running in and out of each other’s houses. But unlike Ariel and Justine, our friendship was genuine, one of those rare relationships where we didn’t allow each other to hide behind facades. Instead, we encouraged each other to seek Jesus, helped each other weather storms of life that came in our circumstances and in our hearts.

She Makes it Look Easy is a book I will not forget for a very long time.