Apr 23, 2015

Let's All Be Brave Book Review


In Let’s All Be Brave, Annie’s first book for adults, Annie calls you to grab hold of the brave life you desperately desire. Using honest and often humorous illustrations from her own life, contemporary real-life examples, and fascinating biblical stories, she challenges you to step into those places that require courage and gives you the help you need to take the next step forward . . . even when it’s scary.

Review

To see yourself the way God sees you is the first step in being brave.
When God tells you to be brave, he will make it work. It won’t be perfect.
 It won’t be easy but it will be your story and your best story. 
Annie Downs

I thought I know what bravery looked like which is why I’ve never described myself as brave, not once.  I’ve always tried to be brave, wished I was brave but never felt particularly brave.  Hence when Annie Downs announced her book, Let’s All be Brave.  I knew I wanted to read it just to see what bravery looked like in someone else’s life.

I found pieces of my story in Annie’s stories of bravery.  There was a particular chapter that I felt was written almost verbatim from my own life.  It brought me to tears.  I took my time reading and stopped often to reflect on Annie’s transparent words.  It made me realize that bravery isn’t series of things that you do or even a huge or dangerous act.  We can all be brave even as we make simple everyday decisions. Bravery can look like simply making a concerted effort to do the hard things even when it doesn’t seem to make sense to do so.


My takeaway from Annie’s book is… we all have our moments of insecurities and seemingly insurmountable mountains to overcome but if we just take it one moment at a time, one act at a time, one day at a time… we can all be brave.

Trusting Him,
 ~Bernadine~