Welcome!

My name is Allison Bauer, and I am the pastor of Second Presbyterian Church in Portsmouth, OH. 

I first found Kate Bowler and her unique voice through her book, Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I've Loved.

In it, she shares her story of growing up in a religious tradition that says if you live right, God will bless you and life will be all sunshine and roses. Which is all well and good until you're 35, a professor at Duke Divinity School teaching about American religious history, married, and a young mother ... and you are diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer. 

Everything Happens for a Reason is an exploration of how she reckoned with her new diagnosis in light of the theology she grew up believing. 

From the back cover: "Forced to reckon with her mortality, she faces the limits of the prosperity gospel and the can-do spirit it celebrates. Is illness a moral failure? What does it mean to die in a society that insists everything happens for a reason? Kate is stripped of this certainty and discovers that without it, life is hard but beautiful in a way it never has been before." 

I thought I was living a "blessed" life too ... and then I faced my own health challenge which continues to make my life unpredictable. 

And for my own well-being, I'm forced to live within my limits. Me, the over-achiever extraordinaire! Re-calibrating my life in this way continues to be a challenge, and any number of good things have come out of this experience, but I don't think I would say that God "caused" it or that it happened "for a reason." 

And I do think Kate's right: " ... life is hard but beautiful in a way it never has been before" for me. 

So when this perfectionist who was knocked for a loop heard about Kate's book claiming that good enough is good enough, I was intrigued. 

The soapbox upon which she chooses to stand has been from an anti-self-help-book perspective, which is amusing because that's where her books often end up in a bookstore! She is a huge advocate for giving up the pursuit of perfection (which we'll never achieve anyway!) for the pursuit of being GOOD ENOUGH. 

And I hope you will join me on this 40ish day adventure of learning to be good enough. 


She writes, "In this book, we hope to carve out the space between despair and hope, between believing everything is possible and nothing is possible. We are on the lookout for beauty and meaning and truth in the midst of lives that didn't turn out like we thought they should. We can have lives where God breaks in and surprises us.... We can begin to feel less alone, more loved, and less judged when good is ... enough." 


Here's how I'm hoping this whole thing will work: 

Step 1: Read the day's devotional from the book "Good Enough." (I'm blogging about them in order, but feel free to skip around.) 

Step 2: At some point during the day, read today's blog reflection - maybe during your regula! (See the devotional from day 1 to learn more about that!) 

Step 3: Comment on the post with your thoughts or your questions or whatever is on your heart! (The best part of this for me will be to hear what you are thinking!)

Step 4: Repeat tomorrow!

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