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Page Chaser Team Note: We're super DUPER excited that Jen Hatmaker's Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire is our May Book of the Month! Be sure to grab a copy and download the reading guide!
Jen Hatmaker is back, y'all! Her fabulous new book, Fierce, Free, and Full of Fireis chock full of inspiration, beauty, wisdom, and a dash of humor.
If you're not familiar with Hatmaker's work, let me break it down for you: She wrote the New York Times bestseller Of Mess and Moxie, along with eleven other books.
She's a proud Evangelical gal who says everyone should be welcomed to the Christian church with open arms.
She also has a podcast, For the Love, and had a show on HGTV, My Big Family Renovation.
And she's a fierce feminist and advocate for human rights—in general, but also within the church—and is a super cute and wonderful human to follow on the internet.
With her newest book, Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire, Jen Hatmaker takes everything she's learned in this life and passes it on in this fun little memoir/self-help book.
The book is broken down into five self-reflective categories: Who I Am, What I Need, What I Want, What I Believe, and How I Connect.
Work your way through the book, and you'll be well on your way to owning your space, honoring your relationships, living guilt-free, and rocking the amazing spiritual curiosity that comes from being human.
When you get to read this book, you'll find yourself underlining so many passages. Here are just some of the key sentiments from Jen Hatmaker's book. Your mileage may vary.
"Hiding and posing and pretending is exhausting. Full stop."
This is Jen's first rule. Stop hiding, stop people-pleasing, get up from the sidelines, and start living your life. Even though it's fun to curate the perfect Instagram feed, it's also draining you of energy you didn't realize was leaking out. Be genuine. Claim everything this world has offered you: your quirks, your talents, your emotions. Enjoy the life you've been blessed with.
"You have the right to dream a dream."
A big focus of Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire is feminism and female empowerment. It's the thread that ties the whole book together. Women have been stomped on for most of human history, but we are allowed to dream, y'all.
"Truth is the front door to the life we've always wanted to build."
Truth and honesty are tough pills to swallow. But if you're living by them, life will be more genuine, and, well, better for everyone around you—including yourself. Be honest about where you are and where you're heading, without a second thought about who's out there judging you. Live your own truth, not someone else's.
"You have your body to thank for every good thing you have ever experienced."
In a chapter about body image, Jen lays out issues she's faced with her body and the things she's learned as the mother of young women. And then she turns it into something beautiful about honoring the shell you've been given. If you don't have tears in your eyes by the end, I don't know what to say to you.
"We do not become stronger but weaker when we refuse to say, 'I need some help.'"
This line comes in a chapter about the importance of asking for help, and Jen makes a good point: There's no such thing as a self-made woman, because of how many hardworking women had to come before us just to have the human rights we currently have. Our mere existence comes from decades of help. Let's keep asking for it when we need it, even when we feel discouraged or needy, okay?
"You are not required to engage every argument or defend your compassion."
As a lady on the internet with strong opinions about "controversial" issues, Jen Hatmaker knows what she's talking about here. You can be a strong woman and defender of what you believe in. You do not have to prove your worth to people who only want to fight you.
"Love what you love in big, hungry, blazing ways."
We just love this line so much. In a big, hungry, blazing way, in fact.
These are just a smattering of the beautiful lines in Jen Hatmaker's newest book. Get Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire wherever books are sold.
Ashley Holstrom is a book person, designing them and writing about them for Book Riot. She lives near Chicago with her cat named after Hemingway and her bookshelves organized by color.