“God Loves Ugly,” by Christa Black

I saw Christa Black at a Michael W. Smith concert recently, and her book and CD caught my eye as soon as I walked up to the merchandise table in the lobby. The words “God Loves Ugly” jumped off the table at me, and I thought, “Yeah…….I’m probably buying that book.” I flipped it open to see a little of what it held inside, and this sentence jumped off the page at me:

“Fear keeps me from doing things I want to do.”

At that, I got in line and bought the book and accompanying CD. They had to come home with me.

I plowed through the book (and meanwhile listened to the CD nearly non-stop) in less than a week. It was amazing.

Christa (I call her by her first name because I feel like we’re friends) talks in the book about her own struggles with self esteem and ghosts in her closet, and how she went on a very real, very raw journey to wholeness and a realization of who she is in God’s eyes. The end of each chapter has a section called “Your Turn,” which gives the reader a chance to reflect on what they’ve read and to answer (pretty challenging) questions. My favorite of these sections asked me to write out, in as much detail as I could, who God is to me. Very, very powerful. (Even if you don’t get the book, I encourage you to tackle that assignment. It could change your life.)

The CD is beautiful, too, and if you visit Christa on her Facebook page, you can listen to it there. Highly recommended.

My copy of this book is already promised out to several women who, like me, were drawn in by Christa’s story. If you want to read it, I’d be happy to loan you mine when they’re done….but you can always get a copy of your own. It’s worth it.