Unlikely Rebel by Kelli Gotthardt

No formulas, no pat answers. Just real life. Real questions. Real transformation. Approach many women in the church and if they re being honest, they ll tell you they
try hard to keep it all together;
are frustrated that being good doesn t deliver the perfect life;
feel trapped in expectations;
make decisions based on shoulds ;
feel selfish when they say no; and
are uncertain of their place in God s kingdom.

Between the desire to please God, the need to feel valued, and the compulsion to make everyone around them happy, women often find themselves denying their desires. It s safer to stay in the life of shoulds even if it means being spiritually and emotionally disconnected.

Kelli Gotthardt knows their pain. Always considered a good girl, she threw herself into every ministry, saying yes to every request her church family made. On the outside, her life looked completely together but she was drowning in self-doubt and shame. Unlikely Rebel is the story of how Kelly slowly shed shoulds and shame, learning to love God and love who He created her to be.

The journey from the comfort of doing everything expected of a perfect pastor s wife to the uncertainty of living authentically and true to her unique calling is equal parts exhausting and exhilarating. Many Christians condemned her, responding with fear or anger to her greater intimacy with God s calling when it didn t match their own vision. For others, though, her journey inspired courage to embrace God s path for their own lives.

Now Kelli invites other women to discover God s leading in their lives, learning that if they throw off the despondency of underserved shame, abundant life awaits.

Available at Amazon as well as other retailers

About the Author

Kelli Gotthardt is a pastor s wife, an international speaker, and leadership consultant. She holds a masters in spiritual formation, and works as ministry consultant with Missio.

My Thoughts

This book was an interesting read. When I received the book I thought it was more of a Christian living/ self help type book. It is not however, that type of book. This book is more a book about Kelli's life a memoir style book, I think. It wasn't really a biography but it did talk a lot about Kelli's life and how she dealt with her experiences. This book was very engaging. I enjoyed most everything in the book, but there were a few things that I did disagree with. I am sure that happens no matter who you are, when reading books that are meant to make you think and learn. I do feel that Kelli is trying to live a life for Jesus and that does shine thru throughout the book. I enjoyed this book overall and I would like to read other things by Kelli. Thank you to TBCN for the opportunity to review this book. A positive review was not required.