Read It: Grin with Grace by Kathy Carlton Willis

Grin with Grace.  Do you know what that is?  I knew it was the title of Kathy Carlton Willis’s new bible study book but that’s about it.  I didn’t know it would come to me at a time when I really, I mean, REALLY needed to read it.

What grinning with grace meant to me was something really personal. I had been dealing with a co-worker that I just don’t see eye to eye with.  One day she came to me and asked if I was mad at her.  My initial thought was “yes, I’d love to rip your face off and hand it to you”.  I had been reading Kathy’s book and this woman’s face kept flashing before my eyes.  I stopped and prayed before I spoke.  I even said to her “I’d better pray before I speak so that God can come out.  Otherwise, the world will come out of my mouth and we know the world is a vicious place.”

I asked for grace and wisdom because I remembered one passage from Grin with Grace very vividly:

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you:  Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering.  Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.  Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.  Instead, fix your attention on God.  You’ll be changed from the inside out.  Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.  Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

~Kathy Carlton Willis, Grin with Grace, page 21.

My co-worker and I were able to talk about our issues.  I was able to own up to my part with grace and we both left that day in a much better place.  I don’t know about her but I know I grinned with grace all through that conversation, and I know if I had not read Grin with Grace I probably would still be ready to rip faces off.

More about Grin with Grace

Each chapter features five sections: 

·                     Grin with Grace contains real-life stories and observations. You’ll laugh at the humorous confessions and wacky insights, and relate to Kathy’s transparent honesty. Be inspired to see grace in your everyday life.

·                     Grow with Grace features a grace word study. Kathy examines Bible verses and personalizes the meaning to your situation. Workbook prompts allows you to write down your thoughts as you read along.

·                     Go with Grace offers life application. Pick one action step and make it work for you, or pick all of them—but do something to live out your grace-walk.

·                     Give with Grace advances life application further, equipping you to become an instrument of God’s grace to others. You’ll be inspired to take what you’ve learned and give it away to others. This is when faith becomes ministry—when your focus expands to see the needs of others.

·                     Your Grin with Grace Challenge describes a grace-challenging scenario to give you an opportunity to exercise your newfound grace. It allows for speculation and judgment calls, to prepare you for the what-ifs that happen in life.

Release Date: May 1, 2015

Retail: $14.99
Publisher: AMG
ISBN-10: 0899574785
ISBN-13: 978-0899574783

Praise for the Book:
Grin with Grace is perfect for women on the run, since there is no set daily reading schedule. The blend of humor, transparency, biblical concepts, word studies and opportunities to plug what I learned into my life gave me a fresh approach to doing my devotions or reading a Bible study.
Dr. Thelma Wells (Mama T)
President of A Woman of God Ministries
CEO, That A Girl & Friends Speakers Agency Speaker, Author

Kathy Carlton Willis writes and speaks with a balance of funny and faith—whimsy and wisdom. Not many funny girls also have Bible degrees! Kathy’s a pastor’s wife, which gives her plenty of opportunities to grin with grace. She shines the light on issues that hold women back and inspires their own lightbulb moments. Almost a thousand of Kathy’s articles have been published in books, magazines, newspapers and online publications. Kathy’s tagline describes her best: Light & Lively: His Reflection/Her Laughter. Kathy lives with her pastor/husband, Russ, in Rockdale, Texas.

Where can you find Kathy:

WEBSITE: www.kathycarltonwillis.com

TWITTER: @KCWComm