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Star for Jesus (And Other Jobs I Quit): Rediscovering the Grace that Sets Us Free
Growing up, Kimberly Stuart got really good at strapping on her spiritual tap shoes and trying to be a star for Jesus. She could sing all the songs, ace the sword drills, and know all the right theology. From earning creepy Jesus paperweights in her church’s faux girl scout program to trying to calm an actual storm on the Mediterranean, she was doing her best… and still found herself longing for something more. She didn’t mean to completely ignore the most beautiful tenets of her faith—the unwavering grace and tenacious love of God—but she did. Which, of course, was the problem. Her best was lackluster, and God wasn’t looking for a star performer anyway.
Star for Jesus (And Other Jobs I Quit) , is an invitation for readers to spot unvarnished, amazing grace when they see it. With her trademark wit and transparency, Stuart brings readers through both big and small moments that teach us to cling to the fierce love of God instead of the flimsier versions we find elsewhere.
With unflinching honesty and relatable humor, Stuart encourages readers to take another look at unrelenting grace; why, contrary to the cultural narrative, we are not actually enough, and that’s good news; how we always, remarkably, have all the grace we need; and why this moment in history is the perfect time to extend no-strings-attached grace to an emotionally bedraggled, wary world.
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Star for Jesus (And Other Jobs I Quit) , is an invitation for readers to spot unvarnished, amazing grace when they see it. With her trademark wit and transparency, Stuart brings readers through both big and small moments that teach us to cling to the fierce love of God instead of the flimsier versions we find elsewhere.
With unflinching honesty and relatable humor, Stuart encourages readers to take another look at unrelenting grace; why, contrary to the cultural narrative, we are not actually enough, and that’s good news; how we always, remarkably, have all the grace we need; and why this moment in history is the perfect time to extend no-strings-attached grace to an emotionally bedraggled, wary world.
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256 pages, Hardcover
Published April 23, 2024
11 people are currently reading
1629 people want to read
About the author
Kimberly Stuart
12 books219 followersKimberly Stuart wants you to know that authors write their own bios and are hardly reliable sources. Nevertheless, there are a few facts that stand out:
1. Stuart loves a good story, both written and lived.
2. Stuart loves imported chocolate and her children, though the order of her affections sometimes gets muddled.
3. Stuart writes both non-fiction and fiction, always with an infusion of faith. However, she seems to make Christians nervous. Read at your own risk, then, and e-mail her publisher if you must.
1. Stuart loves a good story, both written and lived.
2. Stuart loves imported chocolate and her children, though the order of her affections sometimes gets muddled.
3. Stuart writes both non-fiction and fiction, always with an infusion of faith. However, she seems to make Christians nervous. Read at your own risk, then, and e-mail her publisher if you must.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
July 4, 2024
This memoir offered encouragement and humor as it discussed the topic of grace. Kim Stuart is a relatable writer. She had me laughing out loud several times. I just found it confusing trying to fit her stories with the theological chapter subject.
June 26, 2024
Such a wonderful reminder of how Jesus views us and how we can then rest in his grace. One of the best books I have read in a while. She uses humor and charm to make it lighthearted and honest while really wrestling with some tender points in our relationships with Jesus. She will make you laugh and cry all in the same chapter. And the best part is she will make love Jesus even more when you are done.
April 16, 2024
Kim uses humor and the gift of laughter to help us see how grace is free and not as complicated as we think it is to deserve or obtain. She is an authentic, relatable author that shares her personal stories to shed light on the abundant grace God gives to all of us. I laughed and cried sometimes in the same chapter. Highly recommend this quick read for anyone who needs grace-all of us.
April 26, 2024
Grace doesn’t need to be complicated. Grace is for you. Grace is for me. I’m so grateful for Kim’s words reminding us God’s grace isn’t complicated like we make it out to be. I highly recommend this book. I laughed and I was moved to tears more than once. You won’t be disappointed.
April 28, 2024
You need this book in your life! Kim is equal parts hilarious and sincere. Her words will stay with you long after you turn the last page. She can dig deep while making you laugh. She reminds us of our never ending need for grace upon grace upon grace.
April 28, 2024
The title of his book intrigued me. Like the author, I don’t recall the word GRACE being bandied about frequently in the church where I was raised. Perhaps they just assumed I knew, or perhaps they felt we truly did need to work hard and be a star for Jesus to earn His love. It has taken me many decades to tease out the knowledge of grace.
“ I’ve gotten sucked into what Martin Luther called “the sin underneath all our sins,” which is the willingness to gulp down the lie that we can’t trust the love and grace of God and instead “must take matters into our own hands.”
This book is full of great quotes like this that I highlighted. It is also full of funny stories that will make you smile, and maybe even snort. Kim Stuart is a gifted writer and the type of person you want for your best friend. She is relatable, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is easy to read, but sometimes I felt like it was a stretch to relate the humorous story to the theology. But maybe that is just me. Don’t go into it expecting great depth, but you will find encouragement, some great thoughts to ponder on, and more than a little inspiration.* I debated a long time on the number of stars to give. Know that for me, 3 stars is a good solid recommendation. And this is at least 3 and a quarter.
“ I’ve gotten sucked into what Martin Luther called “the sin underneath all our sins,” which is the willingness to gulp down the lie that we can’t trust the love and grace of God and instead “must take matters into our own hands.”
This book is full of great quotes like this that I highlighted. It is also full of funny stories that will make you smile, and maybe even snort. Kim Stuart is a gifted writer and the type of person you want for your best friend. She is relatable, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is easy to read, but sometimes I felt like it was a stretch to relate the humorous story to the theology. But maybe that is just me. Don’t go into it expecting great depth, but you will find encouragement, some great thoughts to ponder on, and more than a little inspiration.* I debated a long time on the number of stars to give. Know that for me, 3 stars is a good solid recommendation. And this is at least 3 and a quarter.
April 19, 2024
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! I had never read anything by this author before but saw the book was recommend by Bob Goff so gave her a try! Oh how I was so pleasantly surprised. Kimberly shared nuggets of Biblical truth through humor and storytelling. This book's theme was grace.
Humor is 10/10 and she has an amazing gift for storytelling. I am so glad I came upon this book and will definitely read other books of hers. I have already ordered one and can't wait to read it!
Humor is 10/10 and she has an amazing gift for storytelling. I am so glad I came upon this book and will definitely read other books of hers. I have already ordered one and can't wait to read it!
May 14, 2025
This was an enjoyable listen for me. The author brings so much humor and tone to this book - I laughed so hard in some parts. Her personal revelations about grace and the love of God were refreshing, and you can tell her heart is sincere. Bob Goff did the foreword, and her writing is very similar to Love Does, which is a book I also enjoyed. Overall, a good book.
May 23, 2024
So good!! Spoke to my first born daughter heart 🥹
December 28, 2024
2.5 each chapter reads like a stand-alone middle school youth group sermon: funny and vaguely inspiring but repetitive and forgettable by the next day
June 19, 2024
I loved all the stories in this book and the lessons learned about grace. I laughed, I cringed, and I was challenged to accept and offer grace more freely.
May 30, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for Kimberly Start’s beautiful testimony of grace, and a hip-hip-hooray and hallelujah for the God behind it all! As a (recovering) perfectionist, enneagram one, and college student constantly wondering if I am good enough, the vulnerability, wisdom, and hope that flowed through these pages felt like a hug from the good giver of grace Himself. Genuine, insightful, and downright hilarious (The footnotes. Are you kidding me?!Comedic GOLD), Star for Jesus is a much needed reminder that Jesus sees us, embraces us in the middle of the messes we have made, and gives us three cheers for trying anyways- all the while heaping His grace and faithfulness upon our tired, weary, and undeserving shoulders. His grace is a blessing, and this gift of a book sings that fact from the rooftops with unrelenting bravado.
August 21, 2024
If you go into this thinking that this is a devotional or walk with Jesus, you will be disappointed. It’s just a lot of antidotes and stories about her family, not anything else. There is nothing else there, it’s all fluff.
The footnotes drove me crazy!
The footnotes drove me crazy!
April 26, 2024
"Grace is weighty, and it's powerful. It can change a life and change a room, and it can also change a world." - Kimberly Stuart, Star for Jesus (And Other Jobs I Quit)
Star for Jesus is the perfect blend of two things I love - dry self-deprecating humor and bold love for God. In Kimberly Stuart's first nonfiction book, she explores the concept of grace - unearned, undeserved, unending. She links aspects of grace to humorous and heartfelt situations she and her family members and friends have experienced. In this way, she gives form and understanding to a completely abstract and sometimes-too-good-to-be-true belief.
This book is for anyone who needs the care, compassion, and comfort of grace in a Christian context, from lifelong believers to seekers and everyone in between. Ms. Stuart's combination of humor and sincerity make the topic of God's grace approachable and welcoming.
The ideal way for me to read this was listening to the audiobook, perfectly narrated by the author, while following along in a print copy. This required me to be fully 'present' while reading and let me mark many meaningful passages for future reference.
My only criticism is that the author assigns male pronouns to God. My God is vast and above gender images and constraints. Some have trauma from male father figures so readers know thyself in this regard.
I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be part of this book's launch team; the pre-lease book club conversations added meaning to its content. I pray this book introduces and reminds countless people of God's endless grace for them.
Star for Jesus is the perfect blend of two things I love - dry self-deprecating humor and bold love for God. In Kimberly Stuart's first nonfiction book, she explores the concept of grace - unearned, undeserved, unending. She links aspects of grace to humorous and heartfelt situations she and her family members and friends have experienced. In this way, she gives form and understanding to a completely abstract and sometimes-too-good-to-be-true belief.
This book is for anyone who needs the care, compassion, and comfort of grace in a Christian context, from lifelong believers to seekers and everyone in between. Ms. Stuart's combination of humor and sincerity make the topic of God's grace approachable and welcoming.
The ideal way for me to read this was listening to the audiobook, perfectly narrated by the author, while following along in a print copy. This required me to be fully 'present' while reading and let me mark many meaningful passages for future reference.
My only criticism is that the author assigns male pronouns to God. My God is vast and above gender images and constraints. Some have trauma from male father figures so readers know thyself in this regard.
I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be part of this book's launch team; the pre-lease book club conversations added meaning to its content. I pray this book introduces and reminds countless people of God's endless grace for them.
December 28, 2024
Here’s the best quote in the entire book: “Read this out loud, please: I am God’s beloved kid. I will dunk my head in the wild, rushing rivers of his grace. I delight in him. I do not perform for him.”
The rest of the book is basically a series of stories illustrating this point.
The writing style is very readable and funny. Kim is a good story teller. However, the book isn’t really what I expected it to be. It’s less devotional and more vignettes of her life shared to illustrate a point. I only wish she had gotten to the point sooner in each chapter. The majority of each chapter consisted of a funny story. You couldn’t really tell where it was headed till the last page or two when she would pull it all together with a poignant statement.
Altogether, this was light on theology and heavy on personal experience and stories. She had good things to say, but I wouldn’t exactly consider it a devotional book.
The rest of the book is basically a series of stories illustrating this point.
The writing style is very readable and funny. Kim is a good story teller. However, the book isn’t really what I expected it to be. It’s less devotional and more vignettes of her life shared to illustrate a point. I only wish she had gotten to the point sooner in each chapter. The majority of each chapter consisted of a funny story. You couldn’t really tell where it was headed till the last page or two when she would pull it all together with a poignant statement.
Altogether, this was light on theology and heavy on personal experience and stories. She had good things to say, but I wouldn’t exactly consider it a devotional book.
March 30, 2024
This book is filled with nuggets of wisdom and truth that I highlighted and jotted down to remember later. I found it incredibly relatable, with plenty of moments that echoed my own lived experience.
I was pleasantly surprised by the author’s storytelling and humor. There were moments that had me laughing out loud while wiping away tears — a testament to her deeply honest and impactful writing style.
Overall, I found it to be an enjoyable read with great reminders for everyone, but especially for anyone who grew up in a church environment where certain messages may have been selectively absorbed.
Amazing grace is real and for me. What good news.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was pleasantly surprised by the author’s storytelling and humor. There were moments that had me laughing out loud while wiping away tears — a testament to her deeply honest and impactful writing style.
Overall, I found it to be an enjoyable read with great reminders for everyone, but especially for anyone who grew up in a church environment where certain messages may have been selectively absorbed.
Amazing grace is real and for me. What good news.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
May 4, 2024
Fun, relatable stories about life as a Christian, young woman, mom, wife, daughter, and sister. While I enjoyed the stories the leap to grace, in many cases, was too metaphorical for me to really grasp its connections to the stories.*
However, there are some really deep ideas within the pages of this book. Here are a few sentences that made me pause and think:
"I was starting to wonder, though, if my ability to fully understand something wasn't actually an indicator of how true it was." (pg.24)
"I've decided that the best way to comfort someone who is getting walloped by grief is to stop talking precisely one sentence before you would like to stop talking." (pg. 116)
CBB (pg. 166)
Page 181.
*The footnotes were hilarious, though. Thanks for the honesty and humor.
However, there are some really deep ideas within the pages of this book. Here are a few sentences that made me pause and think:
"I was starting to wonder, though, if my ability to fully understand something wasn't actually an indicator of how true it was." (pg.24)
"I've decided that the best way to comfort someone who is getting walloped by grief is to stop talking precisely one sentence before you would like to stop talking." (pg. 116)
CBB (pg. 166)
Page 181.
*The footnotes were hilarious, though. Thanks for the honesty and humor.
May 10, 2024
Refreshingly funny Christian literature.
I loved this book. I usually do not like memoirs - I find they are often poorly written or try to push messages without a strong enough story line to back them. That’s not the case with this book.
The author hilariously weaves personal (and very relatable!) stories while taking a hard look at how these stories can help us understand grace.
Here were some of my, “really you too?” Moments as I read the book that made the author feel like a friend.
- [ ] “I’m a grandkid I’m just here for hugs.”
- [ ] Randy calves
- [ ] Naturally reading “Marcky Report” in the correct voice
- [ ] Competition pray 😂
This book is worth reading. It’s funny, relatable, and is a wonderful and refreshing look at what grace is while addressing what grace is not.
I loved this book. I usually do not like memoirs - I find they are often poorly written or try to push messages without a strong enough story line to back them. That’s not the case with this book.
The author hilariously weaves personal (and very relatable!) stories while taking a hard look at how these stories can help us understand grace.
Here were some of my, “really you too?” Moments as I read the book that made the author feel like a friend.
- [ ] “I’m a grandkid I’m just here for hugs.”
- [ ] Randy calves
- [ ] Naturally reading “Marcky Report” in the correct voice
- [ ] Competition pray 😂
This book is worth reading. It’s funny, relatable, and is a wonderful and refreshing look at what grace is while addressing what grace is not.
April 25, 2025
This was on a reading list that circulated in our book club. I was interested because it's a discussion of grace, although after reading the first chapter I wasn't sure what I was getting into - the author comes from a conservative Christian upbringing which was quite different from my Catholic background. (Fortunately her faith background is love based rather than fear based, or I would have stopped reading immediately.) But the pace picked up and it became more interesting. The author has many anecdotes about how grace infuses our lives, told in an easily readable conversational style. A quick read, but not something I'm going to keep.
April 15, 2024
I have loved all of Kim’s books, but this is her best (yet). With the wit and humor we’ve come to expect, she weaves in pieces of her own heart and her own story, and in the end all of it points us to Jesus. To His love, His grace, and His completeness, all in spite of my faulty attempts to earn it. My eyes welled up, the tears ran down my cheeks, and the next thing I knew I was giggling over something hilarious. I will read this again, and I’ve already ordered two more copies to share with friends. Kim, you’ve found a “new lane,” non-fiction and hard cover! Please don’t stop now. We need more of this!
April 25, 2024
MUST READ if you wonder what grace is all about or if you’ve been in church and think you have a good handle on it. “Star for Jesus” is the refresher we need that we didn’t know we needed. Full of humor and personal story-telling, Kim invites us into her life and her journey so we can see ourselves and our own ways of seeking a star crown. We’ll find there’s only One who wears the crown and it isn’t us - thankfully, we get to wear something else - grace, and loads of it. Loved this book!
April 27, 2024
Wonderfully real stories from a romance novelist- worthy of a breathtaking, great, true love.
This is a fun book to read: sincere, generous and inviting. (You can’t get near to Kimberly Stuart and not smile; not feel more brave.)
From the book:
“The very nature of grace is fluid and wild and in constant motion. Grace doesn’t take well to gilded cages. It’s meant to give away. And the best part is that we don’t have to be ideal messengers.”
This is a fun book to read: sincere, generous and inviting. (You can’t get near to Kimberly Stuart and not smile; not feel more brave.)
From the book:
“The very nature of grace is fluid and wild and in constant motion. Grace doesn’t take well to gilded cages. It’s meant to give away. And the best part is that we don’t have to be ideal messengers.”
April 25, 2024
You will be surprised how much you need this book about Grace as you continue to read. You’ll see yourself a little bit in this book and find ways to take it back to use in your real life- today. Grace is for everyone and we don’t do anything to earn it.
Loved the humor that is totally infused throughout!
Loved the humor that is totally infused throughout!
July 17, 2024
Bob Goff wrote the fwd so you know it will be good, right?! This is a heartfelt book full of stories and personal experiences that point us to God’s lavish mercy and grace - reminders that I need often. Bonus, the author has a great sense of humor and shares an abundance of wit and humor throughout. Recommend listening as the author’s wit and personality really comes through in her voice!
March 17, 2025
This book is absolutely hilarious while also speaking straight to the heart. The author has a gift for telling stories that feel so relatable, making you see yourself in them. She beautifully captures our need to both give and receive grace. It’s a fun, lighthearted read with a deeper, truly meaningful message.
April 21, 2024
I always enjoy reading Kim’s work, and after a few of her fiction titles, it was lovely to read this book of personal essays and reminders of the role of grace in our lives. Several of her wittily-written stories had me laughing out loud and her experiences are highly relatable.
April 29, 2024
It feels like Kim and I are sitting in the couch chatting. Her stories are hilarious AND thought provoking. Grace should be simple but we complicate it. With vulnerability and humor and large doses of real, Kim helps us apply the grace that Jesus has made available to us.
May 1, 2024
Sure, Kimberly Stuart is a great author, but I think she's missed her calling as an audiobook narrator. (Although she didn't actually miss a career in audio, since she's also a podcast host.) You definitely need to listen to this book.
June 12, 2024
Loved this one!! Listened to it on audible and Kim (the author) read it - she was a hoot! Footnotes are hilarious but the core message and how she weaved the stories with the heart of Jesus and Grace together was exactly the message I needed to hear.
February 13, 2025
Kim Stuart is hilarious, faithful, and wise; this book was no different! I both laughed out loud and teared up many times. Her personal stories illustrated such concrete ways grace shows up in our daily lives, and all the ways we are able to give it away, too!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews