Stumbling into Grace: Confessions of a Sometimes Spiritually Clumsy Woman

by Lisa Harper

So, today I’ve been thinking about...things thatbind us. The thought flitted around my mind and then landed for a while, likely because I was wearing a pair of too-tight jeans.” Women of Faith® speaker and author Lisa Harper relates from experience — life can be uncertain, sometimes even scary. But with a witty twinkle in her eye and a Bible in her hand, she describes what it’s like to find real security in the arms of a Savior who doesn’t just notice us but who moves heaven and earth on our behalf.Part diary, part devotional, Stumbling Into Grace weaves hilarious and poignant stories from Lisa’s own life with intimate and transformational encounters from the life of Christ. Prayers, reflection questions, and journal prompts help women dig deep into biblical truths to better understand how our Redeemer’s compassion, affection, and constancy make every single moment of life not only  more enjoyable but well worth living!

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Humor, Christian Non Fiction, Biography, Christian Living, Memoir

184 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 2, 2011

About the author

Lisa Harper is a hilarious storyteller and theological scholar―a gifted communicator whose writing and speaking overflows with colorful, pop-culture references that connect the dots between the Bible era and modern life. “Her God-given ability to not merely teach the Word but package it in a way that stirs the heart and calls to action is incomparable” says Priscilla Shirer. For six years Lisa served as the director of Focus on the Family's national women's ministry where she created the popular Renewing the Heart conferences. The next six years found her serving on the local level as the women's ministry director at a large church in Nashville. As the author of eleven books, and a Masters of Theological Studies with honors from Covenant Seminary, she is now a sought-after Bible teacher and speaker. Lisa was on the Women of Faith national arena tour and speaks at many other large events as well as at hundreds of churches all over the world. Lisa describes her greatest accomplishment to date as getting to be Missy’s mama.

Reviews

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kept this by my bed for a long while reading short chapters on an irregular basis. Pretty light and general stuff but some things hit home with meaning.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

" middle age and an increased awareness of my own fraility have teamed up to convince me that fear is an inexorable part of the human condition" Lisa Harper

I am excited to tell you about this book. It is called Stumbling into Grace Confessions of a Sometimes Spiritually Clumsy Woman by Lisa Harper. I devoured this book. I have to say it is what I needed. I do not know what it is about Lisa Harper but she is like a best friend when you read her books. She says things that only best friends are comfortable saying to each other. I must say was so thankful to be able to review this book. She writes this in both Bible study and diary form and at the end of each chapter she has a reflection time and group discussion question. I have to say I went high light crazy with the quotes and Bible Verses. This book made me laugh and cried. Lisa has the best sense of humor you see that when the see the names of her chapters my personal favorite is The Very Real Problem with Pantyhose. Lisa is so very gifted at taking the Bible and its scriptures and putting it into a current today event and allowing you to understand this in a whole new and fun way. I love the way she views Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. She takes these men and shows you their different views on the same stories and you are able to choose which of these men you can relate to best by his purpose to writing his Gospel. You see that in this life you are not alone in some of the stuff that makes up life. You also find yourself more accepting of what you view your short coming to be. Lisa is a speaker for Women of Faith so if you get the chance go see her you will be glad just like if you get this book you will be glad you did. This book will put you in a good mood. I recommend this book. I even give it 5 stars because I read it all and did not want to be interrupted for anything other than look at the scriptures. I received this book as a complementary copy from Book Sneeze. The review I have written was all of my feeling and opinions on the book.

[Samantha Knighting · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and good spiritual uplifting book

[Jeremy Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book truly turning the covers on how we so often perceive grace to be with a few comedic personal anecdotes filed in between the messages that are so helpful, not to mention useful for day-to-day practice.

My criticism is that there are some phrases the writer uses that could have been better worded. There was more than just the occasional moment where I had to re-read a sentence over and over again because the writer used large words many times in short succession.

However, in my time of frustrating writer's block, this was a very enjoyable read. :)

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lisa Harper definitely has a way of writing about the things I am struggling with. Each day I opened this book it was exactly what I have been struggling with and she had some amazing insight into how God feels about us and our struggles. The thing that I loved the most about this book was the questions and the journal prompts at the end of each chapter. These gave me a tool to self reflect and grow. I recommend this book for every Christian female.

[Polly Dierkens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lisa's sass and honesty make her a much more appealing and relatable Christian author than others I've read. Her points were thought-provoking and humbling. I love how she makes it clear that it's OK to literally and figuratively be wobbly and clumsy in your faith, that you are loved regardless, and not ever expected to be perfect.

[Joy Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lisa uses humor, stories from her life, and scripture to point us toward God's grace in our everyday lives. I read it with a group of women in a Bible study setting. The questions for each chapter got us thinking about how God shows us grace in numerous ways daily.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple, yet gave good real life experiences and "advice".

[becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love it!!!!

[MeganS · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Lisa Harper, but this book isn’t too special. It was a nice quick read so still worth reading, but not necessarily life changing!

[Lisa Pelcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome book. I so relate to Lisa's stories and I love the way she shows how God moves in our every day lives. Highly recommend this book!

[Linda O'Dell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read, about the hard times in life as well as the celebration times, and how God gets us through it all with some laughter along the way.

[Lisa Castro · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to this audiobook because a friend wanted to read it as a group, after she enjoyed Lisa Harper’s podcast. It is like reading a journal and is very heavy on story-telling. She often presents a Bible story, re-imagines it in a present-day context, and adds a brief thought on how the story should affect us. She also shares many personal stories, maybe followed by a sentence or two to relate it to a spiritual concept. Overall, I didn’t get a lot out of this and expected it to be a bit deeper theologically, since I had read good things about Harper as a Bible teacher. I had also read that she has a way of bringing things down to earth, which I’d agree with, since her stories were compelling and relatable. I just didn’t expect a majority of the book to be fairly lengthy stories, with little commentary or application, and was hoping for something deeper on the topic of grace.

[Chanover55 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always loved Lisa Harper in person as well as her Bible studies . This book did not disappoint! With Lisa's trademark candor and humor she takes us throw those things we all experience, like the yearning for love or how to be more grateful. If you are not familiar with Lisa's work, spend some time with her as she steers you to stumble into God'S Grace.

[Cynthia Reffner]

Great read. It’s very healing as well as soothing as one reads it. Lisa has such a compassionate heart in her writing. I had the pleasure of hearing her speak in Gainesville Georgia at Free Chapel. Afternoon listening to her speak I have read several of her books. She’s real and authentic and I respect her writings.

[Julia Cantrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

From ashes to beauty…from unforgiveness to God’s grace, Lisa Harper has challenged me to have more grace on myself and others. I hope this honest book helps you along your spiritual journey as it has mine! There are questions and journal prompts at the end of every chapter. I highly recommend doing them since you will get more out of the book. This would be great to read in a small group!

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lisa Harper is such a beautiful, confident sensitive soul. Her writings and bible teachings are beautiful and make connection to God easy and a pure joy. She doesn't shy away from tough subjects, but she doesn't dwell either, and the prayers at the end of each chapter are simple and just right

[Lori Gianotti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stumbling Into Grace

I love this book! I can't wait to share it with our Ladies group. The stories are told in simple lessons that are hilarious and Biblically insightful. A must read!

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did like Lisa Harper's podcast but stopped listening because she can be funny but sometimes it's redundant and sounds like she's trying to hard. This book is the same. And a few times I questioned some of her parallels to Scripture, like she was stretching to make something apply to her point.

[Lscharmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humor, wisdom, love, mercy all rolled into an excellent read that uplifted me.

[Karla Dobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love her books and teaching events. She is so funny!

[Melissa Denning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Lisa Harper and her raw humor. I also have heard her speak many times so heading her voice makes reading her work so my better.
If you like Lisa, check out her podcast!

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't what I expected, it was ok

[Dayna Hettinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

everything I needed to read!

Lisa Harper just simply has a way with words! It’s like she wrote this book specifically for me. This book is just simply relatable.

[Janna Marie]

📱

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the pleasure to read Stumbling Into Grace Confessions of a Sometimes Spiritually Clumsy Woman by Lisa Harper. I absolutely loved it! It almost feels as if you are in a direct conversation with Lisa Harper just like old friends. You could be sitting at the dinner table with her talking over a good meal, or just taking a stroll and enjoying each other's company. It literally felt like she was RIGHT THERE.
It is such an effortless read!
I felt so many emotions while reading this book. One minute you will feel tears, one minute astonishment, the next laughter and joy. The book covers so many topics it was quite refreshing.
It is a diary/devotional novel. A great read for any person, group, etc. I think it really fits all the masses. As a matter of fact I am going to recommend it to my women’s study group at church.
Another thing I thought was pretty cool about this book is at the end of each chapter there is a prayer followed by personal reflection/group discussion questions, followed by optional journal entry. Even for those of you who like to read the occasional book but don’t particularly like a heavy-read this would be perfect as I think you could read a chapter a day and reflect on your own or by recording it in a journal.
Another pretty remarkable thing that Lisa does is she takes her everyday “happenings” and finds a way to apply the word of God to them. It was very interesting and something that most of us don’t really think to do in our everyday lives. It was especially enjoyable on the humorous embarrassing parts applied to the word. We all have embarrassing “clumsy” moments in our lives and it is always so good and refreshing to go back and look on them with laughter instead of shame.
I urge you to give this book a try. I think you will pleasantly surprised and really enjoy it.
It’s a great women’s spiritual book, and it really opens our eyes to God’s word in a more modern way. I have never read a book anything quite like it, and I look forward to sharing it with friends and family.

DISCLAIMER: I was provided this book for free through Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for my unbiased review. Opinions expressed are mine alone.

[Lacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before picking up this book I'd never heard of Lisa Harper. I didn't even realize this was a devotional when I selected it. I just loved the cover! This delightful devotional reads more like a personal journal. Lisa Harper dives deep into biblical truths with true stories and an abundance of humor.

Lisa Harper is hands down hilarious. I laughed through each chapter as though I was having a conversation with a best friend. I especially loved Chapter 2 about pantyhose being too "binding". I personally HATE pantyhose! I was so surprised how easy it was for me to relate to her stories. Although her trials & successes are different than mine we still face the same human obstacles. Every single chapter I felt as though I could have said some of the same things about myself or I had an "aha! Moment". Harper is honest about the times she has 'stumbled' and is therefore able to encourage others to keep pushing forward in their walk with God. Her honesty is like a gentle push to keep striving for a better relationship with Him. I appreciated that after each bible story, Lisa broke down the pieces of the story and applied it to life principles.

I think that Stumbling Into Grace will be a book I refer back to and reread several times. I think the passages and the questions are very healing for the soul.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

[Teela · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first saw the title of the book, Stumbling into Grace (by Lisa Harper), I wondered if this would be a stuffy book about Grace...you know, UNmerited favor, etc. But then I noticed the picture of the little Diva wannabe on the cover and I thought, hum...this could be just what I'm needing to read. So glad that I got this book from Booksneeze. Lisa Harper has such a wit and charm as she shares stories and then uses those stories to get across a point about Grace. One of the stories she shares is when she and one of her besties is in a hotel in Chattanooga and during the wee hours of the morning, the fire alarm goes off. Well, her dear friend is confined to a wheel chair, so she tells of enlisting an able bodied man to assist her in getting her friend, wheel chair and all down the staircase, since the elevator is out of commission during fires. After all is said and done and they are safely on the ground, and the help walks away, her friend says, that was a different kind of accent, I could not quite place it and Lisa says, that's because he was drunk as a skunk! It wasn't an accent! She uses this lighthearted scenario to segue into the thought that the people God places around us can be amazing carriers of His grace.

At the end of her chapters, Lisa has personal reflection/group discussion questions and thought provoking journal entries.

This book reads like a diary/devotional book and if full of humor along with thoughts that will help one dig deeper and examine oneself.

I would recommend this book for gift giving as well as using as a personal growth book.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Humorous yet poignant stories from Lisa's life help readers relate to spiritual truths found in the life and ministry of Christ.

Stumbling Into Grace is the diary-devotional of one woman's honest, ongoing, bumbling journey of faith and how she finds encouragement through a deeper understanding of Christ's time on earth. Within each chapter she alternates her often humorous memoir with stirring portraits of Jesus and his own encounters as recorded in the New Testament.

Both intimately relevant and refreshingly inspirational, this book will help readers to jettison the theological misconceptions, guilt, shame, and hypocrisy they struggle with, exchanging them for a vibrant, passionate relationship with Christ that results in a more abundant, joyful life." ~ book description from the publisher

Stumbling into Grace by Lisa Harper is written as a diary as she delves deeper into God's Word for herself. She covers such personal topics as forgiveness, rest, contentment, gratefulness, and more. She brings Bible teaching to a level we all can understand.

I really needed to hear the sections on "Rest" and "Contentment"... both of which I struggle with. Thanks Lisa for such a timely reminder! Oh, don't you just love the cover of the book!

My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson Publishers and Booksneeze for my honest review.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lisa Harper uses both modern day stores and Bible scriptures to address some of life’s biggest issues dealing with God’s grace. Stumbling into Grace displays the author’s wonderful sense of humor and how she relates it back to scripture.
I found Stumbling into Grace to be very encouraging while faced with a life that is not playing out as I had planned. It was very refreshing to see God’s Word in a way that that was made more personal because of Lisa’s wonderful sense of Humor. Although her snake story did cause me to shiver!! J I found myself chuckling as I identified with the personal stories, and occasionally wondering how I had missed different points she made about scripture. (For example while on the cross is the only time Jesus called God, My God instead of Father.)
I feel that Stumbling into Grace is a book that females will more easily identify with and I highly recommend it. I think anyone dealing with the ups and downs of life with is encouraged and uplifted by Lisa Harper’s writing.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255