Katie Reid has written the book I desperately needed to read and embrace. “Made Like Martha” encapsulated how I was feeling without knowing I even felt that way. But the Lord knew.
I have been striving, trying to be more, and battling constant weariness! I’ve been trying to make a 2.0 version of myself! As if God makes mistakes or needs my help in improving who He shaped me to be! I am a Martha! I am embracing my Martha-ness! (Although, I think I may have splashes of Mary tendencies as I have gotten older.) Just saying!
My worn-out flesh was awakened by Katie’s beautifully written truths.
Katie Reid gives great insights as she walks the reader through these verses and sheds light on embracing our Mary and Martha nature’s, just as God lovingly designed us to be!
Luke:38-42 (NIV) 38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
I wasn’t embracing who God designed me to be.
“Made Like Martha” is about believing we are enough and embracing who the Lord created us to be. We don’t need to “do” or “not to do”, we don’t need to strive, we just need to believe and live out “being” His beloved daughter. Katie writes about exchanging our striving for hope-filled freedom, without giving up our doer’s heart in the process.
Katie’s vulnerability and honesty spoke to my weary Martha soul.
Katie bares her soul with genuine honesty as she walks you through her story. It is rich in faith, biblical stories and truths, relatable modern-day stories, action steps, and thought-provoking questions.
Katie writes with a passionate, faith-filled spirit. I was comforted by her “I get you” stories and statements. She breaks down the walls of feeling that being “Martha” is somehow bad. She shares, “But God says, I have designed both Mary’s and Martha’s and I love them both.”
These two statements in “Made Like Martha” really drove the message home for me, “I had forgotten how to be a daughter.” And “I have soul fatigue from years of striving and I want to be made well.” Yes, and Amen! Can you relate to those words? I know I did!
Katie tenderly peels away the layers and reveals the heart of Martha, the other side of her story, and God’s vast love for her doer soul. I, too, had forgotten how to be a daughter to the Lord.
Katie broke down the barriers I felt trapped behind and opened the door to a radiant light that I had allowed to become dim.
I was so caught up in the “doing” I forgot how to just “be”; to be in His Presence, to be His beloved daughter, to be who He created me to be, and that I am eternally loved, no matter what, just as I am, in my God designed Martha-ness.
Nothing will ever change our place in Heaven or His eternal love for us.
Another of Katie’s quotes (of the countless) that spoke directly to my heart was, “Sometimes in our grown-up attempts to keep it together, we cut off parts of who we are and live an amputated life.” There is such wisdom, depth, and knowing in these words!
I love that the book has Modern Martha stories from women who shed a light on their own Martha stories, truthfully sharing wisdom, grace, and faith. Beautifully done! And I also love that Katie has sprinkled her great sense of humor in the telling of some of her own life stories!
I feel like I have two books in one because there is a Bible study at the back of Made Like Martha! Each of the five lessons corresponds to two chapters of the book. Katie uses the acronym WORD for the study; Worship, Observe, Reflect, and Do!
The study can be done individually, as a group study, or a book club. I love that you can delve right in and implement the steps right away or do the study alongside as you read the book. This resonates with my doer nature!
Here are a few of my favorite quotes from Katie Reid’s “Made Like Martha”
“Doing good deeds is not a way to earn My love, but it is a response to being loved by Me.”
“But your serving, your doing, should be a response of gratitude, not a means to gain what I’ve already freely given to you!”
“We don’t have to be perfect, we don’t have to live spotless lives, because Jesus always is and already did.”
I absolutely loved “Made Like Martha” by Katie Reid! It’s a book I’ll be rereading again and again.
Have your highlighters and journal ready as you read it! I don’t think there was a page I didn’t highlight! This book has been such an eye-opening blessing to me! Thank you, Katie Reid, for writing such a beautiful, life-altering book. I can’t wait for your next one!
I hope you treat yourself to a copy of “Made Like Martha”. I am confident you will be blessed by it! You can place your order through Katie’s website, katiemreid.com.
Katie Reid has generously offered a copy of her amazing book, “Made Like Martha” as a giveaway! You can enter below through July 17th. I will notify you by email by July 19th if you are the winner! Good luck!
Click the link below to enter to win a physical copy of “Made Like Martha” by Katie Reid!
The contest has ended. Thank you to everyone that stopped by and entered.
Congratulations to Grace Mae! You have won the copy of “Made Like Martha”!! I know you will love it.
Thank you, Katie Reid and Waterbrook Publishers for your generosity!
Katie M. Reid is a wife, mom to five, and a fan of cut-to-the-chase conversations over iced tea. Katie is also a speaker, Bible study facilitator, and author of Made Like Martha: Good News for the Woman Who Gets Things Done (which includes a 5-week bible study for individuals and groups). She encourages others to find grace in the unraveling of life at katiemreid.com. Subscribe to Katie’s site to receive free resources to help you breathe deeply and walk freely.
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