Recently some friends were sharing they didn’t understand why the author of the book we were discussing used so many stories from her own life. This got me thinking over several days how grateful I am to authors who open up about their own lives, share vulnerably from their experiences and what they’ve learned through them.

Skillful authors use their vulnerability to offer pieces of their own (authors’) lives to illustrate something for the reader to hopefully be able to eventually see anew or new about their own (readers’) lives. When we read someone else’s story it takes us outside ourselves, creating distance and detachment to better be able to see what is being illuminated. There is usually a truth, a nugget of wisdom that arises in the sharing of the experience. Given that we have the benefit of distance and detachment from the experience, we can discover insights and truths about ourselves, our relationships, our engagement with the wider world through the lens of another.

This organic flow of sharing and insight holds the power to transform our hearts and then our lives. I believe this is the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives- using vulnerable offerings from books, friends, sermons, 12 step programs, small groups, even movies and tv shows to offer us ways in which to see anew. Sometimes the connection to our lives comes instantaneously. Sometimes the most seemingly “random” story can days, months, or even years later crack open our hearts to receive holy insight into something we need to accept and/or shift about ourselves. These insights can open way for transformation to occur when we take that holy nugget and hold it loosely, roll it around in our hearts and minds, share about it with people we trust and begin to find ways by the grace of God to live into this new wisdom that has arisen.

In this season of gratitude, I lift thanks for so many authors, especially women authors, who have offered nuggets that God has used to pierce my heart and offered the Holy Spirit a way in, so She could move some things around in me and guide my life forward in healthier, more life giving ways. From my soul to yours, thank you for your vulnerability, Brene Brown, Barbara Brown Taylor, Lauren Winner, Sarah Bessey, Shauna Niequist, Jehanne Gheith, Sarah Moore, Katherine Willis Pershey, Courtney Pinkerton, Glennon Doyle, Elizabeth Gilbert, Phyllis Tickle+, Ann Patchett, Anne Lamott, Rachel Held Evans+, Carol Howard Merritt, Becca Stevens, Abby Wambash, Michelle Johnson Howell, Gail Honeyman, Margaret Benefiel.