Choice Reading Response 9- Captivating Ch. 2 and 3

Our connect group from North Point Church is reading Captivating for our small group discussions. The book focuses on the heart of a woman and how we as women have hidden the desires of our hearts.

Co-authored by a Christian couple, Captivating explores the three things that every woman longs for: to be romanced, to be an irreplaceable part of an adventure, and to unveil her beauty. The book also explores the reason we women fail to live out these three things, starting with Eve's choice in the garden which led to the Fall of all of her daughters ever since. Because of Eve's curse, women have become dominating and controlling because they feel only they have the ability to fulfill their own lives, that everyone is holding out on them (like Eve felt in the Garden, so she took the fruit, and her life, into her own hands). On the other side of the curse, women have become desperate, clingy, and mousy because they feel that they are not worth love, beauty, and adventure. Obviously, we were not meant to play these roles; as the pinnacle of creation, women were meant for greater things and were meant to reflect God's  beauty and desire to be pursued.

I've read this book before (and its counterpart Wild at Heart for men), so I am remembering and recalling old connections and prior knowledge as I relive this book's message once more. When I read this book last year, I was convinced I would never marry because no man had ever seemed interested enough in me to even ask me on a date. I was also convinced that this was because I was abrasive, ugly, and generally undesirable. Since then, God has been working in my heart to convince me of my beauty, so reading this book is creating several new connections for me and building upon my prior knowledge and experiences. I know now that I am made in God's image to reflect His compassionate heart, and He made me to live the abundant life He has called me to. Whether I am called to marriage or not, this book has reminded me that I still have an adventure to live and a beauty to reveal.



Eldredge, J. et al. (2005). Captivating: Unveiling the mystery of a woman's soul. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.