{"product_id":"the-lives-we-actually-have-isbn-9780593193709","title":"The Lives We Actually Have","description":"\u003cb\u003eNATIONAL BESTSELLER • Warm and witty blessings found within the struggles of our shared humanity, from the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling authors of \u003ci\u003eGood Enough\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBlessed are you, the strange duck.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eYou with the very intense hobbies.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eOr the collection of movies or mugs or sneakers.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eYou with the hometown or home team that makes you very, very proud.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eYou, my dear, in all your intricacies . . . are a marvel.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe live in a world that demands relentless perfection. Happy marriages and easy friendships. Bucket list–level adventures and matching family photos. But what if our actual lives don’t feel very #blessed? Might our everyday existence be worthy of a blessing too? Even an average Tuesday?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKate Bowler and Jessica Richie offer creative, faith-based blessings that center gratitude and hope while acknowledging our real, messy lives. Formatted like a prayer book, \u003ci\u003eThe Lives We Actually Have\u003c\/i\u003e is an oasis and a landing spot for weary souls, with blessings that focus on the full range of human moments: garbage days, lovely days, grief-stricken days, and even (especially) completely ordinary days. These heartfelt blessings are a chance to exhale when we feel everything from careworn to restless, devastated to bored. Let’s have a reminder that we don’t need to wait for perfect lives when we can bless the lives we actually have.\u003cb\u003eKate Bowler\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestsellers \u003ci\u003eEverything Happens for a Reason (And Other Lies I've Loved), No Cure for Being Human (And Other Truths I Need to Hear), \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Good Enough, \u003c\/i\u003eas well as\u003ci\u003e Blessed \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e The Preacher's Wif\u003c\/i\u003ee. She is the host of the popular podcast \u003ci\u003eEverything Happens.\u003c\/i\u003e A Duke University professor, she earned a master's degree in religion from Yale Divinity School and a PhD from Duke University.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJessica Richie\u003c\/b\u003e is the co-author of the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller \u003ci\u003eGood Enough,\u003c\/i\u003e the executive director of the Everything Happens Project at Duke Divinity School, and the executive producer of the \u003ci\u003eEverything Happens\u003c\/i\u003e podcast. She received her MDiv from Duke Divinity School.01\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003efor this ordinary  day\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Lord, here I am.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e How strange it is, \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e that some days feel like hurricanes\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e and others like glassy seas\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e and others like nothing much at all.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Today is a cosmic shrug.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e My day planner says,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e rather conveniently,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e that I will not need you,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e cry for you, reach for you.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ordinarily, I might not think of you at all.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Except, if you don’t mind,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e let me notice you.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Show up in the small necessities \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e and everyday graces.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e God, be bread.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Be water.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Be laundry.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Be the coffee cup in my hands\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e and the reason to calm down in traffic.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Be the gentler tone in my insistence today\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e that people pick up after themselves for once.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Be the reason I feel loved\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e when I catch my own reflection\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e or feel my own self-­loathing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e fluttering in my stomach.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Calm my mind,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e lift my spirit,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e make this dumb, ordinary day\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e my prayer of thanks.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Earth is so thick with divine possibility\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e that it is a wonder we can walk anywhere\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e without cracking our shins on altars.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e —­Barbara Brown Taylor,  \u003ci\u003eAn Altar in the World\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e02\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003efor  feeling  it \u003ci\u003eall\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Blessed are you who feel things \u003ci\u003ebig\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e You who might feel embarrassment because of\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e how overwhelming things can be.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Blessed are you who need reminders that those\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e emotions are not bad or good.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e They are just . . . information.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eYou feel angry because this is unjust.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eYou feel sad because this is awful.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eYou feel tired because this is exhausting.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Your emotions are not wrong or bad \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e or lying to you or telling the full truth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e They are giving you a bit of data \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e that you shouldn’t ignore.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e We love, and lose, and fall, and get back up,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e and fail, and try again.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Your humanity is not an affront.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e We are reminding ourselves that \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e this is who we are, how we’re made: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e to feel the pain, the grief, the stress, \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e the risk, the fear, the heartbreak.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e So, you beautiful creature, \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e here is your permission slip to feel it all.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e To feel the joy and delight and excitement.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e And the sorrow and fear and despair.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e All the yellows and pinks, and violets and grays.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Because you are the whole damn sky.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e03\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003efor when you just need to put  one foot in front of the other\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Oh God,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e the thought of trying for a new and improved me\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e makes me tired.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I am barely getting anywhere,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e so draw me closer to a different vision,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e one that sees that I don’t need perfection—­\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I need love.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Free me from the expectation \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e that life should always be better.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e From the everyday stressors—\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ­the bills, the pressure, the dependents,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e the existential fears about the future \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e and the worries of right now.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I am threadbare.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Blessed are we, remembering\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e that the world is not ours to shoulder alone.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Help us put one foot in front of the other\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e as best we can.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Oh God, today,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e give us enough to go on,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e give us hope to see a future,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e give us joy to see a present\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e lit up by your love.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e P.S. And give me only enough humility\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e to be reminded that I look terrible in hats.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eI mean, truly, unphotographable.\u003c\/i\u003eNew York Times bestselling authors of Good Enough National bestseller","brand":"Convergent Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304658751717,"sku":"NP9780593193709","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593193709.jpg?v=1767740289","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-lives-we-actually-have-isbn-9780593193709","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}