Blessed are the Misfits by Brant Hansen

Blessed Are the Misfits: Great News for Believers who are Introverts, Spiritual Strugglers, or Just Feel Like They're Missing Something by Brant Hansen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to have a free digital ARC of this book to review.

I cannot begin to explain how much I liked this book! I had never heard of the author, Brant Hansen, but I am sure that from now on I will read whatever he writes! The author has a podcast called Brant and Sherri's Oddcast (I have also added their podcast to my favorites as well). Mr. Hansen has had a struggle throughout his life fitting in to society (he was diagnosed as being on the Autism spectrum as an adult) and church culture. His father was a well-loved preacher who actually had a terrible mental problem behind closed doors. Despite his childhood, the author is a Christian - but a Christian who looks at church culture just a little differently.

This book reads kindof like the Beatitudes to me. Each chapter starts out with "Blessed are the....." Some of the chapters are "Blessed are .... those who landed on the wrong planet, the unfeeling faithful, the introverted evangelical, the people who can't pray, the wounded, those who don't have amazing spiritual stories, the introverts who keep trying, the meloncoly and depressed, the unnoticed, the lonely, and misfit royalty (those with disabilities)." If you find yourself in any of those categories, do yourself a favor and pick up this book.

Mr. Hansen's writing style is brutally honest. I walked away from reading this book with a renewed confidence that although I may not be what the typical "church member" looks like, I have just as much worth as her. I have a "love-hate" relationship with my introvertism, and frequently feel very much inferior in Christian circles. "Blessed are the Misfits" was like a ice pick that gradually chipped away the ice wall that I have built up around me to protect me from my perceived inferiority in the church.

I don't typically read books twice, but I have a feeling that this book will be one that I bring out several times in the future.

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