The Girl's Still Got It

I'll admit it... I've gotten a little bored with Beth Moore Bible studies. I really love how in-depth her studies go, but her "voice" comes through very strongly and every once in a while I want some variation.

So, I decided to go to the bookstore and see if something else struck my fancy. I bravely decided to take Lilly with me, and that was a huge mistake. Christian bookstores are littered with little trinkets right at a toddler's eye level. I was literally sprinting across the tiny Christian bookstore, trying to keep her from swallowing cross bracelets and destroying elegant figurines of mothers and babies.

In my haste, I decided I didn't have time to browse books, but rather I need to grab one, and fast! I remembered hearing once that a women's Bible study at one of my old churches had studied a book called "Bad Girls of the Bible". Of course, that name got my attention. I saw that a new book was by that same author, so I decided in about 30 seconds that it was worth a try. Then I promptly scooped up Lilly and got out of the store as quickly as possible, before Lilly decided to hide in a pile of T-shirts, or whatever else she had in mind.

The book is called "The Girl's Still Got It" and the author is Liz Curtis Higgs. The book goes verse by verse through the book of Ruth. Liz writes as if you were sitting down having coffee with her, engaged in real "girl talk" about the story of Ruth. Having never read any of her other "Bad Girls" books, she shares a little in this book about the fact that she had a "bad girl" past. In light of this, she approaches the book of Ruth in a very "real" way. Although she cites well known authors like Matthew Henry in her blow-by-blow account of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz, she frames the book in a very female-friendly, and funny, way.

I have to admit, just being real here, I was always the straight-laced kid who followed the rules and was the teacher's pet. I tend to identify with the older brother in the story of the prodigal son, more than I do the younger brother. In light of this, having a slightly different background that the author, I felt as if some of the lessons of Ruth, as framed by Liz, had a different impact on her than on me. I also felt like the book was heavy on the commentary on Ruth, but a little light on personal application.

That all being said, I bought the book looking for a serious way to study the Bible each morning, and ended up finding this was the kind of book I wanted to read at night before I went to bed. It's chic lit at its best.