Brave Love {A Book Review}

**Book received for consideration. Post contains affiliate links. All thoughts are 100% my own.

Years ago, back when I was still a relatively new blogger and my son was itty bitty, I started noticing a new jewelry trend popping up across many of the blogs I followed at the time--- Lisa Leonard Designs. I very quickly fell in love with her stunning, heartfelt designs. Throughout the years, I have truly enjoyed seeing these hand stamped designs become more and more popular. So, when I saw that Lisa Leonard had published her first book, I couldn't wait to get my hand on it:

When Lisa Leonard said her marriage vows, she was determined to be the best wife she could be. When her first son was born with a severe disability, Lisa promised herself she would always be the mother he needed. When she began her jewelry business, Lisa committed to giving it her all.
Over the years, the exhaustion of trying to be the perfect wife, mother, and businesswoman took its toll. Lisa knew it wasn’t working. She wanted to change things, but how? Everyone depended on her. So she kept going, kept pushing, kept trying to prove she could do it all.
Until one evening, in tears and desperation, Lisa realized that she could no longer be everything to everyone. Somewhere along the way, she had lost herself.
In Brave Love, Lisa shares her story of finding truth and wholeness in the midst of life’s competing demands. Brave Love is about what it means to be human, how it feels to be broken and afraid, and what happens when we dare to love deeply. Join Lisa on a journey where you will discover you are worthy and lovable just as you are. You don’t have to try harder or be better. You don’t have to prove yourself and you don’t have to make others okay. In this freedom you will find more peace and more joy. Most importantly, you will learn that as you stop trying to be everything to everyone, you will love others better.

Now, I'll admit, it was my love of Lisa Leonard Designs that first had me wanting to pick up this book. If you've ever browsed through her jewelry designs, it's clear to see that there is a lot of heart put into each piece, and I knew that I could expect nothing less from the book as well. I also felt it would be great to get a little behind the scenes look at how it all began. And I got both of those things in my reading-- heart and a behind the jewelry look.

But it was also so much more than that, and I found myself relating to Lisa Leonard on multiple levels. The first being as a mother of a special needs child. Now, the challenges our children face are very different. Her child faces physical challenges, where my child does not. Still, many of the challenges and thought processes along the way remain the same. It's a new reality that takes some time to learn to adjust to... but one full of many blessings. I truly enjoyed her openness in talking about this experience in such a real way--- the good and the bad.

More than anything though, this book spoke to the perfectionist in me. The me who tries to be the best at everything. The mom in me who puts everyone else's needs before her own. Though the life I have lived has been so different, I saw myself so much in these pages. It was refreshing to see someone else who got it. To know that I was not alone in these struggles.

Each chapter concludes with a poem, and I loved that addition. Poetry has such a beautiful way of speaking to our hearts, and I enjoyed taking that in. Many of these poems- much like the book- focused on that idea of being enough. Enough is my One Little Word for this year, so I really felt like this is a book I needed to read. I couldn't put it down, finishing in just one night!

At some point, I think we as women all struggle with thoughts of not being enough, of insecurities, of putting our own needs last... making 'Brave Love' a must read for all.