Forever Beloved

Faith, Love & Truth

How to Pick Up a Stripper and Other Acts of Kindness {Book Review}

How to Pick Up a Stripper and Other Acts of Kindness
Serving People Just as They Are
By Todd Stevens and Erin Stevens
About the book:

The starting and ending points for all outreach have to be love. The most effective way to reach people for Jesus is through servant evangelism—showing God’s love in practical ways. This type of outreach is what Jesus modeled, is culturally relevant, and values people. The goal should be to invite people to take the next step from where they are. 

Friendship Community Church, led by Pastor Todd Stevens, has experienced tremendous growth through acts of kindness. The church’s most radical servant evangelism project is Nashville Strip Church, founded by Erin Stevens. Erin’s life changed when God told her to “go feed the strippers.” With home-cooked meals and gift bags, Erin shows dancers that God loves them. How to Pick Up a Stripper and Other Acts of Kindness includes the story of a dancer who has come to know Christ, left the strip club industry through Erin’s ministry, and is now serving with Erin to reach other strippers. 

From feeding the homeless, to Easter egg hunts for special needs children, to ministering in a strip club,How to Pick Up a Stripper and Other Acts of Kindness provides exciting ideas for showing God’s love in practical ways. 

Last week, my fam and I went on a little vacation to the beach.  If there is one thing this Mama loves, it’s reading a book by the pool or the ocean.  And I did just that every. single. day.  This was my book of choice.

Let me start out by saying this…I knew within the first 3 pages of this book that God was going to use it to change my life.  How’s that for a review?

This book was a fun, down-to-earth read.  Todd definitely has a sense of humor and I can so appreciate that!  And I so love that he used normal, every day words.  Goodness, I hate feeling like I need a dictionary beside me when I’m reading a book.

If you are like me and you want to know how to reach your neighborhood with the love of Jesus, this book is for you. If you feel God is telling you to just go love on people right where they are, then this book is for you. If you feel like we need to SHOW people Jesus love rather than just telling them {although telling them is important too}, then this book is for you.

In nine chapters, Todd and Erin challenge the reader to think about how their acts of kindness can make a difference for the Kingdom of God. This is because, as they point out: What we’ve found over and over is that by doing a simple act of kindness, which may not meet any obvious need, we often end up connecting with people on a much deeper level.


Time and time again I found myself saying “Shut up, I’ve felt this same way!”. I would read a page, get super excited and tell Joe he HAD to read it. My mind would fill with tons of ideas and my mouth would ramble on and on.  So many ideas that I will be putting into effect.  
Read this book and you will be encouraged and motivated to think differently about how to share God’s love with others in your neighborhood, workplace and maybe even family!

This book was provided to me free of charge by Book Look in return for my honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

What I Love About Sunday

Oh Sundays, I so love them.  Big family lunches after church remind me of my childhood.  My Mama always had big lunches after church.  I can remember sitting in church, feeling like I was starving to death, and passing her a note that said “what’s for lunch?”.  Those meals are one of my favorite memories.  I really miss having big Sunday dinners at my Mama’s, but I guess now I’m the Mama to provide this memory for my littles. 

Eternally Thankful

This is the seventh anniversary of the best and worst day of my life. This is the day I stood in my living room with tears streaming down my face and begged my husband not to leave. This is also the day that made me step back and take a good, long look at myself in the mirror and realize my own faults. And this is the day that I decided to make a change for me, for us, for our family and for God.

Not everyone understands why I remember this day or why I “celebrate” it. I think it’s super important to remember our past, it brought us to where we are today. The word “remember” is used 167 times in the Bible. I’m fairly sure God is reminding us of the importance of remembering. I never, ever want to forget what brought us to that point on that day. I want to remember what my actions were before and what I changed afterwards. I can remember so vividly sitting in the middle of my floor, sobbing, and looking at the calendar and thinking “this is a date i will never forget”. And I haven’t. Remembering is part of our design by creation.

One evening, not long after he left, I drove my car back a dirt road. I followed the road to the top and pulled in to the perfect spot, nestled among trees and open fields. It was a gorgeous, clear night and the sky was filled with stars. I sat there that evening and cried for hours while talking to God like He was sitting in my car with me. That evening the seed of forgiveness was planted in my heart.

I realized my relationship with Jesus had taken a backseat to life, along with my marriage. Actually, Jesus wasn’t even in the backseat, he was in the trunk. I did not have time for Jesus to trip me up when I was busy living the ways of the world. I realized I couldn’t change my husband. There was only one person I could change: me. Jesus said, “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5). Once I realized that, asked for forgiveness and started to nurture my relationship with Jesus THAT’S when things started to change, when I started to change.

There was never a doubt that I wanted to stand for my marriage, regardless of what the world told me to do. God showed me divorce extracted a high price. One I simply wasn’t willing to pay. There were people telling me to get a divorce and move on with my life, that I deserved better, but all I wanted to do was what God wanted me to do and that is it. I knew that standing was what God wanted me to do and I never let the thought of divorce even enter my mind.

Some may support your stand for your marriage and your fight against the enemy, while some may totally disagree, but all that matters is that you do what God wants you to do. Those that disagree with you might make their voice heard daily, or they might even walk out of your life because of it. You need to remember, one day we will all have to face judgment and have to be responsible for the things we did. All those people who had opinions about your situation will not be with you when you have to answer to God. So you have to do what you know is right.

I prayed, trusted God and knew His will would be done. I basically handed my marriage to Him and waited for things to be done in His timing, not mine. I was waiting for His intervention. Through that, God taught me patience and perseverance. Three months later, he returned home!

I am so thankful that our love story didn’t end there, that it did indeed have more chapters to it. The reward of restoration was well worth the wait. And I am eternally thankful that our love was rescued by God ♥ I adore the beautiful God-scripted love story I have.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9