Every once in a while, a book comes along that impacts your life in ways both beautiful and altogether transformative. A book like this reaches deep into your heart and stirs to life parts of your soul that have long been hidden, all while challenging and inspiring your thoughts and ideas. “Dreaming with God: A Bold Call to Step Out and Follow God’s Lead” by Sarah Beth Marr is just such a book for me, and I know without a doubt that I am not the only one who will be tremendously blessed by its precious messages. Published by Baker Books and released in February of 2018, “Dreaming with God” is truly the type of book that will remain with you long after you reach the end.

To give you a quick idea of just what “Dreaming with God” is about, let me share a few of my favorite chapter titles: Searching for God in Your Dreaming Journey; Spotting the Truth about Who You Are; Surrendering to God’s Lead; Securing your Hope as You Wait on Your Dreams; Seeing the Impact of Dreaming with God; Seeking God When Your Dreams Don’t Come True; and Stepping into the Sweetest Dance. You may be asking if you need to be a dancer to fully benefit from reading this book, but the answer is a definite “no”! I am not a dancer by any stretch of the imagination, but I was still able to fully understand and enjoy each page of this book. Dancing is simply an overarching theme, used to symbolize our journey of “dancing” through life with God as our guide and partner.

As we begin our journey of “Dreaming with God”, Sarah Beth’s constant encouragement is that the place to start dreaming is in Scripture. Each page of her book is firmly founded in God’s Word, and at the end of each chapter are corresponding Prayer, Scripture, and Reflection for Your Dreaming Heart sections. She also notes that “Our dreaming journeys with God begin when we see that the way He made us actually points to His dreams for us”. And, “God’s dreams for us are actually pathways to His heart, as well as to others’ hearts. God wants us to allow Him to guide us into the dreams He has for us.” Of course, as we all know our dreams don’t always come true the way we hope for, but as Sarah Beth explains, “He knows the path you need to be on and the one you should avoid. I know how disheartening it can feel when it seems that your dreams and God’s dreams for you don’t match up… But the most amazing transaction happens when we let our ideals and dreams go and trade them in for His plans for our lives. Peace. Know today that God’s dreams for you are for your very best and for His glory.” I will stop sharing quotes now (trust me, I have MANY more highlighted sections in each chapter!!) and instead encourage you to read the entire book for yourself.

So, in the end, what is it that makes “Dreaming with God” so special? I think a huge part of answering this question lies in the fact that the author truly lives out her message. I was given the incredible blessing of being on Sarah Beth’s launch team for “Dreaming with God”, and after interacting with her in various ways it is crystal-clear that while the words of the book were written by her, it is also a message that God whispered to her and guided her to share with readers. If you only add a single Christian non-fiction book to your reading list this year, I can’t encourage you enough to let that one choice be “Dreaming with God”. Take God’s hand, and start your own journey, your own sweetest dance of dreaming with Him.