Have you ever heard of the gardening technique called “pruning open”? I hadn’t either, until I read the fascinating, challenging, beautiful new book written by Michelle DeRusha and published by BakerBooks in the new year of 2019. Entitled “True You: Letting Go of Your False Self to Uncover the Person God Created”, this compelling book is based on a powerful and easy to understand (but not always easy to apply) metaphor that is so perfectly fitting for us as Christians.

“True You” is based on a unique and incredibly insightful metaphor of the Japanese gardening technique called “pruning open”, a concept that involves cutting away both dead branches and also some of the healthy ones, allowing the tree’s inherent beauty and essential structure to be seen. It also allows more light to reach the garden around the tree, creates a sense of spaciousness, and removes complicated elements while focusing on simplicity. . . And this is only the beginning! I’m sure you can understand why this technique is such a powerful metaphor for the Christian life as we accept God’s pruning in our lives.

I won’t continue describing the awesomeness of this metaphor and the book as a whole, but I do highly recommend it for anyone who is intrigued by the idea of “pruning open” our lives. In addition to relatable and warmly written stories and facts, each chapter also features Going Deeper questions that are relevant and definitely worth the self-contemplation they require. (To be honest, I often skip the end-of-chapter questions in non-fiction books because I find them irrelevant or shallow, but that is NOT the case in “True You”. In fact, I am considering making myself a journal or workbook with these questions as some of the daily prompts – they are that good!)

Would you like to learn more about how Japanese gardening relates to our walk with God? Then I highly encourage you to grab a copy of “True You” today. 🙂

I am grateful to have received a copy of this book from Baker Books Bloggers, free of charge, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.