Author and introvert Holley Gerth discovered that she ran into trouble when she tried to be like people who are extroverts. With integrity and vulnerability, Gerth exposes the pitfalls she experienced and invites introverts to avoid similar calamities so they can discover God’s will and shalom.
In this engaging book, which includes questions for book clubs and other small groups, Gerth effectively blends biblical insights about God’s amazing creative work in forming introverts and extroverts for his glory; research into brain science; anecdotes garnered from her experience as a life coach and licensed counselor; and helpful tools for introverts to learn about themselves and to know the joy of embracing the person God created them to be.
Gerth points out that the struggles introverts experience can become strengths they can offer in service to God and God’s world. These strengths include “strategic solitude, meaningful connection, genuine influence, sacred confidence, true well-being, hard-won resilience, sharp thinking, insightful perception, and intentional energy.”
Referring to 1 Kings 19:11-12, the story of God speaking to Elijah in a windstorm, an earthquake, a fire, and a gentle whisper, Gerth asks, “What if we, as introverts, are created to be living echoes of the gentle whisper of God? What if that’s why the world needs us to be who we are? What if that’s our powerful purpose?” An excellent resource for introverts and extroverts who care about them. (Revell)
About the Author
Sonya VanderVeen Feddema is a freelance writer and a member of Covenant CRC in St. Catharines, Ontario.