Looking for God in Messy Places: A Book About Hope

“This is beautiful and brilliant stuff, profound and plain, incredibly human, wise and charming. I trusted and enjoyed every word.”
–Anne Lamott, New York Times bestselling author about Looking for God in Messy Places

Life is messy. We can get discouraged by setbacks, overwhelmed by busyness, and shaken by worry. Hope is the power that gets us out of bed in the morning and gives us the courage to face adversity. Looking for God in Messy Places by Jake Owensby is a book about hope. How to find it. How to practice it. How to grow in it. Hope begins when we recognize that God is in this mess with us.

This book is for anyone who has ever been frozen in place by loss or regret, anyone who has endured suffering, cruelty, or rejection. From word to word and page to page, readers will experience themselves as God’s beloved—so that they can be hopeful.

From the introduction
[This book is] For those whose struggles have been long and for those who are growing weary from heavy burdens. For those facing an unforeseen crisis or for those enduring a slow personal train wreck. For those whose throats have grown raw from crying for justice and for those whose wounds have gone unhealed. This is a book about hope, and I have written it especially for those who refuse to yield to discouragement and despair.

Topics include:

- The power of love to give us hope
- The ways that God shows up in our daily lives
- Recognizing God’s call in our lives
- Becoming your true self
- Having a sense of belonging
- Forming a friendship with Christ
- Contemplative faith