Captivating Revised and Updated: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul

by John Eldredge

Debbie’s father had an affair. What made it confusing was that in many ways, he was a good man. The message that settled in her heart as a teenage girl was, You’d better do more than she did or you won’t keep your man. After this came a young man who pursued Debbie, and then left for no apparent reason. We’ve known this beautiful young woman for several years now, and one thing has puzzled us—why is she always working on her life? Why is she always trying to “improve” herself ? Debbie is always looking for something to work on. Prayer, exercise, financial responsibility, a new hair color, more discipline. Why is she trying so hard? Doesn’t she know how amazing she is? What makes her search so frustrating is that she doesn’t know what is wrong with her. She simply fears that somehow she is not enough. Many women feel that, by the way. We can’t put words to it, but down deep we fear there is something terribly wrong with us. If we were the princess, then our prince would have come. If we were the daughter of a king, he would have fought for us. We can’t help but believe that if we were different, if we were better, then we would have been loved as we so longed to be. It must be us.