Awake: A Memoir

by Jen Hatmaker

The whole truth is a real mindfuck for most of us, because it doesn’t have any hidden corners, and I personally love hidden corners. They are perfect places to tuck hard things away from scrutiny, away from requiring any attention at all.

You can see the need for hidden corners. Facing the whole truth creates a clear before and after, and most of us fear the after. The before may be debilitating, but at least it is familiar.

truth is no threat at all to whatever else is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—anything excellent or praiseworthy—these are truth’s bedfellows, and turns out, they can hold an entire life together.

At some point, we are exhausted from suffering and just want to watch Christmas at Honeysuckle Lane wearing Santa pajamas in October.

pleasantly, have become a manic involuntary homeschool mom contributing to the dumbing down of America with a helpful rage/rebound/renounce cycle: “I am absolutely done worrying about your grades. Either you worry about them or you fail. I already finished ninth grade in 1989.” “Okay, honey bunny! Let’s make a list of everything missing and rank them in order of priority. We’ll log them in your calendar so you know what to do every day! Stay on task! You can do it! We’ll do it together! We got this!”

I currently find myself unable to attend church and unable to reject