Holy Guacamole – Book Review

“You’re not rice and beans. You’re tableside guacamole.” What a statement! I don’t know about you, but I struggle with self- confidence. If you know me at all, you might find that statement hard to believe, but it’s true.

This book was Heaven sent! Have you ever been in a place in your life where what God was speaking to you was everywhere? He knows me so well and He knows, due to my lack of self-confidence, that I will question everything. So, what does He do? He places the answers, the calm reassurances, everywhere and all around me. This opportunity for a book review was one of them!

Lately, God has been working on me in regards to loving myself and being ok with who I am. You can read a little about that here. Lots of moments have been confirming what God is speaking. My daughter even had me take this quiz to determine my type…maybe you are familiar with Ennagram Types. I was not and boy was that a scary thing! Reading about yourself on paper is very humbling, scary and real! I’m a type 3. What are you? (You can follow the link to learn more.)

Enough about me, back to the book and Guacamole! This book is 238 pages and written by Carrie Stephens. I was all set to skim the book and write my review and be done. But God, of course, had a different plan. I am still making my way through it and there is lots of “meat” here to digest. Carrie tells one story of a lunch with a friend where Carrie referred to herself as the rice and beans that are so often left on the plate at Tex-Mex or Mexican restaurants. She felt bland and obligatory, expected yet not amazing. He friend, Quinn, then made the statement about not being rice and beans but being tableside guacamole.

Have you ever had tableside guacamole? There was a restaurant near where I used to work that had this. Occasionally myself or a coworker would order the tableside guac. How fancy! Everyone else in the place would watch as the server chopped and mixed and served the desired dish. For just a moment, we were the envy of the establishment! That is what it means to be tableside guacamole. That we shouldn’t feel unwanted, expected or ordinary! Carrie then makes this statement, “A good friend remind us that what we feel about ourselves is not always the truth.” Wow! And let me tell you, if a friend doesn’t do that for you, God definitely will.

“There are no obligatory side dishes in the Kingdom of God. We are all holy tableside guacamole. We’re prepared fresh daily in Christ, with new mercies every morning.”

I could go on and on, pulling out quotes and telling you how they affected me and how they are confirming God’s work and purpose in my life. But why would I bore you with all that? You need to pick this book up and dive into it yourself! (You can purchase it here on Amazon. You can also click the photo below to enter to win a free copy!)

Each chapter is focused on unpacking a simple truth of how we cannot save ourselves. Only God can do that. He is the only one that can save us. And we are only who and what we are by Him and through Him. Once we discover our worth in Him, we might be able to relax and have a little fun, especially us Type 3s!

I will leave you with one final quote. You may not be what I call a “doer”. I am definitely a doer. I try to do everything! I want to do it and make it great, ok maybe make it perfect. I want to be the best, the fastest. I am an achiever. Can I just tell you it’s exhausting? And on top of that, with a lower self-confidence, I have to “fake it til you make it” in order to make a lot of it happen! So the quote below rings very true to me as a reminder.

I have been in church all my life and I am still learning that He made me to be me and He loves me, just like I am. He doesn’t need my goals and achievements. He does need my words or my talents. He needs my obedience and my devotion to Him and He will take care of the rest and give me rest. I pray that we all can come to that realization.

“To be the person God made me to be, I would have to pass through the eye of a needle and leave behind all the ways I was trying to save myself with my own abilities and talents. If Jesus is asking us to do the impossible today, He’s also ready to provide a way through. But obedience will require we let some things go and pick up a new way of living.”

Holy Guacamole.Carrie Stephens.Barbour Publishing.2020