A Reflection on the Journey to Becoming a 'Well-Watered Woman' | Felicia Grand-Pierre

The Well-Watered Woman: Rooted in Truth, Growing in Grace, Flourishing in Faith by Gretchen Saffles, Tyndale House Publishers.  Tyndale House Publishing, 2021

    

By Felicia Grand-Pierre

It was as if she had been inside my thoughts. Going to church had become a routine.  My devotions were done for duty, and I couldn't remember the last time I felt connected to Jesus.  My phone was one of many distractions that kept me away from meaningful Bible study.

Much to my surprise, author Gretchen Saffles knew my experience too well.  In The Well-Watered Woman, Gretchen draws from her failures at gardening to describe her own journey to spiritual renewal. 

 

A mix of a memoir and a Bible study, the book is divided into three parts: The Well, The Word, and The Way.   Each chapter begins with "The Story of a Thirsty Woman" where Gretchen shares a story of her own struggles before showing in detail the Bible’s response to overcoming them.  The book's essential teachings are summarized in 16 Well-Watered Woman Statements.

 

"The Well-Watered Woman stores the Word in her heart, knowing that God has provided everything she needs to grow, bloom, and flourish even in the midst of the desert seasons. – Gretchen Saffles

It’s her willingness to be vulnerable that is a strength of the book. Gretchen puts herself out there describing the rocky, crooked path she took to becoming a Jesus follower.  Like other Christian women, she struggled with body image, motherhood, and just trying to find her place in the world.

 

Written in a casual, “Girlfriend can we talk?”, style she easily shares foundational doctrines like salvation and sanctification without getting too theologically technical. She’s the friend who listens as you pour out your heart over coffee and a high-calorie dessert. 

 

But don’t misunderstand Gretchen. She’s made mistakes too and is the first to admit she’s not perfect. She listens as you talk about burnout, disappointment, and frustration. Then she asks you those uncomfortable probing questions.  All the while rooting her advice in the truth of God's Word challenging you to do the same.

 

Sadly, not every Christian woman or those on the road to trusting in Jesus has a friend like Gretchen to walk alongside them on their journey. This book makes a good read with a friend unfamiliar with the Christian faith. 

 

Longtime Christ-followers in need of a spiritual recharge should also read The Well-Watered Woman especially since it's from this place that Gretchen writes.  Our Bible study group included a teenager, single women, wives, and grandmothers.  Yet, we all shared a desire to live on purpose and on mission for Christ.  Gretchen didn’t teach us anything we didn't already know. Of course, we should be diligent students of the Bible. But most of us confessed to being afflicted with busyness, and the distractions of daily life.  She challenged us to become women who put the Word of God before the world every day.

 

"Fed up with my own failed resolutions, I resolved at the end of 2017 to do only one thing: put the Word before the world." – Gretchen Saffles

 

The Well-Watered Woman is not for the woman whose life is neat, tidy, and so controlled that there's no room for Jesus. This book is for the woman whose daily existence is as bone dry as a long-forgotten houseplant.  She's wilted, weary, and falling apart.  Her only real hope for renewal is to reconnect with the True Vine, Jesus.  Only in his loving care will she thrive and bloom again.