“The In-Between Place” a JustRead Blog Tour (review & giveaway! Ends 3/1/21)

Welcome to the Blog Tour for The In-Between Place by Kat Armstrong, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: The In-Between Place Author: Kat Armstrong Publisher: Thomas Nelson Release Date: January 5, 2021 Genre: Christian Life/Spiritual Growth

Jesus’ journey to the woman at the well in Samaria offers insights and hope for women today to make peace with the past, find hope in the present, and step into the future. God wants us to move toward the goodness He has planned for us. But what do we do when challenges stop our forward momentum? What’s the next step when we fall into a pit of despair with the determination knocked right out of us? On his way from Judea to Galilee, Jesus traveled through Samaria, a broken place everyone knew to avoid. In Samaria he stopped in Shechem, where evil had gained such a foothold of power that it eventually reigned. Yet the place once condemned as somewhere no one wanted to visit—let alone hang out in for a while—was the location of one Samaritan woman’s most hope-filled encounter with the Savior. The In-Between Place offers deeply important insights to anyone who feels stuck and can’t see a way forward. It is for the person who feels that if she looks left, her face will be scraped by an immovable boulder, and if she looks right, she’ll see nothing but hard to handle. It’s for the person who feels lost and is not sure she is worth the effort to be found, for the person who feels overlooked and unfulfilled. Because sometimes Jesus saves our greatest spiritual breakthroughs for our in-between places.

PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookDepository | IndieBound | Christianbook | BookBub

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kat Armstrong has been emboldening women to be all-in for Jesus for twenty years as a speaker, Bible teacher, author, and podcast host. As cofounder of The Polished Network, a nonprofit connecting and gathering professional women to navigate career and explore faith, her mission is to create holy curiosity.

Kat holds a master of Christian education from Dallas Theological Seminary. She and her husband, Aaron, have been married for eighteen years, and live in Dallas, Texas, with their son, Caleb. They attend Dallas Bible Church, where Aaron serves as the lead pastor. CONNECT WITH KAT: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

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TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive a print copy of The In-Between Place and No More Holding Back!

Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight February 22, 2021 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on March 1, 2021. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js

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Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links.

My review of The In-Between Place

Have you ever found yourself at the end of one season, job, or relationship in your life, waiting for the next ones to begin? Have you ever felt stuck, like you couldn’t move forward and didn’t know how to, even if you could? Has your hope been stolen as you wait or search for the next big thing in your life? Have you wondered how your time of suffering could ever be redeemed?

Well, we all have, in one way or another. And Kat Armstrong has coined a phrase for this moment: “the in-between place.” Her wonderful new book of the same name (yes, The In-Between Place) takes the Bible account of Jesus meeting the woman at the well, in Shechem (or Sychar), Samaria, and compares and contrasts that meeting, and the moments following it, with the experiences of other Bible characters.The result is a book that will teach, encourage, and bless readers who are going through their own in-between times.

And, that in-between time is tough. It can challenge our faith, our hope, our emotions, our security, and everything that we think about God and ourselves. But God has so much to show us with the account of the Samarian woman at the well! She has got it rough. In a time where women had few rights (including financial, legal, and social ones) she has had a hard road. Plus, she is a Samarian woman; a race of people who are considered to be idol-worshippers and really beneath the consideration of God’s chosen people. And yet, Jesus, who is clearly a proper Jewish man, interacts with her. Truthfully. Kindly. And with a message of hope that not only changes her life, but the life of the entire village.

Jesus’ interaction with the woman at the well brings life and salvation to her entire Shechem village. Just a few minutes with Jesus is enough radically alter their lives. And the woman, powerless, perhaps ignored and looked down upon, is the one who runs to tell everyone: “I just met a man who told me everything about my life. Could this be the Messiah?” I have always loved this story! Jesus values her, changes her life, and entrusts her with His own identity! How amazing. And what an illustration of how God really does care for and esteem women.

I found Kat’s comparisons (Shechem, over the timeline of the Bible; how water wells provided crucial meeting points in Scripture; the difference between how Jesus connects with us and how man does) to be useful tools to help me really think about what God might be saying and doing in different moments in the Word. Most of all, I valued Kat’s coverage of various women in the Bible and how important, and seen, they were by God and by Jesus. This is a book that will come alongside you and lift you up as it helps you to understand how very cherished you are.

I really enjoyed Kat Armstrong’s voice. She is vibrant, open, honest, and deeply desires to teach the Bible. In this (2nd) year of coronavirus, I’m finding that books that dig into God’s character and the Bible, and how we can apply both to our lives are so enriching and hope-inspiring. In a moment in time and history when we are all needing hope and encouragement, Kat has written just the book to bring life to women who are struggling in our own in-between places.

In addition, Kat includes website addresses at the end of each chapter for the reader to access further materials. There are discussion questions to help the reader examine her own struggles; a free study guide and video teaching; maps; charts; prayer guides; and more. The author has made so much available to make your experiences of an already-meaningful book even richer.

The in-between places aren’t times to ruin us and our faith. Rather, Jesus is there, in them, with us, ready to help us walk through them. Be encouraged by some of my favorite quotes in the book:

• “I was going to show up and power through, as futile and exhausting as I know that pattern to be…I’ll know better for the next in-between place in my life because my Savior will come to all my Samarias and sit with me through the hard conversations.”
• “…but Jesus is not done with me either. God’s grace had enabled me to make peace with my past and with my dad’s too.”
• “What was once an in-between place has become a hope-filled space.”

May The In-Between Place encourage you!

Enjoy! –Wren

DISCLOSURE: I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.