Thirsty

Meeting Jesus at Your Deepest Need

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Are you dying of thirst?

Description: What does it look like when a woman encounters God? Does He have a to-do list for her? Or does He encourage her with kindness and offer a gift of restoration?

Meet the Woman at the Well—a woman thirsty for living water. Meet Jesus at the same well and find out what He did to satisfy the woman’s thirst.

This book looks at issues close to a woman's heart, such as a growing relationship with God, balance, and identity.

He Knew I Was Thirsty...

I wondered what I'd gotten myself into, committing to Navpress to read and review Thirsty: Meeting jesus at Your Deepest Need by Amy Nappa. When the book came, it didn't seem right for my season in life. I wasn't thirsty; I wasn't needy. I hesitantly opened the book during a morning quiet time before starting home school. When the children came to the table, I gave them an extra hour of morning play--I couldn't put the book down! Reading this book was like waking up from a dream where I can't find water and realizing I'm parched. It was like running down my hall in the middle of the night and meeting the kitchen faucet with my open lips. For the first time I saw myself as that woman at the well. The one who thirsted for real life, free life, eternally good life. I saw the Jesus who met her there with kind eyes and questions to stir her heart and soul. The Jesus who was willing to wait for the woman who didn't even know she needed him--didn't even know she was thirsty. "A woman with a checkered past and piles of emotional scars left over from it--scars that left her spiritually handicapped and helpless. Sin had injured her spirit like war tears apart the body...And yet, I am here to tell you that God still cherished this broken, thirsty woman." (p.32) Nappa drops us into the scene we think we know so well and challenges our every assumption about it. And about God. She tells stories from her own life that leave us wondering, "Who is this Jesus?" He is not the benign, predictable, manipulatable friendly guy we like to look to for brotherly advice. "I think the Woman at the Well learned--and I am just beginning to discover--that God is not safe. Christ is not tame...The One who imposed the laws of nature and the normal way of life is also a master of surprise." (p. 44) She shows us how this unpredictable, surprising Jesus is willing to meet us at our point of need, our thirsty place. I might have been worried this book wasn't for this season in my life when I started it. But I didn't realize how much of my life is dry season. I certainly didn't realize Jesus was waiting for me at this well, before I even knew I was thirsty...
Posted by Deborah Lembach on 2/8/2010 7:50:24 PM

Good, thought provoking read.

I love to read books, so when I heard about the Blogger Review Program at NavPress I signed up. I liked this program because I can choose from several book options something that sounds like a good read, or I can forget about it all if life gets busy. I chose Thirsty: Meeting Jesus at Your Deepest Need by Amy Nappa a few months ago. This book was a very interesting read because the author takes the story of the Woman at the Well in John 4:4-42 and brings it to life. In between her vivid retelling of the story she discusses how the principles and ideas in these scriptures apply to us personally. Let me share a small quote to show how this author writes: “He claimed to be the Messiah. Her Messiah.” “It was ridiculous that he would make that claim. Yet even more absurd was that she was tempted to believe it. That she, a skeptical, distrusting, sinful, solitary Samaritan woman would be visited – in person – by the Messiah was the stuff of fairy tales.” “And oh, how she hoped it was true.” (from page 144 of Thirsty) I love books that make me think more deeply about a scripture passage. I found myself re-reading the verses in my Bible, looking to see if her interpretation lined up with the scriptures. (Like anything, I don’t agree with her 100%, but it was a good read!) We often act out scriptures with the children, but even that is just a surface reading, looking for who said and did what. Amy Nappa builds a real world around those verses in John, reminds you that this happened to a real woman in a real place, and makes you look at how you would have responded if you had been in her place. She even has a reader’s guide in the back of the book with discussion questions to give you more to think on. I enjoyed Thirsty and I will definitely be re-reading it down the road! (Disclaimer because the FTC says I need one: I received this book free of charge to review from NavPress. I received no other compensation and my reviews are my opinion only.)
Posted by Tristan on 11/5/2009 2:00:07 PM

Book Review: Thirsty

From the Forward of Amy Nappa’s book “Thirsty: Meeting Jesus at Your Deepest Need” … Have you ever felt so overwhelmed with life that you just didn’t think you could even get out of bed? And the thought of work – any kind of work – just made you sick to your stomach? Written in a very personal, friend-to-friend, coffee shop manner, Amy Nappa discusses interesting and thought provoking aspects of ‘The Woman at the Well’. Immediately, she establishes that we are all thirsty, all wanting more, all in need. From there she brings the story (found in John 4:4-32) to life with great attention to what actually was happening in the discussion Jesus had with this woman. Amy Nappa writes with vivid imagination and almost artistic insight into biblical characters, carefully constructing an image of this story with all the shades of nuance and meaning that Max Lucado would offer. The chapters ‘Teasing the Mystery‘, ‘Speaking the Truth‘, and ‘Removing Distractions‘ were of particular interest to me as they present an up-close-and-personal God who makes no apology for the mysteries in life, and unapologetically discounts all objections clearing the way for us to see God’s great interest in meeting our every need. Throughout the book, you find the author’s personal struggles and unique ideas such as the ‘Surprise Me’ experiment (which I plan to use myself) and the idea that God does not have Attention Deficit Disorder – He cannot be distracted from His pursuit of us, of fulfilling our greatest need. A truly remarkable book. With a Reader’s Guide at the end, very useful for Personal Reflection or Group Bible Study. If you have ever wanted to roll over in the bed and sleep away the world, read this book. After you discover how passionate God is about you, you may discover a passion, a thirst of your own.
Posted by Gina Hendrix on 7/4/2009 1:16:52 PM

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He Knew I Was Thirsty...

Good, thought provoking read.

Book Review: Thirsty

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