Do you need hope for the daily grind? Are your responsibilities and commitments robbing your life of joy? Are you sleepwalking through your days? Are you on the sidelines of your life as a spectator instead of fully participating? This is your wake-up call to a Fresh-Brewed Life . Nicole Johnson invites us to wake up to a richer, fuller, more flavorful life than we ever imagined. In a robust blend of relationship, ritual, and hope, we are summoned on a journey of discovery that awakens us to God to ourselves, and to others. And- like lingering over a cup of coffee- this is a process to be savored. Since first published ten years ago, Fresh-Brewed Life has helped more than 100,000 women wake up their souls. Now revised and expanded with additional chapters, more journaling ideas and fresh-brewed adventures, and a brand new discussion guide, Fresh-Brewed Life will help start brewing your own, richer, more meaningful life. Nicole Johnson, author of Fresh Brewed Life, has a uniquely creative voice. As an accomplished writer, speaker, and actor, Nicole has performed in thousands of churches and venues over the last twenty-five years, including more than a decade of touring with the national conference Women of Faith. Nicole lives in Santa Monica, CA with her husband and two children. Nicole writes regularly at www.nicolejohnson.org Fresh-Brewed Life A Stirring Invitation to Wake Up Your Soul By NICOLE JOHNSON Thomas Nelson Copyright © 2011 Nicole Johnson All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4002-0315-4 Contents Introduction: Taking Your First Sip......................ixChapter 1 Surrender to God...............................1Chapter 2 Encounter Your Journal.........................20Chapter 3 Listen to Your Longings........................38Chapter 4 Embrace Your Beauty............................65Chapter 5 Interview Your Anger...........................85Chapter 6 Savor Your Sexuality...........................103Chapter 7 Celebrate Your Friendships.....................121Chapter 8 Change Your World..............................136Chapter 9 Enrich Your Relationships......................155Chapter 10 Enjoy Your Freedom............................170Epilogue: Good to the Last Drop..........................190Bibliography.............................................198Discussion Questions.....................................201Acknowledgments..........................................210About the Author.........................................212 Chapter One Surrender to God You reach for the brass door handle and pull. As the seal of the door is broken, the vacuum-packed freshness envelops your senses. You step inside to warmth that wraps around your soul like a cashmere scarf. Your whole person is enveloped by the aroma. The familiar sound of hissing steam works on your stress level like a pressure release valve. You've entered a special coffee shop, and you're helpless. You give yourself over. Surrender. You're staying in the home of a good friend. You have no responsibilities this morning, so you leisurely wake up on your own. You blink to focus and take in the room. Your clothes are lying across the chair. The sunlight is streaming in through the window, playing on the corner of the bedspread. Then from down the stairs and around the corner, the invitation finds you. Your nose has discovered the promise of a good start to the day still ahead, fresh-brewed coffee. It draws you out from under the covers. You pull on clothes as you make your way toward the promise. Surrender. She's sitting in her chair. She's been awake for hours. From the time you were little, you remember her being up before everyone else. Bible open, coffee cup in her hands, beginnings of breakfast on the counter awaiting her return. Peaceful and calm. Still. The warmth of her spirit is met with the warmth of his love. A sacred, rewarding ritual. Her heavenly Father and a cup of coffee. She knows him, and he knows her. Surrender. * * * The fresh-brewed life is a spiritual journey from beginning to end. It is a call to wake up that begins in a relationship with the One in whom we began. God alone can tell us what we most want to know. He alone is the Rock strong enough to anchor our lives in the midst of the storms we encounter. And as we journey, it is God and only God who can go deep enough to rouse our sleepy souls. I could not rouse my sleepy soul alone. I could not keep the pilot light of faith lit consistently enough to make the kind of difference I longed for. I've tried getting up at four thirty in the morning to have a quiet time with the Lord. Trust me: it was quiet. I have fallen asleep on God on more occasions than I would like to count. I have tried to memorize chapters of Scripture only to conclude that I must have killed off so many brain cells with artificial sweeteners, trying to be thin, that I'll never be able to be holy. Somehow I mistakenly thought that Jesus said, "Come unt