Help for recovering perfectionists

4 STARS

REVIEW: Confessions of a Raging Perfectionist By Amanda Jenkins

This title drew me in right away and I could not wait to read this book, because also I consider myself a recovering perfectionist.  Reading this book was like talking to a friend who understood me, since she suffers from this perfectionist tendency as well.

Each chapter was a peek into author Amanda Jenkins’ life and soul.  She is addicted to Diet Coke, has too many expectations for her husband, is a struggling mother at times, and is working to be obedient to God.  Jenkins is a real woman with real struggles, just like every one of us.  But, she wrote all her struggles down in a book for all to read!  Blessings to her for having the courage to be open in hopes that it might help others who try to live up to the perfect standard!  All recovering perfectionists can learn something from this book.

Besides the look into Amanda’s life, at the end of the book is a nice set of discussion questions for the reader, or to use for a women’s small group dialogue to help all those struggling with being a perfectionist.

*Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for an unbiased review.

  

HERE ARE A FEW Q&A’S WITH AMANDA:

In your book, you talk about your addiction to perfection. What were the signs that this was

an issue for you?

Little things. For a long time, I didn’t let my husband see me without makeup. I got really upset/frazzled when people dropped by unexpectedly. I got easily embarrassed when I messed up, and I wouldn’t admit to struggling. And I thought I had life pretty together—that I actually  didn’t struggle/mess up/sin as much as other people did.

What advice might you give someone in your same situation so that God can release her from

her obsession and accept the true freedom that comes through the love of Christ?

Get specific with God first. Ask Him to show you not just what the strangleholds in your life are, but all the ways they’re manifesting. Perfectionism was a stranglehold that was showing itself in all kinds of destructive ways in my life. And God dealt with them one by one, and being honest with and accountable to others was a part of that process for me.

What is the best advice or encouragement that you have received?

Start talking and keep talking. Satan wants us to be quiet—to hide our sin from ourselves and everyone else. But sin gets bigger and more powerful in the dark, which is why God wants us to live in the light. So we need to talk. We need the encouragement and accountability that comes in numbers. And we need to share the stories of how God is rescuing us. Again.

For more information, visit Amanda’s blog at http://www.ragingperfectionist.com/.

For an excerpt of Chapter One, visit (http://files.tyndale.com/thpdata/FirstChapters/978-1-4143-7870-1.pdf)