Back in December, a friend of mine texted me a picture of a book cover telling me that this book is great and that I should read it. So, with Christmas just around the corner, I sent the same picture to my mom telling her I was asking for it for Christmas. A few weeks later, I received this book for Christmas and I was very excited to start reading it after hearing about it from a friend. Little did I know how much of an impact this book would have on my life. This book is called "Rediscover Jesus" by Matthew Kelly.

This book is 187 pages of wonderful, inspiring and insightful words about Jesus and how I can "rediscover" my relationship with him in different ways. Every word that Kelly writes in this book has called me to ponder my relationship with Jesus and how I can make it better. Before reading this book, I thought I knew who Jesus was to me and what I believe about him, but after reading this book, I have an even deeper, more personal connection to him that I never saw coming.

I decided to give up social media for Lent and replace the time that I would spend on Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram with time to read this book. Normally, I am not a fan of reading. All of my homework for my classes involves reading, and I am not very good at reading comprehension, so I don't usually read for pleasure. But I am glad I decided to read this book. I was able to learn ways to connect with Jesus and to improve the person I am.

As I read the book, I wrote down specific phrases or ideas that touched my heart. Here are just a few of my favorites:

"Knowing about Jesus is not the same as knowing Jesus."

"When we know who Jesus is, we can know ourselves better."

"When we love ourselves, we care less about what others think and more about what God thinks."

"Suffering reminds us, perhaps more than anything else, that God's ways are not our ways."

"Jesus' attitude toward people was radically different because he saw in every man, woman, and child a child of God."

"Our best days are those when we stay connected with God throughout our day."

"He will replace your confusion with clarity and wisdom, He will replace your anxiety with peace, and He will fill you with gratitude and joy even in the midst of great difficulty."

"A holy moment is a moment when you are being the person God created you to be, and you are doing what you feel God is calling you to do in that moment."

OK, so that was more than a few favorites; it was very hard to pick just a few. But, as you can see, this book is filled with wonderful words that can inspire anyone, no matter where they are in life. At the end of every chapter, there is a point to ponder, a bible verse, a question to ask yourself and a prayer. All these things had to do with what the chapter was about and wrapped up the ideas said in that chapter. All 40 chapters were different in their own ways but still tied together the idea that Jesus was a radical person who did what God called him to do and that we can have a relationship with him.

If you couldn't tell already, I have a great love of this book. It has caused me to think differently about what I think of Jesus and what he thinks of me. This book brought joy to my heart and sometimes even tears to my eyes. Another friend of mine recently gave a talk at an event on campus and she said in her talk that when Jesus looks at us, he sees a mirror image of himself. That statement reminded me of this book and that Jesus is yearning for us to see that we are made in God's image and that we can have that relationship with him. I highly encourage anyone that wants a deeper relationship with Jesus to read this book. If God is pulling at your heartstrings to read this book, please listen to Him. You will not be disappointed.

I will leave you with one final quote from the end of the book. "God doesn't want you to live in your past and he certainly doesn't want you living in your fears. God wants you to live in His power now." Live in His power and feel it in your life by reading this book. Rediscover Jesus. It will change your life.