She's Got Issues by Nicole Unice

Have you ever thrown a block of parmesan, followed by the grater, at your husband for commenting on a messy kitchen? If you have, did you then happen to sit down a week later to write a chapter about anger in a book about everyday issues?

Nicole Unice, author of the new book She's Got Issues, has. Anecdotes like the one involving a cheese grater make She's Got Issues a compelling read. Instead of saying, "Y'all are messed up and here's how," Nicole says, "We are all messed up. Let's look to Jesus."

As a young mother, Nicole reached a crucible moment when, as she was prepping for dinner, she thought, Is being a Christian supposed to change me? She writes, "The disparity between what I said I believed about the Christian life and what I was living became clear to me."

There were no desperate sins, no awful situation from which to be rescued. Just—life.

In the book, Nicole discusses five (and a half) everyday issues that infect our lives: control, insecurity, comparison, fear, and anger (with its relation, unforgiveness). While these aren't sexy issues, they are commonplace ones we all struggle with. We often laugh them off, giving them affectionate names such as "control freak," and disguise them as part of our personalities.

Secretly, though, we all know these nagging little issues keep us from living the full life Christ promises. By using personal anecdotes and illustrations, She's Got Issues reads at times like a self-help book with relevant checklists, action points, and journaling exercises.

Nicole offers several strategies on how to recognize why controlling every situation in life could be harmful. For instance, in chapter 3, "I'm Not Controlling (I Just Like My Latte Extra Hot)," Nicole uses her high-maintenance order at Starbucks to show readers how easily control takes hold in everyday situations. By regularly ordering a latte with one percent milk, two shots of espresso, and two shots of vanilla, extra hot with low foam, Nicole admits the invisible force of control is at work in the order and her life. To remedy these patterns, Nicole provides readers with an "Are You a Control Freak?" quiz in the middle of the chapter, followed by brief analysis, scripture references, a personal prayer, and journaling exercise designed to encourage readers to unearth what is at the root of their desires in order to live out a healthier and more freeing life.

By placing Christ at the center of everyday living, She's Got Issues reminds us that we have sins holding us back—but also that we aren't the only ones. She's Got Issues is a fantastic book to read with trusted friends, as it's full of examples from Scripture and from Nicole's counseling practice, ministry, and life. The book, along with supplementary content in the She's Got Issues DVD Group Experience, gives tools with group study questions that are sure to, as Nicole writes, allow readers to "pull back the covers on our true insecurities" by "focusing our attention on God."

Read more articles that highlight writing by Christian women at ChristianityToday.com/Women