I wrote Rhinestone Jesus because I want you to know the whole story.

It’s funny how easy it is to look at someone’s life and even their God-sized dream and think, “I could never do that, be that, have that sort of faith or courage or success  or fill in the blank.”

I’m pulling back the curtains, revealing the dirt under the rug, and I’m telling it all…the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the shattered and redeemed chapters of my life. I want you to meet the awkward teen who wore a sparkly Jesus pin to high school because I was too afraid to do the talking myself. I want you to understand I was a dreamer. But instead of chasing dreams, I mostly ran from them.

I want you to identify with me as a mother –weary and overwhelmed and not always realizing I was seeing the face of God every time I wiped a small smudged one. I want you to see just how damaged my marriage was and how we fought hell itself to love again. I want to show you the ugly places, the unwilling heart, the times I said no–you must see this to get a clear picture of who is really telling this story.

I want you to see past these gorgeous faces full of hope and a future and understand how against all odds, a broken girl with a broken past said yes to God in a most unlikely place. I want you to see that your small every day yes matters so much more than you think it does.

And most of all, when you read about my sometimes chaotic, troubled and imperfect life, I pray it inspires you to look at yours and instead of seeing a mess, you discover the perfect place for God’s glory.

I’ve spent the last year spilling my story onto the pages of this book. It’s not for “just moms” because there’s no such thing. It’s for everyone who has a yes inside them. It’s for women who would like to get their life just right before they feel like they can do something for God. It’s for those who are sick of stuff and the weight of the American Dream. It’s for those who wonder if Jesus is enough. It’s for those who have stopped dreaming. It’s for the broken.

But mostly, it’s for Jesus, not the sparkly one, but the one who rescued me, the Savior who urged me out of my comfort zone into wild obedience. I wrote it for His glory and for all those brave enough to say yes with me.

Meet Kristen Welch

Over the years, Kristen has grown a vast following of moms who identify with her real, often funny, and always inspiring writing.

In 2010, Kristen traveled with Compassion International to Kenya on a blogging trip to write about poverty in a huge slum. That experience turned her world upside down, and as a result, she and her family founded a non-profit called Mercy House Kenya. The organization funds a residential maternity center, operated by indigenous staff, that offers hope and a home to pregnant teens living in extreme poverty.

In 2011, Kristen wrote her first book, a devotional for moms called Don’t Make Me Come Up There! She is also one of Dayspring’s (in)Courage writers, a frequent speaker, and a regular contributor to Lifeway’s HomeLife magazine. She is a regular writer at HuffPost Parents and has a monthly column in ParentLife magazine.

Kristen’s blog following continues to grow, and many of the readers financially support the work of Mercy House. When she and her family aren’t traveling to Kenya, Kristen and her husband and their three children live in Magnolia, Texas, where they enjoy going to football games, flea markets, trying new restaurants and working with displaced refugees in Houston.