Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    One Beautiful Dream: The Rollicking Tale of Family Chaos, Personal Passions, and Saying Yes to Them Both
    One Beautiful Dream: The Rollicking Tale of Family Chaos, Personal Passions, and Saying Yes to Them Both
    One Beautiful Dream: The Rollicking Tale of Family Chaos, Personal Passions, and Saying Yes to Them Both
    Audiobook7 hours

    One Beautiful Dream: The Rollicking Tale of Family Chaos, Personal Passions, and Saying Yes to Them Both

    Written by Jennifer Fulwiler and Melanie Shankle

    Narrated by Jennifer Fulwiler

    4.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    Is it possible to pursue your passions, love your family, and not feel guilty about wanting to do both? One Beautiful Dream is your invitation to the unexpected joy of saying yes to the life you long to live.

    Work and family, individuality and motherhood, the creative life and family life—women are told constantly that they can’t have it all. One Beautiful Dream is the deeply personal, often humorous tale of what happened when one woman dared to believe that you can have it all—if you’re willing to reimagine what having it all looks like. 

    Jennifer Fulwiler is the last person you might expect to be the mother of six young children. First of all, she’s an introvert only child, self-described workaholic, and former atheist who never intended to have a family. Oh, and Jennifer has a blood-clotting disorder exacerbated by pregnancy that has threatened her life on more than one occasion.

    One Beautiful Dream is the story of what happens when one woman embarks on the wild experiment of chasing her dreams with multiple kids in diapers. It’s the tale of learning that opening your life to others means that everything will get noisy and chaotic, but that it is in this mess that you’ll find real joy.

    Jennifer’s quest takes her in search of wisdom from a cast of colorful characters, including her Ivy-League-educated husband, her Texan mother-in-law who crushes wasps with her fist while arguing with wrong number calls about politics, and a best friend who’s never afraid to tell it like it is. Through it all, Jennifer moves toward the realization that the life you need is not the life you would have originally chosen for yourself. And maybe, just maybe, it’s better that way.

    Hilarious, highly relatable, and brutally honest, Jennifer’s story will spark clarity and comfort to your own tug-of-war between all that is good and beautiful about family life and the incredible sacrifice it entails. Parenthood, personal ambitions, family planning, and faith—it’s complicated. Let this book be your invitation to the unexpected, yet beautiful dream of saying yes to them all, with God’s help.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherZondervan
    Release dateMay 1, 2018
    ISBN9780310353126
    Author

    Jennifer Fulwiler

    Jennifer Fulwiler is a standup comic, the host of a daily talk show on SiriusXM, and the mom of six kids. She’s the author of the bestselling memoirs Something Other than God and One Beautiful Dream. After being told that there wasn’t an audience for standup comedy done by a minivan-driving woman from the suburbs, she self-produced her own tour, which is selling out venues across the country. Follow her on Instagram at @JenniferFulwiler.  

    Related to One Beautiful Dream

    Related audiobooks

    Christianity For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Hell Is A City in Texas

      Jun 14, 2021

      Hell Is A City in Texas
      10 min read

    • Article

      I'm in Prison During the Shutdown. I Didn't Get "Holiday Steak."

      Jan 18, 2019

      We wait by the door for our turn at chow. It's Christmas dinner—really, early lunch since it's only 10:30 in the morning. Here, holiday meals are something to look forward to. They're never great, but the guys in the kitchen try hard. Life

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Abortions I Have Known

      Mar 17, 2019

      The Abortions I Have Known
      10 min read

    • Article

      Here’s What I Don’t Say

      Jun 1, 2019

      Here’s What I Don’t Say
      13 min read

    • Article

      Truth Be Told

      Mar 26, 2022

      Truth Be Told
      5 min read

    • Article

      THE CYBER Saviour

      Feb 10, 2021

      THE CYBER Saviour
      3 min read

    • Article

      Love in LOCKDOWN

      May 7, 2020

      Love in LOCKDOWN
      7 min read

    • Article

      Meeting Eve Babitz

      Jan 7, 2019

      Meeting Eve Babitz
      7 min read

    • Article

      David Sedaris

      Sep 15, 2017

      Our house on Emerald Isle, The Sea Section, is divided down the middle, and has an E beside one front door and a W beside the other. The east side is ruled by Hugh, and the bedroom we share is on the top floor. It opens onto a deck that overlooks the

      12 min read

    • Article

      Not Just For CHRISTMAS

      Dec 8, 2021

      Not Just For CHRISTMAS
      9 min read

    • Article

      Dementia

      Aug 12, 2021

      Dementia
      10 min read

    • Article

      Dementia

      Aug 12, 2021

      Dementia
      10 min read

    • Article

      Begin Again

      Jun 14, 2022

      My grandfather came to live with me. There was nowhere else for him to go. What had happened to all his children? Death, decay, exile—I hardly know. My own parents died of pain. But I must not be too gloomy, at the beginning, or you will leave me, an

      6 min read

    • Article

      How To Survive The End Of The World With Jenny Offill

      Mar 30, 2020

      I realize this is what the book is about: everyday living during the end of the world. The futility, the impossibility, the absurdity of trying to keep people alive, trying to keep them safe. The post How to Survive the End of the World with Jenny Of

      3 min read

    • Article

      I’ll Not Risk Myself

      Feb 10, 2024

      My phone reception is better outside the laundromat, so I spend most of my time waiting for laundry on the bench near the door. I don’t talk with my friends, but I surf the news. I like to know what’s going on. I don’t like people to know about me, t

      13 min read

    • Article

      Q-tip Options

      Oct 10, 2023

      I am not a good person. Abby was at my door. My reaction when I saw her should have been more charitable. She was young and cute and needy, but all I wanted was a nice relaxing day at home. When the police questioned her, I should have let them take

      16 min read

    • Article

      Dementia

      Aug 12, 2021

      Dementia
      10 min read

    • Article

      Reading

      May 1, 2023

      Reading
      21 min read

    • Article

      Till We Meet Again

      Aug 25, 2023

      Till We Meet Again
      5 min read

    • Article

      Dementia

      Aug 12, 2021

      Dementia
      10 min read

    • Article

      Nineteen And Pregnant In 1969

      Nov 1, 2022

      I hadn’t been religious for some time, but I prayed, God, please don’t let me die. The post Nineteen and Pregnant in 1969 appeared first on The Millions.

      7 min read

    • Article

      “I Escaped My Grandfather’s Sex Cult”

      Mar 16, 2022

      I was born into the Family, a religious movement founded in Huntington Beach, California, in 1968 by my grandfather David Brandt Berg, with help from his four children, including my father, Hosea. It was known as the Children of God in its early days

      8 min read

    • Article

      Carrie Fountain

      Mar 1, 2020

      Outside Dublin, Texas the radio stationsdisappear and I’m left alone with the faintvoice of a call-in psychologist talkingto a man in Cleveland about the voiceof the self, the narratives that voicetells, how they can be sharp and wrongand cut to the

      5 min read

    • Article

      Virginia Ironside

      Nov 16, 2022

      Q I'm sure you'll think I'm ridiculous: I'm a 70-year-oldwoman and I'm starting to wonder if I might not be gay. I did get married and had two children whom I adore, but I've always felt an outsider. I've always had very close friendships with women

      3 min read

    • Article

      Counselor of Chippewa Cabin

      Jun 26, 2020

      Counselor of Chippewa Cabin
      5 min read

    • Article

      Something Better

      May 10, 2022

      Something Better
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for One Beautiful Dream

    4.5/5

    30 ratings5 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      This heart warming, honest and witty story gives me hope for my own family life! God is good!
    • 5/5
      This book GETS ME. I made my husband listen to, like, half of it, and maybe it just found me at a really important moment, but it felt like a renewal and a revival of all the things that matter to me--doing good work, raising kids and being a good mom/parent, and loving Jesus. Why do we get stuck thinking all three of those are mutually exclusive? I especially appreciate Jen's superb story-telling. This is a book that reads way more like fiction that non-fiction so BLESS YOU JEN. Honestly, I think it'll make you laugh and cry whether you're a SAHM, a working mom, or something in between.
    • 4/5
      Very enjoyable. I had followed her blog when I was in high school, and many of the stories were familiar to me, as she had posted versions of them on the blog as they happened. It was nice to be able to see all of the stories in context, though if I'm honest, they limited my enjoyment because I saw them coming (this mostly happened in the second half of the book).

      There was lots of new material though (the account of the 'extrovert retreat' in particular was hilarious and touching), and it dealt with a lot of issues that I struggle with and that I'm trying to discern. I'm glad I read it.
    • 5/5
      Life Changing
      If it is possible for me to change , this book will do it.
    • 5/5
      This was a really cool idea. Her first book was on how she converted from being an atheist to being Catholic. This book is a continuation of that book, but it details her life and her continuing changes as she is writing the first book and her struggles to get that book written. Jen offers a fresh perspective on life and living with faith. I don't know her family, but just by reading the book you can tell that they are good people who want to leave the world in a better place.