It's Okay Not to Be Okay by Sheila Walsh

From Amazon: 
We've all experienced that moment where we wish we could start all over again. Failed marriages, lost friends, addictions, lost jobs. This is not the life we imagined. Yesterday can sometimes leave us stuck, sad, shamed, scared, and searching. Sheila Walsh encourages readers to face the pain head on and then start again, from right where they are. She shares that when she discovered "I'm not good enough and I'm good with that," everything started to change.

In It's Okay Not to Be Okay, Walsh helps women overcome the same old rut of struggles and pain by changing the way they think about God, themselves, and their everyday lives. She shares practical, doable, daily strategies that will help women move forward one step at a time knowing God will never let them down.

The term "self-help" isn't one I like to use. While I understand the label and what it's meant to imply, I think it gives a wrong approach when Christians use it. Not everything in life is about "self"; in fact, our lives were meant to point to a Creator, and when the term "self-help" is used, it points to us instead. So when I saw the first line on the back of Sheila Walsh's book I was happy. Not self-help. God help.* God is help and He gives that help to us. 

This is probably the latest book review I've ever done. I try to be on time, but this wasn't a book I could just sit down and read through--even when I wanted to catch up. Walsh's words make you think and each chapter has several quotes pulled out from her writing and made into a page of their own. Each chapter also has questions and ideas for reflection at the end. 

Chapter one starts out by showing us that while it's okay for us not to be okay, we never should stop there. There are steps to moving forward and sometimes we need motivation and a reason to take that first step. Usually that means being willing to admit the truth about yourself, your situation, and God. She talks about the questions that consume our mind during struggles and how we can change the way we think, but first we have to know that we're stuck and needing help. God is in the business of changing lives and creating something beautiful out of brokenness, but we have to be willing to admit our hurt and understand that change happens through God's strength. One of the reasons that it's okay not to be okay, is that Jesus has made us right with God no matter what goes on around us. 

Only an internal transformation will truly change external behavior. Every battle begins in our minds, not with our behavior. We can behave a certain way and remain unchanged. If we want to change how we act, we have to change how we think. 

Sheila Walsh talks about the "what ifs" that plague our minds and tells us to do things afraid, even when you don't have all the answers. Sometimes you just don't know until you do something. And sometimes even when we step out in faith it seems like God doesn't meet us there. But it's when we reach the end of ourselves that God is able to transform our hearts and minds and allow His truth to be louder than our fears.

Walsh uses the life example of Joseph for chapter five when she discusses that we have to let go of what we can't control. We (often) perceive things in different ways than God does, so then we end up not seeing the complete picture as God plans our lives. While man may create devastation around us, God intends all things to be used for our good, and resting in that fact can give us the grace to rise above our disappointments. When we can understand fully that we are completely not enough in any way for anything, Jesus takes what we can give, and provides the rest through grace in the moment. Even when dreams are deferred, the hope we have in God will ultimately not disappoint us.

Sheila talks about how we view the scars that this world gives us. Some are invisible; others are obvious. But through obedience and the grace of Jesus, we can face the past and go on with grace, choosing to view those scars in light of God's mercy and our willingness to get up again and go on one more time. We are free in Christ, and we don't need to hide who we are or how God fashioned us. We aren't supposed to be bound by the labels that society gives us. We are real, but we're all broken, and understanding that Christ is the hero of our stories allows us to be human.

We can't be perfect. We shouldn't stay where we are. We are broken, and we will need healing again and again, but Jesus is our redemption and He makes us whole again. When we can set aside the judgment of the people around us and realize that in Christ we are justified, then we are free to love with abandon. Nothing separates us from that love, and that gives us the strength and courage to get up over and over and move forward--even when we're not okay.

You are not what happened to you. You are a child of God.

*italicized words are quoted from It's Okay Not to Be Okay
*This book was provided free from Baker Publishing in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own; I was not required to write a positive review.

Of Fire and Lions by Mesu Andrews

From Amazon:
Survival. A Hebrew girl first tasted it when she escaped death nearly seventy years ago as the Babylonians ransacked Jerusalem and took their finest as captives. She thought she'd perfected in the many years amongst the Magoi and the idol worshippers, pretending with all the others in King Nebuchadnezzar's court. Now, as Daniel's wife and a septuagenarian matriarch, Belili thinks she's safe and she can live out her days in Babylon without fear--until the night Daniel is escorted to Belshazzar's palace to interpret mysterious handwriting on a wall. The Persian Army invades, and Belili's tightly-wound secrets unfurl with the arrival of the conquering army. What will the reign of Darius mean for Daniel, a man who prays to Yahweh alone? 

Ultimately, Yahweh's sovereign hand guides Jerusalem's captives, and the frightened Hebrew girl is transformed into a confident woman, who realizes her need of the God who conquers both fire and lions.

I didn't read the description of this book before I requested it, and every time I saw the title, I wondered what years of the Bible it would cover. For some reason, Daniel never came to mind, and fire and lions were quite a puzzle to me whenever I was reminded that I needed to read and review it. :)

This book opens by introducing us to Abigail, a mother to a large family, yet somehow shunned and estranged from them--all while living under the same roof. Her faithful companion and servant Mert is sure that things would be different if Abigail would just share her life story with them. But Abigail's not convinced. We also meet Daniel, Abigail's husband, who within minutes is dragged off to interpret a dream for King Belshazzar. The rest of the family seated at dinner is left shocked and distressed, especially since Daniel and his wife are now elderly.

After a couple chapters, we are thrown back in time to Jerusalem and Abigail's childhood in the court of the king. In the chaos that marks the court, Temple, and the years of Jewish history, she is soon an orphan--her life spared by the command of her mother to hide in the Temple. As Babylon takes Judah captive, Abigail must learn a new way of life, that of a servant to four boys: Daniel, Hananiah, Michael, and Azariah. While knowing what was expected of female servants in serving young men, Abigail fears her role, but knows it's the only way to survive. Daniel's kindness slowly wins her trust, and her intelligence leads him to instruct her in all that he's able to learn.

The God of the Israelites faithfully protects Abigail, even when she's separated from her friends, attacked by temple men and forced into pagan temple work. While in today's century professing Christians might turn their backs on God, Andrews shows how that could happen differently back in Daniel and Abigail's time, and Abigail ends up as a high priestess to Mithra, a pagan god.

I love Andrews attention to detail in her books. The names of the pillars of the temple, the bread in the Holy of Holies, the curtain decorations, the cherubim, and the Ark of the Covenant especially. Andrews addresses the controversial topic of eunuchs throughout Of Fire and Lions, because it is part of royalty life. I like her take on it, and while Daniel chooses to marry, his three friends have a revelation from God, as to what being a eunuch really means. Andrews weaves the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's trial by fire, and Daniel's own personal testing in the den of lions. The history regarding King Cyrus and King Darius was very interesting, and Andrews explains a bit more of in the notes at the end of the book. She also does an excellent job allowing kings to be kings in all authority (whether right or not), while also demonstrating that God works through them in providing mercy to the Jews--whether that takes place in everyday court life or in the return of the Jewish exiles to rebuild Jerusalem.

Another story of hope and redemption through pagan kings, friendships with queens, wicked priests and temple workers, plagues and health, secrets and vulnerability, and war and miracles. Just like the Jewish captivity had an end for God's people, so our captivity here on earth and in these bodies has an end when the Son of David returns to claim his throne.


*This book was provided free from the publisher. All opinions are my own; I was not required to write a positive review.