Beautiful Things Happen When A Woman Trusts God is Sheila Walsh's personal account of how she climbed out of clinical depression with God's grace and truth. Trust, in general, is a hard topic to write about never mind live. Trusting God wholeheartedly can be one of the hardest and most exhilarating things you can do. Sheila takes us "behind the scenes" of her clinical depression and hospitalization. We get a birds-eye view of a woman torn between a world she knows all to well and a very scary and uncertain future. Her prose is strong and her writing approachable.
Sheila seamlessly blends her life story with that of Biblical characters whose lives were touched by God through their trust in him.
There is nothing earth shattering about this book. As a long-time Christian I did not "learn" anything new.
What I did do is walk away with a better understanding of Sheila's journey and had a clear reminder of how powerful our God is. She has a refreshing approach and very readable style. The book does include discussion questions and an in-depth bible study.
Thomas Nelson provided me with a complimentary copy of this book. It will be passed around! Recommended without reservation.....
Obsessed
I'm obsessed with my children's education. We've decided to homeschool and I've been researching and reading everything I can get my hands on for the past 4 years.
There is so much out there! Unbelievable. The possibilities are truly endless.
So overwhelming, yet I wouldn't have it any other way. I love the look on Jackson's face when he reads a story to Grace. I love how proud he looks when he learns something new and can prove it (over and over again). As with most things today, there are too many choices so I will have to live with the "what ifs". Matt and I know what we want the core of his education to be and we know that we want to raise a kind, strong and adventurous young boy who loves the Lord and who loves to learn.
I just feel so inadequate sometimes.
Thank God that with Him all things are possible.
Otherwise I'd be sending them both to public school and spending my days with my feet up eating brownies and reading.
By the way, I'm almost done with the Sheila Walsh book. All I gotta say so far is....Awesome. A definite must read.
There is so much out there! Unbelievable. The possibilities are truly endless.
So overwhelming, yet I wouldn't have it any other way. I love the look on Jackson's face when he reads a story to Grace. I love how proud he looks when he learns something new and can prove it (over and over again). As with most things today, there are too many choices so I will have to live with the "what ifs". Matt and I know what we want the core of his education to be and we know that we want to raise a kind, strong and adventurous young boy who loves the Lord and who loves to learn.
I just feel so inadequate sometimes.
Thank God that with Him all things are possible.
Otherwise I'd be sending them both to public school and spending my days with my feet up eating brownies and reading.
By the way, I'm almost done with the Sheila Walsh book. All I gotta say so far is....Awesome. A definite must read.
The New "Abnormal"
So much of being a mother is living in the moment. We utter phrases like "this too shall pass" and "one day at a time" so often that it feels almost like platitudes instead of comfort. Cover the ugly and move on.
I truly believe that so much is missed by skipping over the hard parts. The 2a.m. frustrations of an infant not wanting to sleep. The mid-afternoon wiggles of a 4 year old who refuses to calm down.
There's been a lot of sickness and lack of sleep in our family the last few weeks and I've felt like life has been put on hold. A lack of "normal". It can be so disheartening, yet I feel like God is teaching me that it's in this "lack of normal" that life is found.
I think most of us feel that "normal" equals "perfect". Have you ever met someone with a "perfect" life? Neither have I.
Yet we have the possibility of perfection thrown in our faces everyday - magazines, books, masks on friends. Wouldn't it be nice to have a house as clean and organized as Jane's? Susie's house always smells like fresh baked cookies. The article in that parenting magazine says I can be all things, do all things and still have time to soak in a tub with a good book telling me how I can be all things and do all things as quickly as possible.
Ugh.
I'm learning instead that life resides in the "lack of normal".
Our homes are less than stellar.
Our children will challenge authority.
Our marriages will always need attention.
Our relationship with God is ever-changing.
And that's okay.
Because God promises to meet us where we're at. Have you noticed how quiet it is at 2a.m.? Have you realized how easy it is to wrangle a wiggly child with a hug and promise of a story?
I'm learning to talk to Him during the everyday "abnormalites" and take joy in the moment. Even if it means losing sleep in the middle of the night and stepping over the laundry.
I truly believe that so much is missed by skipping over the hard parts. The 2a.m. frustrations of an infant not wanting to sleep. The mid-afternoon wiggles of a 4 year old who refuses to calm down.
There's been a lot of sickness and lack of sleep in our family the last few weeks and I've felt like life has been put on hold. A lack of "normal". It can be so disheartening, yet I feel like God is teaching me that it's in this "lack of normal" that life is found.
I think most of us feel that "normal" equals "perfect". Have you ever met someone with a "perfect" life? Neither have I.
Yet we have the possibility of perfection thrown in our faces everyday - magazines, books, masks on friends. Wouldn't it be nice to have a house as clean and organized as Jane's? Susie's house always smells like fresh baked cookies. The article in that parenting magazine says I can be all things, do all things and still have time to soak in a tub with a good book telling me how I can be all things and do all things as quickly as possible.
Ugh.
I'm learning instead that life resides in the "lack of normal".
Our homes are less than stellar.
Our children will challenge authority.
Our marriages will always need attention.
Our relationship with God is ever-changing.
And that's okay.
Because God promises to meet us where we're at. Have you noticed how quiet it is at 2a.m.? Have you realized how easy it is to wrangle a wiggly child with a hug and promise of a story?
I'm learning to talk to Him during the everyday "abnormalites" and take joy in the moment. Even if it means losing sleep in the middle of the night and stepping over the laundry.
