Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson

Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling, and the Mystery of Making by Andrew       Peterson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I cannot put into words how inspired I am by this book. Andrew Peterson’s writing is more wonderful than I can say. It has encouraged, inspired, and challenged me as an artist and creator. He walks you through the process of the rise and fall and rise of his music as well as the details of his personal life. I am thankful for his humility to share what actually happened in his life and how he has proceeded on through trial. The allure here is that he overcame through building a community of people who resonated with and encouraged each other in their craft.

For me, the story was encouraging because I could see myself in it. The rebuilding of a house. Overcoming self to be creative. Pushing through toward the thing we yearn for. He shared such depth ad insight that went along with his life. The book is full of inspiring beauty. I feel like it gave me six months of homework. Honestly, I can’t wait.

I do not read many books twice, but I will definitely read this again.

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Check out Is He Worthy? By Andrew Peterson https://youtu.be/OIahc83Kvp4

Thanks to Andrew’s publisher for generously providing this book for me to review.

I Give Up by Laura Story

 I Give Up: The Secret Joy of a Surrendered Life by Laura  Story

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was completely amazed by the depth of LauraStory’s music when I heard Blessings. Coming to know that it was inspired by her husband’s brain cancer made it l the more powerful. This book touches on that. The parts where she shares her personal struggles and howGod helped her through each hard season really spoke to me. This has been a hard walk for her. Her husband is still disabled and not driving and she has several children and a set of twins. I enjoyed reading her storytelling so much.

The part I had a hard time with was what felt lie regurgitated Sunday School lessons. It felt like a stretch to include these stories in the way they were told. The style changed. The storytelling stopped. It was awkward to me and I had a hard time getting through those sections. It was transference of facts.I wish she would have told it in the same way as the rest of the book. This was a huge chunk of it though.

Her story itself is worth reading. New Christians could get something from her sharing about the Bible stories.


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I did enjoy her white flag prayers at the end of each chapter.

The Complicated Heart by Sarah Mae

I held my breath through some of this book. It was incredibly raw and real. Some of it brought up things from my past that I had tucked away. We often never realize how much we tuck away and internalize until someone else’s story brings it back in the light. When we grow up with an alcoholic or abusive parent, we tend to blame ourselves for everything and then heap ourselves with shame over our reactions. Most of the time it wasn’t about us. It wasn’t our fault. Even the things we ended up doing to ourselves or others are not meant to be hidden under shame. They are meant to be brought into the light for healing. Sarah Mae has done this and modeled it for all of us. She has shown us the beauty of wrestling through trauma with Jesus. It is often hard to read, but it’s worth the struggle. 

The Complicated Heart: Loving Even When It Hurts by Sarah Mae
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think for a long time Christian women wrote books that were ridiculously fluffy. They talked about Jesus, of course, but never shared much meat from their lives. There has been a shift in this area over the past few years. Women are coming out humbly recounting deep trauma, sin, and healing. It has been the most refreshing thing to see. I had wondered if this book would be more of the old type of book, but when I dove in I was blown away by this woman’s candor. She told some hard stories of abortion and abusive relationships. She recounted history that would lock most women in shame. Her backstory with her mama is one for the record books. It is told in the most interesting way. She came across her mother’s journals and put the timeline to what she was going through at the time. You can see both sides. If you have ever struggled with your relationship with your mom, I recommend this to you. It also leads you through a trail of what trauma can do to you and cause you to do to yourself. Read it. I found healing I didn’t know I needed locked in it’s pages.


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This book was graciously provided by the publisher for review.