Hi there!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.
Today, we're stepping into the Nonfiction side of things and more specifically in the circles of Christian Living and Spiritual Growth. Now for those of you that may be raising an eyebrow at those particular genres, I have been known to dabble in them from time to time, but this time was actually more of an accident; on this I shall elaborate in a few moments. First, let's introduce today's book of choice....
by
Sara Hagerty
9780310339946
Zondervan
About the book...
In the age of fingertip access to answers and a limitless supply of ambitions, where do we find the God who was birthed in dirt and straw? Sara Hagerty found him when life stopped working for her. She found him when she was a young adult mired in spiritual busyness and when she was a new bride with doubts about whether her fledgling marriage would survive. She found him alone in the night as she cradled her longing for babies who did not come. She found him as she kissed the faces of children on another continent who had lived years without a mommy’s touch.
In Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet, Hagerty masterfully draws from the narrative of her life to craft a mosaic of a God who leans into broken stories. Here readers see a God who is present in every changing circumstance. Most significantly, they see a God who is present in every unchanging circumstance as well.
Whatever lost expectations readers are facing—in family, career, singleness, or marriage—Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet will bring them closer to a God who longs for them to know him more. What does it look like to know God’s nearness when life breaks? What does it mean to receive his life when earthly life remains barren? How can God turn the bitterness of unmet desire into new flavors of joy?
With exquisite storytelling and reflection, Hagerty brings readers back to hope, back to healing, back to a place that God is holding for them alone—a place where the unseen is more real than what the eye can perceive. A place where every bitter thing is sweet.
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Okay, so now that you've done the meet and greet portion of the post, I shall explain my earlier comments. This was an accidental reading choice in the fact that what I thought I was agreeing to review was a work of Fiction. Don't see the reason for me making the distinction? Be patient; it's coming.
You see to me, one's religious choices, affiliations, or beliefs are a fairly personal matter. It may not hold stock with the larger half of the world but I take the whole "you don't preach to me, I won't preach to you" point of view. If you're seeking out religion, that's one thing....but if you're telling a story, I'd rather take the lighter road in the reading and the exploratory road further in on my own. Does that make since? Hopefully....it does in my head at least. Moving forward...
This book is a personal telling of how the author found her beliefs to be tested time and again. Through it all, she kept turning to God; running to him despite her deepest desires for a full life being thwarted time and again. In the end, she builds a life full of love, family, and faith, with enough strength to withstand the floods of Jonah's time, but they came at a cost. The cost at times was pretty high, something many of us may not be willing to pay, but she had the fortitude to withstand it all. Through sheer will, she pushed beyond the hard times. With the love of her better half, she grew to know that she wasn't missing out on the family she had hoped for but being offered it in a way that fulfilled her dreams as well as those of a children in need. Clinging to her faith like a well loved blanket, she found all she truly needed within, above, and all around.
While it's certainly not a read for the masses, it is one that I feel a niche audience will certainly appreciate and perhaps take their own lessons learned out into the world with them. After all, who couldn't use a reminder that even in our darkest hours, we are not truly alone?
Review copy received courtesy of Maxwell at Zondervan. (THANKS!) For more information on this title as well as their growing catalog, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title was released this past October, so be on the lookout for it on a bookstore shelf or virtual retailer of your choosing.
Until next time...happy reading!
