This is such an important book written out of the pain of tragedy yet with the backdrop of God's goodness and sovereignty. Mattie Selecman lost her husband Ben after less than a year of marriage due to an accident. She writes "It's not fair that I lost Ben the way I did. But it's also not fair that, through jesus, God pours out unending grace and forgiveness over me every single time I sin and fall short. Grace isn't fair; it's a gift." This memoir is her documented journey through the pain of grief and loss and life afterwards. Written with raw honesty Mattie takes us along in the process of wrestling with her thoughts and emotions. One of my favorite quotes from her book is "A big God can handle big prayers. If we believe in an almighty, all-powerful God, which I do, we are selling ourselves short and underestimating His divine nature when we don't pray bold prayers for healing. But if we don't couple His ability to answer our prayers with His authority to choose how He will do so, we diminish who He is as Lord and are left, at best, disappointed and at worst, determined He can't be as good as He says He is." We will all experience some pain, loss, grief, tragedy at some point - if we are not now, we will, because we live in a fallen world. Because Mattie has already gone there and is brave enough to write about all that God has taught her, this is a very important work, worth your time and support. If you don't need it now, you may one day and it will help you on your own journey. An advance copy was made available to me through NetGalley without any commitment of a positive review.
