Saturday, June 7, 2014

All She Read- Finding Spiritual Whitespace


Sometimes, when I get my emails that contain the books I can choose from, I choose at random. When the Revell email came, I scrolled through the non fiction section, hoping for an easy read. An ombre white-tan book caught my eye. "Finding Spiritual Whitespace" was the title, with a subheading reading, "Awakening your soul to rest". Hmm, sounds nice and easy. Ann Voskamp, Lysa Terkeurst, ans Jon Acuff all recommended it. Okay, send me that one. 

When the book I arrived, I opened it to discover an utterly perfect new book. You know, the kind that are still bound tightly and have crisp pages that ruffle when you flip them. So naturally I was reluctant to actually open it and ruin it's perfectness. It sat on my desk, beckoning my attention for a few days before I gave in to reading it. 

Well, I can now tell you that the once perfect book is now a hot mess. It's tear stained, underlined, starred, with notes jotted in the margins, and pages dog eared, with a creased spine. A book has not been this well loved since I read Angie Smith's Mended

Finding Spiritual Whitespace is about more than finding rest. It lead me to find a better story for myself, because so many of my broken pieces were mended through the truths in this book. I wish I could truly convey the many ways I identified with this book, with this author. It is always such an unexpected blessing to find a kindred spirit. There are so many chapters that lead to me gasping aloud, because I finally found a book, rather, an author, who had been in my shoes. Bonnie Gray similarly dealt with anxiety, insomnia, desolation, clutter, mess, reluctance to share, and still made it through alive. She dealt with the hard seasons. Bonnie chose to deal with the hard places that she had previously chosen to close off, because she desired more than just surviving life. She desired restoration. She desired a new way of life, and beauty, and Jesus. So Bonnie fought to get there. Once she did, she went a step further, and shared how God lead her to healing and wholeness. 

Thankfully, Bonnie did what Jesus called her to do. I know the fight it is to actually write your story and share it. But Bonnie does more than share her story- she shares how to move beyond just surviving and shows us how to find restoration and rest amidst our stories. 

This book is a keeper, one to glean and grow from, one to reread. Head to the bookstore (or my favorite, amazon!) and pick up this gem! 

Bonnie's website and twitter

xo, bethany

disclosure: I receive books courtesy of various Christian publishing companies, including Bethany House, Tyndall, and Revell, each of which have blogger review programs. All opinions expressed on All She Wrote regarding the books I receive are mine, unless otherwise indicated. 

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