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“If there was one thing Williams had learned over his seventy-plus years on Earth, it was that everyone always had their own agenda.”


This is shaping up to be a pretty good series, reminiscent of an A.G. Riddle’s sci-fi, med-tech type of thriller.

Deep Freeze hooks you from the start with a mysterious prelude where a man stops an armed robbery at a convenience store then boards a bus that gets in an accident and falls from the bridge into a freezing river where he is able to save everyone on the bus except himself.

That part is told from a very detached perspective which I’m not sure I liked that part, but it invests you in this ‘hero’ character that made me think of the guy on Person of Interest.

It’s a fast-paced thriller and even though there are a lot of characters and medical/technical jargon, it’s an engaging story that leaves you on a cliffhanger!


Basic Premise

We are not told what happens to the man until we are introduced to our other characters who are all in a lab working on a cryonics project where their goal is to resuscitate a human from their frozen state.

Yep, it’s the guy who froze in the river.

They bring him back to life, a surprising number of years after the accident.

“Life often had a way of operating according to its own set of rules, presenting surprises when one least expected them. Even in the most routine and controlled procedures.”

But it becomes evident that the people leading and backing the project have been kept a secret for a reason. The man was chosen for this experiment for a reason. And the end goal for this experiment is also a mystery.

The man draws some of the visions he has been having after his resurrection. Of places and events he would never have witnessed. Now his existence is a threat and the higher-ups want the project and everything associated with it erased. Including the man. Who is showing signs of medical complications.

He has other ideas.

Can he work with his newfound resistance group and figure it out before he re-freezes to death?


Cast of Characters

I feel like I might need this by the time I read the second book, so here are the main players in the book that I can reveal without spoiling anything:

 John Reiff: the man from the river; ex-military

 Rachel Souza: doctor on the project; specializes in the vascular system; tries to save Reiff from being ‘erased’

“She didn’t know what they wanted, but she knew it couldn’t be good. People don’t get murdered to keep good things a secret.”

 Dr. Perry Williams: project’s Chief Medical Officer; works closely with Rachel but specializes in major organs; the first one to catch on that something else is going on with the project

 Robert Masten: “decades-old prince of biotech and a hardened executive who knew the ins and outs of the industry better than anyone”; the on-site head of the project

 Nora Lagner: Chief Technology Officer; Masten’s right-hand-woman

 Liam Duchik: the ‘handler’


Comments

One thing I liked about this book were the really short chapters. It made it quicker to read and faster-paced. The book is just 330ish pages but there were 100 chapters.


One thing that I think would have helped, although it may have been intentionally vague in the beginning, was to set the scene better. The book seems to be a bit of a dystopian sci-fi thriller. There aren’t really any signs of this until well over halfway when we find out about The Great Collapse and The Great Struggle— certain economic, financial, and physical wars around the globe. It’s not anarchy and technology still exists, but there are other hardships the world is recovering from.

It didn’t seem to be a huge part of most of the book but I have a feeling it will come into play in the rest of the series. At least I hope so, otherwise it feels too insignificant and random to have used for the setting of the book.


The machine that brings Reiff back to life is called The Machine. Which is a smidge bit vague and non-descriptive. But I couldn’t come up with anything better as of now so I’ll let it go.


I should address the med-tech jargon stuff because I know that’s what can turn people off to these type of books. There is quite a bit of talk surrounding medical procedures and biological processes and technological advancements that are hard to follow at times. But the details are not essential to understanding and enjoying the story.

If it all makes sense to you, great. But if your eyes glaze over during those parts, you’re not going to be lost in the story!


I mentioned earlier that this book reminded me of A.G. Riddle’s books. One reason for that is the inclusion of real-life technological advancements and incorporating them into the story— like telomeres. Riddle uses more historical references than Grumley, but I do like when I can learn things while I’m reading.


Recommendation

I would definitely recommend this book! Although I don’t like waiting for books, I’m glad it ended on a cliffhanger. There was too much to wrap up so instead of rushing it, we get to continue the story and see, hopefully, more layers to what’s going on.

We did get a little resolution, but we still have some questions, especially regarding Reiff’s past and future.

I will say that looking back on it, it does seem like not a whole lot happened, but it didn’t feel like that while I was reading it. Plus it read fast so it’s not a huge commitment like some sci-fi is.

I look forward to the next one and hope we don’t have to wait too long!

If you like books like this, I would recommend A.G. Riddle as I’ve already mentioned, but also Tosca Lee’s duology beginning with The Line Between.


[Content Advisory: no sexual content; minimal swearing- mostly using Jesus’ name in vain, I don’t think there were any f-words]

**Received an ARC from Forge Books in exchange for an honest review**

“She feels like something dangerous. What she knows about me, about us. What she could destroy. I’ve been careless, taken my eye off what’s important, and things have gone too far.”

“My family, my kids. They can never, never know what I’ve done.”


When the first thing that happens in the book is the main character, Lucy, sees a coworker’s photo of a couple they met in the Maldives that appears to be her husband’s best friend with a woman who was not his wife, I worried that we found out too much too fast and it was going to be long and boring.

But luckily, I was wrong. There were many more knots and secrets to untangle as the story goes on.

I also appreciated that this wasn’t just a paranoid character trope. Lucy is more just curious and obsessed with finding the truth by actually looking and finding answers, not just sitting at home and speculating in her mind and wondering if she’s crazy.

That helped move the story along because Lucy kept discovering things and actually made some tough decisions to communicate with the police which I found surprising considering a lot of books I read.



The premise is this:

Adam & Lucy and Scott & Cora are two couples who are best friends. Adam, Scott, and Cora went to Leeds University together and have a history. That history comes to haunt them when Lucy finds out the woman in the photo with Scott— Juliet— was a girl who also went to school with them.

Then Juliet turns up dead in the Maldives- murdered. And Scott was supposedly just with her.

And then the coworker who showed her the photo finds herself in the hospital.

Lucy’s world comes crashing down when more and more secrets are revealed as she searches for the truth.

She might not like what she finds and whoever is hiding from her will do anything to keep those secrets hidden!



I will warn that the end of the book isn’t really a happy ending. It’s not necessarily unsatisfying but the characters are pretty dysfunctional and if you’re a ‘happy ending’ kind of book reader, you may not want to do this one.

I figured out the primary mystery at 30% (i.e. who was narrating the mystery POV sections and who the killer was) but there were other things that I wasn’t sure about throughout the book.

It’s not a high-octane thriller, but more of a suspicion-driven domestic thriller.

There was a decent amount of swearing, but most of the f-words were grouped together during times the characters found out bad news or got hurt and not in constant daily use like an adjective. Not great, but could have been worse.

Overall, a decent book that I would recommend.



 Learning Corner

Cooper is a British author so of course here is my little learning corner. These are all food-related words I learned while reading this book:

- Ribena: blackcurrant-based soft drink (carbonated and non); and comes in concentrate to be mixed with water

- cheesy mash: cheesy mashed potatoes

- Quavers: UK equivalent to a Cheeto; a cheesy airy chip named after the musical note- quaver (which is an eighth note); you can buy them on Amazon

- malt loaf: a sweet bread served with butter

- poppadoms: thin round Indian bread


[Content Advisory: 48 f-words, 15 s-words; an affair occurs but no sex scenes]


**Received an ARC via NetGalley**

“Truth matters. It matters not just in our relationships, in what we say to others, but inside each of us.”

It took me awhile to get through this book and I wish I would have read it within a shorter time frame, but for some of it I was reading it with a group and so it was sporadic reading.

Combining psychology and biblical truths, there are a lot of good insights in this book to help us recognize that the way we think about God, ourselves, life, and others is important and it’s often distorted in ways we never realized.

Thurman has written this book to help expose some of those lies and to tell us the truths we SHOULD believe that will transform our lives.

“We lie to ourselves every day, multiple times a day, when we tell ourselves things that are inaccurate, distorted, untrue, irrational, mistaken, and most important, unbiblical. The lies we tell ourselves cost us dearly. They cost us good relationships with others, a sense of meaning and purpose, emotional health, well-lived lives, confidence that we have worth, and an intimate relationship with the God of the universe, who created us in His image.”


We’d like to think that we are rational thinkers and that we can trust our intuitions and that our ‘heart’ would never lie to us, but that’s just simply not true. The Bible says:

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools…” (Rom 1:21-22)

“the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but have itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Tim 4:4)

“the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Cor. 4:4)

We have to take captive every thought and discern whether we are believing lies or truth.


The aim of this book is to help with that.

This book would be easy to outline because it’s broken down into different sections within the chapters with lots of headings and provides ‘answers’ often in list form. He says these lists are to help us “assess whether you believe certain lies and whether you fall into unhealthy ways of living life.”

After explaining the ways that our minds are under attack and some methods of overthrowing mental strongholds, he goes through the lies that we believe about ourselves, others, life, and God, followed by chapters specifically about lies women believe and men believe.

Here are just a few of the lies addressed in the book:

- My worth is determined by how I perform
- My unhappiness is externally caused
- Others should accept me just the way I am
- People are basically good
- Life should be easy and fair
- You can have it all
- God is mean and vindictive
- I can do it by myself
- My main job in life is to make everyone happy

The next part, after tearing down the lies, is spent building up the truths. Some of these are:

- To err is human
- You can’t please everyone
- It’s not all about you
- Life is difficult
- You are a person of great worth
- The world owes you nothing
- You are going to die

Some of these kind of sound a little gloomy. Maybe you prefer to hear- You’re awesome! Everything is awesome! You deserve the best and everything you want and on and on.

But that’s why I’m not typically a fan of self-help books. Because 1) they seem to tell you to look within yourself for help, when we should be looking to God to save us from ourselves, but 2) a lot of self-helpy type books promote ‘positive thinking’ as a solution. That has always felt empty to me.

I appreciate that Thurman also agrees with this and reminds us that it’s about the truth, not just being positive:

“I’m not a fan of ‘positive thinking.’ As far as I’m concerned, those who tout positive thinking are actually part of the problem, not part of the solution. Why? Because, the most important issue about the beliefs we hold isn’t whether they are positive or negative but whether they are true. Some beliefs are positive but flat-out untrue.”

Each of the truths he promotes in this section are based in gospel truth and tells us the truth about our sin and our need for a perfect Savior. While appearing gloomy at first blush, they point us to the power of Christ and how we are called to treat others. It is the path to life.

It also acknowledges that we will never be perfect this side of heaven. Sanctification is a process that ultimately leads to glorification (perfection); but here on earth it is a daily dying to ourselves and continually becoming more like Christ.


Which is why one of my favorite ‘truth’ chapters in this list was ‘to err is human.’

“To err is human, but when your eraser wears out before your pencil does, you’re overdoing it.”

This chapter was about perfectionism. Thurman discusses the differences between pursuing excellence vs pursuing perfection.

When we pursue perfection we are committing the sin of pride in trying to be God: omniscient (knowing everything), omnipotent (all powerful and in control of everything), and omnipresent (doing everything and being everywhere at once). Those characteristics are reserved for God. We could never achieve them.

Pursuing excellence is a mindset of doing our best, being process-minded rather than product-minded, being realistic in our thinking, and knowing our worth is in Christ, not our performance.

These were good reminders that our goal is not to be perfect because we are human and we will make mistakes, but that we are in the process of sanctification, and pursuing excellence is our goal. And of course… it’s also trying to use the pencil more than the eraser…


Romans 12: 2 tells us we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can discern what is good. The Enemy wants to distract us with lies so that we won’t pursue truth and good.

The last part of the book looks at how exemplifying Christ looks in all of this. While we don’t have access to all the specific thoughts of God, we have his Word, his commands., his life. The way Jesus lived gives us all the insights we need on how to renew our minds.

The character and attitude of Christ is marked by humility.

“Developing a deep-seated attitude of humility is the most important issue in the renewal of our mind. It’s the reason why there are so many verses in the Bible that talk about dying to self, serving others, and esteeming others more highly than yourself.”

If we were to go back through the entire book and all the lies and truths he shares and see how humility fits into resisting the lies and pursuing the truth we will see that humility is essential.

If we get nothing else from this book but an urgent exhortation to pursue humility, we will be on the right track.

“The acquisition of knowledge about an issue is a nice start, but it doesn’t set people free. To really know and deeply believe something, we have to contemplatively think about and act on it until it becomes so deeply embedded in the way we look at reality that we live life the way Christ did— lovingly, kindly, genuinely, compassionately, hospitably, courageously, selflessly, and passionately.”


Recommendation

I would definitely recommend this book. It’s a bit long and if you do it in a group a few chapters a week or so, you’ll have to intentionally stay connected to it because it’s easy to forget where you are if you go too long in between chapters.

The benefit of reading it in a group is hearing other’s thoughts and how you’re not the only one believing these lies and struggling with these truths. It may provide a good basis for accountability within a group and how to encourage one another in the struggles. It will require honesty and transparency, but in light of the gospel, there is forgiveness and Christ’s power to pursue truth and to change what feels impossible to change.

I found the writing style to be easy to follow and conversational at times. The author is honest about his own downfalls which helps it feel less like a lecture and more like encouragement.

“The most important way God works for the god of those who love Him is to help us change how we view reality so we can handle difficult circumstances in a more Christlike manner.”

[3 stars because how do you rate a classic?]

“We shall squeeze you empty, and then we shall fill you with ourselves.”

Somehow I never read this one in high school.

It’s a hard book to read because there is torture and brainwashing and it’s just overall a depressing and hopeless book.

There are endless places to get a literary review of the book in terms of why Orwell wrote the book, the political context of when it was written, the symbolism, etc. You won’t find that here- there are others far more qualified than me to do that.

I’m more interested in looking at the similarities of what I read in 1984 and what I’m seeing in the United States today.

You don’t really read 1984 for the ‘story’ or plot or characters. You read it because you want to see the observations Orwell makes about a controlling government and what it will do to maintain that control for no other reason than just the power.

Even if you haven’t read this book you’ve more than likely heard of Big Brother. The reality TV show of the same name adapts the concept of 24-hour surveillance as depicted in this book.

Big Brother could be Hitler or Stalin or any sort of Communist or dictatorship type of government. America isn’t in a totalitarian government (as of now) and yet we still see overlap with what Winston, our main character, goes through in this book.

The afterword in the book says that 1984 explores this question:

“Can human nature be changed in such a way that man will forget his longing for freedom, for dignity, for integrity, for love—that is to say, can man forget that he is human?”



The most jarring takeaway I got from reading this book is that Orwell has depicted (whether intentional or not) what a world looks like when God is taken out of the picture. It’s a dark, helpless, and hopeless place in Oceania.

The government can do whatever it wants. It can rewrite history, it can kill at will, the proles (the “dumb masses”) could rise up and revolt but they won’t and no one could ever lead them because Big Brother, with their surveillance, would get to them first. There is torture, there is brainwashing. Objective reality and objective truth does not exist. If you are caught, they will break you. What more could there be to live for to resist their will? Compliance is the only path.

And if you read this book as an atheist I can only imagine what kind of feeling you are sitting with. But God exists. He is real, living, and working, and that makes all the difference. Once God is in the picture, there is hope. Because no man, government, system, or weapon could thwart his plans and his will to protect his people and his name.

All of a sudden there is reason to resist. There is reason to believe that history cannot be rewritten. There is objective truth. There is reality. Joy cannot be taken. Peace and comfort can be had. Our inner thoughts are meaningful. People are important and worth sacrificing for. And all along the way you know that God is in control and nothing is outside his ability to know or stop or change.

God created us with eternity in our hearts. Human nature cannot be altered so much as to extinguish the flame of the image of God, the One we were created from and for. There are ways we can lose parts of our humanity but when God is in the picture, we have souls connected to an eternal Creator and nothing can completely sever that bond or torture it out you.

[If you wonder why I can believe that, check out one of these books: Why Believe? by Neil Shenvi or Confronting Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin or Is Easter Unbelievable by Rebecca McLaughlin or Taking God at His Word by Kevin DeYoung or Surviving Religion 101 by Michael J. Kruger or Why God Makes Sense in a World that Doesn’t by Gavin Ortlund]


Now to look at some of the features of 1984 and see what stuck out to me:

The Ministries

The Ministry of Truth concerned itself with news, entertainment, education, and the fine arts but told lies and created propaganda.

The Ministry of Love maintained law and order but tortured and brainwashed in order to force people into a universal viewpoint.

“The possibility of enforcing not only complete obedience to the will of the State, but complete uniformity of opinion on all subjects, now existed for the first time.”

The Ministry of Peace concerned itself with war which in this book meant to always be at war as a means to control.

“The two aims of the Party are to conquer the whole surface of the earth and to extinguish once and for all the possibility of independent thought.”

The Ministry of Plenty was responsible for economic affairs and made sure people were starving and in need.

“It is deliberate policy to keep even the favored groups somewhere near the brink of hardship because a general state of scarcity increases the importance of small privileges and thus magnifies the distinction between one group and another.”

The first two of these are what hit me the most. Today we are in a culture where it is now proper to say ‘my truth’ instead of ‘the truth.’ We are in a place where ‘fake news’ and ‘misinformation’ are common phrases. Just because something says it’s true, doesn’t make it so. The idea of an objective truth or an objective reality is eroding in America today. People’s critical thinking skills are eroding.

Just because something doesn’t feel like love, doesn’t mean it’s not. Everyone agreeing on everything does not make love abound. D.A. Carson explores the change in the word ‘tolerance’ in his book The Intolerance of Tolerance.

Of course, I believe my beliefs are right and I want others to believe them, but if free speech is eliminated and we are not allowed diversity in our thinking, we are in trouble. We would be that much closer to living in Oceania.

If you’re wondering how freedom of speech is deteriorating read this insightful book: The Coddling of the American Mind which I think should be more required reading than 1984.

All of this leads into:

Two Minutes of Hate

In the book Big Brother instituted a daily ritual called Two Minutes of Hate where they would put on all the screens (which were everywhere) the face of ‘the enemy.’ In this case a ‘rebel’ named Goldstein. And then for two minutes everyone would yell and growl and spew hateful things and overall just be enraged at this man.

This feels a lot like Twitter and cancel culture to me. Mob rage at its finest.

And I’m not going to try and defend Trump, but I’m pretty sure there is two minutes of hate for that man on the daily online and on almost every news station. There’s definitely reasons to talk about him, but the amount of outright, consistent, and constant Trump-hate, it really does start to feel like propaganda.

If we want to unite our country, the way to do it is not by creating a common enemy we can all hate together.

I think it is wise to again, use critical thinking, and steer clear of participating in any sort of mob mentality.


Doublethink

This is the term used in the book to describe when someone believes two contradicting beliefs— cognitive dissonance.

“To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient…”

There is a lot of this going around. I think the most prominent example in my mind is when people say killing is immoral but abortion is not only moral, but a necessary right that can’t be taken away. They genuinely believe both of these things and yet don’t see the doublethink required to hold both of these beliefs.

Which leads me to…


Controlling Language

A major marker of totalitarian governments is the controlling of language. Reinventing words, changing meanings, etc.

“You think our job is inventing new words. But not a bit of it. We’re destroying words—scores of them!”

In the book they created Newspeak in an effort to pare down vocabulary and control what people say. They eliminate synonyms and antonyms. One concern of this, among many, is the elimination of nuance which hinders the truth from being known.

One way I see this today is again, revolving around abortion and LGBTQ topics. Abortion is now termed ‘reproductive health’ or ‘reproductive rights’ which puts a positive spin on the killing of an infant in the womb.

Anyone who disagrees with their viewpoints on either of these are labeled as bigots, hateful, misogynists and more.

If you don’t think language is powerful, you may find Amanda Montell’s book Cultish insightful. By controlling the language in this way it perpetuates an ‘us vs them’ mentality which is a feature of cults. There’s actually some overlap in cults and totalitarian-esque governments or groups.

Another telling thing is what Rod Dreher shares in his book Live Not By Lies which was written after interviewing people who lived in Communist countries but now reside in the US and the ways they are seeing things happen here in America that happened in their country before things got really bad.

“What unnerves those who lived under Soviet communism is this similarity: Elites and elite institutions are abandoning old-fashioned liberalism, based in defending the rights of the individual, and replacing it with a progressive creed that regards justice in terms of groups. It encourages people to identify with groups—ethnic, sexual, and otherwise—and to think of Good and Evil as a matter of power dynamics among the groups. A utopian vision drives these progressives, one that compels them to seek to rewrite history and reinvent language to reflect their ideals of social justice. Further, these utopian progressives are constantly changing the standards of thought, speech, and behavior.”

As Dreher warns- “Language creates reality.”

You can see the grouping he talks about at work in the ideology of intersectionality.

Another relevant and insightful book that looks at Marxist thought and intersectionality, etc: Cynical Theories.


Rewriting History

Related to controlling language is controlling the past.

In 1984 one of the Party’s slogans is: “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”

It is a little harder for this one to be prominent today because of our access to the internet. Banning/burning books or limiting access to information for the general public would be a huge red flag. If we lose access to information we will become unable to combat lies of history. Although deciphering truth from lie online is no easy task.

I know there is a big push to ‘correct’ history because it is claimed that history is only written by the victors. I can see places where that makes sense, but I’ve also seen people rewriting history in a way that groups people and uses labels of good and bad. This is a means to control the past and thus the future. It makes it easier to paint groups as enemies, change the language surrounding that group, and then reinforcing hatred for that group with regular and consistent ‘hate.’

In Dreher’s book he says:

“According to Hannah Arendt, the foremost scholar of totalitarianism, a totalitarian society is one in which an ideology seeks to displace all prior traditions and institutions, with the goal of bringing all aspects of society under control of that ideology. A totalitarian state is one that aspires to nothing less than defining and controlling reality. Truth is whatever the rulers decide it is.”

If rewriting history involves a lot of destroying of traditions and institutions, we should view that as a red flag. We need to use our critical thinking and be wary of this. I’m sure we can find a tradition that is okay to eliminate, but the more we eliminate, the easier it is to eliminate all of them and that’s a problem.

We know that these changes are made GRADUALLY. They don’t want to jar us out of our comfort. We won’t take big leaps from this belief to that belief, but we’re more than willing to make little compromises for the sake of ‘peace’ until we’ve traveled from point A to point B without even knowing it.


Objective Truth

“In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it.”

“How do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is in changeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable—what then?”

Orwell describes for us what happens when truth and morality is not objective but determined by fallible human beings. When it is decided by the people in power or even by the masses.

What happens? It changes. It changes to suit their needs. Objective truth has to exist, morality has to exist— outside of ourselves. Again, when God is in the picture, it all makes sense. There is order, there is an unchanging standard that we can trust.

“Being in a minority, even a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.”

You may find yourself ‘on the right side’ now in terms of what is culturally right and wrong or what you believe to be true. But the reality is, at some point you’re going to find yourself on the wrong side because ‘progress’ never stops. Then what? The basis for truth, reality, and morality has to be external or we have no leg to stand on.

In Cynical Theories they comment, “The progressive left has aligned itself not with Modernity but with postmodernism, which rejects objective truth as a fantasy dreamed up by naive and/or arrogantly bigoted Englightenment thinkers who underestimated the collateral consequences of Modernity’s progress.”

One aspect of absolute truth is math. In 1984 Big Brother prides itself on the ability to convince people that 2+2=5. Why? Because they said so. But we know that math is real and it exists outside our desires.

Yet, even that is currently under attack. In some places the idea that 2+2=4 is seen as a product of white supremacy. Probably because they rewrote history where only white people used math? You’ll find this viewpoint in a study of Post-Colonial Theory.

In Cyncial Theories they say, “Arguments have been made that mathematics is intrinsically sexist and racist because of its focus on objectivity and proof and because of disparate outcomes in mathematics education across racial groups.”

Honestly, I couldn’t explain this to you if I tried because it’s insane, but they assert this claim with passion. Is that not a problem?

Read 1984 if you want to see what happens when objective truth does not exist. It will drive you to lunacy if there is no way to know if there is truth or how to find truth. Postmodernism says there is no way to know. But the implications of that claim are far-reaching and quite problematic.

“It is one of the most characteristic and destructive developments of our own society that man, becoming more and more of an instrument, transforms reality more and more into something relative to his own interests and functions. Truth is proven by the consensus of millions.” (The Afterword)

Relative truth is destructive.


Turning Children Against Parents

“The children were systematically turned against their parents and taught to spy on them and report their deviations.”

It was common in Oceania for children to report their parents to the authorities where the parents would be arrested by the Thought Police and would typically vanish and be erased from existence. Not only did the Party try to sever loyalties between parents and children but between friends and between lovers. Love was a bond they couldn’t afford to exist.

Loyalties were something the Party were unable to control if they became too deep.

I see this today in some respects, but most prominently when it comes to LGBTQ topics. Children are taught to see their parents as the bad guys, as people who don’t really love them unless they agree with their feelings or support their choices. Whether physically or just emotionally, there is a separation that is forced.

Abigail Shrier highlights this in her book Irreversible Damage. Youtubers teach kids how to lie to their parents and what to say to their schools or their counselors so that others view their parents as ‘hostile’ towards the child thus making a way for kids to ‘get what they want’ because their parents are now lableled ‘unsafe.’

A public school teacher told Shrier, “their parental right ended when those children were enrolled in public school.”

Schools in California are allowing children to get hormone shots without parental consent.

Someone who transitioned as a teenager but is no longer trans shared some of her experience with Shrier: “When she complained online about her parents, queer adults often coached her on running away from her family. At the time, she believed that these adults—not her parents—had her best interest in mind, and that they were generally helping her to escape mentally and physically from a tumultuous home. But she no longer sees it that way. They were ‘weaponizing it against me to kind of draw me into their community more, and draw me away from anyone who would give me rational ways of thinking about my life.’”

Study after study shows the stability and benefits (both individually and communally) of the nuclear/natural family. But the nuclear family is a threat to a government or group that wants to acquire and maintain control. Isolation of people from support, loyalty, and unconditional love is essential to keep people loyal to their authority.

As you can see, the observations Orwell made all those years ago are still relevant today and it’s worth your time to consider them.


Recommendation

It’s a popular book and it has stood the test of time. It offers a lot of interesting and insightful observations and it gives us a glimpse into the political climate of when Orwell originally wrote it.

But it’s not necessarily a book you will enjoy reading or come away feeling invigorated. You’re not really going to like the characters or the ending and it’s hard to read about torture.

I’m not big into classics. I don’t know why.

I would say in this case there is more reason to read 1984 than there is not to. Let it inspire your critical thinking skills and let yourself ponder our current culture. See what overlap you see.

But remember,

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

[All books mentioned are reviewed on my website and linked in this post: www.shelfreflection.com/nineteen-eighty-four ]

Woke Up Like This is everything you would want in a rom-com!

It is 13 Going on 30 meets To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. If you don’t like either of those, you probably wouldn’t like this, but I thought it was cute, light-hearted, and humorous.

Would I want to read 50 books in a row like this? No. But a good rom-com in between intense thrillers is a nice reprieve. Bonus that this didn’t have any sex scenes and minimal swearing.


Our main character is Char (Charlotte) similar to Lara Jean in that she is responsible and goal-oriented, has a flighty best friend, is raised by a single parent, and falls in love with a popular boy (J.T. Renner).

She is different in that she is an only child and her parents are divorced and this is an enemies-to-lovers trope not a fake-dating trope.

“Renner raises his brow, pleased that he’s stolen my thunder. It’s one of his favorite pastimes, after worshipping his own reflection and leaving people high and dry on special occasions.”

(Also Char is half Chinese/ half white, not part Korean like Lara Jean)



This book has a unique twist and one that made this a bit different than ‘every other love story’ because it has time travel!

Char and J.T. (enemies) are decorating for senior prom when Char falls off a ladder onto J.T. and they BOTH wake up in a house together in their 30-year-old bodies, presumably engaged to be married in a few days.

Enemies to spouses?!

While they are trying to figure out how to get back they make discoveries about their relationships and each other that changes their perspective on things.

But when Char gets back (it’s not really a spoiler because rom-coms aren’t trying to be tricky, we all know they don’t stay stuck) she’s not sure what just happened- was it real? does J.T. even remember? And they, again, must navigate their relationships with their newfound knowledge of both the past and the future.



This is marketed as a YA novel and definitely reads like it’s for younger audiences because it’s a teenage love-story, however, if you’re a parent wondering if this would be a good book for your own daughter (I don’t think sons would like this…) then just be aware that it is written from the perspective that everyone in high school is or will have sex at some point in the near future.

Even Char’s mother keeps encouraging her to go party and ‘have fun.’

There are a couple make out scenes but at least there are no sex scenes. Oh and J.T. is naked when they wake up in the future but it’s more of an ‘Ahh!’ scene not an ‘Oooo’ scene.

To bring this up may seen inconsequential for some, but as a parent myself, I probably wouldn’t encourage my daughter to read this one so I just wanted to make sure other parents have this information if they’re seeking it.



Even though 13 going on 30 has been done before, and there’s About Time and When We First Met (rom-com-time-travel-movies), I am up for another one! I think this would make a great movie! I haven’t decided who should be cast for the roles yet, but I think it has its own unique take and opportunities for good comedy.

To All the Boys series has it’s own special cuteness and I appreciated the family aspect of that series, but I do like the reflective nature Char and J.T. have and that there is some character development there but without a lot of pressure on the future.

“Look, I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next thirteen years. I don’t even know what’s going to happen tomorrow. But what I do know is, right now, all I want is to be with you. And that’s all I’ve wanted since I first saw you. So please stop planning ahead for five seconds and just be with me in this moment.”



Recommendation

Even though I don’t necessarily recommend this to teenage readers, as a full-fledged adult myself (ha!) I would definitely ‘overall’ recommend this book!

I’m not always a fan of YA romance, and I was surprised that I liked Han’s series, but this was a good, cute, rom-com that reads fast and is a nice break from some of the more intense reads I have.

Typically teen romance is hit or miss for me but this one was definitely a hit!

This book comes out of Mindy Kaling’s Studio and I would love if she got it optioned for film! But even if it’s not, I think readers will be able to picture this story as it unfolds on the pages.


[Content Advisory: 2 f-words, a handful of s-words; no sex scenes but there’s an overall acceptance of sex in high school and comments about losing one’s virginity; Char’s friend Nori is gay but her story is not a prominent feature of the book]


**Received a copy of this book via MB Communications in exchange for an honest review**

“‘For Camden. Time Brings All Things To Pass.’ And as I drive away from the new life that I’d built for myself, heading back towards my past, I wonder if those words were supposed to be an encouragement or a warning. Or a threat.”

“You should have stayed away, Camden. I think you’ll be sorry that you didn’t.”


This is my second Rachel Hawkins book— last year I read The Villa. I think I’m going to be done with this author. Both books had 100 f-words so I’m assuming that’s the norm for her and it’s gonna be a dealbreaker for me. Not to mention I don’t really find her characters very likeable either.

Her writing has the twisty dysfunctional families vibe and there’s just not enough interesting or quality suspense/mystery to make the rest worth it.

I’m disappointed because I had this book on my list of Most Anticipated Books of this year, but so was The Villa the year before so I think I need to finally learn my lesson.


Basic Premise

The heiress is Ruby McTavish Kellmore, kidnapped for 8 months at age three but then found and grew up to inherit the family fortune instead of her sister (Nelle); receiver of the nickname Ruby Kill-more due to the deaths of her four husbands; suspected to not actually be Ruby; and dead for ten years now yet still pulling the strings with her money.

Camden is the son she adopted later in her life and the subsequent heir and current holder of the family fortune. He tried to escape that life and family but has been called back home to deal with some pressing matters.

Nelle and her descendants want the money they believe is rightfully theirs. When Cam and his wife get back to the family estate so begins a game of legal discoveries, threats, and such that leads to at least one other death.

People aren’t who they say they are and the money may destroy them all before anyone can even spend it.



The formatting of the book is a mixture of first person POV chapters of Camden and his wife, Jules, with a variety of newspaper and magazine articles, and a series of letters written at the hand of Ruby before she died telling us what really happened to all of her husbands.

I’m not always a fan of the letter trope because the writer always narrates in an unnatural manner and gives details they would never normally give. They are needed for us readers to understand more of the story, but that’s not my preferred method of obtaining information.

I was intrigued by the plot and the mystery of the heiress and her husbands, but I didn’t really like any of the characters. I feel neutral about Cam but that’s because he’s the ‘hero’ character who is kinda flat and uninteresting. And really the swearing kinda ruined my ability to be invested in the story. At least it had a mostly satisfying ending.


Recommendation

If you don’t care about swearing and you like soap opera-type mysteries, you may like this, but overall I feel like there are better books than this to read.

I would probably instead recommend the book The Rosewood Hunt. It’s also about a rich matriarch who basically owns a town and everyone wants a piece of the pie. The difference is that when she dies, though there are heirs, the money is missing and there is a hunt to figure out what she did with it.

It’s a YA book (though I would still say more for adult audience), but I found that book a lot more likeable than this one. It still has swearing, but probably about half of what is in The Heiress.


[Content Advisory: 94 f-words, 65 s-words; sexual references but nothing too graphic; trigger warning for (a little bit of) domestic abuse]

**Received an ARC via NetGalley**

“Life was a shell game. The winners could just hide the truth better than everybody else.”

This was a bit of a slow start for me. Probably because I started the book at the tail end of holiday activities so I was only able to read a little bit here and there. But once I got into it, it was more engaging.

I’m a fan of Baldacci’s books and apparently I haven’t read one in awhile. I don’t remember what kind of swearing his other books had— because I read him before I was really writing regular reviews—but this one had more swearing than I would like.


Simply Lies is the story of an ex-cop, cyber-sleuth, single-mom (Mick) being roped into a ‘treasure hunt’ by an unidentified caller (aka Arlene) who wants her to find the pile of money that was stolen from the mob years ago and whose owner has just been found murdered in one of his homes.

Mick has to maneuver the cryptic and manipulative Arlene, the cagey, hard-to-figure-out cop on the case, and the other mob-related players that want back what was taken. But which players are really out to harm her and which ones can she trust? Not everyone is who they say they are.

While this wasn’t the best Baldacci book I’ve ever read, I did enjoy it. It got a bit technical when talking crypto-currency and other cyber-sleuthing Mickey did, but I found it fairly easy to follow and it added in some extra layers to the complexity of the case.

I think I’d be interested in continuing the series to see what else Mickey gets up to.



Some reviewers have commented on Mick’s ‘stupidity’ in working on this case when she has two kids at home. That she’s selfishly looking for the thrill from her days as a cop instead of protecting her family from danger.

However, I would argue that I read it in the sense that working this case was really the only way to protect her family. She tried to get out of it, but the corrupt and powerful players in the hunt needed her expertise and would have continued to threaten her family until she helped them. And then she knew too much to just fade into the background. Plus her job was riding on proving her innocence and then her value to keep her job which provided for her family.

To me, both options were dangerous. That’s what made the stakes so high.

Other reviewers also seemed to get tired of the single-mom stuff in the book, but as a mom I found those parts relatable. Of course in real life you don’t typically find single-moms in dangerous and investigative roles for obvious reasons, but it was a unique type of character for a thriller and I liked it. While I can agree that the references to vomit were perhaps overdone, for the most part I felt like there was a good balance of showing her nurturing mother side and her joy in being a mom while also keeping the primary focus on the case and the dogged work she was doing to get herself out of the mess.



I was more bothered by a few other things. The writing on the wall that was found at the scene of the first murder said ‘Do as I say, not as I do.’ Firstly, this didn’t really fit for me for a phrase a corrupt man would use as a mantra. And for what I believe it means, I don’t know if it really fit with the whole treasure hunt thing either. It just seemed out of place.

Secondly, Mick figured out the phrase was written by two different people because of handwriting analysis. Which is a significant plot point and clue for her, but why would two murderers make sure they both wrote half of the phrase on the wall? The only way that makes sense to me is if they were intentionally wanting to leave a clue, but they weren’t the ones who had placed riddles or puzzles for the money— the murdered man did.

Which leads me to another thing that bothered me- the murdered man really turned out to be quite a terrible and corrupt person. The whole, using substitution ciphers or planting clues and puzzles around just doesn’t jive with that type of character. It seems like if he can’t have his money, he wouldn’t want anyone else to either. Sure, he may have thought he was taunting people from the grave but then it would be an unsolvable cryptic message letting the people they had been ripped off and would never find it.

I know the Saw movies and the book A Killer’s Game show criminals who use puzzles to terrorize, but to me that’s a different kind of criminal than what the murdered man in this book was made out to be. It seems like two different personalities.

Lastly, I was bothered by the word ‘blouse’ at the end of the book. Because only grandmas say blouse instead of shirt. And even if someone did use the term blouse, they wouldn’t employ it when they are recounting the memory of when they were almost raped.



All that to say, other than the swearing, I think this is a pretty good thriller with a likable main character, a complex plot, and a satisfying ending.

It reminded me that I should go back and read more of Baldacci’s other series that I only read a couple books from. He’s written so many books that some may throw him into the James Patterson camp, but from what I’ve read so far, I think he’s elevated above Patterson and I’ll probably keep reading his books.


[Content Advisory: 10 f-words, 96 s-words; some sexual innuendo but in a detached sex-for-money kind of thing; trigger warning for child sexual abuse described while telling a memory and not in detail as the acts were happening, but still hard to read]

**Received an ARC via NetGalley**

“Christmas is not about warm fuzzies; it is about the one who finally delivers on the promise of everything we acknowledge as good and true.”


Jared Wilson is one of the most encouraging authors. He is honest and transparent in his struggles yet always points us back to the gospel message that God is great in our weakness and our dependence and need for him is what qualifies us to come.

I loved his book The Imperfect Disciple and this devotional book is written with the same conversational, relatable, and hopeful tone.


As you can see from the cover, each of this book’s 25 reflections is an opening of a gift just like an advent calendar.

“Every day, we will open up a little door to rediscover one of the myriad gifts Christians receive through the coming of Christ and belief in his gospel… one amazing grace after another.”

These gifts range from faith, love, and hope to justification, expiation, sanctification, vindication, and more. I thought this was a really great and effective way to structure his book. It kept every day easy to understand but also deep in theology.

I also loved that each reflection was titled with a line from a Christmas carol. Christmas carols are some of the most theologically rich hymns. Because we are familiar with them and associate them with Christmas they can become rote and we don’t really take in the words we are singing.

This book not only reveals the gifts of grace we have in Christ, but also reminds us that the songs we sing at Christmas contain deep truths. It would be a great way to do additional study while reading it— to go through the corresponding hymn verse by verse and see the meanings we miss.


Yes, this book would be a great option to read through the month of December, but I also think it’s a good book to read AFTER Christmas. If it’s just going to be another ‘Christmas thing’ to mark off in anticipation of Christmas, I would say wait on it. Hold off on reading it until January or February.

Because, really, we’re still in advent— in anticipation— of Christ’s coming. He has come and he will come again. This book is not just relevant in December. It’s relevant every day as we await the return of our King.

And perhaps the truths of this book will hit differently when you’re not in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. It may help get your heart re-centered for the new year where you can look for the gifts of grace that we open every day we wake up.


A Few Quotes

“When the world hopes, there is the prospect of unfulfillment. The world “hopes” something will happen, but they know it might not. That’s not how God’s people hope. Our hope comes with assurance (Heb 11:1), our hope abides (1 Cor 13:13), and our hope will “not put us to shame” or disappoint us (ROM 5:5)… Our hope is in God! In fact, our hope is God!”

“We must be honest about the severity of our condemnation apart from God’s grace, because the good news will only be as good as the bad news is bad.”

“Our justification takes something slightly more out of reach than human ingenuity. It takes faith. And this is one reason why I know Christianity is true—we wouldn’t have made this up! Salvation by faith makes too little of us and so much of God.”

“The Christmas story holds the promise of glorification out to us because it tells us that God took on our image, that we might someday take on his. We will reflect him beautifully and eternally on a new earth restored according to his glory.”

“The Christmas Eve gospel is that while all the stuff and the experiences and the feelings might go away moment by moment, the incarnate Christ is real, he is alive, and he is doing work inside of our hearts that will make us thrive when we’re weary, hope when we’re grieving, and even rejoice when we’re suffering.”

“Life is change. If you aren’t growing and evolving you’re standing still, and the rest of the world is surging ahead. Most of these people are very immature. They lead ‘still’ lives, waiting… for what?… waiting for someone to save them.”


This has been on my to-read list for a long time. And then it got made into a series so I knew I needed to push this up on the list!

I’ve heard many people recommend this series and I’m not sure my first impression lived up to the hype. But after reading some other reviews it appears a lot of people recommend skipping the first few books in the series.

I’m not ready to give up on it yet and plan to read another but I may skip to book four.

I liked the main character and it seems like a series where you get to see a lot of different characters and relationships develop.

I also liked the setting. Of course realistically a ton of crime and murder wouldn’t all happen in the same small town, but I think part of the charm of the series is the small town setting and so you just accept that point of non-realism for the sake of the community the author builds.


The plot itself was good and I’m not sure I guessed the murderer. I love what a friend put in their review quoting from The Office- “It was the person I most medium suspected.” Ha- it is accurate.

It’s hard to articulate what exactly I didn’t like, but it was definitely related to the writing style and the flow, which often felt disjointed.


The basic premise is this:

In small town Three Pines, Canada, an older woman— Jane— is found dead in the woods, apparently shot by an arrow. She had just had her first piece of artwork accepted into the local art show. Art she hadn’t shared with anyone before that moment.

Is her death related? Who would want her dead? In a small town where everyone knows everyone, someone is lying.

Chief Armand Gamache, our protagonist for the series, is called on to investigate.



It was a cozy mystery where we get to hear the thoughts of several characters, some cheekier than others. It is also set near Quebec and Montreal so there is some French language crossover.

The art component was interesting but hard to picture. It sounded like art that I wouldn’t really be a fan of.

It often felt like there should have been more dialogue to explain things.

I was also confused by the Nichol character. The way her character was handled was just… weird. I don’t know how to explain it. Armand did not think much of her at all and was not afraid to tell her. But it wasn’t always clear what she did wrong, or that she was a screw-up to the degree Gamache’s inner thoughts rendered her. And then he told her to get out of town and that was it for her. I’m guessing she comes back at some point, but it was just a weird character.

There were some parts of the plot that were played up more than needed to be. Like when they finally went into Jane’s house and were confused by the decor. I knew immediately what had occurred and they should have considered it at first as well.


I did find some of it humorous but the writing style made some of the humor not land very well or was too buried in the context.


I guess I was expecting more on this series and was a little disappointed. But I do want to stick with it. This was Louise Penny’s debut book and the first in the series, so I’m inclined to believe it does indeed continue to get better. Stay tuned to see what other books I read in this series and how they compare.

I trust the people who recommended this series to me so I feel like there’s more to be read.

If I watch the series, I’ll be sure to update with my thoughts on it as well!



Here’s my little Canadian learning section that I’m sure I’ll include with future books since there is some different vernacular like UK books:

- francophone: French-speaking person

- leotards: tights

- tabernacle: a French swear word


[Content Advisory: some swearing; no sexual content; an LGBTQ couple that continues throughout the series]

“Suffering tempts us to believe that God is absent, cruel, manipulative, or unconcerned, but the Bible offers us the truth.”

I very much wish I had had this book when I experienced my miscarriage. This will be my top book recommendation for anyone grieving miscarriage or infant loss.

Abbey talks about every struggle I remember wrestling with— the complex and conflicting thoughts about myself and God, doubting God, feeling prayer is pointless, frustration with others’ responses to my pain, feeling responsible for my suffering, having a hard time being happy for other mothers, feeling like my body is broken and unable to do the very thing God commanded us to do, and just feeling like my faith had faltered.

It is written with such validation and compassion and gently helps us see God for who he is and helps us lift our eyes to He who can comfort us and give us peace in an impossible time.


I know most women going through miscarriage or infant loss probably aren’t looking for a book to read. It may feel too daunting. But this book is meant to be read just a couple pages at a time. It’s very manageable, comforting, and will speak to the very grief we struggle with.

Each chapter is just a few pages and concludes with some verses to read, reflection questions, a response, and a place to journal.


Right out of the gate Abbey hits on the most important thing we need to think about when we go through trials and suffering: who is God?

“You can choose to allow your circumstances to shape your understanding of who God is, or you can allow what the Bible says about who God is to inform how you respond to your grief. What you believe about God…will have everything to do with the way that you heal and move forward.”

I eventually got to this point in my grief journey, but this book would have made that process a lot faster.

If there is a single most important thing that helped me heal, it was this realization. I had to stop asking why and start looking at who— who God says he is. What is his character? Because we most likely won’t get the answers we seek (and there is a chapter devoted to this thought as well) but if we know Who is sovereign and Who loves us, we can trust him in the ‘withholding’ of the answers we think we need.


This book is written around Psalm 139. I memorized this Psalm when I was in high school, before I had ever really experienced grief or pain. And this book opened up this Psalm even more for me and showed me how each verse is a comfort in our trials. It provides a framework for sadness but also for hope and for trusting in the One who knows all and sees all.

I love how this is the focus because even if we forget some of what we read in the book, any time I read Psalm 139, now, I think it will be a re-centering and a reminder for handling hardship.



I specifically remember that in my pain, I did not want to pray. I didn’t even know how to pray. Sometimes I think I still wrestle with that. But I love what Abbey encourages us with in the chapter on prayer:

“Prayer will make a difference in your suffering, even if it doesn’t make a difference in your circumstances, because it will undoubtedly make a difference in you.”

“Disappointment is inevitable in a fallen world, but the way to stop it from growing into bitterness is through thanksgiving: trusting God’s commitment to our good, reminding ourselves of all he has done for us in Christ, and then specifically noticing and praising him for every little thing he gives us as grace upon grace.”

There are many reasons to pray, but one is because it is our communication line to the our heavenly Father who wants to hear from us. Prayer isn’t always for the results, but it changes us as we depend on the Lord.

It made me think of Benjamin Hastings song ‘That’s the Thing About Praise’. The lyrics say:

‘There's what I want, and then there's where I'm at
Every one step forward, it got me five steps back
And I cried, I called, God knows I prayed
But most days, faith is climbing up a mountain that stayed

It don't always fix your problems, but it'll tell ya how small they are
That's the thing about praise
It won't always move the mountain, but it's good for the heart
That's the thing about praise

You'll never know what it's gonna change, but it'll always leave a mark
That's the thing about praise
Yeah, I might see walls start falling, or it might just change my heart
That's the thing about praise’

And as we think about singing that praise, it struck me in her chapter on going back to church how being around other believers helps us.

“When we join in singing with other saints, or let tears flow as we simply listen to their voices, we are prompted to praise God and to remember the truth of the gospel. Sometimes those voices carry our weary, doubting hearts, declaring over us the words we desperately need to hear and are struggling to sing—or believe—ourselves.”

This is exactly as it was for me. When I miscarried, the song ‘Good, Good Father’ had just become popular and was sung all the time. I couldn’t bring myself to sing the words. They didn’t feel true to me. Yet I knew they were. I think God was healing my heart even if I didn’t know it by listening to others sing those words around me until I could believe them again. ‘Your Word says you are good, God,’ I would say, ‘Help me believe it because I can’t sing this right now.’


Every chapter was a balm. Even for me, being almost a decade past my miscarriage, it was still healing to read this, to reflect on how I felt years ago and see where I am at now. To see God’s faithfulness. And to heal some parts that I didn’t know still needed healing.


Recommendation

I highly recommend this book and am so thankful for Abbey’s compassion and transparency in writing it. She includes short stories written by other women (and one man) who also experienced grief.

Even though miscarriage is common, no two experiences are ever the same. And common or not, the pain is real and often debilitating.

I believe this book will offer so much to those going through this heartache. Not just to survive, but to draw us back to our life source and the only true place of comfort.

“As we walk forward into a future that is unknown to us, we can embrace with certainty the comfort that comes from the knowledge of who God is, the fact that he is with us, and the assurance that he is leading us by his grace toward a new heaven and a new earth, where there will be no more sorrow, no more pain, and no more babies that die too young.”"

“Hope in the current and coming glory of God without fear or shame, because in the death and resurrection of Jesus, you and I find the absolute certainty that God’s plan of redemption can never be miscarried.”


[Note on the book: The cover shown in these pictures is the hardcover version I purchased. It has an elastic yellow band that closes the book. It gives it a journal-like look and feel. It would make a great gift if you know someone going through loss to add to a care package.]


Quotes

To give you a better idea of the encouragement you’ll find in this book, here are some more quotes:

“You may long to feel strong, capable, and unencumbered by sadness after your miscarriage—you may want to be out of this season and on to another—but the value of suffering is discovered in the midst of it as well as after it, for it is while we are walking through it that our frailty and weakness can convince us of our need for God’s power and sufficiency.”

“Scripture tethers our hearts to what is true when we feel ungrounded and uncertain. In it we hear him speak and are assured that he hears us when we cry out to him. As his truth informs our feelings and our hearts draw near to him in prayer, he comforts us with a peace that surpasses all understanding—an unshakeable confidence that he is with us and for us, and that our souls are secure.”

“Your trials are not opportunities to discover how strong you are but rather for you to learn to depend on the strength of the Lord. (Eph 3:20)”

“In that spiritual darkness in a time when nothing makes sense and when our doubts seem to be speaking louder than our faith, we must remember that believing is not a matter of strength. Faith is not something we conjure up; it is a gift we receive.”

“You may doubt or falter but that doesn’t mean your faith has failed or your soul is lost… even as we lie awake with all of that heartache, weakness, bitter disappointment, and fear—even as we sit in the darkness, riddled with confusion and doubt, wondering if we will make it out of this with our faith intact—we can say with the writer of Psalm 16:7-8 ‘I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.’”

“However perplexing the question may be of how a good and loving God could allow suffering, his control is a comfort to us in hardship because we know his character and his promises to us. (Rom 8:28-30) Miscarriage is not good, no, not good at all, but according to the Bible, God’s purposes for you within it most certainly are… when God’s word tells us that he works all things together for our good, that good isn’t necessarily our material or physical good—the growth of our families, for example. He is committed to our spiritual good.”

“I don’t pretend to understand exactly how this works, but somehow, God’s redemptive purposes for your life are being accomplished through the suffering you’re currently enduring. He’s getting glory from it, and you’re being prepared for glory by it.”

“When you feel bitterness and confusion over the mystery of suffering, you can give God glory by trusting that his plans are perfect and his ways are higher than yours, even if they are incomprehensible to you. And when you feel despondent and sorrowful, you can give God glory by hoping in Christ.”

“When your body can’t hold on to a baby, what other hope do you have than to cling to the God who will hold on to you?”

“When we see that God did not withhold his own Son, we can believe that anything he does withhold, he withholds in love.”

“If our sense of purpose lies solely in motherhood, the loss of an unborn baby can lead to a feeling of worthlessness. But if we believe that our chief end or highest calling is ‘to glorify God and enjoy him forever,’ then we can be filled with purpose and satisfaction in any season and any role.”

[Visit my original review for a list of further reading books.]