Usually I spend time writing a review of books I've actually read. This one, I am reading. This season of life seems to find my scattered at times across a lot of roles, so I'm embracing it and sharing about my partially finished resource.
I typically can only handle reading one book (or possibly two) at a time. But somehow my nightstand is covered with a stack of partially read books (not including what's on my kitchen table that I read aloud during homeschool)--one I'm reading alongside a friend I mentor, another almost finished book from a class I took last semester, one I started reading for fun but stopped when I got a book from the library I'd been a waitlist for for 6 months and this one that that has been on my to read list since it came out last year.
Held: 31 Biblical Reflections on God's Comfort and Care in the Sorrow of Miscarriage
1. A 3-4 sentence synopsis of the book.
This book walks through Psalm 139 over 31 days. Each day walks through a biblical truth about God and our relationship with him. At the end of each section it provides additional scripture reading, a few reflection questions and space to journal. The author experienced the sorrow and isolation that accompanies miscarriage and hopes to walk alongside other women who have experienced miscarriage. There are also several stories of other women because each miscarriage journey is unique.
2. What did you like about this book? What specifically encouraged or blessed you?
I have been looking for Biblical resources to share with friends who are walking through grief after a miscarriage, one that is rooted in truth and scripture, and one that acknowledges the profound grief of this kind of death and loss. While this book is a blessing to me, it may not be something I could have worked through right away or nearly as quickly in the first raw days and weeks. 31 reflections could fit perfectly into a month, but this book may also take someone months to work in giving time to read and then process.
I am grateful that the perspective of this book is continuously who God is. In loss, anytime we look inward, we feel more lost, but God and who He is, can be the only light in that darkness.
3. How did this book impact you? Did it lead you to praise God or serve Him differently?
In the section on prayer, Abbey says, "It is precisely the combination of his great power and his great love for us that should make us run to him when we are undone by our circumstances." While I'm not deep in the days of miscarriage, there have been lots of other overwhelming and grief filled days in our lives, and I am naturally a do-er. I struggle to pray immediately and sometimes even want myself to be the good one, solving all things, but thinking on who God is through this book has reminded me because Jesus came he can empathize with my deep loss and suffering, and because Jesus came he can redeem my deep loss and suffering. All of that draws me nearer to him and my response to come in prayer.
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