Think, Grow: Thin Places
Little Mary was in a thin place. Mom was broken. Daddy wasn’t daddy anymore, and the substitutes for daddy weren’t enough. The boys who picked her up at her babysitter’s house did bad things to her day after day, and she was too little, too powerless to make them stop.
Drugs. Alcohol. Addiction. All part of her world at no invitation of her own.
How does this shape the heart and mind of a little girl with no choices? And where is God?
Thin Places is the memoir of my friend, and author, Mary DeMuth. I know that Mary is an author to watch because her words make me forget that I know her. Instead, I am drawn into the portrait painted with powerful words and imagery and stark honesty in each of her books.
Her story is veiled in other books like Watching the Tree Limbs, the story of a little girl sexually abused under the massive branches and shade of an old tree near her home. But in Thin Places we meet Mary as that little girl, and her journey of faith toward a God she wasn’t sure she trusted, and her journey of intimacy with a man and with her family and friends, when her past taught her that people only wanted to harm her or abandon her.
Whether you’ve lived in those thin places or not, you know someone who is. You’ll never say again, “She should just forgive” or “Why can’t he just trust God?” when you walk in the shoes of a broken little girl grown into a woman of faith.
It’s a must read. For you to see another perspective. For me to once again thank God that He is a transforming God. For each of us to see grace and faith and healing in the Thin Places of life.
Posted by Suzie @
12:41 pm |
Think!…a book offering help for chronic head pain {{giveaway}}
How did Thursday get here so fast? Every Thursday I’ll share a new book that I’m reading. I’ll also share interviews with many of the authors. I was glad to interview my guest today for a personal reason.
I have a loved one who is a strong, athletic, jump-in-life kind of guy, but migraines shut him down. That’s why I was excited to read Lisa Morrone’s new book, Overcoming Headaches and Migraines. In it she offers hope and healing with those living with chronic head pain.
She’s a physical therapist. An adjunct professor in a university Doctorate level PT program, she has taught upwards of one thousand of tomorrow’s promising physical therapists, and now shares that information with those suffering with pain, and their loved ones.and shares her method of comprehensive Do-It-Yourself treatment for chronic back and neck pain sufferers.
Lisa joins me today to talk about some of those methods, as well as how chronic pain can sideline those who want to be active. She encourages those who have been told my numerous doctors that they should “just live with it”, to search deeper.
Suzie Eller: Thanks for joining us today, Lisa. . Let’s jump right in. When someone has head pain, they often reach for medication. Can the medication they take actually cause more headaches?
Lisa Morrone, PT: Strangely enough it can! When a person regularly takes medication to keep their head pain under control—whether it is over-the counter-medication, like Excedrin or Tylenol, or doctor-prescribed meds such as Cafergot or Imitrex—their brain actually gets used to the steady diet of those brain-altering chemicals.
In fact it can become addicted to them! So what does an addicted brain do when its chemical diet is running low? It does what it knows will get it some more chemicals—it produces another headache. Very clever, huh?!
(more…)
Posted by Suzie @
6:21 am |
Read, grow, think…
January 28, 2010 | Think
I love it when I’m on Facebook and someone throws out a status update on what they’re currently reading. I don’t know about you, but I usually have up to five books open at the same time. They’re scattered all over the house.
I struggle when I hear someone say, “I’ve not read a book since high school”. Books make you see the world through a bigger lens. It helps you experience different cultures, viewpoints, and experiences of other people. It broadens your understanding, so that when you speak it’s not solely out of your own worldview, because frankly the world is vastly larger than what happens in our back yard.
Every Thursday we’ll read, grow, and think together. I want to hear what you are reading. I want to know what you are thinking about those books. I’ll share what I’m currently reading and what I’m learning. Throw out ideas for books that you want to talk about.
Nonfiction
50 Ways to Feel Great Today: Keys to Beating Stress, Worry, and the Blues
by David B. Biebel, Dmin, James E. Dill, MD, Bobbie Dill, RN
Nonfiction; 222 pages
When I first picked up this book, I hoped for something really great. I’m an optimist and love the idea that the authors chose to focus on 50 great ways to feel better.
Perhaps because I’m an optimist, it didn’t set off any fireworks. Some of the suggestions are to lift weights, brain job, mentor someone, renew your hope, go to a water park.
I love books that challenge me, and going to a water park does make me feel better. Sunshine, water, flavored ice freezies — who wouldn’t feel better? But in a world where the economy is depressed, where marriages are strained, where families are struggling, I’m not sure going to a water park is going to be super helpful. (more…)
Posted by Suzie @
2:13 pm |
