Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

forgiveness

Dying to die, called to live: Review of “Life, In Spite of Me” by Kristen Anderson with Tricia Goyer

I will think of Kristen Anderson every time I hear a train whistle or cross a set of tracks.

She was 17 the day she decided to die. Kristen laid down on a set of railroad tracks, in front of an oncoming train, and waited. What she describes in her book, Life, In Spite of Me, is horrifying and shocking. When I hear a train whistle, I think of the moments she describes and shudder. Amazingly, Kristen didn’t die that night. But she did lose both of her legs.

What follows in the book is her journey from the depths of wanting to die through the despair of wondering why she was still alive to the decision to follow Christ that gives her renewed purpose and an extraordinary outlook on life.

Kristen’s story is honest and raw. The details are difficult to read sometimes, but your heart will break for this young woman’s experiences. She is courageous to tell her story so openly.

She is also a picture of hope and redemption, living proof that God is in control and has a plan, even when we can’t see it or don’t follow it.

This was a quick and compelling read, peppered with vivid language and details that place the reader at the accident scene, in hospital rooms and in the middle of Kristen’s personal struggles to cope with her suicide attempt and the physical and mental recoveries from it.

I won’t soon forget Kristen’s story. If you’re looking for a light holiday read, save this one till after the New Year, but definitely put it on your “want to read” list.

—————————————————————————–

Want a sneak peek? Click here for the first chapter.

—————————————————————————————————–

In exchange for this review, I received a complimentary digital copy of Life, In Spite of Me from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group as part of the Blogging for Books program.

Want a chance to win a free book? Click the link below and rate this review on the Blogging for Books site.
http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/bloggingforbooks/reviews/ranking/15043

Hard to say I’m sorry

My son is “serving time” in his crib for biting his sister. It’s the second time this week he’s left a visible mark on a part of her body. The first time, he drew blood. And he’s the younger one of the two.

Sigh.

I know this isn’t by far the worst it will get as a parent. (We avoid the “p” word around here … ya know, puberty. That’s years away but we still dread it.)

But it’s frustrating. There’s no real rhyme or reason. We send him to timeout, which works, kind of. He resists timeout, but he’s willing to hug his sister afterwards.

He WILL NOT, however, say the words “I’m sorry.” He’s 2. And his vocabulary is such that he can it say but chooses not to.

Tonight, as he protested, “but I can’t” when I asked him to tell his sister he was sorry, I had a Chicago flashback.

Indulge me, will you?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLVKd1lhgOQ]

There, that’s better. I think you could change a few words in the song and it would apply to these two siblings who seem to have a love-hate relationship.

It’s not like my son is unique, though. He’s human, and if you haven’t noticed, we, humans, have a hard time with “sorry.” My first reaction when confronted with something I might or might not have done wrong is to find someone or something else to blame. “Sorry” is a last resort.

I was reminded of this yesterday when my husband brought up something that I hadn’t even realized I was guilty of doing. I wanted to find a reason to not be in the wrong, but in the end, I had to swallow all those excuses like a piece of overcooked broccoli and spit out the words, “I’m sorry.” Like the broccoli, it left a bad taste in my mouth, but I knew it was good for me.

I know that an apology doesn’t always fix things and that people who aren’t sorry can say the words and nothing changes. (And that some people are quick to apologize for things they didn’t do and have no control over.) But sometimes the words, sincere or not, are a start.

My son was given three or four chances tonight to apologize to his sister. He kept wanting to hug her and stuck to his original story of why he wouldn’t apologize: “I can’t.”

Maybe it’s true. Maybe he knows he wouldn’t mean it. (That would be awfully deep for a 2-year-old, I think.)

Or maybe he’s 2. And that’s all there is to it.

At least he has that as an excuse. I’m not sure it would work for me. (But, I’m only 33! I didn’t know better. Yeah, right!)

When do you have trouble with apologies? How do you overcome it? When was the last time you said “sorry” and meant it? How do you react when someone says “I’m sorry”?