Life in Spite of me
By Kristen Anderson and Tricia Goyer
Reviewed by Martha Artyomenko
ABOUT THE BOOK:
After her fatal choice… extraordinary hope.
Why does my life have to be so painful?
What’s wrong with me?
It’s not going to get better.
It could all be over soon, and then I won’t hurt anymore.
Kristen Anderson thought she had the picture perfect life until strokes of gray dimmed her outlook on life. Once a happy child, Kristen’s world darkened after three friends and her grandmother died within two years. Still reeling from these losses, she was raped by a friend she thought she could trust. She soon spiraled into a depression that didn’t seem to have a bottom.
One January night, the seventeen-year-old made a decision: She no longer wanted to deal with the emotional pain that smothered her. She lay down on a set of cold railroad tracks and waited-for a freight train to send her to heaven…and peace.
Fear coursed through me. I squeezed my eyes tighter.
It’s going to be over now. The pain is going to end. I’ll be in heaven soon.
As the train whistle blew, the vibration of my body stilled.
The sound stopped. The wind stopped. The train stopped.
Am I dead yet?
Amazingly, Kristen survived her suicide attempt… but the 33 freight cars that ran over her severed her legs. Now she not only had to deal with depression; she also had to face the physical pain and life without legs.
But Kristen’s story didn’t end there. After her darkest days Kristen discovered a real purpose for living. Now, in her compelling book Life, In Spite of Me, Kristen shares her journey from despair to hope.
Includes letters from Kristen that share messages she wishes someone would have told her-when she was depressed and struggling with loss, shame from sexual abuse, and suicidal thoughts.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tricia Goyer is the author of twenty-four books including Songbird Under a German Moon, The Swiss Courier, and the mommy memoir, Blue Like Play Dough. She won Historical Novel of the Year in 2005 and 2006 from ACFW, and was honored with the Writer of the Year award from Mt. Hermon Writer’s Conference in 2003. Tricia’s book Life Interrupted was a finalist for the Gold Medallion in 2005. In addition to her novels, Tricia writes non-fiction books and magazine articles for publications like MomSense and Thriving Family. Tricia is a regular speaker at conventions and conferences, and has been a workshop presenter at the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International Conventions. She and her family make their home in Little Rock, Arkansas where they are part of the ministry of FamilyLife. For more info, please visit www.triciagoyer.com
My Review:
This book was one of those incredible books that you get in the mail and sit down and start reading, and you do not stop until you are done. Her story is one that you will immediately think of several people you wish would read it as those feelings of hopelessness you know has encompassed many a teen or adult. This book deals with a tough topic of suicide, but really brings out the fact that God saved her life to do work for Him. Her choices had hard consequences that she paid for, but she uses the reminder of her choices to glorify Him. i think we can find ourselves in her story so much as she had a good family, great parents, but life was awful with losing ones she loved, being raped and she did not think she could go on. This story shows how God can in spite of ourselves bring us to Him and make beauty from Ashes.This is an incredible book and one that I think is worth owning and passing on to friends and family. An A+- Martha
You can find this book for sale in your local bookstores, Amazon, Christianbook.com etc.
There is also a contest if you would like to win a copy by doing one of these two thing!
Tweet this: Dont miss Life, In Spite of Me by @TriciaGoyer! The amazing story of #KristenAnderson journey back from #suicide! http://bit.ly/98PKmo
(must use both hashtags #kristenanderson and #suicide)
For a chance to win a 5 book Tricia Goyer library any five books of your choice!
And/or
Leave a comment here http://triciagoyer.blogspot.com/2010/05/i-am-so-excited-to-announce-that-life.html for a chance to win 1 of 5 copies of Life, In Spite of Me.