Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Love Letters from the Edge by Shelly Beach and Wanda Sanchez - REVIEWED


About the Book:
Meditations offering practical hope through biblical expressions of lament and God's relentless, unconditional love for the hurting

Millions of women in the United States battle with after-effects of suffering so great they’ve developed post-traumatic stress disorder—the same suffering experienced by soldiers who’ve gone through war. Sexual and physical abuse, catastrophic accidents, abandonment, natural disasters, invasive medical procedures, and many other painful and overwhelming events can trigger symptoms they are little equipped to deal with and hard-pressed to recognize.

Love Letters from the Edge provides a voice for those struggling to express this pain and reveals intimate encouragement for those in desperate need to hear God’s words of love and deliverance. This heartfelt devotional focuses on the profound laments in the book of Psalms. Each meditation begins with a letter from someone in the throes of despair and then offers a tender response to their pain from God’s perspective.

Fresh, honest, and intimate, Love Letters from the Edge will reach readers who never expected to hear good news from where they are and point them toward the hope and healing of Christ.

My Thoughts:
Love Letters from the Edge is a twelve-week book of meditations designed to help you express your questions and frustrations to God and to better understand his heart for you.”  (p. 19)

This is a very straightforward statement written by the author in an attempt to give the reader an idea of this books format.  There is no way to dive into the emotional  upheaval of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Like many, I always associated this with folks returning from war.  What I’ve learned is that any traumatic event, death, illness, addiction, loss, divorce…any and all of these events can result in lingering PTSD symptoms.   Basically this is a mental health issue that results when, “…a person’s ability to cope is overwhelmed by a highly stressful experience and an individual perceives a threat to his or her own life of the life of someone else.”  (p. 257) The appendices of this book alone contain a gold mine of information!

This book is written as though someone is writing letters back and forth between himself and God.  The circumstances are different for every letter, but God’s answers are consistent and true.  Yes, we do live in a fallen world and suffer the consequences of other’s evil choices.  Until the Savior returns to carry us home, that will always be true.  But God has given us help through books like this one, so that we may learn to seek help, seek answers and rest in God alone.


This is not an easy read, but it is a necessary read!! This isn’t just for those who suffer from PTSD but for anyone who knows someone affected by this disorder.  It is real, and many are suffering!  Give them a hand back into wholeness!! There is a WEALTH of information about medical, spiritual and physical help available for everyone!! A gold mine!! Don’t miss this!!

About the Authors:
Shelly Beach is an award-winning author of eight books, including the Christy Award–winning Hallie’s Heart and ECPA book of the year nominee, Precious Lord, Take My Hand: Meditations for Caregivers. She is a national speaker, delivering a message of hope to thousands of women each year, and writes to an audience of approximately two million readers each month on Caring.com.

Wanda Sanchez is the executive producer of one of the nation’s longest running talk shows, and has over twenty-five years of experience in media, marketing, and publicity. She experienced extensive physical and emotional trauma and has come out the other side. Today, she blogs and speaks about hope for recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder to women and health professionals around the country. 

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