I am so looking forward to reading my friend Carrie O Toole's book, Relinquished - When Love Means Letting Go. Carrie's story is gut wrenching and beautiful. Truly a story of how God can use everything to draw us to Him and help others around us. Carrie has told me part of her story but I am looking forward to sitting and reading how God worked through a really, really difficult situation. It's coming out this weekend I encourage you to join me and check it out. I invited Carrie to share a little bit on my blog. The following is a guest post by Carrie O'Toole.
So many things have been written about Easter! We all have memories of Easter's past.
Here's a video retelling of Easter 2009 from my kitchen to yours:
I wrote my story three years ago, as therapy for my broken heart and exhausted spirit. After hearing, "Memoirs don't sell" countless times, I put the book away and tried to write a self-help book. During this time, I wrestled with my confidence and thoughts of not wanting to write a book, just for the sake of writing a book. I could not ignore the burning in my soul about writing my story.
I believe God resurrected this book, because my story is powerful! I decided to sit down and write it again, the book practically birthed itself!
As time passed and my wounds healed, I realized my story isn't just a memoir. It's a MEMOIR with a MESSAGE. A message that needs to be heard by:
- foster, step, and adoptive parents-you will feel understood, heard, and find strength.
- those who have been adopted-you may relate to the feelings you've always struggled to understand.
- family and friends of foster, step, and adoptive families-they need you to understand what's happening in their homes without judgment. They need support.
- counselors, doctors, teachers, pastors, judicial workers, social workers, and those in the system-please learn about Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD). Please understand what happens at home is not what you see in public. Please give support to these parents, especially the moms. They are trying so hard, and can't seem to figure this out. They are giving to the point of exhaustion, and they need help, not criticism.
- those who have or are currently struggling with infertility or miscarriage-you are not alone, and your grief is real.
- struggling parents-it's such a tough job! Things don't always go the way we hoped, but you will get get through it.
Easter...the time of death and resurrection.
God has given me a new life. I hope my book will inspire many to continue even when it feels like life is over, even when you don't think you can take one more breath. Keep going. God has a plan. It may not look like YOUR plan, but he has a plan. It will be good again. It will even be great!
Preorder Carrie's book here: http://www.carrieotoole.com/store.php
