Finding Spiritual Whitespace: Awakening Your Soul to Rest

Vulnerable Practical Real Genuine Strong Survivor Pure Heart BONNIE IS!!!!!

The adage suggests that we not judge a book by it's cover, but I tend to ignore that. The beautiful cover of Finding Spiritual Whitespace reflects perfectly the beautiful contents of this book. For a paperback, it is weighty like it's subject matter. And there, on the cover, is the whitespace that wordlessly indicates the value that this book has.Bonnie's story is full of hard truth - the way all our lives are if we stop long enough to consider them. And stop is exactly what we must do if we are truly seeking God and His healing. I have heard God whisper "rest" to me for three years and I have tried, but the other voice whispers "you're lazy" and it is hard to break free from the guilt and anxiety. To find someone else, in the pages of a book (my favourite place) who has been traveling the same journey is always my greatest source of pleasure and hope.In this book, Bonnie gives me permission to be my own best friend instead of my own worst enemy. She took away the pressure of the Christian checkbox solution to brokenness and helped me to see that I am not called to perform my way out of the pain, but to rest in the healing arms of my Saviour. She helped me accept that it might be a meandering journey and not a direct ladder to 'success' and freedom.And it is not only Bonnie's story that has helped me - there is a whole sisterhood on her blog of other women who identify with her work. To know I am not the only one "orphaned by sadness" and to break that taboo is another marvelous gift of this book.Having read other self-help books, I had already done the hard work of digging up childhood memories in order to deal with my past - but I didn't know how to move on, how to really deal with them or the little girl I found inside. This book has given me some 'how to's' that are couched in a realistic Christian perspective. This book is a storybook, a guidebook and a devotional book and is now a favourite book of mine.

Great reminder that God delights in us...not what we accomplish, not in our busyness. Although written for women, this book deals with a topic men struggle with as well. A good read for anyone feeling the need to Sabbath!!!

I've been following Bonnie Gray over at Faith Barista.com for several years now and have been always blessed by Bonnie's words. So when her book came out, I was eager to read it. I have been fortunate to be part of Bonnie's book launch team and to be in community with other readers and bloggers in the group.I appreciate Bonnie's willingness to tell her story of the causes of the PTSD that led her into a deeper relationship with Jesus. It has been my experience that in telling our stories, as Bonnie has done, we have been labeled as "unspiritual" or "weak", or worse yet, to be told that we should put everything behind us and move on. Which doesn't work, of course. We can put our pain and hurts and trauma in a box way up on a dark closet shelf, far in the back, but at some point, they will come falling down and bite us, usually when we're least prepared for it.We forget in different ways. We bury painful memories, knowingly or unknowingly. Any way that we do it, we think they're gone forever, and we move on. But our bodies remember the truth of what happened to us; and one way or another, those buried memories will affect our lives.That's exactly what happened to Bonnie, and she was caught by surprise by the flood of emotions that took over her life. But she made the courageous decision to take that box of memories down off the closet shelf, where, as a little girl, she'd placed them, so well that she'd forgotten about it.By taking down that box full of painful memories, Bonnie was able to heal, and to discover how much she is loved by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. No longer running as fast as she could to escape something she didn't even realize was there, she was able to incorporate her healing into her book, which focuses on learning to become aware of those "whitespace times" where we can slow down and get quiet in order to hear God's voice in our lives.Reading this book has helped me to become aware of my own need for whitespace times and to leave room in my schedule to find rest and to make more room for the companionship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Sometimes I find this space sitting in front of my spinning wheel and creating beautiful yarn, or looking through the lens of my camera, or writing on my blog, or spending times with friends.Awareness. The whitespace is there. We just need to purpose to make time for it in our busy lives.**Disclosure** This book was sent to me free of charge for my honest review from Revell with no expectations of what I would say in my review. I also purchased a copy to give to a friend.

This book is a fantastic read, and journaling experience. It has been instrumental to bringing new light to my relationship with God.

I'm LOVING this book. Trouble is I can't work through it first time around to get the best out of the suggested exercises because I'm too hooked on reading Bonnie's own story to process my stuff. I'm desperate to read what happens to her next and can't think about me until I've seen how things turn out for her. I'm sooo glad she wrote this story and I'm sure I'll go back through it afterwards to make sure I am able to use her experience of God's healing power, towards receiving some for myself.

Couldn't put it down. Beautifully written. An amazing take on Gods love and working through emotional trauma. Every page just made me want to rest, relax, breath deep and enjoy every moment

thanks

This is a beautitully written book about the need for spiritual rest. Bonnie Gray wrote this book out of a personal crisis and paid a price for the lessons contained therein. She does overplay the 'whitespace' metaphor a bit, but it is a good one. Personally, I thought she needed a bit more distance between her problems and actually writing the book but there are valuable lessons to be learnt from it..