cover image FAIRY TALE FAITH: Living in the Meantime When You Expected Happily Ever After

FAIRY TALE FAITH: Living in the Meantime When You Expected Happily Ever After

Brenda Waggoner, . . Tyndale House, $16.99 (224pp) ISBN 978-0-8423-7113-1

There was a time, not so long ago, when many inspirational books for Christian women offered perfectionist prescriptions for overachieving females. But in this gently meandering narrative spiked with plainspoken nuggets of hard-won wisdom, Waggoner, a Texas counselor, implicitly challenges the assumption that such blueprints are realistic or even helpful. Seamlessly weaving examples from Scripture, her counselees and her own life with offerings from contemporary writers and traditional spiritual classics, she makes an unadorned but compelling case for seeking God's presence in the ferment and brokenness of everyday life. Often, the unpretentious writer contends, new believers assume an immediate happy ending accompanies conversion to Christian faith. Instead, unexpected challenges, tragedies and mundane moments can present new lenses for appreciating blessings and opportunities for spiritual growth and healing in what the author terms the "Meantime." "The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only true story genuine enough to interface with our honest doubts and fears, [and] pervasive enough to respond to all the existential dilemmas of human adult life," she writes. Some women will find Waggoner credible because she is candid about the times when her family and her faith have been rent and repaired. Others will appreciate her willingness to tackle difficult topics like self-rejection, childhood wounds and disappointment with God. Above all, the author wants her readers to appreciate the gifts of today—and to trust God beyond, even within, the abrasions and abundance of the ordinary. (Apr.)