Sky Full of Stars: Learning to Surrender to God’s Perfect Plans

In this heartfelt debut, Apperson explores difficult times in her life to help Christians who struggle to trust God in the midst of suffering. After Apperson’s daughter, Avery, was born with severe birth defects, she wrestled with trusting God: “How could I fully trust Him if I didn’t want Him to ‘mess’ with my children?” She details how she advocated for her daughter, navigated hospital politics, and began to view pain as preparation for the vagaries of life rather than punishment. After Apperson finds herself back in the hospital when her six-year old son undergoes open-heart surgery, she comes to believe that God doesn’t waste pain: “[God] uses pain to shape all of our journeys—and in our case, Avery was the catalyst.” Apperson suggests that grieving “gives us Jesus’s eyes” and results in the gift of compassion. Only when she came to realize that her “constant grasping for any sign of positive purpose” actually prolonged her grief did she fully trust God to redeem her pain: “I learned to accept that maybe there were times when the sky was simply dark and the only thing that brought out the stars was having Jesus by my side.” Apperson’s emotional memoir will move any Christian. (Oct.)