Fearfully and Wonderfully Broken: Fighting for Faith When You’re Falling Apart by Sydney Anne Bennett

This book is a courageous exploration of what happens at the crossroads of disability and Christian identity. We know how we want things to be and how things are “supposed to be,” but often we struggle with how things are. How do we live well in the spaces God has placed us in when he doesn’t take away the limitations we hope will disappear?

Sydney Bennett was a newlywed when pain and disability suddenly came into her life; doctors were puzzled, and she was left coping with realities she didn’t understand. Her book is a vulnerable, honest account of her personal experiences, her emotions, her questions, and her faith. It’s part journal and part theological reckoning. How do we deal with brokenness when it invades our lives and comes to stay?

Bennett doesn’t shy away from sharing how she really felt and how she really dealt. We see her as a young wife, as a college student, and as a new mom. We see her as she navigates tricky symptoms, debilitating fatigue, and a seemingly rare diagnosis. She grapples with not wanting people to see her as weak or burdensome. As she copes with her new normal, she shares stories of people who are helpful and some who are not. The apartment, the appointments, the deployment of her military spouse, and the unexpected are all laid bare for readers to see. Brokenness isn’t beautiful for its own sake, but brokenness becomes beautiful because it points people toward the redemption that can only truly be found in Jesus Christ. We are not yet at the point where all that is in creation has been made new, but someday we will experience wholeness in body, mind, and spirit. What is unraveled now will be redeemed later.

Bennett skillfully reminds readers of her story not to close the book on their own stories before the conclusion hits: “only a fool closes the covers when the story looks bleak.” Crusoe eventually finds his way off the island, and Christ does indeed rise from the tomb. For now, people with disabilities deal with pieces, but there is coming a day when disabilities are fully healed and redeemed. Pain is not meaningless, suffering is not endless, and our dependence on God prepares us for eternity. (Thomas Nelson)