MrsK Books: The Longing in Me by Sheila Walsh

Thursday, July 14, 2016

The Longing in Me by Sheila Walsh

The Longing in Me: How Everything You Crave Leads to the Heart of God

by Sheila Walsh

ISBN: 9781400204892

Publisher's Synopsis:

Do your desires have you going around in circles?

You may be looking for fulfillment in all the wrong places.

You vowed you d never repeat the same mistakes yet you find yourself right where you started. What is it that keeps drawing you back into the same old traps? The fact is, your longings are built from the blueprint of your needs: for protection, for love, for God. And those needs aren t going anywhere.

Sheila speaks candidly about the trials in her life, including the heartache of her first marriage, and intertwines her story with the biblical saga of King David. As both Sheila s and David s stories make clear, some cravings are misguided, but they all stem from the same hunger and they will haunt you until that hunger gets satisfied properly.

If you keep reaching out to the wrong people at the wrong times in your own life, The Longing in Me will help you understand that your cravings are not the problem. It s where they lead you that makes all the difference."

God is so much bigger than your past. He is so much more merciful than your sin. He is so much stronger than your weakest moment.

MrsK's Review:
It is with great honor that this review is being written. Over the course, of a few years, Sheila has been inspiring women to know and grow in a relationship with our Lord. Through Women of Faith, Sheila's witness has always... always inspired the next level in my faith walk.

With her newest book, Sheila is inviting us to walk with her and King David towards discovering the longing within our souls.

"The human heart longs for closure and understanding."

It's my "forever beginning," my point at which life tips and I begin looking for a life-preserver. Often times my searching takes me to others that might not be available. Ultimately, I reach for God's words... then I begin a renewal.

My prayer for you right now, dear reader, is that God

will grant you the grace and courage to pursue Him and,

along that broken path, discover how much God

has always loved and relentlessly pursued you."

Sheila explains the "slow and endless drip, drip, dripping" as a soul is damaged. When we replay the "agonizing, shame-filled tapes" over and over and over in our heads we become powerless against the warfare that begins a battle against our soul. We long to win the battle and to take refuge under the care of a champion or victor.

"Christ has called us to be people who speak the truth and live in the light,

who openly settle our conflicts

rather than withdraw and embitter ourselves."

If you are a gardener, you know all about those weeds that will choke the life out of a plant. Encrouching the good soil until the plant itself is over-ran with the weed's webbing. Within our minds, conversations and actions can thrive if we give attention to those deceiving "weeds."

"What God offers you is grace and forgiveness in the present

and hope for the future."

Eventually that "longing in me" begins prompting me to make everything right. What did King David do? How can the word of God direct our path? "How do you live when things can't be quickly fixed?"

Accept Sheila's invite, joining many women of faith and King David along this path of victory.

Healing brings sweet freedom,

MrsK

"The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located
will betray us if we trust to them;
it was not in them,
it only came through them,
and what came through was a longing...
For they are not the thing itself;
they are only the scent of a flower we have not found,
the echo of a turn we have not heard,
news from a country we have never yet visited."
C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

Inspiring forgiveness, renewal, strength, and self-discovery.

Meet the Author:

Sheila Walsh is a powerful communicator, Bible teacher, and best-selling author with more than 4 million books sold. A featured speaker with Women of Faith®, Sheila has reached more than 3.5 million women by artistically combining honesty, vulnerability, and humor with God's Word.

Author of the best-selling memoir Honestly and the Gold Medallion nominee for The Heartache No One Sees, Sheila's most recent release, The Shelter of God's Promises, has also been turned into a DVD curriculum and in-depth Bible study. The Gigi, God's Little Princess book and video series has won the National Retailer's Choice Award twice and is the most popular Christian brand for young girls in the United States.
Sheila co-hosted The 700 Club and her own show Heart to Heart with Sheila Walsh. She is currently completing her Masters in Theology.

"I received this book from BookLook Bloggers for free for this review."

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MrsK's Reading Bio

Reading is important! No questions asked, not even a blink of the eye from any student I grew up with. On the first day of the First grade, we were given our first books. Day two we all read aloud, round robin of course. Day three we were place in our first basal, now known as a lit circle group. Books were so important, publishers designed new curriculum so that every student was reading by the end of the first week. These early readers had images that looked like what we could see in the classroom, beyond the classroom, even on the big screen. Reading is important, throughout history every generation has believed that “Reading” opens up the world for endless possibilities.

I adore the 1950’s Dick and Jane books. Actually, most reading specialists and experienced (45+) educators believe that every student learned to read with Dick and Jane. Since these books are being re-issued, I have heard many parents, grandparents, and students claim that Dick and Jane stories of repetition does teach students to read.

Early influences from my mother influenced my desire to read. I would watch her read and we would go on “secret” excursions to the library. The library became my playground. I owned every book I could carry home, of course they needed to be taken back to their home after visiting with me for a week or two. My first book that I could pull off of the library shelf and read was, Father Bear Comes Home. I only saw my dad on Sundays for a few hours. I would pull this beginning reader off of the library shelf every week. Every week I would try to read the first chapter. Every week I got further in the story. My mom would let me check it out, only if I could read it myself (She didn’t like the illustrations therefore she didn’t want to take time to read it to me). One day, I pulled the book from the shelf and when mom came to get me from the children’s corner, I realized that I had read the whole story. I ran to the check out desk and the Librarian KERCHUNKED the checkout card. My mother, brother and neighbors read. My teachers read. We all read aloud all day long in school. The Priest read aloud every day at mass, even in Latin. Everybody in the Doctor’s office read. People on the bus read. Dad’s waiting in their cars as the Mom’s and children grocery shopped, read. In fact, once you could read and write, Sunset Magazine considered you a reader and sent you mail every day.

Reading is important; I’ve spent my life reading. I’ve traveled around the world and into space through books. My favorite genre is whichever book I have open at the time. Children’s Literature is my passion. Book clubbing is one of the best past times, especially if food is involved. In fact my friends of old are in a book club and we are about to embark on a beach trip to “read” and discuss our newest selection.

My “home-run” book story has helped every student find his or her own “home-run” reads. Every year, I have shared my, Father Bear Comes Home, and every year my students have brought in their “home-run” books. That’s the “diving board” into our Lit. Studies.

In “Growing Up Digital,” Tapscott’s insights into the new generations enthusiasm for the Net reminded me of my generation’s enthusiasm for reading, movies, TV, parties and our driving permits. The Net-Generation, as Tapscott describes, “are learning, playing, communicating, working, creating communities, and enforcing a social transformation.”
N-Geners are interactive “techies” who are always looking for a way to “work it” verses the TV Generation of “Baby Boomers” who started out looking for “how it works.” Reading development is tougher today, society moves too fast to invest their “non-working” free time into a book or even “home work.” Since I stepped into my own classroom, I have seen students being told to read, being forced to read, and threatened into reading. Homework is not any longer the vehicle for students to gain their future lifestyles or careers with. Yet, the Internet does create an enthusiasm for learning. Since I have been enrolled in these courses, I have used the computers in every subject. My students are using the newest technology in the classroom because I am giving them investigative sites to use as they learn from each other and books. I agree with Tapscott, in order to bridge the gap with this up and coming generation we must “live and learn with them.”

FTC Required Disclaimer: I receive these books from the publishers. I did not receive monetary compensation for these reviews. These reviews have been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)