Everything Is (Not) Fine: Finding Strength When Life Gets Annoyingly Difficult

“Being strong doesn’t always look like shouting from the rooftops about how brave... we are,” declares Schnack (The Gap Decade) in this heartfelt manual for meeting life’s challenges. Sometimes, she continues, it entails “being honest and vulnerable and fully leaning on God.” Schnack, whose son was born with a rare and devastating medical condition, recalls the panic that paralyzed her throughout his treatment odyssey, from MRIs to spinal cord surgeries. Initially, she berated herself for being anything less than a “strong, brave parent,” but a friend helped her recognize the wisdom of “admitting you are scared of the thing and doing it anyway, relying fully on God.” Each chapter recounts a lesson Schnack learned and the experience that taught it to her, from “It might not get easier. Sorry. But! You can get used it,” which she came to realize after being informed of her son’s diagnosis, to “No matter what we are facing today, we can rest in [God’s] love,” which she remembered upon learning of her second child’s health in utero at an ultrasound appointment. Counterintuitively, it’s the lack of clear-cut solutions that lends this guide its appeal—Schnack's honest rendering of faith challenges will help readers feel less alone, and her sense of humor adds welcome moments of levity, as when she describes a failed attempt to calm her daughter through a tantrum by “telling her I saw a really crazy-colored iguana that day doing something strange... feel free to follow me for more expert-level parenting advice.” The faithful will find inspiration here. (Sept.)