Heart Made Whole

In this compulsively readable entreaty, Gifford, a speaker, songwriter, and blogger, urges readers to invite God into the midst of their most painful circumstances in order to experience healing at the heart level. Sharing her own experiences with trauma, betrayal, and the death of her infant daughter, she describes how easily people can guard their hearts from God and explains how she finally learned to run toward God instead and lay her hurts and disappointments bare in front of him. Gifford also weaves in scriptures from a variety of paraphrases and translations of the Bible, hoping to help readers understand how God has designed their hearts to speak and guide them toward deeper intimacy with him. Gifford's authentic voice and willingness to be transparent make her work an invitation to deep heart transformation for anyone who is holding it together on the outside but feeling roiled by life's darker moments. (June)