Stay by Anjuli Paschall


I don't know about you, but like many people today, I have my share of disappointment and problems. Sometimes, I want to run far away from it all. Anuli Paschall shares pain and disappointment in her new book, Stay. From the back of the book, "What if Jesus is pulling out a chair and whispering, Stay?" Paschall encourages readers to "sit with God in the table of your soul." In sitting with God, she hopes that we will continue to invite Him in to our mess and to be transformed through it.

Stay is 21 chapters of Paschall sharing both the good things and the hard challenges she has faced in life. She then takes all of those parts of her story and shares how God redeems it all as we live for Him each day sifting all of the parts of the day through Him. She also invites the reader to turn to their own stories to see how God is working in their own lives. As Katherine Wolf shares in the forward, we are invited to be stay in our stories and work through the hard stuff instead of being like the older brother in the Prodigal son story who stayed physically but not spiritually.

I admire Paschall as she shares so openly and beautifully both her heart and her spirit as that is a hard thing for me. She has been hurt by many things in life, from what she has shared, yet she still opened herself up to those around her and to God each and every day--one day at a time. Her stories touched my heart and soul and I want to do similarly as I seek to live each day with Jesus. Yet, this doesn't feel like a self-help book, instead it just feels more like a sharing of stories with a sister in Christ as we sit on the sofa drinking tea together (why I also love the cover). At the end of the book, there are 3-4 questions for each chapter to consider and discuss. I think Stay would make a good book for small groups or Book clubs to discuss besides reading it on your own. I also think Stay would be good for women of all ages groups.

I received a copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers. All opinions in this review are my own.

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