The Longing In Me by Sheila Walsh
About the Book:
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.
About the Author:
Sheila Walsh is an author, speaker and Bible teacher who has sold over 4 million books. Her heart is to show what happens when your real life meets the Word of God. She is the author of the #1 best-selling line of Christian books for little girls, "Gigi, God's Little Princess." Sheila is the creator of Children of Faith and the Gnoo Zoo, a ministry to children that communicates God's love for them. She is the author of several books for women including "Honestly," "Gifts for Your Soul," "Living Fearlessly," and "The Best Devotions of Sheila Walsh", "The Shelter of God's Promises" and her latest book, "God Loves Broken People and those who pretend they're not." As an accomplished musician, Sheila has recently released the CD "Beauty From Ashes." Sheila, her husband, Barry and their son, Christian live in Dallas, Texas.
My Review:
If you've followed my writing for any length of time, you know that I am crazy about the story of David. From shepherd to king, his story is filled with such passion, adventure, and yes, even chaos. Over the years, I've learned so much from the Biblical account of David's life, but that hasn't quenched my thirst for more. And that is precisely what Shelia Walsh delivers in this book when she takes the story of David and weaves it in along with personal accounts of the ups and downs of her life. Walsh invites the reader into an intimate setting with real feelings, genuine heartache and stories that help the reader to understand that whatever they're facing, they're not alone.
As all good books do, this one had me crying at times and laughing at other times. There were many episodes in Walsh's life where I found myself nodding because I could relate. Her willingness to open up and share her imperfections was refreshing. I can't tell you how many sentences and even paragraphs I highlighted or wrote down in my journal. I took away so much from this heartfelt journey to explore the longing in me, and to be honest, I was shocked by what I discovered.
By the end of the book, I realized that my longing for God was not as it should be, or perhaps I should say, how I filled that longing is not as it should be. I was saved at a young age and raised in a Christian home. I've lived my life as a good girl, doing my best to serve God and unwittingly expecting Him to serve me in return. Over the years, I have taken God's promises and twisted them into what I wanted them to be, then grew angry when God didn't follow through. As I've examined my relationship with the Lord over these past weeks, I've discovered that my faithful service to the Lord is more out of fear and obligation than out of love. I've also learned that I treat God more like a genie in a bottle rather than giving Him the respect due my Father, Savior, Lord and yes, even Friend. In essence, I've not been longing for God as much as I've been longing for Him to fix things in my life. My relationship has been reduced to spending time with Him in hopes that He'll reward me by setting things right in my life. I'm so ashamed yet, at the same time, relieved to have discovered this about myself. This explains why I feel so unsettled and unsatisfied. I'm trying to fill my longing for God with the stuff He can provide, and now that I see the error of my ways, I can hopefully change my actions and attitude (with God's help, of course).
I can't promise you that reading this book will be easy because it may cause you to become aware of issues you didn't see before, but I can say without a doubt that it's definitely worth reading.