The Shack
Author:
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Religion & Spirituality
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Religion & Spirituality
Book Type: Paperback
I am writing about my experience with The Shack and its author because both the book and its author have touched my life in a very powerful way and I really hope that many others will be blessed as I have been by reading the book. The most important thing I got from the book was an emphasis on having a relationship with our Father in Heaven and how He loves us despite what we may go through in this life. I am not writing this to try to persuade anyone out of any convictions they have. As Christians, I believe God gives us great freedom, but also that the Holy Spirit gives us different convictions. I also believe that it is not our job to convict others with our own beliefs, but only to testify to how God is working in our own lives and allow the Holy Spirit to take it from there. Therefore, I will not argue about the merits of any criticisms given to this book. I actually haven't studied them, but don't have a desire to either.
I began hearing about the book from different sources and how it was so acclaimed. My sister talked to me about how she was reading it, but she didn't recommend it to me because she knew I was enduring a time of great grief and might have a difficult time with the subject matter. I was a little afraid of it for that reason, but curiosity got the best of me so I decided to read it. The book begins with the main character trying to come to terms with "the great sadness" in his life. He has endured probably the most tragic thing imaginable and it has shaken him to the core. This I related to right away because in August, 2006, I entered into the journey through my own "great sadness." I had gotten the opportunity three years previous to begin homeschooling my youngest daughter. I had always wanted to be at home with my children, but never had the financial capability. It was a particular desire for me with my youngest daughter because she had been born with health problems and also had learning problems that made school very difficult for her. I don't think I could put into words how amazing and wonderful it was to be home with her each day, help her learn, and grow closer to her in every way. Her spiritual growth was so endearing and heartwarming also during this time. We had gone to a "back to school" homeschool cookout party at a friend's house. After being there for about two hours, I walked past my daughter and noticed a strange look on her face. I thought she must be tired so I told her she might need to rest a minute. When she turned around to sit in a chair, she fell to the ground and had a grand mal seizure. She came to and talked to us at one point, but after that, despite many attempts to revive her, never regained consciousness and I believe she died before the paramedics even got there.
If you've never had "a great sadness" in your life, I don't believe there's any way you can really comprehend how deeply and totally it can affect you. I had a niece that had passed away suddenly as a teenager so I had watched my sister-in-law and her family suffer, and I had known how hard it had been for my grandfather to lose a child. I had also had many sadnesses previous to this including losing my mother and grandmother just 3 years prior to this incident. However, I must say that all of my smaller sadnesses put together hadn't affected me as much as watching my child die in my arms.
I had been a Christian for 20 years before this happened and had a strong faith, for which I'm extremely thankful. I knew my daughter was a Christian and believed her to be in Heaven waiting for me to join her one day. I thought it was surely a great blessing to her to enter into the kingdom of Heaven and rejoiced at all the joys she must be experiencing. I was blessed by amazing people through the early days of her leaving us. I had one friend insist on paying for an expensive marker for her gravesite, someone anonomously pay all of the funeral expense and many other blessings also.
For all these things, I thanked God. But the one thing I struggled with was how He could let this happen if he loved me. Because along with losing my precious daughter, I lost the career I had poured my heart into and the friendships we had made together could never be the same. In fact, nothing in life was the same and for me, life really didn't seem worth living.
These same feelings of hopelessness and misery plague the main character in The Shack. He has an encounter with each of the persons in the Trinity and each minister to Him in their unique way and yet all are together. Reading how they related to Him reminded me of how God relates to me. I don't think I can adequately explain how much it helped me to read of the main character's discussions with a God who loved him and understood his pain. I knew that God was using this book to bring restoration to our relationship and that He loved me too even though there were things I could never understand about why things have happened the way they did. One of my favorite parts of the book is when the main character is allowed to see a loved one in Heaven to provide assurance to those of us that need it so desperately. I was so thankful I read the book and am so thankful to God that He doesn't give up on me despite my constant struggles!
A few weeks ago, I took a teen friend to an event near us called "Atlanta Fest." It is a festival of Christian musicians and other speakers and seminars. I had gotten an email that Paul Young, author of The Shack, would be there signing autographs so I took my book along with me. Paul Young spoke that night and I was so blessed by his total humility concerning how the book came about and with how he gave God all the glory for everything that happened concerning it. I was also greatly impressed at how honest he was about his personal shortcomings and struggles. I hadn't realized it but he explained that the shack in the book was actually the facade we put up for those around us to see. Inside, God brings healing when we're willing to face our pain and let Him love us through it.
Afterwards, he did sign autographs so I went to see him. I told him briefly about my daughter and how his book had really helped me to believe that God loved me again. I felt like he was no stranger to grief because he asked me how long it had been and then said simply said, "that's not very long." That may not seem to be an amazing amount of understanding, but to me it was. I can't tell you how many Christians have wanted to rush me past this grieving process with Bible verses, advice they think will fix me, and trite "Christian" things they've heard and may help them, but couldn't possibly help a grieving person. Then he did something else that really touched me. He got up from the table, and came and gave me a big hug even though there were many people waiting in line to see him. That meant so much to me. If only everyone could understand that the two things grieving people need most are understanding and hugs, grief could be a lot easier to bear.
I'll always be thankful I read this book and met its author, it was a great blessing. The greatest blessing of life though is to know God loves us even though He allows great suffering to be a part of this life. To be able to say that at this point in my life is the greatest testimony God has ever given me.
Thank you for reading this and may you know the love of God intimately and eternally,
Barbara Grant
I began hearing about the book from different sources and how it was so acclaimed. My sister talked to me about how she was reading it, but she didn't recommend it to me because she knew I was enduring a time of great grief and might have a difficult time with the subject matter. I was a little afraid of it for that reason, but curiosity got the best of me so I decided to read it. The book begins with the main character trying to come to terms with "the great sadness" in his life. He has endured probably the most tragic thing imaginable and it has shaken him to the core. This I related to right away because in August, 2006, I entered into the journey through my own "great sadness." I had gotten the opportunity three years previous to begin homeschooling my youngest daughter. I had always wanted to be at home with my children, but never had the financial capability. It was a particular desire for me with my youngest daughter because she had been born with health problems and also had learning problems that made school very difficult for her. I don't think I could put into words how amazing and wonderful it was to be home with her each day, help her learn, and grow closer to her in every way. Her spiritual growth was so endearing and heartwarming also during this time. We had gone to a "back to school" homeschool cookout party at a friend's house. After being there for about two hours, I walked past my daughter and noticed a strange look on her face. I thought she must be tired so I told her she might need to rest a minute. When she turned around to sit in a chair, she fell to the ground and had a grand mal seizure. She came to and talked to us at one point, but after that, despite many attempts to revive her, never regained consciousness and I believe she died before the paramedics even got there.
If you've never had "a great sadness" in your life, I don't believe there's any way you can really comprehend how deeply and totally it can affect you. I had a niece that had passed away suddenly as a teenager so I had watched my sister-in-law and her family suffer, and I had known how hard it had been for my grandfather to lose a child. I had also had many sadnesses previous to this including losing my mother and grandmother just 3 years prior to this incident. However, I must say that all of my smaller sadnesses put together hadn't affected me as much as watching my child die in my arms.
I had been a Christian for 20 years before this happened and had a strong faith, for which I'm extremely thankful. I knew my daughter was a Christian and believed her to be in Heaven waiting for me to join her one day. I thought it was surely a great blessing to her to enter into the kingdom of Heaven and rejoiced at all the joys she must be experiencing. I was blessed by amazing people through the early days of her leaving us. I had one friend insist on paying for an expensive marker for her gravesite, someone anonomously pay all of the funeral expense and many other blessings also.
For all these things, I thanked God. But the one thing I struggled with was how He could let this happen if he loved me. Because along with losing my precious daughter, I lost the career I had poured my heart into and the friendships we had made together could never be the same. In fact, nothing in life was the same and for me, life really didn't seem worth living.
These same feelings of hopelessness and misery plague the main character in The Shack. He has an encounter with each of the persons in the Trinity and each minister to Him in their unique way and yet all are together. Reading how they related to Him reminded me of how God relates to me. I don't think I can adequately explain how much it helped me to read of the main character's discussions with a God who loved him and understood his pain. I knew that God was using this book to bring restoration to our relationship and that He loved me too even though there were things I could never understand about why things have happened the way they did. One of my favorite parts of the book is when the main character is allowed to see a loved one in Heaven to provide assurance to those of us that need it so desperately. I was so thankful I read the book and am so thankful to God that He doesn't give up on me despite my constant struggles!
A few weeks ago, I took a teen friend to an event near us called "Atlanta Fest." It is a festival of Christian musicians and other speakers and seminars. I had gotten an email that Paul Young, author of The Shack, would be there signing autographs so I took my book along with me. Paul Young spoke that night and I was so blessed by his total humility concerning how the book came about and with how he gave God all the glory for everything that happened concerning it. I was also greatly impressed at how honest he was about his personal shortcomings and struggles. I hadn't realized it but he explained that the shack in the book was actually the facade we put up for those around us to see. Inside, God brings healing when we're willing to face our pain and let Him love us through it.
Afterwards, he did sign autographs so I went to see him. I told him briefly about my daughter and how his book had really helped me to believe that God loved me again. I felt like he was no stranger to grief because he asked me how long it had been and then said simply said, "that's not very long." That may not seem to be an amazing amount of understanding, but to me it was. I can't tell you how many Christians have wanted to rush me past this grieving process with Bible verses, advice they think will fix me, and trite "Christian" things they've heard and may help them, but couldn't possibly help a grieving person. Then he did something else that really touched me. He got up from the table, and came and gave me a big hug even though there were many people waiting in line to see him. That meant so much to me. If only everyone could understand that the two things grieving people need most are understanding and hugs, grief could be a lot easier to bear.
I'll always be thankful I read this book and met its author, it was a great blessing. The greatest blessing of life though is to know God loves us even though He allows great suffering to be a part of this life. To be able to say that at this point in my life is the greatest testimony God has ever given me.
Thank you for reading this and may you know the love of God intimately and eternally,
Barbara Grant
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