Jed’s story, my newest book review: "Break Out: A Criminal's Journey to Eternal Freedom" Revised and Expanded Edition

"Break Out: A Criminal's Journey to Eternal Freedom" Revised and Expanded Edition

 I love how the story ends in "Break Out: A Criminal's Journey to Eternal Freedom" Revised and Expanded Edition, by Jed G. Lindstrom. The new version expands on the original writing done by Jed and Larry J Leech II. But really this story is just beginning as there are great things on the horizon for Jed and his family.

 Someone once said to me when I told them about Jed and Lets Go Ministry, “His story is just like the story of hundreds of addicts.” I didn’t have a good answer for them then, but now after reading the book, I do. I say Jed and the power of the Holy Spirit working in his life makes his story shine. And isn’t that what this world with the darkness and pain that is all around us needs? A shining light to help lead us?

Another person that met Jed said “I knew I wanted to get to know this man because something was shining from him.” I recently learned that when he first came into our town he made sandwiches and gave them out to the poor. To me, that is a beautiful act of worship to the Lord, as in Matthew 25:40: “And the King will answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” I was familiar with some of Jed's story before I read the book, having walked the streets of Daytona with him when his ministry sponsored Motel Church a few years ago. Jed always has creative ways to spread the gospel and to reach out to those that other people might bypass.

There’s a reason that everyone that meets him wants to book him to speak. Larry J Leech II has beautifully crafted this story in his own unique and awesome way.

You’ll meet Jed through the words of this book and find out that his whole family shines! The pictures were an added bonus to getting to know this family. I especially loved the addition of how the Lord brought Jed and Erica together. There’s a lot more content and some beautiful pictures in this book. Jed started a support group meeting in the Daytona Beach area called Break Out and it has helped many people start or stay on a recovery walk.

Jed is a man who gives honor to a praying mom and this was one of my favorite paragraphs:

“I’m so thankful that I had a praying mom who would not let me go. Between the abuse I subjected my body to and dangerous situations I put myself in, I easily could have died out there. The power of God is real and active. If you are crying out to God for an addicted loved one right now and are growing weary, don’t give up! They desperately need your prayers for divine protection and for the Lord to awaken them to His call and vision for their life.”( Jed page 54)

I so related to Jed’s miracle of a reunion in chapter titled, “RESTORATION”. I’m very proud of his stand with this situation and Erica, his wife, is one of the most supportive women I’ve ever met.

This book is easy to read, keeps your attention and will be a blessing to many families. Jed writes out some helpful scriptures and The “Seven Basic Steps to Follow Jesus” at the end will help those who are struggling. Read this book then pass it along. That’s what I’m doing!

Donna Collins Tinsley

http://www.jedsbook.com/

http://www1.cbn.com/video/SAL88v1/criminal-son-finds-redemption-through-mother-rsquo-s-prayers

 

 

 

GET WITH THE PROGRAM!

 

 

GET WITH THE PROGRAM!

 I attended a conflict resolutions seminar recently. It made me want to say, "Get with the program" to my family. Then I wondered where that phrase came from? Is it Al-Anon specific?  I'm pretty sure I heard my mom say it here and there throughout her life so that phrase has been around awhile.

The main meaning seems to be, follow the rules; do what you are supposed to do. That also clearly implies that there is a known method or "program" to follow; we might say to someone, “Come on, honey. Get with the program. Do what you are told.”

Or McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs gives the example, “Jane just can't seem to get with the program. She has to do everything her way, right or wrong.”*

If I ask someone to get with the program I may want them to make more effort to do what is needed or to accept new ideas.  In Word Weavers the program is to follow the manual or the example of Word Weavers International in the way they conduct their meetings.

For those who are affected by addictions in their family’s lives they may want their loved one to go to a meeting where there is “program or 12-step talk.” There are books about certain programs for recovery issues and yet everyone may have their own opinion about them. One slogan I love in Al-Anon is, “Take What You Like and Leave the Rest.” That has helped me tremendously when the stress of life has kept me from doing the complete program.

 

I’ve perhaps made my own program at times which consists of, on Thursdays, taking some time to encourage others in prayer for those in recovery, hitting a meeting and then rewarding myself with a Chick-Fila Milkshake. Here is an example of a Thursday post for my blog:

The Ways of the Lord Towards Us

Are Good!

For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting;

and his truth endureth to all generations. Psalm 100:5

It's Thursday and today as I think about those who are in recovery, I also am praying for those who are grieving, those who are sick and people in need of a Healer. For those who want to give up, those who are afraid their children will die of an overdose on the streets, and those who are afraid their loved one will just decide to end it all, I pray, also.

I pray because that is really all I can do. I yield to Him, although sometimes I want to try to fix someone; sometimes, so very many times, I may even want to shake someone and say, “Get with the program!”  Instead, I yield to the Lord, because letting go and letting God is the only reasonable thing that I can do. It keeps me sane in an insane world.

His ways are good even when we can't see for the darkness. His ways are good even when they aren’t our ways. His ways are good through the valley of the shadow of death. His ways are good when we are lonely because He will come to us. His ways are good when we are struggling because He can calm the struggle.

His ways are good when our children have abandoned or forsaken us (and Him) and gone astray because He is the mighty Shepherd who searches for the lost one. His ways are good in our pain as He is the Healer. His ways are good when the road is long and the journey seems too hard to travel for He travels with us.

His ways are good we will believe for this year. We can’t create, change or cure

anyone but His ways are good and He can. HE IS THE PROGRAM!

 

Think on your blessings, as that is the only way to overcome the darkness of this world. He is the Light and His ways are good! The goodness of the Lord lives forever. Let Jesus be your program for today.

What to do for yourself:  Focus on your blessings as you take long, deep, cleansing breaths. When stressed throughout the day remember to breathe deeply.

Thought: Sometimes we just need to say a prayer to get our minds in a better place. Focus on the Lord’s goodness in your life even if addiction has flavored it. The Lord is good even when _____________ because_________.

Donna Collins Tinsley

Praying every day in every way for you and your loved ones at Somebody’s Daughter Online Prayer Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/119408188089314/

 

*McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

My Easter Devo for you, The Bleeding Parent

 We pray on Saturdays for those who have lost loved ones to death, it seems to hit close to home for many. The most unnatural thing in the world they say is burying your child , although Jesus was an adult at the time of His death, to Mary, He was her baby, yet also her Savior.

 Lord, send your strong Father arms of comfort to those who are grieving.

Though they are worn, give them new strength and vision for life. Give them the hope to press on and the ability to have joy again.

The Bleeding Parent

“Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, His mother, for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also) that the hearts of many may be revealed.” Luke 2:34-35

            Mary was a young girl at the time she conceived.  She learned early what it meant to be a bleeding parent.  One of the first prophecies spoken to her was Luke 2:34-35.  As a mother, her natural impulse would have been to shelter, nurture and protect her son.  We cannot forget that although Jesus was God in human form, He was bone of her bone and flesh of her flesh.  Her womb was the first home for the king of kings.  Her body pushed him out.  With each contraction, His destiny and our salvation drew nearer.  She bore pain for Him, that He would bear our pain and sins.

             She watched and pondered, not even knowing fully it was He of whom was spoken, “He is a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.  And we hid as it were, our faces from Him.  He was despised and we did not esteem Him.”(Isaiah 53:3)

He went from son to Savior as she watched Him dying for her at the cross.  We forget sometimes that He was born for the cross.  She went from being His mother to being His child as He became a bleeding parent for her.

Prayer: Lord, you know how much we would like to hide at times from the pain of life, especially when it involves our children. Help us instead to help steer them to the blessings that are in our daily lives and the Season before us.

Thought for the Day: Sometimes as parents we bleed for our children when we see them go through painful situations.

Prayer Focus: Families in pain during the holidays.

Donna Collins Tinsley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQan9L3yXjc

Got Hurts, Habits or Hang-ups?

I'm so glad that we've had a pretty calm weekend. Recently I posted: "Have you ever felt like your life is a Tyler Perry movie waiting to happen? One  morning after getting on Facebook, I could literally hear Mary J Blige singing, "No More Drama," in my mind.

Where we always wanted to be the Waltons, we ended up seeming more like a “Law and Order” segment. And sometimes social media and email subjects can just downright make you laugh with some of the subjects. Which is good, because Mama always said, “You have to laugh to keep from crying.” I wish Mama was still around to say it, but then that’s a whole different blog. (http://thornrose7.blogspot.com/2014/03/linda-lee-wirth-reece-lewis-you-were.html)

She didn’t have to live through the second generations of "hurts, habits and hang-ups (as said by Celebrate Recovery) in our family; the grandchildren and great grandchildren that struggle. That would’ve been too much for her heart. Sometimes I think it’s too much for mine, yet FOR THIS WE HAVE JESUS!

I may have posted this poem before, but with some feedback concerning addictions, I’m reposting. Don’t let your dreams die, moms!

Malachi 3:16 Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.

We were mothers alive with hope

On those days long ago

Before the pain began

Before the dreams died.

When they were in our wombs

We laughed, we dreamed

We sighed.

No thoughts of addiction for this child

Did we even know what addiction meant

Way back then?

Did we ever envision anything but a good, wonderful life for our children?

Of course not!

While in our womb,

We did our best to protect them,

Feed them well,

Even take care of ourselves as

Our bodies were vessels of holiness,

The gift of life

Dwelled within us

A gift from God.

Yes, children are a gift from God (Psalm 127:3)

We didn’t think as adults they might be walking the streets

Backpacks on,

Wearing clothes that need washing,

Even their clothes being stolen

Selling their plasma,

Dying in gutters,

NO!  LORD THIS IS NOT WHAT WE SIGNED UP FOR!

THIS IS NOT OUR DREAMS!

The world gives darkness for light

The world shows pain as pleasure

A distorted view of fun

Satan has begun

To deceive

The elect’s offspring.

But all my children

Will be taught of the Lord

And great will be the peace of my children (Isaiah 54:13)

As they walk with You

As they are restored to You

And they will say, “My Lord and my God”

It was You all along,

You've restored my song,

I will dance for You,

I'm restored to You,

Eternity is mine

 You were there all the time

Couldn't get you out of my mind,

I'm restored to You at last

I no longer live in the past

Or for this dark world.

It was You all along,

You've restored my song,

I will dance for You,

I'm restored to You,

Eternity is mine.

Somebody’s Mother is praying

Knowing, God has heard

What’s she was saying

You've restored my song,

And my children, too

I will dance for You,

I'm restored to You,

Eternity is ours.

From Malachi 4:  “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him.  And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

 “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” COME QUICKLY, LORD JESUS!

No More Drama lyrics:

So tired, tired of these drama

No more, no more

I wanna be free

I'm so tired, so tired

Broken heart again

Another lesson learn

Better know your friends

Or else you will get burn

Gotta count on me

Cause I can guarantee

That I'll be fine

No more pain (no more pain)

No more pain (no more pain)

No drama (no more drama in my life)

Noone's gonna make me hurt again

What a player fool

Go through ups and downs

Nowhere and all the time

You wouldn't be around

Or maybe I like the stress

Cause I was young and restless

But there was long ago

I don't wanna cry no more

No more pain (no more pain)

No more game (no more game messin with my mind)

No drama (no more drama in my life)

Nooone's gonna make me hurt again

No more tears (no more tears, I'm tired of cryin everynight)

No more fears (no more fears, I really don't wanna cry)

No drama (no more drama in my life)

I don't ever wanna hurt again

Wanna speak my mind, wanna speak my mind

Uh, it feel so good

When you let go

Avoid these drama in your life

Now you're free from all the pain

Free from all the game

Free from all the stress

So bye your happiness

I don't know

Only God knows where the story is

For me, but I know where the story begins

It's up to us to choose

Whatever we win or loose

And I choose to win

No more pain (no more pain)

No more game (tired of your playin' game with my mind)

No drama (no more drama in my life)

No more, no more, no more, no more

No more tears (no more tears, no more cryin every night)

No more fears (no more waking be up in the morning)

No drama, no more in my life

No more drama, no more drama

No more drama, no more drama

No more drama

No more drama

No more drama

No more drama

No more drama

No more drama in my life

So tired, tired of these drama

Mary J Blige - No More Drama Lyrics

God's Easter Miracles: Adventures Of The Sea Kids (Hardcover)/ children's book review

This review is from: God's Easter Miracles: Adventures Of The Sea Kids (Hardcover)

I was so happy to receive my copy of "God's Easter Miracles: Adventures Of The Sea Kids" by Lee Ann Mancini and beautifully illustrated by Dan Sharp.

We find the sea kids or urchins getting ready to celebrate Easter at church down under the sea. The subject of autism is introduced early; the sea creatures get a chance to learn compassion and sharing in this adventure. Miss Linda is the ultimate Sunday School teacher for the sea children and our children can identify with feelings of wanting to win the prize.

The book is really colorful and is one that toddlers will enjoy just looking at the pictures.

Lee Ann always reminds the kids to say their prayers and ask Jesus into their hearts. She also has a hidden fish sign on each page for them to look for as a game. This is a beautiful series and I look forward to more books that are great gifts for grandchildren and your friend's children.

I was very grateful to receive a Review Copy from the publisher through BookCrash.
The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

An Ounce of Compassion or "Show me where you bleed,"

An Ounce of Compassion

Sometimes I look around and think "How hard would it be for someone to show a little compassion to another person?" Perhaps it's someone in our family or someone on the street or someone down on their luck, but they may need an ounce of compassion. I feel at times that hearts bleed for love such as this and that a heart wound can hurt even more than a physical blow.

What does an ounce of compassion look like to you? In the world we live in compassion seems to be a thing of the past, at times. I think an ounce of it may be more valuable than gold to a heart gone astray, a heart in need, a heart that has been broken. I hate to say that there are times that I think compassion is lacking because of the self-absorption of new generations, or the "what's in it for me?" mentality.

 From the scripture we read: "Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”

That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!" Romans 15:1-6 The Message

What I get out of these verses is I serve a God who is compassionate to people, who inspired scripture that says we are to lend a hand to those who falter and that may not be convenient for us. And it may not be a one-time thing. Surely it must be bathed in prayer as many of us know that we don't want to be in a codependent relationship. Key verses to me are, "God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all."

Part of the healing Jesus brings increases as we reach out to others as He did. He was touched with the feelings of our infirmities. When we are touched by the pain of others we point them to a source of comfort.I believe your wound can lead you to God and equip you to lead others to the Lord. It can dazzle the world to see what the Lord can do with a broken heart restored and healed by the blood of Jesus.

"Show me where you bleed,"

Was the woman's

Plea to me,

I was pretty sure I could

But then do I really think

I should?

I bleed for moms,

Kids and families,

I bleed for you

I bleed for me

The sick, the homeless

The addict, all three

For the abused child,

Whose family was wild.

I bleed for the elderly

Though you might say

What's that to me?

Oh, people can't you see?

One day it just might be

You and me.

Bleeding for all to see

Just like Jesus

Did for me.

Show me where you bleed

She said

I bleed from a broken heart.

Show me where you bleed

She said to me

I bleed with words

For all to see

His glory

My story.

It's not finished yet

It's gonna get better

On that I'll bet.

If someone is literally bleeding around you as in a heart wound, here's the remedy:

In Romans 13:8-10 we read that Love Fulfills the Law

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.  The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”[a] and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyUPz6_TciY

"Moving from Broken to Beautiful through Forgiveness" by Yvonne Ortega.

Got Unforgiveness? Who hasn't wrestled with that problem? Because it's a common problem in the world we live in, you don't want to miss reading  "Moving from Broken to Beautiful through Forgiveness" by Yvonne Ortega.

 

Some of the quotes and title chapters are awesome. First chapter title: Forgiveness Doesn't Mean the Person Gets Away with Wrongdoing. The quote by Confucius says, "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves."

 

I've met Yvonne and have always thought that she's the real deal! But her brutal honesty about her thoughts and struggles that she relays in this book makes me respect her even more. 

 

Chapter 5 title says Forgiveness Doesn't Mean You Immediately Trust the Offender with the quote from Wm. Paul Young, "Forgiveness does not create a relationship.  Unless people speak the truth about what they have done and change their mind and behavior, a relationship of trust is not possible."

 

There are so many personal experiences throughout the book. She also ends chapters with Activities, Affirmations, Scripture Readings and Prayers.

 

I loved this prayer:

Dear God, I don't want to forgive those who hurt me. I can name dozens of reasons they don't deserve my forgiveness. But You can name dozens of reasons I don't deserve your forgiveness. The Scriptures say if I love you, I will obey you. I do love you. Please help me forgive. Amen.

 

I believe this book will help many people who are stuck feeling like they can never forgive a certain person or offense. Well, written Yvonne!

 

 

I was very grateful to receive a Review Copy from the publisher through BookCrash. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

 

 

 https://www.amazon.com/Moving-Broken-Beautiful-through-Forgiveness/dp/0692706011/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483818409&sr=1-1&keywords=yvonne+ortega

Family forever

 

Family forever is a thought that's been running through my mind for some days. It especially got there with the holidays. Looking at parts of the family that are still fractured can be painful. One thing I thought as I visited my brother Dale and his wife Jayne is how much I treasure my brothers and sisters. We definitely don't qualify as a close family. We all pretty much scattered away as teenagers, me marrying young, (the first time) Charles, Dale and Jeannine all working very young and doing their own thing. Charles was very young to be a husband and father at age 18 but he's done it well, all and all. My thought is, that there could never be anything that my family does or doesn't do that I wouldn't at least say, "Hi, how are you doing? I love you."

That may not mean that we'll hang together or do much else, but at least they know that they are loved.

Family forever is really something you can't get away from because it's in the blood and DNA. Of course, we know since I had my DNA test that not everyone got everything that everybody else got. LOL! I am truly EVERYWOMAN! And that being said, one of my main prayers for myself is that I can live well, and be the very best me, that the Lord created me to be. And I have to come back to what Peggy always said, "You can pick your friends but not your family," and that's cool too. Because the Lord God Almighty gave us the family He intended for some strange reason, I guess. And for our destiny, I believe.

 I've picked some pretty awesome friends along the way and a few have even told me they chose me upon seeing me for the very first time. How cool is that? Truly I don't understand why but I have always felt very honored by that statement and you know who you are girlfriend.

I have all the hope in the world for all of my family. I may not live to see some of my prayers for them answered but every day, I pray, "Thy will be done, Thy kingdom come for the destiny of the ones I love." Bill and I were talking to Pastor John recently and he said, basically that in some cases, family comes together finally but it may be at someone's funeral, and why wait until then to make it right? He's a very wise man, I must say.

But it's out of my hands and into the Lord's. I'm praying very hard for a new start for many of us.

So to complete this blog and I hope the pictures post at some point, I took the night off last night as Ryan did such a great job taking Aryel and Isaiah for the day I gave him the night shift, too. Actually I was exhausted from the holidays and just needed to chill. At some point I heard hilarious laughter drifting up the stairs. Bill and I came down to find Ryan looking like a sick calf at the table, and everyone laughing their heads off. They were playing Bean Boozled with jelly beans that tasted like, among other things: stinky socks, barf, lawn clippings, dead fish, rotten eggs... and well you get the picture. They had jelly beans the same color and it would either be the good flavor, chocolate pudding or the bad like canned dog food and you pick one and eat it. Well Ryan always picked the bad ones and Aryel always picked the good ones. It was hilarious.

Christmas is officially over and we can get back to "normal" life. Oh yes, normal is just a setting on the dryer in our family. So, heading to a new year fills with the Love, and never-ending kindness of the Lord.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD1QMSYKL6Q

Since ancient times no one has heard,
    no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
    who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. Isaiah 64:4

I'm always happy to review a fellow Word Weaver's book. Linda D. Schoonover wrote An Illusion of Normal

Linda D, Schoonover is a woman on a mission to bring to light the affects mental illness can have on a family and especially children in her book, An Illusion of Normal.

I'm drawn to this story as at the beginning it's through the eyes of a child. Oh the pain that some children have to endure on this earth as emotions and chaos reign because of mental illness. It looked like at first, Linda might have an escape route via being sent to her grandmother's house for a season.

I love how the little girl watches her grandmother in all aspects of life. She wonders why she prays certain ways and is very vocal about the only way she's heard God's name used previously. The conversation in Chapter Seven between Linda and her grandmother was priceless. Chapter Eight wrenched my heart as sometimes, I've found the familiar home of a grandparent feels like balm to a child's heart.

What a powerful ending for Chapter Nine:

"God, please help me not be scared. I don’t know what’s wrong with my mother and I don’t know for sure if anyone is outside my window, but if you’re there, could you please help me?

I shut my eyes and tried to ignore my mother waiting quietly in the dark for her killer’s return."

In Chapter Ten the phrase,

"A knot set up camp in my stomach. The Ferris wheel stopped at the top and I hung on the mercy of someone I couldn’t trust." blew me away. Linda is a master communicator.  

 Chapter Fourteen is priceless. Only a child could have precious, untarnished faith to believe for that miracle and it was totally mind-blowing.

One of the most poignant parts of the book was in Chapter Twenty-five:

 I laid on the wet grass and closed my eyes.

“Did you make a mistake, God? If you did, it’s okay. I just want to know. I won’t be mad, I promise. But God, could you please find me another place to live? Anywhere is okay, so long as it’s a place where people really want me.”

Later her brother gave us a glimpse into a different side of the dad than portrayed earlier in the book. I loved reading the description of an earlier part of life that perhaps Linda didn't know about until her brother described it to her.

When talking about her  grandmother after she died: "A few days after we buried her in the family plot next to Grampy, something sprang up from inside me, like a seed when it slowly and confidently breaks through the dirt. I wanted to be like her. Strong, caring, hardworking. I wanted to love God like she did. To take care of and rescue people caught in disasters, not necessarily of their own choosing. To cook and serve Sunday dinners in a house where everybody felt welcome and at home. I wanted to be a grandmother like her, a grandmother that changed lives. But more than anything, I wanted her to be proud of the person she always knew I was and would be." I know that Linda has made her grandmother proud.

I enjoyed the letters from Linda's brother and the overview about Viet Nam as she got older. Drama seemed to follow her and her family though.

The life-long effect of childhood trauma that Linda described in the epilogue  was among my favorite parts of the book. I'm proud of the work Linda is doing to help children and bring us knowledge about mental illness in the family. Normal, at last, has become more than an illusion for her.