A dear friend discovered this book by "happenstance". She raved about it, quoted from it and recommended it. So I asked her to write about it for our blog. Thank you Jenelle!
I stepped into House of James with my grandmother one day and she spotted this book. Since it is not only what I am struggling with but what my counsellor is teaching me, I thought I'd give it a try. It has made all the difference in my life.
It is a book by Sharon Jaynes that not only points out the negative messages women tell themselves but also helps you to fight them by finding the Bible's liberating truth. One thing I loved when I first opened it is that it begins by recognizing who the enemy is and what he is capable of in our lives. Sharon has a way of helping us to reject the deceiver and call upon our Savior for assistance in our time of need.
After finding out who the enemy is, Sharon helped me to really recognize my negative messages and inner self-talk. I found it very helpful to be in tune with what I was telling myself.
The book is written by a Christian author and written in a Christan perspective. She uses many references from the Bible and about the Bible. There is one quote in particular that I really liked. "Rather than being thankful for what we do have, Satan points out what we don't have." How true this is. Eve had at her disposal every tree in the garden except one. Every tree. That is a smorgasbord of goodness. But rather than being thankful, she bought the lie that the one thing she couldn't have was the one thing that would make her happy.
After recognizing what the lies are it is time to reject them and replace them with truths. Not just any truth but the truth from the Bible.
I guess the one thing I got the most out of this book is being self-aware and what to do with my thoughts when I hear them. Sharon has had a lot of life experiences and she kindly shares them with us in her book so we can see the trials and hardships that others have gone through. And she not only tells what she went through but how she got through it. She has helped me to understand that what makes the critical difference is not circumstances, but our interpretation of the circumstances.
Sharon Jaynes uses many analogies in her book. Personally I am a visual learner. I need that mental picture to get a clear perspective of things. Sharon succeeded in helping me to understand the value of our negative self-talk.
I've really struggled with depression this last year and I've had doctors, nurses, psychiatrists and counsellors all try to teach me the concept of negative messages. It's like each person gave me a puzzle piece. I may have had all the pieces but I didn't have the picture to know how to put it together. Sharon gave me that picture. Now my puzzle is complete and the picture is absolutely beautiful.
Thank you Sharon for making the biggest difference in my life. This book has completely changed me!
~~Jenelle
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