Journey To Soul Rest Is for You Too [Book Review]

“What would emerge from my life if I paused long enough to let his spirit breathe?”
-Bonnie Gray, Finding Spiritual Whitespace

'What would emerge from my life if I paused long enough to let his spirit breathe?' - @BonnieGray, Finding Spiritual Whitespace Click To Tweet

Perhaps Bonnie Gray’s debut book, Finding Spiritual Whitespace: Awakening Your Soul To Rest, interested me because I’m a driven mother of four pursuing (and failing at) “perfect mothering.”

Or maybe it piqued my curiosity because as a mother of a daughter with significant special needs, I’m wary of the future and need to find peace in that regard.

Still, perhaps my draw had to do with my superwoman persona or the residual effects of processing my multiple miscarriages or even the “letting go” of my college-aged boys.

Striving for Rest

Whatever the case, I find myself parched and soul weary. Desperately wanting to be a “good girl” yet facing the reality of my fallibility.

I schedule in peace only to be interrupted by an endlessly moving life.

Obligatory Bible time falls empty as it becomes just another “to-do” to check off.

I read all the books and listen to all the commentaries on how to find peace and rest and “know” Jesus, yet come up short.

I share what I think should be said and take care of what needs to be done and wonder what’s missing.

I go to God with my perceived answers and scripted words, my protected heart and whitewashed life, and wonder why I come away restless and needy. 

I go to God with my perceived answers and scripted words, my protected heart and whitewashed life, and wonder why I come away restless and needy. Click To Tweet

I keep my life together, handling it with outward efficiency but inward deficiency.

Yet as Bonnie has discovered, 

Intimate Soul Rest

How freeing it is to find someone who gets it! Who also knows what it’s like to “take care of it all” and has found a better way.

Someone who also desires to hold on tight but who has learned the hard way the importance of letting it go. Someone who loves Jesus and desires a closer walk with Him. 

Bonnie Gray is such a person. She is a kindred spirit, struggling to understand the chaos that assaulted her life and is cultivating the lessons found therein.

And the best thing is Bonnie is willing to be vulnerable. To share her journey of hope and healing and walk alongside us as together we find a freer way to live in a broken world.

At first I wasn’t sure how I could relate to Bonnie’s book. My childhood was filled with love, happiness, and security. Not at all like her’s. 

 And it’s true, not all of Bonnie’s experience will be shared by you or me. They are uniquely hers. But many of the lessons of soul-connection and spiritual whitespace that she gleaned from those experiences and her journey through posttraumatic stress disorder are for everyone.

After all, who doesn’t feel soul ragged from time to time (or all the time)?

And might I urge you to hang with the book to the end. Don’t skip out early!

I found the most important part of Bonnie’s book to be the section on whitespace killers near the end because I’m a rule person. I gravitate toward scheduling my time and checking off lists. It’s great if all goes well, but get a bit behind and unrest and frustration grab hold of my heart. And it kills spiritual intimacy. 

The Journey

As I’m beginning to understand it, my journey toward spiritual whitespace is a journey to be fully present with God, to not hold anything back.

It is a letting go of my walls and my attempts at making it.

I need to come to God fully exposed to “engage [my] heart in a relationship. In intimacy. With Jesus.”

To find spiritual whitespace, we need to come to God fully exposed to 'engage (our hearts) in a relationship. In intimacy. With Jesus.' Click To Tweet

Bonnie has journeyed long to get to a place of engaging intimately with Jesus. She now opens her heart to you and me. To be our expert guide on this path to find soul rest.

And she does so fabulously. Just watch this trailer for Finding Spiritual Whitespace and begin to see the hope for rest in Jesus.

Giveaway (sorry, this giveaway is over)

If I’ve peaked your interest in Bonnie Gray’s memoir-driven “guidebook,” Finding Spiritual Whitespace: Awakening Your Soul to Rest, enter to win a copy below. Just follow the Rafflecopte prompts. You can tweet and post about this giveaway everyday through Monday, June 30, for extra entries.

And if you just can’t wait to get your own copy, click here to purchase one:

Finding Spiritual Whitespace: Awakening Your Soul to Rest.

Begin your adventure of finding spiritual whitespace now.

For the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said:
“You will be delivered by returning and resting;
your strength will lie in quiet confidence.
But you are not willing.” (Isaiah 30:15)

Reflection: In what ways are you in need of spiritual whitespace or soul-rest?

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Linking with (Click on the 21 Days of Rest image to read posts from others who are on their own quests for soul-rest.):

By His grace ≈

Julie

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase items, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”