Tiffany guides the reader through 12 emotions that could cause someone to feel like they were alone and apart from God, For each one she talks about the importance of bringing or surrendering that feeling to God and what can make doing that such a challenge. This book provides the reader with the experience of being in something like a therapy session, where some of the most painful emotions a person can experience are addressed and the author tries to shine a bit of grace and hope into the reader's heart. It could help a lot of people who are ready and willing to do the work of addressing things like shame, hopelessness, and lovelessness in their own life. The reader learns about Tiffany's unique story of being orphaned in India, adopted into a white family, and raised in a culture where she always felt like an outsider. As a white woman with a completely different upbringing, reading her story helped me imagine what it was like for her to experience all of that pain and how powerful finding God's love was for her healing.

As women we have all had moments where we feel like we are completely alone. In this book author Tiffany Bluhm takes us on a journey from an orphanage in India, to her teen years in Washington, to a prince charming who broke her heart, to ultimately finding her incredible husband, then having her heart break again through the adoption process. Throughout the book she brings the reader back to the ultimate truth - we are never alone because we always have Jesus. Tiffany intertwines her own stories with stories from the bible to bring light to some of the biggest reasons that women feel alone: shame, doubt, bitterness, loss, fear, jealousy. Whether you have grown up in the church or are trying to discover if God is real, this book is a breath of hope to help you know that you are never alone. Please note that I did receive a free advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3GFB432BVAKBR/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1501848631

Never Alone

Exchanging Your Tender Hurts for God’s Healing Grace

by Tiffany Bluhm

Abingdon Press

Christian , Religion & Spirituality

Pub Date 06 Feb 2018

I am reviewing Never Alone through Abingdon Press and Netgalley:

In this book we are reminded that Only by the love of Jesus do we exchange our shackles of shame for the robe of freedom. We are reminded too that shame never lets us rest. It reminded us how we feel about ourselves when we would rather forget. It goes deeper. Tiffany reminds us that when we remind ourselves he took on our shame we shed our shame.

The author goes on to tell us that suppressing doubts will only move us farther from faith. We are reminded too of the danger of believing a shoddy version of the Bible when we need the real truth.

We are reminded too that though we will be hurt in our relationships, our relationship with Christ will heal us.

The author goes on to point out that Grace does not stop with those we forgive. We are reminded too that though we have struggles and heartbreaks Jesus will overcome the world. We are reminded too that we are created in the image of God. We are reminded too that all of our friends teach us in one way or another.

It is pointed out too that the smallest faith can make room for the great faithfulness of our Father.

We are reminded too of the danger of bitterness, it can poison both our hearts and others. It is also pointed out there is no hopelessness in Jesus Christ.

I give Never Alone five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

I chose to review Tiffany Bluhm’s book based on the title. Loneliness has long been my companion as a child of divorce, and since her book is about healing from past hurts, I sought inspiration from her story.

Tiffany shares the many hurts in her life in a quiet, poignant voice. In India, she was given up for adoption as a newborn and never knew her birth parents. She speaks about feeling outcast due to her different skin color and nationality in America, though she loved her adoptive family. She also struggled with crushing rejection from her fiancé and endured months of pain working with him after they broke up. After she married, she and her husband faced deep heartache when an international adoption failed.

She has walked through a world of hurt, and I understand how that feels. I found inspiration, hope, and deep faith in these digital pages dotted with virtual tears. This is not a light, breezy read. But when you come from a background of hurt, you need the affirmation that you are not alone in your pain. I need to read stories of faith to keep hanging on in my own struggles, and Tiffany’s book is a peaceful nook of inspiration.

Tiffany walks through the all-too-familiar hurts like fear, shame, rejection and doubt and shows how God offers healing for all of them. She admits to living as a work-in-progress, and never pretends that she has a magic wand of faith to wave over her hurts. Yet her faith is strong because God showed her how much He cared about her feelings and her story. Because her writing is vulnerable and tender, hurting women will be drawn to her authenticity.

If you know imperfect women who struggle with childhood trauma or past hurts, please tell them to read Never Alone. They will find the healing God offers and be drawn into a deeper study of His Word.

Netgalley generously provided me a free copy of this book.

Never Alone is a book in which any woman can find something encouraging. No matter where you are in life, you have probably experienced hurt, betrayal, guilt, loss, etc. and this book has a chapter for 12 different emotions: shame, doubt, isolation, undesirability, lovelessness, exposure, jealousy, faithlessness, bitterness, hopelessness, loss, fear.

As I was reading, I found myself highlighting several quotes. Some of the things said were exactly what I needed to hear and made me think of things in a different light.

All in all, a very good read. I recommend it and can see myself rereading sections again.

*I received a complimentary eBook copy of this book for my honest opinion. I was not required to post a positive review, only my honest opinion -- which I've done. As always, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.*

This seemed more like some uplifting literature that my pastor would hand to a woman in a life crisis. It was uplifting and encouraging, but very short and rather disjointed. The real-life stories were a nice touch.