Book Review: Unafraid

I recently signed up for Blogging for Books, which is a cool program, where you can select a book from a wide variety of genres.  They send it to you for free, you read it, and then give a fair review of your thoughts regarding the book.

Unafraid: Trusting God in an Unsafe World

For my first book, I chose Unafraid: Trusting God in an Unsafe World by Susie Davis.  I'm not really sure what drew me to this book.  I'm not usually a very fearful person in my day to day life, but it sounded interesting, so I wanted to check it out.

The author, Susie Davis, was thirteen years old when a classmate came to school and shot one of her favorite teachers, right in front of her and the rest of the class.  This was in 1978.  Following the shooting, the kids in her class were loaded on to a school bus, hauled to the police station to give statements, and then sent home with their parents.  There were no counselors, no psychiatrists, no idea how something like this would impact the kids.  Susie had panic attacks, and struggled to try to control her life by obsessively checking door locks, developing bulimia while in college, by constructing rituals for even the most mundane events like bringing groceries home from the store, having to check for any intruders who may have broken in while she was gone.  She was unable to stay home alone overnight without panicking.  This went on for years- beyond college, after she got married, even after her kids were born.

She was constantly exhausted from worry and her rituals that she thought would keep her safe.  She helicopter parented and constantly worried something bad was about to happen to someone she loved.  In the 1990s, she finally had a breakdown, which lead to a breakthrough.

She realized she wasn't trusting God, she was trusting fear, and this was causing her so much unnecessary worry and strife.  I think we often feel that way about God.  Like He's there, He sees everything going on, but He doesn't want to get involved in the down and dirty stuff of life.  We feel like He's got more important things to do or doesn't really care about our day to day problems.

I liked how honest this book was.  Susie didn't admonish or criticize.  She simply told her story and laid it all out there.  It was inspiring to see how her life changed and she finally was able to overcome her fear.  At no point did it feel preachy, and I really liked that.

I think this book would be great for anyone going through a fearful time in life, who has been struggling with the whys of life or who has someone in their life dealing with fear.  There's also a study guide in the back of the book with questions and notes.  I think it's a great read and I really like Susie's writing style.  She uses a lot of analogies and really breaks insights down in easy to understand ways.

I received this book for free, in exchange for an honest review from Blogging for Books, but all opinions are my own.