What if my hope only leads to disappointment? What if I embrace joy only to have it ripped from my hands? What if my celebration is the cause of others' sadness? What if my joy takes me away from the God I knew so well in my pain?
Author and marriage and family therapist Nicole Zasowski knows what it's like to take a blow that makes it difficult to look to the future with expectation and ask herself these questions. Yet, as she found the courage to celebrate, she discovered God is as present in our joy as He is in our pain.
Yes, God's purpose for us is worked out in our struggles. But what if it is also worked out in our dreams and our delighted joy? In What If it's Wonderful? Nicole helps you:
- overcome the fears that keep you from looking toward the future with joy;
- let go of the lies you've believed about happiness and embrace celebration as a part of spiritual growth;
- approach life with an expectant heart and courage to trust God's good gifts.
With a psychological and spiritual case for celebrating, Nicole challenges you to let go of the habit of practicing disappointment and fully embrace joy, beckoning you to ask yourself a new question: What if it's wonderful?
Reflection questions are available in the audiobook companion PDF download.
Being Lost is the First Step to Getting Found
As a marriage and family therapist, one of Nicole Zasowski's greatest joys is helping her clients grow in emotional freedom. What she couldn't see for many years is that she was living her own life outside of that freedom, clinging to behaviors like shame, performance, and control in order to feel valued and safe.
It was only when she was confronted with her own devastating pain and loss that Nicole realized her current way of life was failing her. She then discovered that sometimes God's rescue looks like prying our fingers off what we think we want so that we can receive what we truly need. And often, on the far side of pain we don't prefer, we find transformation we would not trade.
In From Lost to Found, Nicole shares her story as she helps us
- name what we fear losing most,
- identify how our reactive behaviors are failing us,
- discover what joy we can find in letting go, and
- move forward in the freedom God has for us.
God is writing a story of redemption in your life too. Find out for yourself that sometimes the greatest joy is found when we are drained of all misplaced hope and shallow identities. In the midst of pain or transition, discover a surprising path to healing as you lose your grip on comfort and control-and fall right into God's transformative grace.
Includes discussion questions for individual reflection or small group study
