Description: We all face seasonal changes. The passing years take us on journeys of change--whether we want it or not. In Courage for the Unknown Season, Jan Silvious acts as a wise guide for those who find themselves in new seasons of life, offering perspective and practical insights to encourage the soul and offer hope.
Anyone facing an unexpected change in life or relationship will be drawn to this book as a guide for walking through the shifting seasons. They can make it through this time with courage, strength, and yes, even joy!
-Life is too long to keep doing the things we need to stop and too short to miss the things we want to begin.-
Scripture references and study questions make this a useful small-group resource.
My Thoughts: My general understanding is that most people who have read this book, enjoyed it. At least that is true for those who have reviewed it. And this may have been the case for myself if I were in a later stage in my life or were going through any of the trials the author focuses on. However, even then, I do not believe that the book offers courage so much as commiseration.
All of the chapters focus on different trials in life. These are portrayed as seasons, though this seemed off the mark as it implied that everyone goes through these particular trials, which included parenthood and marriage. And while this does match with a majority of the world, there is still a significant portion of the population who have never experienced this and never will. There are even more still who have yet to reach the stage where they are concerned for letting go of spouses or parents or watching their children leave the nest, and yet this is what most of the stories are about.
Each chapter is filled with multiple stories of people the author has known who have gone through what the chapter focuses on. The stories are heartbreaking more often than not, and I truly felt for the people mentioned and the struggles that they went through. However, rather than encouraging to me in my own struggles, I was instead depressed by how much there is yet to come and how little of life I have yet lived.
I do not wish to take away from those in later stages in life who might benefit from this book, nor to imply that people my age could not also find support from it should they already be encountering some of the trials mentioned. Perhaps later in life, I could go back and read this with news eyes and find comfort knowing that there were others who understood my struggle. However, I simply do not find this to be something that I or others in my age group can relate as well with.
I have provided an honest review after receiving a copy from the publisher.
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