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I would like to share a self help book for parents called Chronic Grace: Prayers, Saints, and Thorns That Stay by Julie K Rhodes (Author). I received a copy of in exchange for this review. As your reading my review you also may want to check out the press release for the book here:
Life is funny I’ve been following my friend Nancy’s health journey the past month as she has have Covid for the 6th time and not the symptoms she is facing are totally different from the other times. She mad have even had a stroke this time. She is having pain in her arms and legs like needles stinging and there isn’t anything the doctors can do.
Fast forward to last week and David ended up with Covid for the second time which thank the LORD Charlie and I didn’t catch but Charlie ended up with the flu and I caught a cold which I am wondering if was part of Covid. I begin reading Chronic Grace: Prayers, Saints, and Thorns That Stay and I felt like I was talking to my best friend.
I can’t wait to share this book with all of my girlfriends to share with there friends and family. If you know of someone that has suffered from Cancer or Covid this book can and will help them in so many ways. I can’t wait to have Charlie read this book in his Homeschool Health Class and if your homeschooling your students I hope you add this book to your must have reading list.
I love how the book includes stories that will make you stop and think at times as well as laughing at times. Inside the book is Prayers but you do not have to be religious to enjoy and learn from Chronic Grace: Prayers, Saints, and Thorns That Stay. The Author lives in Irving, Texas which is about 30 minutes from my home and I hope and PRAY to run in to her one day to let her know how much her book means to me.
About the book:
In a world where thorns pierce the flesh of our lives, one woman’s journey through pain, illness, and uncertainty unfolds in a story that is as raw as it is inspiring.
Meet Julie K Rhodes, a “non-dramatic” running mother who aspires to keep her acting career afloat and her kids educated during the pandemic. But then something unexpected happens, throwing her into a perplexing struggle with an illness that is still mysterious and stubborn – Long Covid. Julie’s world has been turned upside down by the Backpack of Woe she is carrying, which is heavy with fatigue, fever, and ultimately the specter of another thorn: Cancer.
A ray of hope appears in the midst of the gloom. Julie learns the power of grace – mysterious, elusive, yet the universe’s guiding force – by learning to pray biblically with Christian saints and mystics of old.
Chronic Grace offers the opportunity to see a woman’s profound journey that reflects the struggles of historical figures like Ignatius, Teresa of Avila, and others. Julie strives to comprehend the mystery of grace and how it may heal even the most broken life with these unusual but wise partners.
About:
Julie K. Rhodes is an actor and author. The Dallas Morning News calls Julie the “Midge Maisel of Evangelicalism,” and Dr. Scot McKnight (author of “Tov” and “Revelation for the Rest of Us,” among others) describes her book, “Chronic Grace: Prayers, Saints, and Thorns That Stay,” as a “soul-open memoir” that “transcends the path of description.”
In March of 2020, Julie was a healthy 30- something with a husband, two kids, a pug, and a professional acting career. A month later, she would be fighting an illness that her health team would come to believe was COVID-19. For the next year and a half, the virus would plague Julie with debilitating symptoms.
How was she supposed to pray through these long-term issues? How was she to think about chronic suffering? It turns out, there were people who could help her — except most of them were 500 years old.
“Chronic Grace” is for anyone who needs to hear that as inexplicable as a “thorn” may be, there is an equally chronic, equally inexplicable dynamic keeping up alongside it.
That dynamic is grace.
“Chronic Grace: Prayers, Saints, and Thorns That Stay” was released in 2023 from Leadership Books.
Meet the Author: Julie K. Rhodes
Julie K. Rhodes grew up in Irving, TX, the oldest of five homeschooled kids in a preacher’s house. In 2003, Julie graduated from Texas A&M, and went on to work in advertising. After her son Drew was born, Julie began a mommy blog and soon became a contributor to the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram’s Mom2Mom blog, and then occasionally to Jon Acuff’s popular Stuff Christians Like blog. In 2009, Julie became the editor of Chatter Magazine, a publication of Irving Bible Church, where she worked until 2017. Since then, Julie has been a contributor to MadeWorthy Media’s blog and magazine.
In 2011, Julie began her acting career. Since then, she has done dozens of professional shows at regional theaters, including Casa Manana, Circle Theatre, Lyric Stage, Dallas Children’s Theater, and Amphibian Stage Productions.
Julie garnered her first film credit playing Mrs. Griffin in “Aria Appleton Shines” from Grafted Entertainment (April 2023) and will guest star in Season 4 of “Vindication” on PureFlix and RedeemTV.
Julie is represented by The Clutts Agency and Top Ten Talent Entertainment.
Connect with Julie at juliekrhodes.com.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
