Mary DeMuth's Thin Places - Review and Double Give Away

I was blessed enough to be on the influencer list for Mary DeMuth's memoir, Thin Places. I got the book late, due to unforeseen postal difficulties (which happens when you move cross country twice in a year), and was afraid I wouldn't get my review in on her blog tour week. Boy, did I underestimate how gripping this memoir is.

While I appreciate the bravery and candidness Mary wrote from her own place of brokenness and redemption--it truly is a beautiful book--the thing I loved best about it was that it caused me to stop and contemplate my own thin places.

Mary calls a thin place, "[T]hose times where the division between this world and the eternal fades; they are snatches of holy ground, tucked into the corners of our world, where we might just catch a glimpse of eternity."

As a therapist, I was determined to read the book to see how it might benefit one of my clients, perhaps ones who had experienced sexual abuse, a fatherless childhood, or feelings of rejection. What I didn't expect was to read the book and come away praising the Lord for my own painful experiences in childhood or adolescence.

Women (or men) reading this book will identify with several of the experiences Mary had. Most of us remember our first dance, our first kiss, our keen desire to fit in outmatched only by our foolishness in trying to accomplish the deed. After reading each chapter, Mary would comment on where she is today with regard to how the Lord has brought redemption in her life at each thin place. As a result, I found myself doing the same.

There were many experience Mary had that I could not share, but millions of others can. These were pages that I could only read with my hand to my mouth, a tear in my eye. God's ways are unfathomable. He used a young girl's early entry into the adult world of sexuality, pornography, and divorce to bring hope and healing almost forty years later as she wields her words in a powerful healing arc over others.

If you'd like to be entered in a chance to win one of two copies of Mary's book, just leave a comment below. Winner will be drawn and announced over the weekend. You don't want to miss out on this memoir!

Mary, thanks for being the instrument to bring restoration to others and myself. I'll never look back on my own thin places with more regret than gratitude.