Book Review:
"The Edge of the Divine"
by Sandi Patty
I grew up listening to Sandi Patty's incredible voice, so I was thrilled when contacted by the M Collective to review her latest book, "The Edge of the Divine." This is a book about her journey of weight loss as a result of the lap-band surgery. I love how she describes the definition of edge - "the point at which something is likely to begin." No matter if you struggle with weight loss or not - you will certainly relate to places where things can begin in your life.
Sandi has an incredible way of inviting you into her every day life as well as the lives of those that she meets along the way of this incredible journey. You will go on Women of Faith conferences with her as well as a major move from their long-time home near Anderson University to Oklahoma (which was a brand new "edge" for her husband).
She draws you into her journey from the very beginning as the opening chapter starts with her sitting in the waiting room of the doctor's office. Imagine looking around the room, at all the over-sized chairs, wondering what you're getting yourself into and if this is the right, yet RISKY, decision for your life! This is the first "edge" that you encounter with her life.
Often times in her life she encountered different types of "edges" - some of which she was certain she would end in her demise. Like her divorce and the treatment of the church as a result of her missteps. I love how she is vulnerable with her life as she recounts her divorce and subsequent remarriage and how she found reconciliation with not only her faith, but with the church and her career. It's not a story of a typical "do-over" but an entire new start. She had to completely rebuild her career and strangely enough it did not begin in the church scene but in the corporate world. God had an amazing plan for her life and her story shows just how much He did not let her go!
She reveals to us all that we are worth the fight! We all have value! Christ died for us all - no matter what we look like in the mirror! We are worth it to live life abundantly in Him. We are worth the change and whatever it takes to get to that valuable change... she stopped at nothing to get there!
You'll see details about how her eating habits changed and her mindset regarding going out-to-eat was altered to give her the best of both worlds. You see her making this "weight-loss thing" really work - on the road, singing on stage, maintaining a healthy marriage and taking care of children - and she did so beautifully! In fact, I love her response to the word "weight-loss"! She says she didn't lose the weight (implying that it's something that's only temporarily lost and needs to be found) but rather that she has released the weight! I love this!
If you are struggling with similar things that you want to release follow a few simple things that Sandi talks about in this book:
1. Put Christ first! She says that "Jesus is the most valuable "possession" we can ever have- because He gives us the hope we need to survive the loss of everything else."
2. Write a breakup letter. Sandi writes a beautiful and throughtful letter to her old friend "food" before going into surgery! What a healing thing this was for her!
3. Be resilient and know that Jesus is enough. Make your actions match your priorities.
Reading this book was like watching a caterpillar completely morph and change into a beautiful butterfly. Knowing that the beauty was there all the time, and being willing to close in ranks, get things right, and then spread those gorgeous wings and soar beyond the edge!
Today, look around you, see where the edges are in your life - the point where something is likely to begin, put Christ ahead of them all and let Him take you to places you never dreamed!
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