Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way

Discover how the waves of trials can carry you into a deeper awareness of the presence of God, even in the midst of turmoil, and experience the precious gifts and wisdom that only come the hard way—through change, loss, and transition.

It's said that the only thing in life that doesn't change is change itself. In this collection of poignant essays, New York Times bestselling author Shauna Niequist reflects on her own journey of making peace with change, the nuanced mix of excitement and heartbreak that comes with it, and the practices that offer us strength and hope along the way.

When life comes at us in waves, our first instinct is to dig in our heels and control what we can. A keen observer of life with a lyrical voice, Shauna offers another way--the way of letting the waves carry us into a deeper awareness of the presence of God in our lives, even in the midst of turmoil. Drawing from her own experiences in a season of pain and chaos--difficult moves, job changes, marital stress, financial worries, and miscarriage--Shauna explores the gifts and wisdom that only come to us the hard way, through change, loss, and transition.

With honesty and hope, Shauna beautifully unwraps the complicated truth that in all things there is both something broken and something beautiful, a moment of lightness even on the darkest of nights, and that rejoicing is no less meaningful when it contains a splinter of sadness. A tribute to life at the edges, this selection of essays is a love letter to the bittersweet and sacred work change does in us all.