Life, In Spite of Me
/
this post contains affiliate links
She wanted to die. God had other plans.
Overwhelmed by wave after wave of emotional trauma, Kristen Anderson no longer wanted to live. One January night, determined to end her pain once and for all, the seventeen-year-old lay across train tracks not far from her home and waited to die.
Instead of peace, she found herself immersed in a whole new nightmare.
Before the engineer could bring the train to a stop, thirty-three freight cars passed over her at fifty-five miles per hour. After the train stopped and Kristen realized she was still alive, she looked around—and saw her legs ten feet away.
Surviving her suicide attempt but losing her legs launched Kristen into an even deeper battle with depression and suicidal thoughts, as well as unrelenting physical pain—all from the seat of a wheelchair. But in the midst of her darkest days, Kristen discovered the way to real life and a purpose for living.
For anyone struggling to find the strength to go on, the message of this heart-wrenching yet hope-building book is a clear and extraordinary reminder that even when we give up on life, God doesn’t give up on us.
Overwhelmed by wave after wave of emotional trauma, Kristen Anderson no longer wanted to live. One January night, determined to end her pain once and for all, the seventeen-year-old lay across train tracks not far from her home and waited to die.
Instead of peace, she found herself immersed in a whole new nightmare.
Before the engineer could bring the train to a stop, thirty-three freight cars passed over her at fifty-five miles per hour. After the train stopped and Kristen realized she was still alive, she looked around—and saw her legs ten feet away.
Surviving her suicide attempt but losing her legs launched Kristen into an even deeper battle with depression and suicidal thoughts, as well as unrelenting physical pain—all from the seat of a wheelchair. But in the midst of her darkest days, Kristen discovered the way to real life and a purpose for living.
For anyone struggling to find the strength to go on, the message of this heart-wrenching yet hope-building book is a clear and extraordinary reminder that even when we give up on life, God doesn’t give up on us.
This book is really hard to love because of the subject matter. The story is heart breaking, to feel so hopeless that you try to take your own life is overwhelming for me. It is something that I personally can not understand, but many people do. The book is written with a heartfelt sincerity that Kristen is trying to get across when she is telling her story. To read that she did not make a complete recovery of her depression and that she still has bouts with it is so honest. Kristen includes several little notes at the end of some of the chapters is a personable thing. As Kristen works through this problem in her life, she explains how she came to know the Saviour after the incident and knowing that she would not have went to Heaven if she died, is so nerve racking to me, as a Christian. She thought that she would have been "safe" because she grew up in church and knew about God and Jesus when in reality she was lost.
I would definitely recommend it to someone that deals with depression. Life, in Spite of Me would be a good book for teens to read.
I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers in return for my honest opinion.
 | Life, in Spite of Me: Extraordinary Hope After a Fatal Choice By Kristen Jane Anderson / Multnomah Kristen Anderson wanted to die---but God had other plans. Recounting her miraculous survival of a suicide attempt in which a train severed her legs, Kristen shares how her newfound faith in God helped her overcome severe depression and shame, as well as the challenges of permanent physical disability. Discover how she found fulfillment serving God! 224 pages, softcover from Multnomah. |
