The Shack by William P Young

Like a lot of people, I just finished reading The Shack. Some things that stood out to me:

Page 24 - "Nothing makes us so lonely as our secrets" - Paul Tournier (Swiss physician and counselor). I don't really hold secrets from others. I don't tell everyone all of my ugliness, but if it's appropriate and/or if someone asks me a question about my past or current "secrets" I tell them. For a long time I didn't do that and yes, it was lonely. If you hold on to secrets, why? Do you think that if someone knew the ugliness we all have in common that they would stop loving you? It takes a risk, but it's part of learning what true love is.

Page 89 - I loved this - listen up to what God tells one of his kids: "You're not supposed to do anything. You're free to do whatever you like...Don't go because you feel obligated. That won't get you any points around here. Go because it's what you want to do." I can relate to this as a wife. I once was upset with GR because I saw a diamond ring (I think it was around $750.00) that I thought would be a nice upgrade from the $80 gold band he bought me originally. I showed the ring to him and he was like "yeah, buy it if you want it." If you're a wife you may be able to relate to the fact that I wanted him to buy it for me because he thought I deserved it. Long story short, his daughter explained this to him, while I walked the mall seething. I came back and he was purchasing the ring for me. Do you know what I told GR? "Don't buy the ring because you feel like you have to. Buy it because you want to." I wear the ring everyday. How often do I do things because I think God wants me to, not necessarily that I want to? Honestly, there are weekends when the last thing I want to do is go to church, but I start to think that's what I'm supposed to do so I do it. Don't get me wrong, I'm generally glad that I go, but am I going because I want to?

Page 92 - God tells one of his children "If you let me, I'll be the Papa you never had." Even though my dad was certainly not perfect and hurt me at times, I still thought he was pretty much the best dad in the world. This is a picture of my dad and I when I was 15 and we were visiting my grandma. We let each other down quite a bit over the years. My getting to know God has definitely helped me to see the kind of man my dad was trying to be.

Page 170 - Just as the main character no longer wanted to have The Great Sadness as part of his identity any longer, there are parts of me that I no longer want to have as part of my identity. I'm getting to where I don't like the following as part of my identity: my Jehovah's Witness background, my battle with anorexia, abuse survivor. I only want to discuss them if they'll be helpful to someone but I want to move away from these 3 things so badly. Help me.

I highly recommend this thought provoking book. Perhaps I'll write more later. Toodles...