Blog Blitz: Turn My Mourning into Dancing by Henri Nouwen (JustRead Tour & Giveaway)

April 26, 2022

Turn My Mourning into Dancing JustRead Blog Blitz 

Welcome to the Blog Blitz for Turn My Mourning Into Dancing by Henri Nouwen, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Turn My Mourning Into Dancing Title: Turn My Mourning Into Dancing 
Author: Henri Nouwen 
Publisher: Thomas Nelson 
Release Date: March 8, 2022 
Genre: Christian, Spiritual Growth, Grief 

How do you find hope in hard times? Why is it important to have hope during difficult times? Turn My Mourning into Dancing will help you survive the difficult seasons and learn how to live a full life in the midst of them and beyond. With practical advice, Henri Nouwen will gently point you towards a way of life that is grounded in God’s constancy and rooted within eternal hope. 

In this updated edition, Turn My Mourning into Dancing discusses five movements we experience during hard times: 

 • From Our Little Selves to a Larger World 
 • From Holding Tight to Letting Go 
 • From Fatalism to Hope 
 • From Manipulation to Love 
 • From a Fearful Death to a Joyous Life 

Healing begins with taking our pain out of its diabolic isolation and seeing our sufferings in communion with all humanity, and all creation. Nouwen teaches us that our little lives participate in something much larger. Turn My Mourning into Dancing is a must read for: 

 • men and women looking for growth and insight on life 
 • anyone going through the grief process and searching for real solutions 
 • anyone who has experienced a loss, betrayal, or hard times 

Everyone grieves differently. It is a process, not a science experiment. Mourning shouldn’t last forever. Do you want the kind of life that allows you to dance even in the middle of the darkest night? Get the answers and find hope within your hard times with Nouwen’s works on spiritual growth.

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EXCERPT:

From Holding Tight to Letting Go

For years I have loved watching trapeze artists. The love began when my then- eighty- nine- year- old father came for a visit. Let’s go to the circus, we decided one day. That evening we watched five South African trapeze artists—three fliers and two catchers. They danced in the air! The fliers soared and all was dangerous until they found themselves caught by the strong hands of their partners. I told my father that I had always wanted to fly like that, that perhaps I had missed my calling!

I am constantly moved by the courage of my circus friends. At each performance they trust that their flight will end with their hands sliding into the secure grip of a partner. They also know that only the release of the secure bar allows them to move on with arcing grace to the next. Before they can be caught, they must let go. They must brave the emptiness of space.

Living with this kind of willingness to let go is one of the greatest challenges we face. Whether it concerns a person, possession, or personal reputation, in so many areas we hold on at all costs. We become heroic defenders of our dearly gained happiness. We treat our sometimes inevitable losses as failures in the battle of survival.

The great paradox is that it is in letting go, we receive. We find safety in unexpected places of risk. And those who try to avoid all risk, those who would try to guarantee that their hearts will not be broken, end up in a self- created hell. C. S. Lewis wrote in The Four Loves,

To love at all is to be vulnerable…If you want to make sure of keeping [your heart] intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket of your selfishness. But in that casket— safe, dark, motionless, airless— it will change. It will not be broken—it will become unbreak-able, impenetrable, irredeemable…The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from the danger of love is Hell.

In so many ways, the more we insist on control and the more we resist the call to hold our lives lightly, the more we have to deny the reality of our losses and the more artificial our existence becomes. Our belief that we should grasp tightly what we need provides one of the great sources of our suffering. But letting go of possessions and plans and people allows us to enter, for all its risks, a life of new, unexpected freedom.

How can we live with greater willingness to let go? Another step in turning our mourning into dancing has to do with not clutching what we have, not trying to reserve a safe place we can rest in, not trying to choreograph our own or others’ lives, but to surrender to the God whom we love and want to follow. God invites us to experience our not being in control as an invitation to faith.

Taken from “Turn My Mourning into Dancing: Finding Hope During Hard Times” by Henri Nouwen. Copyright 2001 Estate of Henri Nouwen. Preface Copyright 2001 Timothy Jones. Used with permission from Thomas Nelson Publishing. www.thomasnelson.com

PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | IndieBound | Christianbook | BookBub


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Henri Nouwen 

Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996) was the author of With Open HandsReaching OutThe Wounded HealerMaking All Things New, and many other bestsellers. He was the senior pastor of L’Arche Daybreak in Toronto, Canada, a community where men and women with mental disabilities and their assistants create a home for one another.


TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive two print copies of Turn My Mourning into Dancing (one to keep, one to give!)!

Turn My Mourning into Dancing JustRead Blog Blitz Giveaway 

Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight April 26, 2022 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on May 3, 2022. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE


Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

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*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links.

Review: Storing Up Trouble by Jen Turano

April 22, 2022

Title: Storing Up Trouble
Author: Jen Turano
Publisher: Bethany House
Page: 359
ISBN: 9780764231698
Publication Date: May 5th, 2020

About the Book:
After Miss Beatrix Waterbury suffers multiple mishaps due to her involvement with the suffrage movement, her mother decides a change of scenery is in order for her incorrigible daughter. Banished from New York, Beatrix is sent off for an extended stay with her Aunt Gladys in Chicago.

Mr. Norman Nesbit, a gentleman and a brilliant man of science devoted to his work, doesn't have time to be distracted with members of the feminine set. When robbers descend on the train, intent on divesting him from his important research papers, Norman is thrust into Beatrix's company when she has the audacity to interfere--leaving him no choice but to try to save her from herself.

When Beatrix's life is put at stake after she takes employment as a salesgirl, she and Norman find themselves propelled into each other's company again and again. With danger and intrigue dogging their every step, they become surprisingly drawn to each other--until information comes to light that threatens this relationship that's barely had a chance to blossom.

My Thoughts:
Jen Turano is one of my go-to-authors. I know that when I read one of her stories, I will get a witty and funny historical adventure with some of the best characters.

I got to enjoy this story on my commutes around town with my eldest. I think I now have her hooked on Jen Turano's books. She was giggling and asking questions the whole way through, which added to the fun of the story for me. 

We were introduced to Beatrix in the earlier installments of the American Heiress series and she finally had her time to shine. And goodness did she shine! I have to say, this was one of my favorite jaunts through the pages. With Beatrix, she was joined by her aunt, her butler, a house full of ladies her aunt was training, and Norman Nesbit, who I have to say had the best growth of a character I have seen. He joined the ranks of one of my favorite heroes.

The chemistry between Norman and Beatrix was just fun. Norman was in his shell and Beatrix has always been comfortable being herself, which was instilled into her by her parents, who we are also introduced to in this story.

I love how Jen can weave historical people through her stories and just have them fit. In this book, we got see Mr. Selfridge at Marshalls and Company and Beatrix worked, in accordance to her aunt's rules who she was visiting.

My daughter and I enjoyed this story through the Audiobook, and it is a joy to listen to the narrator. She has a lot of fun reading these stories. And I love that it is the same narrator through the series. 

This was a fun adventure and I can't recommend it enough. 

5 out of 5


About the Author:
Named one of the funniest voices in inspirational romance by Booklist, Jen Turano is a USA Today bestselling author, known for penning quirky historical romances set in the Gilded Age. Her books have earned Publishers Weekly and Booklist starred reviews, top picks from Romantic Times, and praise from Library Journal. She's been a finalist twice for the RT Reviewers' Choice Awards and had two of her books listed in the top 100 romances of the past decade from Booklist. She and her family live outside of Denver, Colorado. Readers can find her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and at jenturano.com.



Thank you to the publisher, I received a copy of the book for free in exchange for an honest review. 


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