Control is a drug, and we are all hooked, whether or not we believe in the prosperity gospel's assurance that we can master the future with our words and attitudes. I can barely admit to myself that I have almost no choice but to surrender, but neither can those around me.

If you're looking for neat conclusions, a three-step action plan, and a tidy ending to a complex story, skip this one. What you will find here is a funny, thoughtful, pain-filled, contemplative, yet totally real look into the life of someone facing life's most difficult scenarios. Kate Bowler takes us through her life's struggles, the biggest of which is her diagnosis with stage IV colon cancer at 34. She's funny and snarky, and so insightful about the nature of blessing, and control, and God's goodness, and all the things we cling to when we realize that we have absolutely no control over some of the biggest things that happen in life. She examines what we do when those close to us (or complete strangers writing articles in the NY Times) are facing something terrifyingly insurmountable. She doesn't wrap things up nicely in a bow for us, she asks difficult, earth-shifting questions and leaves us to consider their answers for ourselves. This book is messy, there's plenty that's undefined and unresolved, and that's what makes it absolutely perfect, because life is messy and undefined and unresolved too.