About the Book

Book: Glorious Mess

Author: Mary McCullough

Genre: Christian Nonfiction/Biblical Studies

Release Date: March 10, 2020

A woman struggles with a messy home situation, brokenness, rejection, and shame.

Know a woman like this?

Are you a woman like this?

Hannah, a powerful biblical example, was just such a woman. Through her life women can glean answers for their own life problems. Hannah didn’t stay in her grief and pain. She came to the end of her own striving and poured out her heart to the Lord—who answered her prayer.

Experience God’s love and healing in your own “messy” situations as you explore Hannah’s heartbreak and struggles in a Bible study just for women who don’t have it all together. This interactive six-week daily Bible study will help you pray transparently, praise wholeheartedly, and break off the shackles of spiritual barrenness, the need for approval, and perfectionism.

Hannah’s story will empower you to rise from your ashes, leave your messes in God’s hands, and live in service to the King of kings.

Wounds you thought would never heal will become scars that no longer hurt but remind you of the journey from broken to beautiful. As you wait, healing will come. Your soul will find rest even when the situation doesn’t change.

My Thoughts:

This was a good devotional book to read and it made me think and study more deeply than I had anticipated. The author uses her personal experiences, as well as her deep study of the Bible (Hannah's story) to map this out.

I enjoyed it, and while it is encouraged to do it with a friend or a group, I did it on my own and still got a lot out of it. None of us are perfect (and sometimes it is nice to realize that because too often we get into comparing our lives to others). This made me sit and contemplate how often I'm actually patient and wait on God. Overall, it was a much needed study for me.

It was a 4/5 for me.

Thank you to the author/publisher for the review copy of this book via Celebrate Lit. I received this book in exchange for an honest review and the opinions stated above are 100% mine.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Mary McCullough worked as an elementary school teacher for twenty-three years and is now
an assistant elementary principal and building administrator. The co-founder of God First Friends, a ministry that helps women flourish as disciples of Christ, she is a longtime Bible study and Sunday school teacher for children and adults. She and her husband have been married for thirty-two years and have four adult children and three grandchildren. They live in Decatur, Indiana. Glorious Mess is her debut book.

More from Mary

Glorious Mess is the Biblical study of Hannah. As a perfectionist and control-freak, I had a neat and tidy life. That is until everything fell apart, and I found myself crying out to God for healing when life got out of control in so many areas. The more my world spun out of control, the more I identified with Hannah. She taught me about authenticity, grace, and perseverance. Her rival, Peninnah, taught me how to handle mean-spirited people and brought my own flaws to the surface so God could deal with them.

Year after year, I cried out for the healing I so desperately wanted at the foot of the cross. Mistreatment from others, the pain of watching others hurt, and my own weaknesses led me back to Hannah’s story time and again. It was Hannah’s journey from broken to bold and beautiful that kept me going. I wanted her confidence in the Lord. I wanted to stand up from my pain and never look back again on the pain but to know the God she knew. Some may think pain is in vain, but the Lord never wastes anything if we allow him to use it. I have learned of his kindness, faithfulness, and goodness beyond understanding. I’ve learned what it is like to be broken, and now I know what it means to be whole.

It is my prayer that each individual who goes through this study will be changed for eternal glory!

I’ve learned that your messes don’t define you, but they will refine you if you will lay them at the foot of the cross.