Still Waiting: Hope for When God Doesn't Give You What You Want {Book Review}

Photo by: @HeatherMariePortraits

Nobody wants to wait. I don't want to wait. I have not (yet) known anyone who happily admits that she likes to wait, or it's fun to wait for something or even someone. To be honest, waiting isn't the word I would use if I were to describe fun, pleasure and enjoyment. Still, in one way or another, all of us have experienced waiting - for the right person, perfect job, fulfilment of dreams, healing from a sickness or disease, etc. - to occur. Because waiting is inevitable. Waiting is inescapable. But what if, what we are waiting for never comes? What if:

Waiting will make you broken?

Waiting will make you weak?

Waiting will wear you down?

In Still Waiting, Ann Swindell compellingly narrates her own story of waiting for healing from an untreatable condition. She beautifully knits hers together with the Bleeding Woman's story in the Bible. Like her, she was also waiting to have her "healing moment with Jesus", to be able to touch the fringe of his robe. However, unlike the Bleeding Woman who got healed when she encountered the Great Healer, Ann is still waiting for that time to come.

Ann invites her readers to trust God in the midst of waiting, to "keep choosing faith and the risk that must accompany it", to put hope in Jesus instead, to believe that He is good in spite of our circumstances, and that He "isn't bound by our ways, our timelines, or our demands. He is bound by truth and love and justice and mercy- by all the things He is and contains within Himself". Furthermore, she expounds what it means to experience grace in the season of waiting - the greater grace of His presence. 

The Still Waiting book is not just another feel-good tome. It is a book that you will not put down without shedding tears, not out of loneliness but because it gets to the core of your heart. It will encourage and comfort you, that you're not alone in your season of waiting. Saturated with biblical truths, it will assure you that yes, God sees you, your pain, your suffering, and your waiting. He might not answer you according to your timeline and the way you want it to but He knows, He understands, and He cares. 

Still Waiting comes out today, April 4th, in most major book retailers like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Target. Get your copy (and copies for your lady friends) now!

Ann Swindell is an authour, speaker, and teacher of writing who is passionate about seeing people set free by the love of Christ. She writes about the intersection of everyday life and God's love on her website, annswindell.com, and writes regularly for other publications such as Today's Christian Woman, Relevant, Deeply Rooted, and Darling magazine. Ann holds an MA in writing from DePaul University and MFA in creative nonfiction writing from Seattle Pacific University. She taught composition and creative writing courses as a college instructor for five years and now teaches writing courses online at writingwithgrace.com. Ann makes her home in St. Louis, Missouri with her husband and daughter.