Book Review and Giveaway: Life, In Spite of Me by Kristen Jane Anderson

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Welcome Litfuse Blog Tour Participants

Kristen was a troubled 17 year-old girl who struggled with feelings of hopelessness, pain and defeat.  When life became unbearable, suicide seemed like the only solution.  So she made the devastating choice to lie down in front of an oncoming train.  Miraculously, she survived.  Life, In Spite of Me is the story of Kristen Jane Anderson’s journey from despair, to faith in Christ, to her ministry to the world.

I don’t mention it much here on The Calico Critic, but I’ve been struggling with depression since the spring of 2009.  Medication has been a huge help, and this blog has also brought much sunshine to my life as well.  However, I consider my relationship with Christ to be the most important factor in making it through this difficult time.  It’s with this perspective that I requested a copy of Life, In Spite of Me. 

While Kristen’s book is an autobiographical account of her life since the train incident, it reads like a novel.  From the opening pages, I was riveted to her story and how God is working in her life.  Her co-writer, Tricia Goyer was an excellent partner as Kristen shared her struggles.  On more than one occasion, I was brought to tears as I related to some of the emotional pain she was dealing with.  I was also moved in how the Lord has touched her body, mind and spirit.

If you’re dealing with depression, I highly recommend this book.  If you know someone who’s struggling, I recommend that you get them a copy.  Kristen’s story is amazing, and it has much hope for those looking for even a glimmer of light at the end of their very long, very dark tunnel. In addition, Kristen’s ministry Reaching You has an excellent website for resources for those who need assistance. 

From one perspective, Kristen Jane Anderson’s story is tragic. The flawed decisions that she made as a teenager will affect her for the rest of her life.  But in that tragedy, God is working in her to bless others.  She is a new person with a new perspective, filled with hope and love of life.  And it is in reading Life, In Spite of Me that her readers can be encouraged by that same hope and love as well.

Videos of Kristen

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**GIVEAWAY CONTEST**

If you'd like to win one of two copies of Life In Spite of Me, here are the contest rules:

• Leave a comment below; this counts as your entry.
• Entries accepted until 11:59pm on Saturday, June 5th
• Open to U.S. addresses only.
• Make sure at least one posted comment includes your email address. If you'd rather not have your email posted here, you may contact me directly to give me that information after you've entered here.
• I will compile the entries and the winners will be chosen by Random.org, so even one entry can make you a winner!
• Should you win, I will contact you on Sunday the 6th for your mailing information.  Please take measures to ensure that my email will make it past your spam filters, lest you miss my message! (CalicoCritic@gmail.com) You'll have 72 hours to respond before I pick another winner.
• More information on the giveaway policies can be found on the Contact / Policies page.

Bonus Entries

Please make note of all your bonus entries in your comment(s).  You may post separate comments or a single large comment.  Here are your bonus entry options:

• Follow The Calico Critic by clicking on the Google "Follow" button on my sidebar (old or new followers both get the bonus entry, just let me know you're following).

• Follow me (@LHartness) on Twitter (Please tell me your @UserName).

• Tweet about this book's giveaway on Twitter.com; be sure to use an URL linking back to this blog posting in your tweet. You may do this as frequently as every 8 hours between now and June 5th at 11:59pm EST.  For each tweet, please come back and post the direct URL link to that specific tweet, not just your @Username.

That's it!  Thanks for stopping by, and good luck to all the entrants!

This title was provided to me by Multnomah/litFUSE.  No obligation other than an honest review was required.