TAKE HEART

A Christianity-centered approach to dealing with anxiety.

Hausch opens her debut self-help book by making clear to her target audience of fellow Christian readers that she has no intention of impugning the strength of their faith: “When we stop asking if our faith is big enough, when we stop feeling the need to behave like we have it all figured out, when we are at the end of ourselves, we can encounter God,” she writes. “He is patiently waiting.” For many people, she points out, anxious thoughts are a daily reality, and she notes that she’s experienced “obsessive-compulsive disorder, social anxiety, and generalized anxiety” since childhood. Her message in these pages is one of calm assurance that although anxiety may always be a part of one’s life, God is also always there for his followers, and he’s given them the ability to face down their personal Goliaths. Hausch mixes personal anecdotes with a series of prompts for reader participation, including Bible readings and “Questions To Consider” about each chapter’s points. Some of the author’s comments on faith feel like bland truisms (“God is that shelter for us”), but her stories from her own life are unfailingly involving and will surely help to ease her readers’ worried minds. The author’s frequent advice to engage in specific, targeted activities gives the book an appealingly interactive tenor. Indeed, the overall tone is pleasantly encouraging, as Hausch repeatedly reminds Christian readers that the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives—even at the darkest moments—is never-ending: “When we face tragedy that leaves our souls bankrupt,” she writes, “God somehow brings enough water to sustain us in that moment.”

An often inviting encouragement to Christians going through tough times.