KIRKUS REVIEW
A largely autobiographical debut guide focuses on trusting God through life’s ups and downs.
Eastwell provides an often moving account of her own life as it concerns her faith. Dividing her work into chapters by what she terms “categories,” the author shares dozens of personal tales concerning God’s intervention in her life and the lives of others she has known. In almost all cases, these stories result from her interactions with the Holy Spirit, either through the Spirit’s initiative or her own decision to seek out direction. Eastwell’s tales are wide-ranging and cover both concrete circumstances (like financial provision and healing) as well as spiritual ones (such as witnessing to others and protecting against evil). Throughout her heartfelt book, Eastwell uses Scripture heavily to back up conclusions or to supply biblical evidence. The author’s command of Scripture is obviously strong, and she effortlessly quotes and cites from the King James Version of the Bible, the only one she professes to trust. But despite Eastwell’s meaningful and accessible prose, many mainstream Christians and certainly most non-Christians will likely be struck, if not somewhat disconcerted, by the highly esoteric language and ideas that the author utilizes as a conservative Pentecostal. Eastwell’s work is immersed in a mindset of spiritual warfare at a level that only a small portion of Christians will understand. For instance, she advises asking God to “block any misuse of our own identifying information or even DNA…which may give unclean spirits an ‘address’ to target.” Elsewhere, she mentions having repented for once taking up yoga and intimates that Buddhism is akin to witchcraft. In another story, the author recalls having a heart attack, which she believed was caused by certain “voodoo” objects in her home. Once the items were removed, her health returned. Even many practicing Christians will likely find such statements foreign to the faith they know.
Engaging and touching yet written from a very specific Christian point of view.
