About the Book:
Sometimes, you see, Wren and Gran didn't paint flowers or clouds or birds or trees.
Sometimes they painted their feelings.
She and Gran called it "painting prayers."
Gran's art studio is one of Wren's favorite places in the world. Not only is it where Wren and Gran paint, but it's also where they talk about all the good and hard stuff of life—to each other, and to God. Join young Wren as she explores her feelings and discovers that God welcomes our honest prayers.
This gentle story by bestselling Christian novelist Sharon Garlough Brown, paired with exquisite illustrations from Jessica Linn Evans, will be enjoyed by children as well as the adults who read with them. Also included is a note from the author to encourage further conversation about the content.
Mini-Review:
I love that Not Finished Yet: Trusting God with All My Feelings by Sharon Garlough Brown introduces children to the concept that it is safe and healthy to express any feeling to God, not just the positive emotions. That's something I'm still learning as an adult! The narrative is clever and relatable for young children. The winsome illustrations correlate well with the story. This is a book my kiddos would have loved when they were younger! Five stars!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I was provided a ecopy of this book by the author or publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.
Author Bio:
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Sharon Garlough Brown is a spiritual director, speaker, and cofounder of Abiding Way Ministries, providing spiritual formation retreats and resources. She is the author of the bestselling Sensible Shoes Series, which includes spiritual fiction novels Sensible Shoes, Two Steps Forward, Barefoot, An Extra Mile, and their study guides.
Author Interview:
Q: What inspired you to write this book?
Sharon Garlough Brown: As a spiritual director and retreat leader, I'm passionate about inviting people to journey deep into the heart of God through practices of prayer and other spiritual disciplines so that we can be healed, transformed, and shaped to become more like Jesus. The more confident we are in the height and depth, breadth and length of God's love for us, the freer we become to bring our honest selves to him in prayer, without fear or shame. In Not Finished Yet I translate some of the work I do with adults for children, encouraging them to find ways to express their thoughts and feelings to a God who loves them and listens to them with care and attention, no matter what they have to say.
Q: Is there a common thread that runs between your novels and this children's picture book?
Sharon: Each of my books contains spiritual disciplines that help us practice being attentive and receptive to God's presence and love. Though I don't use the word lament in Not Finished Yet, this is the spiritual practice at the heart of the story as young Wren learns from her grandmother how to express her honest thoughts and feelings to God. My Shades of Light series, in which Wren is the twenty-seven-year-old protagonist, includes art as a spiritual practice, both in creating art as prayer and in praying with art to open conversation with God, especially during seasons of sorrow and loss.
Q: Are there elements of this story that reflect your own experience?
Sharon: I was twenty-one years old and a relatively new Christian when an older work colleague gave me a copy of Philip Yancey's book Disappointment with God as a college graduation present. Honestly, I remember staring at the title and feeling offended by it. I suspect I silently judged my colleague for a lack of faith or even blasphemy. I'll never forget, though, the words she spoke next: "You may not think you need this book now, Sharon, but there might come a day when you will." I silently took offense at that too. How could I ever feel disappointed with God?
By the time I was in my midtwenties, Yancey's book had become the companion I needed while navigating painful seasons in which it was difficult for me to reconcile the goodness, power, and love of God with his apparent unwillingness to intervene in my life and in the lives of those I loved and longed for. Like the psalmists and prophets, I began asking hard lament questions like, "Where are you?" "If you love us then, why?" and "How long, oh, Lord?"
In the decades since then, I've had the privilege of accompanying many people through seasons of lament, offering them the same invitation and permission God gave me long ago: to express my disappointment, bewilderment, anger, and sorrow directly to him, without being afraid of disappointing or offending him with my honesty. What a generous God we have that he welcomes us to speak our pain to him-and about him-in prayer.
Q: What do you hope children will take away from Not Finished Yet?
Sharon: When my sister's children were young, their family would gather at the dinner table to share "highs and lows" from the day. "What's the best thing that happened to you today?" and "What's the hardest thing that happened to you today?" can become invitations to prayer as we bring to God all our thoughts and feelings and experiences-the things that make us happy and thankful as well as the things that make us angry, scared, sad, or disappointed. I hope children who hear or read Not Finished Yet can experience the same kind of freedom Wren experienced in having a safe place where she could be honest with a grown-up who loved her and encouraged her to express her thoughts and feelings to Jesus without fear.
Sharon: I was twenty-one years old and a relatively new Christian when an older work colleague gave me a copy of Philip Yancey's book Disappointment with God as a college graduation present. Honestly, I remember staring at the title and feeling offended by it. I suspect I silently judged my colleague for a lack of faith or even blasphemy. I'll never forget, though, the words she spoke next: "You may not think you need this book now, Sharon, but there might come a day when you will." I silently took offense at that too. How could I ever feel disappointed with God?
By the time I was in my midtwenties, Yancey's book had become the companion I needed while navigating painful seasons in which it was difficult for me to reconcile the goodness, power, and love of God with his apparent unwillingness to intervene in my life and in the lives of those I loved and longed for. Like the psalmists and prophets, I began asking hard lament questions like, "Where are you?" "If you love us then, why?" and "How long, oh, Lord?"
In the decades since then, I've had the privilege of accompanying many people through seasons of lament, offering them the same invitation and permission God gave me long ago: to express my disappointment, bewilderment, anger, and sorrow directly to him, without being afraid of disappointing or offending him with my honesty. What a generous God we have that he welcomes us to speak our pain to him-and about him-in prayer.
Q: What do you hope children will take away from Not Finished Yet?
Sharon: When my sister's children were young, their family would gather at the dinner table to share "highs and lows" from the day. "What's the best thing that happened to you today?" and "What's the hardest thing that happened to you today?" can become invitations to prayer as we bring to God all our thoughts and feelings and experiences-the things that make us happy and thankful as well as the things that make us angry, scared, sad, or disappointed. I hope children who hear or read Not Finished Yet can experience the same kind of freedom Wren experienced in having a safe place where she could be honest with a grown-up who loved her and encouraged her to express her thoughts and feelings to Jesus without fear.
Q: What do you hope parents and caregivers will take away?
Sharon: I've met many people who, when they became upset or angry as children, were told by grown-ups, "Go to your room. And after you calm yourself down, then you can come out and have a conversation." Such a command can potentially impact our images of God, and we might become adults who believe we need to "calm ourselves down" and tidy up our prayers before we can enter into conversation with him.
I hope adults who read Not Finished Yet will hear the Lord's tender invitation to come to him with unedited thoughts and feelings and experience his love, compassion, and comfort. Lament prayers are bold and courageous prayers, which express deep confidence in God's mercy and kindness. I hope all my readers-adults and children-can practice being bold and brave with God, whether through words or tears or creative expression. Pouring out our pain is a pathway to being renewed in hope and trust in a faithful God who is working to make all things new. He's just not finished yet.
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