Book review — Moving On

Book review — Moving On

Moving On: Surviving the Grief of Forced Termination

Deanna Harrison. Fort Collins, Colorado: A Book’s Mind, 2016. 126 pp. (Digital Edition).

Deanna Harrison is a former pastor’s wife. “Former” is the operative word here; her husband’s forced termination by a church prompted this book. When I got the copy of this book I expected to find a book with a limited audience — one that would appeal only to pastors and their wives, and only those who had been terminated or were facing termination by their churches.

That turned out to be incorrect. The book, even with its stated target audience, would be helpful for anyone who has struggled with forgiveness, restoration of self esteem after embarrassment or maltreatment or any other aspect of grief brought on by the actions of others.

The author laid the book out by chapters that dealt with the commonly recognized stages of grief, noting that the stages might not be experienced sequentially. She constantly encourages her readers in a voice that contains traces of the pain she experienced and now hopes to help others work through. She ends the book on a strong note of encouragement:

“Six years into my journey of grief and grace, I can honestly say that life is good. No, life is very good. It is not the life my husband and I had planned. It is nothing like the first 30 years of our marriage and ministry. We would never have chosen to travel this road. But God in His infinite mercy and grace has made beauty out of ugliness. He has blessed us beyond what we ever imagined possible.”

By Martine Bates Fairbanks, Ed.D.