Karen Allen and Sharon Atwood, Outta My Mind, Into His Heart: 60 Devotions for Those with Mental Illness and Their Advocates (Surprise, AZ: Winged Publications, 2023), 323 pp.
Two friends share personal and biblical lessons learned from a 20-year journey through the ups and downs of one helping the other deal with mental illness.
They put together a practical, encouraging devotional that will benefit anyone facing the challenges of friendship, mental and physical illness, or simply desiring to be a more understanding person.
Karen Allen, who resides in Birmingham with her husband, is the founder of Ewe R Blessed Ministries, and holds degrees from the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. A cancer survivor, she is retired from a career in medical research. Sharon Atwood also lives in Birmingham and has degrees from Birmingham-Southern College and UAB. She is a certified home health aide and has worked in numerous other jobs as well. Atwood has struggled with bipolar disorder and other issues for many years.
When they met, Sharon asked Karen to become her discipleship teacher. Karen agreed and that has led to the friendship and many lessons learned. Each devotional is short, relevant and personal. Karen and Sharon alternate in writing these perceptive lessons, tying them to insights from Scripture. They deal with matters such as needing “strength to overcome” (p. 38), pursuing wisdom “one day at a time” (p. 47) and learning how to break “the cycle of defeat” (p. 126).
The women share honest struggles and learning from frustration. Mental illness can be very draining for the patient as well as for family and friends, and themes of perseverance and patience mark the journey fleshed out in this book. Each devotional has helpful reflection questions, and there are numerous beautiful drawings throughout that can be colored in, along with a section of coloring pages at the back.
Share with others: