Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace

Margaret McSweeny says this about the book, "Perhaps you have heard the story of the oyster that unexpectedly gets a piece of sand stuck inside it's shell. Nacre coats this irritant and creates a pearl. Like the oyster, we encounter unexpected grit in our every day lives" illness, loss, disappointment, pain changes...and the list goes on. However God's nacre of love and grace covers our pain and transforms us into precious pearls. Pearl Girls! ...As women, we are connected through our shared experiences. Together, we create an iridescent pearl necklace, with demands and stress of everyday life, many women become secluded and disconnected from one another and from God!...The ladies in this book and I connect to make a difference in the world. All proceeds from this book go to two charities." This is a very unique and special book that gathers authors I've seen on the book shelf at my job, interviewed or reviewed their book on my blog. It was very sobering to read many of these authors' stories. I'm so thankful to have received a review copy of this book. The stories in this book are honest, heartfelt and inspirational. More proof that we are all a work in progress. God does His best work in our lives in times of troubles in community and the body of Christ! Elizabeth Musser states in her story, "I truly believe that God never wastes the pain in our lives...Pain called me to God and made me completely dependent on Him. God gave me the strength to carry on!", author of The Swan House. Robin Jones Gunn author best know for the Sister Chicks series said, "Yes, my life capsized. But I was being carried along on the unforced rhythm of God's grace." Many of the authors in Pearl Girls share their struggles and some very personal situations they encountered. I loved how vulnerable and honest there stories were and how they acted or reacted in having to trust God completely in their crisis! God deals with us and loves us in a very personal way. He is involved in every detail of our lives, their stories show this in a real way. "God was there...like a lifeline, He was holding my hand, I clung to God's hand like I'd never clung before. I knew that without Him, I would drown-simply to escape the pain." Melody Carlson. You'll be encouraged as you read these stories. I was. Nora St.Laurent - ACFW Book Club Coordinator

Pearl Girls is a collection of true stories that will touch your heart. Heartwarming testimonies to God's love and grace, written by the women who lived them. Some of the names are well known, others were new to me, but each one writes of some intimate, personal moment that will strike a responsive chord with the reader. They write of sin and redemption, of loss and gain, of struggling to fit in, of times when only God could reach down and lead them through their own dark valley. Somewhere in this collection is a story that will speak just to you from someone who knows what you're going through because she's gone through it too. And each story is a strong testimony of a loving God who understands and who cares. This one is a keeper.

This book is so facinating. The complilation of stories are all so honest and inspriationial. I went to the airport to take a young boy who was traveling back to Calif. I though I might have a few minutes to read it while waiting for his plane to take off. Well, he got on, but the plane sat there on the tarmack for almost another hour. I am so pleased I had the book and was able to read many of the stories. It is such a blessing that the proceeds of this book are going for such a worthy cause. A great investment.

Pearl Girls, a story compilation edited by Margaret McSweeney, is a book of inspiring personal experience stories that will encourage you in your life and lift your heart during tough times. I read the book in two sittings and am eager to share it with friends and family. Best of all, Margaret is donating all proceeds to two worthwhile charities--one to dig wells in Africa for families in need of fresh water and the other to an organization to help women and children flee from domestic violence.

I brought this book on a business trip with me and I planned to read just one story as the plane taxied. A few hours later when the plane landed I only had a few stories left ... and I finished those last stories in the taxi on the way to the hotel! Even though the plane had landed, my heart still soared. These stories uplifted and inspired me. I can't wait to share this book with my friends!