Sarah Thebarge

Thebarge tells two stories in this book: her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment/her world falling apart, and that of befriending a refugee family with five little girls.

The jumping back and forth between the two stories/timelines was incredibly frustrating. Her story of breast cancer was mildly interesting (I learned a few things!) and her friendship with the refugee family more so, but the two stories were really not connected and I felt that Thebarge should have written two different books!

Also, I agreed with other reviewers who stated concerns of a self-congratulatory, white-savior mentality on Thebarge's part. While I think Thebarge was doing her best to present their story accurately, she just didn't know the family well enough to tell it; she was missing so much information, probably due to the language barrier.

Note: There is a bit of profanity in this book.

(And the chapters are incredibly short, which means there are an awful lot of half-blank pages - what a waste of paper!)… (more)

A memoir written by Sarah Thebarge about her breast cancer at age 27 that leads to the loss of all her identity and dreams and her slow climb back to life. Sarah Thebarge was raised as a PK in a fundamental home with quite legalistic rules. When she is diagnosed with cancer, undergoes several surgeries and complications, loses her supposedly future husband, and her career comes to a screeching halt, she loses any trust in God. Sarah moves to Portland, Oregon where she meets a mother had her 5 children. They are immigrants from Somalia and are struggling to survive. Sarah befriends them and in doing so, she finds her way back to health and also her way back to God. This book gets either very low or very high reviews. I suspect it is because this book is written from the Christian perspective and most people seem to be quite intolerant of Christians talking about their perspective. Sarah's struggles with cancer, her deep depression, her anger, her questions of the God of her upbringing are all very real reactions. Writing this memoir would have been cathartic and healing. The finding her way back by forgetting her own misery and helping another person is a way to heal. In this book, Sarah shows through example how to see those who are invisible. The ones we all walk past without a second glance. While this is a book written by a Christian woman, it does not push God on anyone. It is only the story of the author's own search for meaning. Her friendship with the refugees was never about evangelism. She simply saw a need a found ways to meet those needs.

This book (audio, read by Kirsten Potter) was a free audio book from the AudioSync program in 2018.… (more)