The Most Beautiful Disaster

March 29, 2021
Carpenter, cofounder of Redemption Church in Greenville, S.C., debuts with an eloquent account of her path to recovery and redemption following sexual abuse. At 15, Carpenter was sexually abused by a boy she trusted. She responded by assuming she’d done something to deserve it and “internalized the lie” that she was worthless. Carpenter describes learning to “put on a mask” of happy normalcy by “hiding what was really going on inside and showing the world what I thought it wanted to see,” how this pressure led to a double life and multiple affairs, and the relief of her confession to her husband and decision to seek help. She discusses how to identify warning signs of buried trauma, suggests seeking help through counseling, and assures those who are struggling that God loves them in their brokenness. While she acknowledges there is no quick-fix, she emphasizes the need to be honest with oneself, using biblical tales to make her points. Christian readers longing to overcome destructive patterns will be drawn to Carpenter’s encouraging account.

April 2, 2021

In this debut, Carpenter (Redemption Church, Greenville, SC) reminds readers that success does not guarantee happiness or a life free from the consequences of one's choices. Redemption Church, which Carpenter founded with her husband Ron, has campuses in California and North Carolina, with thousands of congregants. Carpenter discusses her commitment to Christ, her history of childhood trauma, and being raped as a teenager; she writes that these circumstances, combined with the pressure she felt to appear perfect, led her to repress her emotional needs during her marriage until, she says, she felt she snapped like a rubber band. She recounts how she began rebelling in ways great and small, until an extramarital affair broke her marriage, and her husband kicked her out of the house, out of the church, and out of her family's life. The book recounts Carpenter's journey to understanding herself and her actions and to reconciling with her husband, family, and church through her reliance on biblical principles. Each chapter ends with sections called "Think about This" and "Scripture To Meditate On." VERDICT While there is a bit of a reliance on "the enemy" to explain bad behavior, Carpenter's message is basically a hopeful one that emphasizes her concept of God's love.--Gail Eubanks, Univ. of Missouri, Springfield

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