The Beautiful Ache: Finding the God Who Satisfies When Life Does Not [Paperback]

Leigh McLeroy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2007

Even as believers take joy in this world, it is clear that life on earth is not perfect. Many struggle with unrequited love, infertility, the pain of separation, failure, uncertainty, and unfulfilled plans. But somewhere between seeing life as all rosy and seeing it as a vale of tears, Leigh McLeroy takes readers on a journey through the beauty and joy in this sometimes painful world. With exquisite writing and soul-deep reflections, Leigh weaves her own personal stories with biblical narratives to engage readers in the compelling mystery of living in between this world and God's kingdom. In The Beautiful Ache, she calls readers to embrace the gap between life hoped for and life as it is-to press on for that which fully satisfies.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

EXCERPT FROM CATALOG It's the pang that strikes when loss is sudden, or suddenly realized. It's the stealth tears that fall when something stunningly grand (or nakedly simple) sets holiness on clear display. It arrives with crickets chirping on a June night, or a bright pink sunset slung low and wide across the sky, or the sound of a child's sleepy whisper. It lingers in memory-infused music and nibbles the edges of silent hope. It's evoked by a longed-for touch, or a word well-spoken, delivered just in time. It invades carpool lines and conference rooms with equal deftness. It is no respecter of place or time. It's the beautiful ache. It says there's more. More than you've seen and much more than you've longed for. Beyond what you know, and far, far past your strongest yearning. As C. S. Lewis said, "If I find in myself a desire which no experience can satisfy, the most logical explanation is that I was made for another world." The beautiful ache is that fleeting pang that reminds us of home. Only, not the home we've always known-the home we've never seen. It pierces and pries open the heart, but doesn't near satisfy it. It whets the appetite, but doesn't begin to fill it. It unmasks beauty, but not completely. It reeks of truth, but stops just short of telling all. Hardly a day goes by that I don't feel it. The trick is learning to allow the ache to take me where it wants to go, to tutor and tantalize my mostly-numb senses with its laser-sharp aim. The challenge is not to kill it off before it fully arrives . . . or dismiss it before it is ready to go. I don't have to ask if you know what I'm talking about. You do. You've felt the ache too.

From the Back Cover

FRONT COVER "A well-written reminder of why we are really here and where many of us are headed."--Steve Arterburn BACK COVER You've felt it. It's the ache that whispers "There's more." When the best marriage or job or adventure doesn't fully satisfy, you feel the ache. It infuses every glimpse of beauty or wonder this world can offer and leaves you even hungrier than before. It colors your disappointments and desires with equal intensity, and it should--because you were made for another kind of living in another kind of world. However the ache touches your heart, it is a good thing. It is meant to entice and unsettle you, and draw you closer to the God who truly satisfies. In The Beautiful Ache, Leigh McLeroy's powerful writing offers the hope you need to embrace the gap between the life you know...and the life you can't help longing for. "Leigh is a careful thinker with a deep grasp of God's Word who has the rare ability to translate her insight into prose that sings, dances, and remains fixed in the reader's memory."--Steve Halliday, president, Crown Media Ltd., Portland, OR "I so resonate with Leigh's descriptions about a little-understood longing in our hearts. Surely this book will help others identify their own longings . . . and the only Source that satisfies."--Carol Kuykendall, MOPS International "Leigh McLeroy holds my hand in a place I know, but that I fear. With honesty and hope, she leads me to lean into the longing and find joy on the other side. Her fearlessness has become my courage, and I am eternally grateful."--Judy Nelson, editor-in-chief, Worldwide Challenge magazine, Orlando, FL

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Revell; annotated edition edition (March 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800731417
• ISBN-13: 978-0800731410
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #765,113 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Leigh McLeroy writes and speaks with a passion for God and a keen eye for his presence in everyday life. As an author, blogger, conference speaker and Bible teacher, Leigh fully engages in the moment - and tells the truth, but "tells it slant" - sharing the reality of God's love and grace a way that beckons, woos, resonates and compels.

A former corporate marketing executive and mega-church staffer, Leigh now devotes the majority of her time to writing, speaking and collaborating on various creative projects. "I want to be available to go where God calls, and to do what God wants done. The assignment will look a little different for me every day - but I celebrate the beautiful uncertainty of this Christ-following journey called life."

From her home base in Houston, Texas, Leigh can be found teaching in her inner-city church, City of Refuge Evangelical Presbyterian, traveling to various women's conferences and other events as a keynote speaker, working on one of her books, or writing Wednesday words - a weekly e-devotional she launched six years ago that she says "has taken on a life of its own."

Her books include Moments for Singles (NavPress 2004), The Beautiful Ache (Revell, 2007), The Sacred Ordinary (Revell, 2008) and Treasured (WaterBrook, 2009). She may be reached at www.leighmcleroy.com, and www.wednesdaywords.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book finds beauty in unrealized desire as it points towards the eternal, May 14, 2007

By 

Michael Dalton (Eureka, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Beautiful Ache: Finding the God Who Satisfies When Life Does Not (Paperback)

What is the beautiful ache? In her book, Leigh McLeroy defines it as "that fleeting pang that reminds us of home. Not the home we've always known--the home we've never seen. The ache pierces and pries open the heart but doesn't nearly satisfy it. It whets the appetite but doesn't begin to fill it."

She elaborates on common desires and their corresponding hardships by weaving together personal stories and Biblical narratives. Each chapter highlights a specific area. The need for belonging, the difficulty of trusting, the hardship of labor, and the pain of grief are just a few of the topics covered.

These insightful and devotion-like thoughts challenge, find humor and move to tears. Her mature and balanced perspective is especially evident in "The Ache for Healing." She uses a John Piper quote to make her point: "It is fitting that a child ask his father for relief in trouble. And it is fitting that a loving father give His child only what is best. And that he always does: sometimes healing now, sometimes not. But always, always, what is best for us."

Though this is not a book directed towards single people, I appreciated her perspective, as a single person, in the area of relationships. It's heartbreaking to see, from a woman's point of view, the unfulfilled desire for lifelong companionship. In the "Ache of Expecting" she reflects on the advice given by a friend. "It is no small gift to find another who is like you and whose presence is so comforting and right that even the most ordinary moments are enriched by it. Better still is when that one whose presence is life-giving to you comes and means to stay. Emmanuel. God like us. God with us. Forever."

McLeroy recognizes that longing can enrich our lives. "This is the now and the not yet. Because here we taste only a little of the treasure that is ours. Because it's the very longing that makes the eventual receiving truly sweet." Though waiting can be hard, this book finds beauty in it as it points to better things, those that are eternal.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Beautiful Ache, March 27, 2007

By 

pleased purchaser "kls" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Beautiful Ache: Finding the God Who Satisfies When Life Does Not (Paperback)

I finished reading this book hopeful about my own story, not because of anything in myself, but because of "the ultimate goodness of the Storyteller". I've already passed along copies to family and friends for their encouragement. I look forward to reading it again!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Godsend, March 22, 2007

By 

Sondra Fowler (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Beautiful Ache: Finding the God Who Satisfies When Life Does Not (Paperback)

This book struck so many chords and answered so many questions in my life: Why aren't my heart's desires God's desires for me? How can we listen for God's voice and hear it in everyday, ordinary non-coincidences? How can I relate my faith to others in a more meaningful way? Leigh answers all these questions and more. Most of all, she is not afraid to let her personal experiences speak loudly of her faith, even if they represent the disappointments/embarrassments/failures most of us have trouble talking about, much less writing about. Buy this book for yourself and for your friends. They will thank you.