This is the most beautiful book I have ever read and it’s not just the art work. Sarah has written a book that is so worthwhile. She weaves with words of inspiration and practical illustrations, a stirring message with deep implications for the heart. It is written with such humility and grace that it leaves you longing to find your own quiet waters from which to drink.

This book beautifully weaves narrative, art, and poetry. I read it with curiosity and found meaning, learning and inspiration. Sarah takes us through good times, bad times, decisions, and moments, all that face upward and forward with trust that the future is for all of us. This book inspires and reveals theological truths about being a person. Though we are different – with variations in culture and value-norms – there are commonalities too. Common things like how Sarah (and we as readers) care about our families, face pain, and find comfort in uncertainty. It helps us process when we wonder what we’ll find next? This is a must read for anyone looking for inspiration and care. It is a comfort, beautifully presented by Sarah Jose.

“New In the Middle” provides a phenomenological glimpse into the intersection of human experience and how God in Christ enters deeply into our suffering, trauma and challenges to redeem, purify and elevate us into participation in His Divine Life. Sarah beautifully weaves together personal experiences that many of us can identify with, antidotes and received wisdom (human and divine) in revealing the educative process inherent in core life processes that if read correctly can lead one on a restorative and transformative journey of healing and growth. Well worth reading by anyone curious about how to begin entering into the sometimes mysterious passages of suffering, past and present, that lead to a deeper encounter with one’s true identity in God.

This author shares what God has taught her through bodily weakness, hardships, and persistent physical pain. Creating beautiful pictures has helped her work through her experiences to the place where she can see more clearly the good that the Lord has for her through difficult times. Among the take-aways I got from New in the Middle are, first, the fact that love for and creation of order and beauty–in any manner–are God-given and can help us work through confusion and doubt to God’s peace in spite of our circumstances; and second, that our lives can change instantly and wrenchingly at any time, but God’s plan for us does not change. He will bless us and use us to be a blessing to many others as we give Him our weakness, pain and fears. Hardships do not have to define us. With God’s help they become launching pads to a closer walk with Him. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

One analogy Sarah speaks about is the tree. We often think the flowers are the sensational parts of a plant. But the leaves are what create the food, provide the shade and rustle like music in the breeze. We are the leaves, steadfast where we are planted, present for those in our sphere of influence. No matter who you are, what your situation is or how small your world may seem, there are people who need your presence. God is with you to use your life and experiences for hope.