When my kids were little, I loved any chance to snuggle on the sofa with them and watch the TV show “Little Bear” on Nickelodeon. First of all, who doesn’t love a darling, fluffy, walking and talking, brown ball of fur? And secondly, what’s not to love about a bear who has good manners, a Mother and Father Bear, good friends, and who makes good wholesome choices? Secretly, I wished that my own little bears would grow up just like him.
In one episode, Little Bear is singing as he trudges through the woods with Father Bear on a rainy adventure, in his ever-so-positive voice, “Whatever the weather, we’ll weather the weather, whether we like it or not.”
Rain wasn’t going to dampen Little Bear’s spirits. Nothing was going to keep him from pressing on with his journey.
Forgive the childhood cartoon comparison, but when I finished reading my sweet friend Michele Cushatt’s new book, Undone, the first thing that came to mind was Little Bear’s perseverance and his simple, yet profound words.
Michele has endured great trial over the last 20 years. An unwanted divorce, single mothering, remarriage, step-parenting, cancer, and adding 3 small, needy children to an already full family, life and home.
Yet, what you will find in her memoir is not a tale of “my woes are bigger than yours – just look at these scars!” Instead what leaps off the pages of her beautifully crafted story, chapter after exquisitely written chapter, are the beautiful melodies of true faith in the goodness of life and its Giver, no matter what rains may fall.
The first melody I heard, the chords of which resonated deep within me due to my own years of enduring incapacitating health issues, was one of abundance in the midst of scarcity. Over and over again, Michele sings of God’s faithfulness when she herself had nothing left to offer.
From a prayer in a closet offered from a most unexpected source, to a house with enough room to hold a family of 8, to a dive master in an ocean filled with fear, Michele leads us through her own struggles all while shining a beacon of light on God’s powerful provision and tender touch.
As a Christian, I believe there’s no greater form of false Christianity than someone who talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk. In a world tarnished with such folks, Michele throws off the false bravado and sings a melody of authentic faith and obedience.
As a woman with a thriving career and an almost empty nest, who has just survived cancer, she was ready to embrace her life of freedom and well-deserved rest. Instead, she opened her heart and her home to the least of these.
“But the life of a true Jesus-follower – someone who both says and means her promise of ‘anywhere’ and ‘anything’- doesn’t always follow smooth, paved roads….The only way to find the life I always wanted was to let the lesser life go.”
Authentic faith has a way of leading us to a place of trust.
Which is exactly what Michele reveals, time and again; the melody of trusting God in the face of uncertainty.
In between the sharp notes of Cancer, chronic, debilitating health issues, and fits of rage from special needs children, Michele continually exemplifies what life looks like when we hook ourselves to an anchor other than ourselves.
“Shoring up your faith in the right place is far more important than simply claiming to have it….Instead I must secure my faith where it cannot be unmoored. In the one who controls the waves and whose peace runs so deep we can find a way to sleep in the storm.”
Simply put, this is a book that will change you. And you will find yourself returning to its timeless melodies of faith, trust and God’s provision, as Michele helps you find peace in the midst of your own imperfect life.
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