Peanut Butter and Dragon Wings: A Mother's Search for Grace

by Shari Zook

Overview

Longing for permission to be real about your own needs and struggles? Permission granted.

As good Christian moms, we’re not supposed to ask for much. Jesus meets all our needs and we’re the light of the world to everybody else, right? Wrong.
Shari Zook appeared to be an overachieving supermom who deftly supported her pastor-husband and their congregation, looked after their children, and cared for foster children through the ups and downs of placements. But inside, her world was growing increasingly desperate as she struggled with the grief of miscarriage, parenting a difficult child, and spiraling depression.
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In her darkest hour, Zook let go of her need to appear super-human and reached out to receive God’s unfolding grace. With humor and artistry, Peanut Butter and Dragon Wings gives us permission to step out from behind the appearance of rose-filtered perfection and embrace the authenticity of honest need and human limitations. In the book’s twelve chapters you’ll find twelve practical ways to reach for a faith that includes doubt, and holiness that includes failure.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781513807713
Publisher:	MennoMedia
Publication date:	07/06/2021
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Shari Zook is a pastor’s wife, mother of four, and foster parent for the past six years. She bakes cakes, raises herbs, and reads amazing books but her heart is in raising children, crafting words, and connecting with women. She lives with her family in northwestern Pennsylvania and attends Meadville Mennonite Chapel, where her husband, Ryan, pastors. She blogs at Confessions of a Woman Learning to Live.
 

Table of Contents

Foreword 11

Author's Note 15

Introduction 17

1 Two Other Hands 21

The Power of Facing the Darkness Together

2 Cracked Eggs on White Carpet 37

The Freedom of Admitting Need

3 A Whiplash across the Room 53

The Help of Medication

4 Encounter 71

The Beauty of a Long-Term Mentor

5 Tyranny of the Urgent 89

The Power of Procrastination

6 Sorority 107

The Saving Grace of Girlfriends (Especially When the Men in Your Life Are Being Outrageous)

7 Strangers, Like Me 127

The Necessity of Speaking Out

8 Poppy Seed Prayers 143

The Ability to Grieve Out Loud

9 Negatory 157

The Cost of Owning No

10 Peanut Butter and Dragon Wings 173

The Gift of Physicality

11 Victory of Another Kind 189

The Release of Refusing to Fight

12 In His Silence 209

The Miracle of Being Prayed For

Additional Resources 223

Acknowledgments 227

The Author 231

Interviews

Meadville, PA 16335
 

Editorial Reviews

In Peanut Butter and Dragon Wings, Shari Zook invites her readers to pull up a comfy chair, take a deep breath, and join her in being honest about the challenges of living faithfully. She writes with authenticity and wisdom as she shares her personal experiences and the lessons learned from them. This book is a fresh wind of grace for weary women.”
 

GINA BRENNA BUTZ

With refreshing honesty, Shari Zook drops the mask and shows us realness, brokenness, and pain. In candid, beautifully crafted stories, she bares her heart and shows us how we, too, can invite Jesus into our pain. I wept with her, and rejoiced as she continually points us to the God of grace. This book will bring hope to any woman who faces darkness and difficulty.”
 

FAITH SOMMERS

Shari Zook has an ear for beautiful language and a gift for expressing emotional and spiritual concepts in concrete terms. I found myself laughing, crying, and understanding some of the difficult issues of life in new ways.”
 

LUCINDA MILLER KINSINGER

Shari Zook says it best herself: ‘This is not a book about self-care. This is a book about receiving the care that surrounds you.’ Peanut Butter and Dragon Wings is not a cute mommy book about ‘me time’ and lattes. Shari’s words—always honest, often harrowing—slice down to our darkest places and deepest needs. If she, a pastor’s wife, loving mom, and competent woman, can hit the depths and find grace there, can reach out her hand and open her mouth to ask for help, then, God be praised, so can you and I.”
 

DORCAS SMUCKER

Shari Zook’s story soars and sobs, punctuated by humor and wisdom. She reckons with, wrestles with, and worships the One who holds and heals the nations. Beware—just when you think you are safely on the sidelines, she will remember her reader and turn your way with a look of such insight and compassion that it may shatter—and then help restore—you.”
 

SHEILA PETRE

Tears and laughter abound in this charming, interactive memoir. It’s a book full of loss, love, and healing that will leave you wanting more from this debut author.”
 

SUZANNE WOODS FISHER