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The Beauty of Broken: My Story and Likely Yours Too
Find beauty and hope by facing and dealing with the messiness of family life.The family is an imperfect institution. Broken people become broken parents who make broken families. But actually, broken is normal and exactly where God wants us.
In "The Beauty of Broken," Elisa Morgan, one of today's most respected female Christian leaders, for the first time shares her very personal story of brokenness--from her first family of origin to the second, represented by her husband and two grown children. Over the years, Elisa's family struggled privately with issues many parents must face, including: alcoholism and drug addictioninfertility and adoptionteen pregnancy and abortiondivorce, homosexuality, and death
Each story layers onto the next to reveal the brokenness that comes into our lives without invitation. "We've bought into the myth of the perfect family," says Elisa. "Formulaic promises about the family may have originated in well-meaning intentions, but such thinking isn't realistic. It's not helpful. It's not even kind."
Instead she offers hope in the form of "broken family values" that allow parents to grow and thrive with God. Values such as commitment, humility, relinquishment, and respect carry us to new places of understanding. Owning our brokenness shapes us into God's best idea for us and enables us to discover the beauty in ourselves and each member of our family.
In "The Beauty of Broken," Elisa Morgan, one of today's most respected female Christian leaders, for the first time shares her very personal story of brokenness--from her first family of origin to the second, represented by her husband and two grown children. Over the years, Elisa's family struggled privately with issues many parents must face, including: alcoholism and drug addictioninfertility and adoptionteen pregnancy and abortiondivorce, homosexuality, and death
Each story layers onto the next to reveal the brokenness that comes into our lives without invitation. "We've bought into the myth of the perfect family," says Elisa. "Formulaic promises about the family may have originated in well-meaning intentions, but such thinking isn't realistic. It's not helpful. It's not even kind."
Instead she offers hope in the form of "broken family values" that allow parents to grow and thrive with God. Values such as commitment, humility, relinquishment, and respect carry us to new places of understanding. Owning our brokenness shapes us into God's best idea for us and enables us to discover the beauty in ourselves and each member of our family.
231 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 3, 2013
51 people are currently reading
667 people want to read
About the author
Elisa Morgan
97 books37 followersElisa Morgan was named by Christianity Today as one of the top 50 women influencing today's church and culture, and she's a sought-after author, speaker, and leader. She has authored more than 25 books on mothering, spiritual formation, and evangelism, including The Beauty of Broken, Hello, Beauty Full, She Did What She Could, and The NIV Mom's Devotional Bible.
For 20 years, Elisa served as the CEO of MOPS International (www.mops.org). Under her leadership, MOPS grew from 350 groups to more than 4,000 groups throughout the United States and in 30 other countries, influencing more than 100,000 moms every year. Elisa now serves as president emerita of MOPS.
Elisa received a BS from the University of Texas and an MDiv from Denver Seminary. She served as the dean of women at Western Bible College (now Colorado Christian University) and on the board of ECFA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability). Currently she serves on the board of Denver Seminary.
Elisa is a cohost of the syndicated radio program Discover the Word (www.discovertheword.org), a daily 15-minute real-time conversation around the living Word of God. She is married to Evan (the senior vice president of global ministry efforts for Our Daily Bread Ministries) and has two grown children and two grandchildren who live near her in Denver, Colorado. Wilson and Darla, her two rottweilers, take her on walks in the open space behind her house.
Connect with Elisa at www.elisamorgan.com. You can sign up for her blog, Really, at her website or by texting the word REALLY to 22828.
You can keep in touch with Elisa in the following ways:
Instagram: Elisa Morgan, Author
Facebook: Elisa Morgan, Author
Twitter: @elisa_morgan
For 20 years, Elisa served as the CEO of MOPS International (www.mops.org). Under her leadership, MOPS grew from 350 groups to more than 4,000 groups throughout the United States and in 30 other countries, influencing more than 100,000 moms every year. Elisa now serves as president emerita of MOPS.
Elisa received a BS from the University of Texas and an MDiv from Denver Seminary. She served as the dean of women at Western Bible College (now Colorado Christian University) and on the board of ECFA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability). Currently she serves on the board of Denver Seminary.
Elisa is a cohost of the syndicated radio program Discover the Word (www.discovertheword.org), a daily 15-minute real-time conversation around the living Word of God. She is married to Evan (the senior vice president of global ministry efforts for Our Daily Bread Ministries) and has two grown children and two grandchildren who live near her in Denver, Colorado. Wilson and Darla, her two rottweilers, take her on walks in the open space behind her house.
Connect with Elisa at www.elisamorgan.com. You can sign up for her blog, Really, at her website or by texting the word REALLY to 22828.
You can keep in touch with Elisa in the following ways:
Instagram: Elisa Morgan, Author
Facebook: Elisa Morgan, Author
Twitter: @elisa_morgan
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September 6, 2024
Corrie Ten Boom once famously said that brokenness, or depression, is only the Bottom Side of Heaven!
Get it? When we're broken we're almost there. Almost.
Elisa’s family may be broken. But none of them is a quitter.
It’s low tide on an ocean beach: all of the blemishes hidden by this family’s habitual comforts have been laid out clearly like the wreckage, garbage, and broken shells strewn on the sea floor that are now a part of the beach itself.
It’s like the abandoned skulls of animal heads in a Georgia O’Keefe print.
What you see is what you get.
And Elisa’s broken, hurting family, because they eschew most of the standard illusory creature comforts of twenty-first century life, are left behind. Bereft of traditional comforts. Mere broken shells.
But perfect in God’s eyes.
That’s not so bad, you know...
For the only other option available to us in this weary world is, indeed, our now-abandoned comforts of ego-transcendence. Know what those are? They’re the driver for our always up-again, down again, self-delusive trajectories.
For God is the real driver. And abandonment of our own picayune and futile efforts of transcending the world around us leads to peace.
Oh, yes - and the constant struggle to right our own tempest-tost vessel in the ongoing storm of life.
And I know - that sounds like iconoclasm. But it’s not. It’s only iconoclastic to Big Brother. It’s trusting God alone, and not ourselves and our possessions.
Because, as the saintly medieval mystic Meister Eckhart said, we are only now becoming alone with the Alone.
The Alone - the Eternal Silence that LOVES us for finally acquiescing in His simple will.
And in this utterly honest portrayal of the various and extreme crises that her family has survived, Elisa firmly clings to her Christian roots without more than than a sigh (and she’s blessed with a good strong shoulder always handy, to shed the odd tear or two upon).
Elisa is a longtime staffer with Our Daily Bread, and now also a permanent panelist on their daily podcast. She’s tough but she’s also wonderful.
In her previous career, she was president of a worldwide association of Christian moms - MOPS is its acronym, if you want to Google it.
Her lifelong Christian roots are deep and stable. But they took root in the broken soil of a broken family.
So now she’s broadcasting that brokenness to all and sundry.
Her periodical email blog, which you can subscribe to (I do) is based on meditations on this brokenness, out of which she perpetually renews her Faith like a phoenix in the fire.
***
You know, you look around you these days and what do you see?
Not the fragile reality of multitudes of brave, broken folks. No.
You see images of normalcy and success beaming at you from every corner of the globe - right there, in your own living room, from the screen of your TV or computer!
That’s just the phony and futile driver.
Where is the broken humanity of the world in these fast-paced images of newer, cheaper and better?
We’ve missed the point.
Money just doesn’t cut it.
We GROW by being broken. Broken folks see reality in an entirely different way than on the TV - we see it as always renewed, various and intriguing in its complexity - as a perpetual CHALLENGE.
A challenge we must always meet in our Faith.
Not as the shiny images of new and improved products that the Seinfeld reruns sell us during commercial breaks.
We’re driving ourselves into a HOLE if we do. And we’ll be dead before our time is up if we continue.
Is this the world we want to tell our kids about?
Or do we want to show them our own hard-won realities - in our own constantly threatened hopes, visions and life foundations?
Realities that aren’t ersatz - but TRUE and REAL?!
Our lives may be broken into pIeces, but we have strong VALUES. And we keep going, on God’s stern terms.
We don’t become a human blob of Jello in front of a screen!
“Our peace (is) in His will.”
Fed up with yourself and your broken life? Do you seem perpetually alone in a world of happy campers? Is heartbreak always only a whisper away for you, too?
Elisa will fix that - because SHE’S NEVER GIVEN UP ON HER VALUES!
If you pick up this book looking for a Pity Party - FORGET IT.
There’s enough power in One Eternal Word for her to always instantly RECHARGE HER BATTERIES.
And she’ll RECHARGE YOURS.
If you’re an Audible member, that version of the book is EXCELLENT.
She reads it herself...
There’s no baloney in it - just the TOUGH LOVE of a perpetual SURVIVOR!
Addendum:
I am now well into my second 're-listen on Audible and I'm picking up on so many important facets of the book I missed the first time around. A great book like this seems to grow as you grow!
Get it? When we're broken we're almost there. Almost.
Elisa’s family may be broken. But none of them is a quitter.
It’s low tide on an ocean beach: all of the blemishes hidden by this family’s habitual comforts have been laid out clearly like the wreckage, garbage, and broken shells strewn on the sea floor that are now a part of the beach itself.
It’s like the abandoned skulls of animal heads in a Georgia O’Keefe print.
What you see is what you get.
And Elisa’s broken, hurting family, because they eschew most of the standard illusory creature comforts of twenty-first century life, are left behind. Bereft of traditional comforts. Mere broken shells.
But perfect in God’s eyes.
That’s not so bad, you know...
For the only other option available to us in this weary world is, indeed, our now-abandoned comforts of ego-transcendence. Know what those are? They’re the driver for our always up-again, down again, self-delusive trajectories.
For God is the real driver. And abandonment of our own picayune and futile efforts of transcending the world around us leads to peace.
Oh, yes - and the constant struggle to right our own tempest-tost vessel in the ongoing storm of life.
And I know - that sounds like iconoclasm. But it’s not. It’s only iconoclastic to Big Brother. It’s trusting God alone, and not ourselves and our possessions.
Because, as the saintly medieval mystic Meister Eckhart said, we are only now becoming alone with the Alone.
The Alone - the Eternal Silence that LOVES us for finally acquiescing in His simple will.
And in this utterly honest portrayal of the various and extreme crises that her family has survived, Elisa firmly clings to her Christian roots without more than than a sigh (and she’s blessed with a good strong shoulder always handy, to shed the odd tear or two upon).
Elisa is a longtime staffer with Our Daily Bread, and now also a permanent panelist on their daily podcast. She’s tough but she’s also wonderful.
In her previous career, she was president of a worldwide association of Christian moms - MOPS is its acronym, if you want to Google it.
Her lifelong Christian roots are deep and stable. But they took root in the broken soil of a broken family.
So now she’s broadcasting that brokenness to all and sundry.
Her periodical email blog, which you can subscribe to (I do) is based on meditations on this brokenness, out of which she perpetually renews her Faith like a phoenix in the fire.
***
You know, you look around you these days and what do you see?
Not the fragile reality of multitudes of brave, broken folks. No.
You see images of normalcy and success beaming at you from every corner of the globe - right there, in your own living room, from the screen of your TV or computer!
That’s just the phony and futile driver.
Where is the broken humanity of the world in these fast-paced images of newer, cheaper and better?
We’ve missed the point.
Money just doesn’t cut it.
We GROW by being broken. Broken folks see reality in an entirely different way than on the TV - we see it as always renewed, various and intriguing in its complexity - as a perpetual CHALLENGE.
A challenge we must always meet in our Faith.
Not as the shiny images of new and improved products that the Seinfeld reruns sell us during commercial breaks.
We’re driving ourselves into a HOLE if we do. And we’ll be dead before our time is up if we continue.
Is this the world we want to tell our kids about?
Or do we want to show them our own hard-won realities - in our own constantly threatened hopes, visions and life foundations?
Realities that aren’t ersatz - but TRUE and REAL?!
Our lives may be broken into pIeces, but we have strong VALUES. And we keep going, on God’s stern terms.
We don’t become a human blob of Jello in front of a screen!
“Our peace (is) in His will.”
Fed up with yourself and your broken life? Do you seem perpetually alone in a world of happy campers? Is heartbreak always only a whisper away for you, too?
Elisa will fix that - because SHE’S NEVER GIVEN UP ON HER VALUES!
If you pick up this book looking for a Pity Party - FORGET IT.
There’s enough power in One Eternal Word for her to always instantly RECHARGE HER BATTERIES.
And she’ll RECHARGE YOURS.
If you’re an Audible member, that version of the book is EXCELLENT.
She reads it herself...
There’s no baloney in it - just the TOUGH LOVE of a perpetual SURVIVOR!
Addendum:
I am now well into my second 're-listen on Audible and I'm picking up on so many important facets of the book I missed the first time around. A great book like this seems to grow as you grow!
November 13, 2014
This book is written by the former president of M.O.P.S. In it she tells the real story of her very broken Christian family. Makes my broken family look like its gone out to a tea party. I appreciate her honesty, and her willingness to see beauty in real sadness and pain. Isn't that where most of us live...really?
May 30, 2018
Thank you Elisa!
I wish I had read this book at its inception. I would have saved many tears and self inflicted guilt. It also spoke great truth that the family has been broken since Genesis..My life will never be the same..
I wish I had read this book at its inception. I would have saved many tears and self inflicted guilt. It also spoke great truth that the family has been broken since Genesis..My life will never be the same..
March 21, 2016
Life is messy and so are families. Elisa Morgan shares her story about trying to create the perfect family but finding out that is a fairy tale...people are often broken. She discusses her personal struggles, sinful pride, faith and forgiveness to members of our families and even ourselves.
I have a step-daughter and this book about faith and family touched me. Often as mothers, we play the comparison game (which no one ever wins) and feel flawed, broken. I loved how real this was.
Favorite quote: "As you prepare to come home, it is clear that we still have much to work out together. You are different. I am different. Your dad and your sister are different. Our family is different. Each of us has changed. It will take commitment and communication to fully enjoy what we can together. And patience. And humor. And finding the middle ground together."
This second one is for me as well, I try to do it all...
Quote 2: "He meant for children to have two parents, two people who can spell each other and balance each other and talk each other down from cliff and out of ridiculous corners."
I have a step-daughter and this book about faith and family touched me. Often as mothers, we play the comparison game (which no one ever wins) and feel flawed, broken. I loved how real this was.
Favorite quote: "As you prepare to come home, it is clear that we still have much to work out together. You are different. I am different. Your dad and your sister are different. Our family is different. Each of us has changed. It will take commitment and communication to fully enjoy what we can together. And patience. And humor. And finding the middle ground together."
This second one is for me as well, I try to do it all...
Quote 2: "He meant for children to have two parents, two people who can spell each other and balance each other and talk each other down from cliff and out of ridiculous corners."
November 7, 2013
I heard about this book on the radio in an interview with Elisa, and she was an incredibly warm speaker and personality. I liked her right away. Her openness was refreshing and the discussion with the host was really moving. It actually got me to go and buy her book! (I am usually a library book only gal) Elisa mentioned that Christians often have a certain arrogance-when life is going well. They tend to look down on other Christians who are struggling with sordid issues.
This has a great concept--that the broken elements in your life are the very things that God uses to build on and to use for great purpose. Elisa tells her story. Her mother's struggle with alcoholism, her desire to do everything right when she got married. Then her kids got into trouble, pregnancy and drugs. It forced her to realize that you can't judge others who are in these kinds of situations, that sometimes you can do everything right and things still break. You just can't "fix" it. There are family members that aren't talking to you, your children aren't taking an easy path
Unfortunately Elisa is not a super compelling writer. I wished this was about one chapter shorter, because it was as if she said it all by then, and it just repeated after that.
I think people with adopted kids would really appreciate this book as a lifeline to know that others have been there before them.
This has a great concept--that the broken elements in your life are the very things that God uses to build on and to use for great purpose. Elisa tells her story. Her mother's struggle with alcoholism, her desire to do everything right when she got married. Then her kids got into trouble, pregnancy and drugs. It forced her to realize that you can't judge others who are in these kinds of situations, that sometimes you can do everything right and things still break. You just can't "fix" it. There are family members that aren't talking to you, your children aren't taking an easy path
Unfortunately Elisa is not a super compelling writer. I wished this was about one chapter shorter, because it was as if she said it all by then, and it just repeated after that.
I think people with adopted kids would really appreciate this book as a lifeline to know that others have been there before them.
February 1, 2015
so far this book is an outstanding read. i recommend this to every woman. i have been reading it in pieces as to let the powerful testimony resonate in my mind. as i ponder the writers life experience im able reflect on my own. wow....i think us women have more in common than we realize. if only we would stop trying to impress each other with the stupid stuff that's not even real or helpful to each other for that matter. i love this book and plan to read one of her previous books, "She did what she could". Elisa and I share similar mothers...they both raised their children in the train wreck of alcoholism. As i come to terms with my own life, my mother and sibling relationships, i hope to find more golden nuggets in the next book i read by her. Great read so far!
October 21, 2018
This book was powerful and raw. So many Christian books gloss over the messy parts of life and do everything they can to appear perfect, but not this author. It was so real that one part, when they were deciding whether or not to take pictures of her daughter’s stillborn baby, gave me an anxiety attack. This is the only book that has ever affected me that way, and while it was hard to get through, it was worth it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 11, 2014
Perfect doesn't exist. We are all broken. "Owning our brokenness shapes us into God's best idea for us and enables us to discover the beauty in ourselves and each member of our families." The author is the founder and former CEO of MOPS International. She inspired me when my guys were little, and she continues to inspire me and keep it real, in this book!
July 27, 2014
I cannot recommend this book more highly. Elisa Morgan is ruthlessly honest and vulnerable in this memoir of sorts as she shares of her family of origin and how that background as an adult child of an alchoholic (something we share in common) profoundly impacted her own family of her husband and adopted children. This book ministered deeply to me as much of what Elisa expresses mirrors some of my own struggles/challenges through my journey of coming out of a a similar background with like Elisa, such incredibly high expectations of how I would work to make my family different! This book is deeply steeped in the grace of God who meets us in the midst of our woundedness and mistaken ideals and expectations and yet loves us despite our messes and the messes we must face due to the brokenness of those we love. So grateful for Elisa's willingness to vulnerably "go first" for so many of us walking a similar journey!
December 29, 2013
Elisa Morgan's The Beauty of Broken is woven through with honesty, encouragement and hope. Using the power of story -- her life story and her family's story and yes, biblical illustrations -- Elisa Morgan reminds readers that we live in a world of brokenness. And then she offers us the hope that God meets us in our brokenness. He loves us in our brokenness. He uses us -- in our brokenness.
I so appreciated Elisa Morgan's choice to be real about who she is, how she struggled to accept and embrace her brokenness. And as I read The Beauty of Broken, it spoke to the broken parts of my life -- and encouraged me to look for God in them.
I won't be placing this book on my bookshelf -- no, I'll keep The Beauty of Broken beside my reading chair, a close-at-hand-reference when I need to be reminded that "brokenness doesn't disqualify us" from being used by God.
I so appreciated Elisa Morgan's choice to be real about who she is, how she struggled to accept and embrace her brokenness. And as I read The Beauty of Broken, it spoke to the broken parts of my life -- and encouraged me to look for God in them.
I won't be placing this book on my bookshelf -- no, I'll keep The Beauty of Broken beside my reading chair, a close-at-hand-reference when I need to be reminded that "brokenness doesn't disqualify us" from being used by God.
April 18, 2016
This is a book I will be recommending to others, especially to brokenhearted parents--mom's and dad's who poured everything into their children's lives only to see them reject their upbringing and choose a path of destruction. The book is a memoir by Elisa Morgan, a respected leader, who for 20 years was the CEO of the Christian organization MOPS International. She took a huge risk in telling her story and that of her family. But she did so not as a way to harm others, but to speak this truth: we are all broken and Jesus is the only one who can fix us and our families. The audio version is narrated by the author and it is quite good.
November 25, 2015
Although much of what the author poured out was something that resonated with my own story I hit a blockade on the chapter of her and the talk about her homosexual brother. Can one really love Jesus and yet blatantly love their desire more than what is biblically right? I too do not judge as I have friends and close friends that have been homosexual, but at the end of the day, they expressed that they knew it was not pleasing to God, w/o my even bringing it up.
I did not finish the book as the taste from that chapter was too bitter.
I did not finish the book as the taste from that chapter was too bitter.
October 6, 2022
Nothing new here. I knew I was getting into religious territory, but I did not expect this much talk about knowing Jesus.
All of that aside, the rating is what it is as a result of a real sequence / repetition problem. There’s a lot of timeline whiplash going on here. So, even if you are in the market for a Jesus-focused book about brokenness, you’d be smart to look elsewhere.
Two more things to note: the author’s opinion on homosexuality is a literal take on her bible reading and was offensive and ignorant to this reader. Also, there were at least two segments of the book that outlined the author’s disappointment with her portion of inheritances. Gross.
ANNOUNCER: Editor, would you please pick up the white courtesy phone? Miss Editor, a book is holding for you on the white courtesy phone.
All of that aside, the rating is what it is as a result of a real sequence / repetition problem. There’s a lot of timeline whiplash going on here. So, even if you are in the market for a Jesus-focused book about brokenness, you’d be smart to look elsewhere.
Two more things to note: the author’s opinion on homosexuality is a literal take on her bible reading and was offensive and ignorant to this reader. Also, there were at least two segments of the book that outlined the author’s disappointment with her portion of inheritances. Gross.
ANNOUNCER: Editor, would you please pick up the white courtesy phone? Miss Editor, a book is holding for you on the white courtesy phone.
May 2, 2020
I didn't finish this book, so I can't say for sure what my rating would have been at the end. I love the idea of beauty in brokenness, but a lot of the things she said in the few chapters that I read did not sit well with me. I have read several books recently with the theme of God's redemptive power in hard situations that I liked a lot more. Having said all of this, I hope that God uses this book to help people. And it could be that this one just wasn't speaking my language...
November 9, 2019
“ God loves us so much that he won’t leave us the way we are but rather he continually re-forms us into what he means for us to be through brokenness.”
I thoroughly enjoyed this book written by former MOPS CEO, Elisa Morgan! She’s shares much of her family and their own story of brokenness from the time she was a child through adulthood as a parent. Through her own experience she reflects on how God used these moments of fear, failure, sadness, and disappointment and made beauty out of the broken. She refers often to the scriptures to support her words.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book written by former MOPS CEO, Elisa Morgan! She’s shares much of her family and their own story of brokenness from the time she was a child through adulthood as a parent. Through her own experience she reflects on how God used these moments of fear, failure, sadness, and disappointment and made beauty out of the broken. She refers often to the scriptures to support her words.
November 12, 2013
"There is no such thing as a perfect family".
This is the premise for Elisa Morgan's new book The Beauty of Broken. Morgan is the former CEO of MOPS International and a well-known speaker in addition to authoring several books. In this book, Morgan shares deeply personal stories from her own life.
I was attracted to the cover of this book and the fact that Morgan, being in charge of MOPS International, was writing honestly about her life. It's easy to assume that leaders (especially Christian leaders) have everything under control, but it is encouraging to see how they will make an impact with "messy" lives. In the book, Morgan covers a wide range of issues she's gone through in life including marriage, adoption, teen pregnancy, homosexuality, drug addiction, infertility, alcoholism, divorce, sibling relationships and death.
Morgan writes that Christians often make family values into a formula, acting as thought if you do A, B and C, your children will turn out to be perfect, beautiful, godly adults. From her own life experience, Morgan shows that it's usually not that easy. Life, and especially parenting, is messy and complicated.
At the end of each chapter Morgan includes a "breakthrough" section. One of these wrote about going to "Church" with her husband and son. As you read on, you realize that she's actually talking about AA. I loved her description of AA as Church because I got the same feeling when I visited a few AA meetings - there was something holy and sacred about people being vulnerable and holding each other up even when they know the worst about you.
As much as I wanted to like this book, I fought against it. In a forward, Morgan writes that this is her story and asks that we "don't judge" her family members based on what she wrote. But it's not just her story. And sometimes even though you are involved in someone else's story, it's still not yours to tell. I truly hope that each family member read this before it was published and signed off on the sections pertaining to them.
More than that, however, was Morgan's endless need to put a positive (read: spiritual) spin on everything. I understand that Christians want to see God's hand in everything, but I felt she took it too far. {SPOILER ALERT} One example is when Morgan's grandbaby is born far too early. She writes, "Tissue-paper skin. Sunken lungs. Delicate limbs. There was no way he could have lived in this world. He was not made for it. He was made for another world." It made me angry - it is an overly romanticized, spiritualized view of death. The baby wasn't "made for another world"; he just wasn't made to leave his mother's womb that early.
I have mixed feelings about this book. It was distasteful to read Morgan "[putting] a bow on everything' (something her daughter accuses her of in the book) by trying to force there to be beauty in everything or to write a good ending to a story that perhaps hasn't resolved yet. But it was an easy read and could be an encouragement when family struggles and parenting seem overwhelming.
**I received a free copy of this book from BookSneeze in exchange for an honest opinion.
This is the premise for Elisa Morgan's new book The Beauty of Broken. Morgan is the former CEO of MOPS International and a well-known speaker in addition to authoring several books. In this book, Morgan shares deeply personal stories from her own life.
I was attracted to the cover of this book and the fact that Morgan, being in charge of MOPS International, was writing honestly about her life. It's easy to assume that leaders (especially Christian leaders) have everything under control, but it is encouraging to see how they will make an impact with "messy" lives. In the book, Morgan covers a wide range of issues she's gone through in life including marriage, adoption, teen pregnancy, homosexuality, drug addiction, infertility, alcoholism, divorce, sibling relationships and death.
Morgan writes that Christians often make family values into a formula, acting as thought if you do A, B and C, your children will turn out to be perfect, beautiful, godly adults. From her own life experience, Morgan shows that it's usually not that easy. Life, and especially parenting, is messy and complicated.
At the end of each chapter Morgan includes a "breakthrough" section. One of these wrote about going to "Church" with her husband and son. As you read on, you realize that she's actually talking about AA. I loved her description of AA as Church because I got the same feeling when I visited a few AA meetings - there was something holy and sacred about people being vulnerable and holding each other up even when they know the worst about you.
As much as I wanted to like this book, I fought against it. In a forward, Morgan writes that this is her story and asks that we "don't judge" her family members based on what she wrote. But it's not just her story. And sometimes even though you are involved in someone else's story, it's still not yours to tell. I truly hope that each family member read this before it was published and signed off on the sections pertaining to them.
More than that, however, was Morgan's endless need to put a positive (read: spiritual) spin on everything. I understand that Christians want to see God's hand in everything, but I felt she took it too far. {SPOILER ALERT} One example is when Morgan's grandbaby is born far too early. She writes, "Tissue-paper skin. Sunken lungs. Delicate limbs. There was no way he could have lived in this world. He was not made for it. He was made for another world." It made me angry - it is an overly romanticized, spiritualized view of death. The baby wasn't "made for another world"; he just wasn't made to leave his mother's womb that early.
I have mixed feelings about this book. It was distasteful to read Morgan "[putting] a bow on everything' (something her daughter accuses her of in the book) by trying to force there to be beauty in everything or to write a good ending to a story that perhaps hasn't resolved yet. But it was an easy read and could be an encouragement when family struggles and parenting seem overwhelming.
**I received a free copy of this book from BookSneeze in exchange for an honest opinion.
July 20, 2019
I bought this book because my boss had read a passage from another Elisa Morgan book. I liked it so much I wanted to read the entire book. The passage was about how God wants us to pray everyday. The analogy is like a gardener. God is a gardener and if we visit with him every day he will show us how to prune the plants and how to have a bountiful harvest. But if we forget to go out to see the gardener, if we don’t pray things still grow. They just don’t reach their full potential and they may get a little out of hand.
I am afraid that is how this story gets told. She had a great chance to explain through Bible verses that God still cares and loves us but daily prayer will help the plants in our garden grow. God sends us rain but when he doesn’t, we have to water. We try to control how things grow but that’s not the way parenting works. If she had told the story with the verses from the Bible, I think her faith would have been more clear to me. I like the message, our efforts iwork best when we tend to the garden and our relationship with God allows us to grow greater crops....we can’t do it for our kids or even make them do it. God is in control.
Anyway, I loved that idea and I really wanted to read THAT book. So I settled on this one...
The Beaty of Broken is a nice book but I wanted her to really explain her faith. I found myself with more in common with the author than I originally thought I might. She talks about balancing her career in speaking and running the MOPS organizations. I could relate. She adopted two children and I have four but her adult children have had addiction issues. She talks about teenage pregnancy and homosexuality. She’s obviously tackled the realities of parenting but I just wish she had taken more scripture to explain that the beauty of broken is God’s plan. She had a bunch of quotes in the back but I wish she had sprinkled the “proof” throughout her story. I love the entire broken plate analogy but she missed a great opportunity to tie it all together with scripture. She is obviously a faithful follower and she has great faith in Jesus. So the biblical answers were easy for her. But this crazy “helicopter mom” generation may need a more direct lesson. She missed a great chance to teach her faith. You can’t control it all....and the hope is that you stop trying. I enjoyed her story but I wish she had gone as far as to use the Bible to explain it to everyone. Maybe even those who don’t follow Jesus yet, might learn about her hope. We could all use more hope despite our brokenness. She has hope and I wish she’d taught us all to find it in God’s word.
I am afraid that is how this story gets told. She had a great chance to explain through Bible verses that God still cares and loves us but daily prayer will help the plants in our garden grow. God sends us rain but when he doesn’t, we have to water. We try to control how things grow but that’s not the way parenting works. If she had told the story with the verses from the Bible, I think her faith would have been more clear to me. I like the message, our efforts iwork best when we tend to the garden and our relationship with God allows us to grow greater crops....we can’t do it for our kids or even make them do it. God is in control.
Anyway, I loved that idea and I really wanted to read THAT book. So I settled on this one...
The Beaty of Broken is a nice book but I wanted her to really explain her faith. I found myself with more in common with the author than I originally thought I might. She talks about balancing her career in speaking and running the MOPS organizations. I could relate. She adopted two children and I have four but her adult children have had addiction issues. She talks about teenage pregnancy and homosexuality. She’s obviously tackled the realities of parenting but I just wish she had taken more scripture to explain that the beauty of broken is God’s plan. She had a bunch of quotes in the back but I wish she had sprinkled the “proof” throughout her story. I love the entire broken plate analogy but she missed a great opportunity to tie it all together with scripture. She is obviously a faithful follower and she has great faith in Jesus. So the biblical answers were easy for her. But this crazy “helicopter mom” generation may need a more direct lesson. She missed a great chance to teach her faith. You can’t control it all....and the hope is that you stop trying. I enjoyed her story but I wish she had gone as far as to use the Bible to explain it to everyone. Maybe even those who don’t follow Jesus yet, might learn about her hope. We could all use more hope despite our brokenness. She has hope and I wish she’d taught us all to find it in God’s word.
May 14, 2014
I'm being generous with the 3rd star, because this has many good core points, is heartfelt- and you can tell, also truthful. And layers too. It could very much help people understand their own backgrounds, as well. It does make you think. But I also noticed poor transitions and that it has a lot of dodgy theology and also a bit of rather twisted, personal dogma? To me, it does- it looks too much inward and not enough outward toward acts, for one thing. And the writing was choppy enough to annoy me a bit, but that's my problem. Yet and still, the truth is that all humans are flawed and far from perfect. And I think some organized religions do heal the most or the more broken family units and broken people better than others do. USA Roman Catholic, with Confession as a sacrament, you would think that it would not lack! But I find that other religions tend to heal guilt and broken self-identity better in many ways. Since youth I have always thought the Jewish belief system is the best for understanding what "broken" can mean to both individuals and to social units, like families. And also the process for self-forgiveness and going on to the better way with confidence and INCREASED self-worth. All of Christianity because of Jesus's prime message being cored on love by His sacrifice for us and forgiveness- should instill self-forgiveness too. The crux is carrying over that example of Christ's forgiveness to one's own self and social unit in a more empowered direction.
I'm no theologian but I don't think this author is either. Regardless, this is a good book for those who feel like flawed failures. Or for those whose children or spouses prime negativity and/or continue to fall along poor paths.
I'm no theologian but I don't think this author is either. Regardless, this is a good book for those who feel like flawed failures. Or for those whose children or spouses prime negativity and/or continue to fall along poor paths.
April 9, 2016
I read the last page of this book, closed my eyes, and sat stunned.
When I had opened to the first page, more than a month ago, I was prepared to read a well-known woman's testimony of how God had used the broken places in her life to bring redemption and healing, how God's glory shone more brightly in the broken places to touch those around her. This is what God does; it's how He works.
I wasn't prepared for how God would use this author's insights and reflections in my own life: to open my eyes more to my own shortcomings, to God's desires and plans, to a deeper understanding of how God has worked in the various broken places of my own life - and, indeed, how he is even working in THIS very moment.
Additionally, Morgan's quotes from a variety of authors and philosophers were thought-provoking and well-placed. I read a library copy of this book, but intend to purchase my own edition to reread and highlight and share.
Recommended reading for any and every believer in Jesus - particularly if your life's dreams and ambitions aren't quite working out the way you'd planned. Because it's at THAT point that you perhaps will be softened and ready to receive the wisdom and perspective that Elisa Morgan shares. In all truth, I would have to say that it's God's voice of wisdom, spoken through her.
For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. (2 Corinthians 4:6-7)
When I had opened to the first page, more than a month ago, I was prepared to read a well-known woman's testimony of how God had used the broken places in her life to bring redemption and healing, how God's glory shone more brightly in the broken places to touch those around her. This is what God does; it's how He works.
I wasn't prepared for how God would use this author's insights and reflections in my own life: to open my eyes more to my own shortcomings, to God's desires and plans, to a deeper understanding of how God has worked in the various broken places of my own life - and, indeed, how he is even working in THIS very moment.
Additionally, Morgan's quotes from a variety of authors and philosophers were thought-provoking and well-placed. I read a library copy of this book, but intend to purchase my own edition to reread and highlight and share.
Recommended reading for any and every believer in Jesus - particularly if your life's dreams and ambitions aren't quite working out the way you'd planned. Because it's at THAT point that you perhaps will be softened and ready to receive the wisdom and perspective that Elisa Morgan shares. In all truth, I would have to say that it's God's voice of wisdom, spoken through her.
For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. (2 Corinthians 4:6-7)
September 18, 2013
Broken is something that no one wants. Not for your life, your family, or your children. Unfortunately, its an inevitable part of every one's life. No matter how hard you try and what fool proof formulas you attempt, the perfect life is an illusion. Bringing hope, this well-written book points out the beauty that can be found in brokenness.
"Are you exhausted by this fairy tale? Sick of it? How did we become convinced that following Jesus would provide an escape from sorrow in our families, that discipleship would always produce loyal disciples? And why do we keep pursuing the myth that if we just follow some parenting formula, our children, even the wayward ones, will turn out right?"
For any one who has ever struggled with feelings of disappointment, discouragement, and failure as a parent, Elisa Morgan has written a book which will push you forward like a shoulder to lean on. She eloquently reminds the reader that God has all things in His tender hands even using our children to help to shape us into what He wants us to be.
"My children have been God's chief tool for the shaping of me, shaving off the certainty, molding a softer version, raising up the gumption necessary to face another day."
Broken can be a place to begin again and allow God to reshape the structure of our lives if we allow Him the opportunity...
I received a free copy of this book from Booksneeze in return for an honest review.
"Are you exhausted by this fairy tale? Sick of it? How did we become convinced that following Jesus would provide an escape from sorrow in our families, that discipleship would always produce loyal disciples? And why do we keep pursuing the myth that if we just follow some parenting formula, our children, even the wayward ones, will turn out right?"
For any one who has ever struggled with feelings of disappointment, discouragement, and failure as a parent, Elisa Morgan has written a book which will push you forward like a shoulder to lean on. She eloquently reminds the reader that God has all things in His tender hands even using our children to help to shape us into what He wants us to be.
"My children have been God's chief tool for the shaping of me, shaving off the certainty, molding a softer version, raising up the gumption necessary to face another day."
Broken can be a place to begin again and allow God to reshape the structure of our lives if we allow Him the opportunity...
I received a free copy of this book from Booksneeze in return for an honest review.
October 26, 2015
This earns five solid stars from me. It's exactly the kind of thing I'm seeking when I pick up a book by a noted Christian speaker.
Morgan holds nothing back. Her battle to heal her own brokenness (or possibly deny it) resonated with me. She shares personal struggles with transparency. I laughed, but more often I cried. Being broken hurts. But there's good news: no one is broken beyond repair when the Master Potter gets involved.
If you think divorce, failed parenting, abandonment, or any other major crisis can keep God from using you, Morgan will show you how wrong you are - using examples from her own life. Talk about having more struggles than I can bear! God has big plans for Morgan (as he did for Job in the Bible) and that's why she's faced so much adversity.
I would highly recommend this to anyone struggling with self-doubt or a low self-image. Or, if you're a perfectionist (like me), pick up this book and get ready to have your eyes opened.
I heard Morgan speak at a conference, and this book sounded exactly like she was talking directly to my heart. It takes a gifted communicator to pull off such a feat.
Morgan holds nothing back. Her battle to heal her own brokenness (or possibly deny it) resonated with me. She shares personal struggles with transparency. I laughed, but more often I cried. Being broken hurts. But there's good news: no one is broken beyond repair when the Master Potter gets involved.
If you think divorce, failed parenting, abandonment, or any other major crisis can keep God from using you, Morgan will show you how wrong you are - using examples from her own life. Talk about having more struggles than I can bear! God has big plans for Morgan (as he did for Job in the Bible) and that's why she's faced so much adversity.
I would highly recommend this to anyone struggling with self-doubt or a low self-image. Or, if you're a perfectionist (like me), pick up this book and get ready to have your eyes opened.
I heard Morgan speak at a conference, and this book sounded exactly like she was talking directly to my heart. It takes a gifted communicator to pull off such a feat.
November 2, 2015
This book was a little hard to follow because it was more like a collection of vignettes, not told in chronological order. Elisa Morgan CAN BE very funny at times. She has a way of getting a point or moral or lesson from every life experience--sometimes to a fault, like she is grasping too hard to wrap things up with a pretty bow. She is very open, honest, and even vulnerable in this book, allowing us to see into her family's personal struggles of the past 20 years. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but somehow this book did not sit well with me. It is hard to accept that even if we do all the 'right' and 'good' things as parents, sometimes our children still don't turn out as we had hoped. We all have free will and make our own choices--some good and some not so good. And the poor choices often affect the whole family--often detrimentally. Also, I wonder how much the adoption of her kids played into her struggles--genetically, emotionally, psychologically, etc. I have heard of so many families that have struggled with their adopted children's coming of age, and becoming adults--and unfortunately, this adds to that list.
May 9, 2013
In this soul-baring memoir, the president of the International MOPs organization (Mothers of Preschoolers) shares her story. From a broken family—her mother an alcoholic and a mostly absent father—to trying to build her own “perfect” family, she shines a light into the hidden corners of the human condition. We are all full of pride and striving to do the impossible, be perfect and have perfect children and perfect families. Through her experiences, she continues to learn that we’re all broken, and in this brokenness is where we seek and find God. In forgiving others, we ourselves are forgiven and can be fully loved. Elisa’s story is profoundly real, and I found myself wishing for more after it had ended. Now, having children myself and constantly battling my fears for their future, it was comforting to learn of her tragedies and struggles—that others have gone through terrible times, yet have recovered, gone on, and come closer to God and his goodness in all things. Thank you Ms. Morgan, Thomas Nelson, and NetGalley!
January 19, 2014
The Beauty of Broken
is the very personal story of Elisa Morgan, former CEO of MOPS and her family - lumps and all. The Morgan family stood its trials, and generously shares their story of brokenness with us, sharing so that we do not feel alone in our own brokenness. From teen pregnancy to rebellion to addiction to divorce, Morgan spares nothing - and shares God's Grace all along the way. Filled with laughter and tears and God's love, I found Morgan's tale to be an inspiring one - filled with, yes, beauty.
God uses brokenness - broken people, broken vessels - often. He sanctifies brokenness and uses those broken places - the cracks and the holes, the mess and the pain - to share His Love, to share His Plan for us, to allow us to submit to His Grace. Morgan's story shows us the beauty in this - the beauty in submitting to God's Will when all else seems futile. I consider it a must-read for any Christian parent.
God uses brokenness - broken people, broken vessels - often. He sanctifies brokenness and uses those broken places - the cracks and the holes, the mess and the pain - to share His Love, to share His Plan for us, to allow us to submit to His Grace. Morgan's story shows us the beauty in this - the beauty in submitting to God's Will when all else seems futile. I consider it a must-read for any Christian parent.
July 15, 2013
This is an honest look at how we are all broken and how God can work through any circumstances to help us all become more like Him. I so appreciate Elisa's honest and raw writing about her life - she didn't try to sugar-coat anything. And she shouldn't have to....We will never have a perfect family because everyone is broken.
This book is one that is desperately needed in today's Christian communities because Elisa dares to share everything - the good, the bad and the worse - in order to show that God can work through it all. Hopefully this book will give some people, including myself, permission to stop trying to control everything in their lives in order to allow God to work in and through them, all the while knowing that everyone is broken.
Nothing will be perfect this side of heaven. Thanks Elisa for your courage.
This book is one that is desperately needed in today's Christian communities because Elisa dares to share everything - the good, the bad and the worse - in order to show that God can work through it all. Hopefully this book will give some people, including myself, permission to stop trying to control everything in their lives in order to allow God to work in and through them, all the while knowing that everyone is broken.
Nothing will be perfect this side of heaven. Thanks Elisa for your courage.
May 23, 2019
I have a hard time writing reviews for these type of pseudo-autobiographical books. On the one hand, I want to be objective about the content, grammar, flow, etc. on the other hand, I hate feeling like I’m in some way rating their life’s story. I debated between 2-3 stars and went with 3 because I put myself in the author’s shoes. This was NOT an easy book for her to write, of that I’m sure. And she’s at times brutally honest about her battles with faith in times of trial. There were just some things I did not agree with in the application portions, especially concerning interpretation and teaching of scripture. It was occasionally difficult to follow her train of thought, but the grammar and writing are mostly solid. It’s not a bad book, but I can’t say it’s one I’ll come back to either.
March 16, 2014
Elisa Morgan, former president of MOPS International, shows through her own stories how belonging to God doesn't protect you and your family from brokenness. But God is there to mend the brokenness. She says, "We've bought into the myth of the perfect family." One of my favorite chapters was on "Thankfulness." Thankfulness, she says, flows from stopping to see the obvious good things about us -- and from searching the not so obvious blessings in the making. Even when the family is broken, the home is foreclosed, the job is cut -- there is always something to be thankful for. "Have you thanked God in this yet?"
August 29, 2014
This book was boring and brilliant. Boring in that it read as predictably as I anticipated. Brilliant in that she spilled her guts on paper, landed a tidy little book deal (probably facilitated by her well-established connections), then sold her anguish for $16.00 a pop (paperback). Mrs. Morgan hoped it would resonant with you, but I'm left believing that if she really cared about you, she'd have blogged online for free. I wouldn't even call this a self-help book for anyone but her. Then again, money goes a long way to taking off the edge of one's problems. Well played, Mrs. Morgan, well played.
June 29, 2015
Elisa Morgan has a very raw, honest story to tell in this book. I appreciated her willingness to relate very hard family stories and not wrap them up with perfect endings. She also does not provide solutions to the brokenness in her life nor does she offer solutions to difficult stories many others have to live each day.
The editing of the e-version of this book was not the best. Morgan has a terrific story that she relates in a very conversational style, but the writing felt choppy at times.
The editing of the e-version of this book was not the best. Morgan has a terrific story that she relates in a very conversational style, but the writing felt choppy at times.
January 1, 2015
Thought provoking as a mom who has children who are struggling with some issues. I needed to be yet reminded again, that though I have trained my own children to know and love the Lord, still, when they become adults, their choices are not my responsibility. So many excellent truths from this grounded, yet human and fragile mom who clings to her Lord daily. I highly recommend it to those who's children have left the nest.
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