Restory Your Life: How Jesus Reframes Your Past, Rewrites Your Present, and Redefines Your Future

by Mary E. DeMuth

Jesus is still writing your story.

Maybe your story feels too messy. Maybe the wounds of your past still haunt you, keeping you stuck in cycles of pain, regret, or doubt. Or maybe you’re just exhausted—longing for purpose and meaning but unsure of how to move forward. But what if the very parts of your story you’d rather forget are the ones God wants to redeem?

Mary DeMuth knows what it is to walk through trauma, loss, hurt, and deep brokenness—and find God in the midst of the struggle. In Restory Your Life, she invites you on an encouraging journey of narrative discipleship, where Jesus meets you in your past, transforms your present, and sets a new course for your future. Through the framework of storytelling, you’ll learn how Recognize the turning points in your story—and see God’s fingerprints in the middle of them.Break free from past wounds and patterns—and find healing where you never thought possible.Uncover your God-given identity—so you can stop striving and live loved.Find your purpose behind the pain—and how your story can bring hope to others.Step into your restoried life—one marked by joy, resilience, and deep, unshakable peace.Your past doesn’t get the final say. Restory Your Life will help you embrace the God is not done with you yet.

Genres: Nonfiction

180 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 3, 2026

About the author

Mary DeMuth is literary agent, international speaker, podcaster, and she’s the novelist and nonfiction author of over forty books, including Love, Pray, Listen: Parenting Your Wayward Adult Kids with Joy (Bethany 2022). She loves to help people re-story their lives. She lives in Texas with her husband of 31 years and is the mom to three adult children. Find out more at marydemuth.com. Be prayed for on her daily prayer podcast with 4 million downloads: prayeveryday.show. For sexual abuse resources, visit wetoo.org. For cards, prints, and artsy fun go to marydemuth.com/art. Find out what she’s looking for as a literary agent at marydemuthliterary.com

Reviews

[Elena]

Going to actually do the journal prompts now after a re-read.

[Jana Harp]

I have loved listening to Restory Your Life. It has given me permission not to force myself to "bounce back" from trauma, but give myself safe space to grieve and heal. Many parts of Mary's story resonate with my own.

I love that she identifies her need to try to make sense of evil (and harm done by someone who should have loved and protected her) but ultimately recognizes that evil is irrational or else focused on self-interest. So there's no making sense of it at all. It's an effort in futility that can drive us mad.

The mere fact that Mary has suffered all she has and still believes God is good is a miracle in itself. It is a testimony to God's power to rescue and heal.

I appreciate Mary's transparency about what she suffered--various kinds of predation, broken relationships, and the maligning of her character. It takes so much courage to talk about those things on the page. Her vulnerability is a gift that helps me find courage to do the same.

I wasn't expecting this, but the book is also a guide to memoirists like me for how to give our own stories shape.

[Sarah]

Mary DeMuth is one of my favorite authors because she always writes with authenticity, wisdom, and deep insight. This book is no different in that aspect. Yet it takes a unique approach by inviting you to examine your life in a story arc. In each chapter, she creatively uses Bible stories to illustrate how God re-storied his people and redeemed their suffering. Because Mary is so familiar with trauma, she writes how this approach applies to her own life and how it helped her heal. I was especially touched by her chapter on Joseph's life, because his story is so similar to my own. I highlighted many passages and found this to be a very helpful book in my own healing from trauma, even after years of therapy.

I received a preview copy from Netgalley.

[Ashley Moore]

This is the first book of the year I’ve read that I felt was worth finishing! Mary writes with an encouraging and honest tone. The book had practical exercises that helped me reflect on my story and combat lies about my worth. In the last chapter she shared a quote that deeply ministered to me at just the right moment. “Her past was a tragedy to lament, but her future was an epic to anticipate.” That line sums up Mary’s approach to healing throughout the book. She makes space to lament the painful parts and infuses hope for the future.

[Melissa Mulvaney]

Mary DeMuth writes such inspiring, life changing, hopeful books from a place of being a woman who knows deep, life shattering pain. The work Jesus has done in and through Mary is incredible, and Restory Your Life highlights how all of who are broken through the sins of this world can find hope and healing through Mary’s process of Restorying our life.
This is a must read for the person whose life story holds pain and is in need of healing.

[Chris Morris]

A profound read

This book has been super meaningful for me as I’ve been trying to plumb the depths of what God has been doing in my life from a macro perspective. What a faithful, honest, transparent guide to help readers discern how God has been active through the good and the dark seasons.

[Alison Whalen]

It was practical and uplifting. It was easy to apply even when I was feeling overwhelmed. I found it especially grounding and encouraging.