When a tea bag gets steeped in hot water, the true content and nature of whats inside the bag,
whether sweet or bitter, is revealed. The same is true of people when their lives become
steeped in unexpected sorrow and loss. I will never forget how the sweet aroma of Christ, even
and especially through honest yet non-cynical, humble tears, came out of Mattie when she lost
her beloved husband, Ben. I am thankful that she has gone more public with her story, so that
others can see in it the goodness of God in times when they need him most.

Mattie's story carries you through a valley of unbearable heartbreak and in the very next
moment you are experiencing an ocean of peace that is the heartbeat of Jesus. Her honesty and
vulnerability in this book are a beacon of light to any heart that has experienced total darkness.
The courage and wisdom expressed through her words will inspire hope in readers, no matter
their walk of life.

No matter what the format -- songs, books, etc. -- writing allows us to share experiences with
and enter into the lives of people we may never meet face to face. For all those who pick up
this book, they are welcomed into Mattie's personal story of heartbreak and are reminded in
the midst of their own pain: you are not alone, and hope is never really out of reach.

Too often, as Christians, we have no idea how to approach grief. We either stuff it down,
dismiss it, "Jesus Juke" one another, or end up drowning in it. The Church needs Mattie's story
because, through it, she teaches us something about what it looks like to grieve honestly, but
with hope.