I’ve been anticipating this book for a while.  As a fan of both The Liturgists and Ask Science Mike podcasts, I couldn’t wait to read Science Mike’s very first book.  It did not disappoint.

Because I read almost exclusively non-fiction, I always read with a highlighter in hand so that I can mark every word I want to read again later.  After the first few chapters of this book, I put down the highlighter.  This book is almost all stories, in the very best way.  It’s impossible to mark favorite phrases or sections because it has to be taken as a whole.  This isn’t a segmented book filled with quotable phrases.  It’s more like a biography and Mike McHargue is a masterful storyteller.  This book was hard to put down – it’s just that good.

Mike took me through the journey of his story – a story of losing his faith, finding his faith and then helping others to find their own way.  Mike gave me permission, through his words, to ask questions I’ve never asked before and to not know the answers.  This feeling of not knowing everything is the essence of his book, which is ironic because Science Mike always seems to know everything.  There’s a spirit of humility and humor woven through his stories that makes the reader feel completely at ease.  It’s impossible not to be drawn into his life, his stories, his world.  It’s also impossible to not see glimpses of your own story within the pages of this book – the questions, the confusion, the seeking and wondering – it’s all there.

Finding God in the Waves isn’t just the story of Mike’s faith, it’s the story of faith in general.  Not knowing everything about everything is what makes faith faith and Mike’s book reminds us of that.  It’s okay to have questions and doubts.  It’s okay to admit that some things are just too messed up for us to swallow or accept.  It’s okay to say that there are parts of the Bible that don’t make any sense to us.  Questioning doesn’t obliterate faith, it expands it.  Faith grows when doubts are allowed out of their secret cages and into the light of day.  This book brought many of mine out of the darkness as I am sure it will do for you.

I told my husband when I picked this book up to begin reading that I was sure that this book would mess me up – that it would break things in me that needed to be broken.

It did.  And I’m thankful for that.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from BloggingforBooks.com for the purposes of this review.  I was not required to write a positive review.  All opinions expressed are my own