<b>**I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**</b>

<b>Introduction</b>
This book tells the story of one mother's journey through life-threatening health issues, growing a family, and ministering to others. Julie's heart for others is incredibly powerful, even as her physical heart is failing.

<b>The story</b>
Julie Manning was undergoing a cesarean section when suddenly things began to go very wrong. As a pediatric nurse, Julie had cared for mothers and children in similar conditions, but never imagined she’d face heart failure herself. Over the following weeks, months, and years, Julie would have to learn to live with her life-threatening heart condition. She had multiple heart attacks and scares, and yet she still followed the Lord’s leading to go to Haiti and lend her nursing skills to the crisis there. Every chapter tells a bit more of her story, but it also delves deep into the vulnerability of her emotional heart and her walk with God. Julie talks at length about reconciling her strong desire to be there for her sons with the knowledge that her heart could give out at any moment. Most Christians will say that they desire to go be with the Lord; few are as painfully honest as Julie about the desire to stay on earth long enough to see dreams come true (e.g. to see her boys come to the Lord, get married and raise families of their own). Every chapter ends with a sweet letter from Julie to her three sons. This book will tug at your heart-strings (no pun intended) with every single page.

<b>Literary analysis</b>
Julie writes beautifully and personally. The emotions are raw, and the vulnerability is palpable. The biblical applications are sound, and thankfully so is the grammar.

<b>Conclusion</b>
I don't want to say too much more about this book because really you have to read it to understand it. It's powerful in a way that no other book I've read has been. It cuts deep on an emotional level and challenges the reader to take a serious look at their own life. Am I grateful for everything I have? Am I cherishing my family and doing everything I can to create beautiful memories? Am I doing everything in my power to point my family, especially my children, to Christ in the small amount of time I may have with them?

READ THIS BOOK. You won't regret it, but you just may walk away changed.

A very inspirational book....thanks for sharing it w/ me...have shared it w/ my reading circle.

I think a universal fear of every mother is that something will happen to them while their children are young and they will be left to grow without her. I know it was an underlying fear of mine and that of my friends. In My Heart Julie Manning finds herself facing that scenario head on.

For all intents and purposes Julie's life had been relatively normal. She married the love of her life, she had a very fulfilling career, and they had a darling boy and were soon expecting a second one. Then out of left field an unknown heart condition appears.

I will admit that for the first half of this book I was in desperate need of Kleenex. Julie's story is gut-wrenching. All of those mommy fears came true. Second opinions didn't give different answers. Begging and pleading to God didn't change the circumstances. But what slowly began to emerge was beautiful. In the midst of such brokenness, healing was found. Her heart was still broken but her soul had found rest.

Julie's journey is one that we are all on. We may not have a life-threatening physical condition, but we all have broken hearts that need healing. I enjoyed Julie's willingness to let us look in on her private struggle. She allows herself to be vulnerable in order that you and I will see how Jesus broke through all the changes and became the unmovable and unchanging force in her life. You can't help but be inspired by her words and encouraged to take similar actions in your own life.

I received a copy of this book to facilitate my review.

This is a memoir, a journal, a love letter too. Beautifully written prayers of desperation, of unbelief, of raw emotion. The author laid her heart out bare in this book. It is real. It is not sugar coated. It's not all happiness and faith. I feel like I can relate to the author on so many levels. Not because I have a heart condition but because these emotions and struggles she deals with in the book are real everyday every one kind of struggles. What she learned and wrote about in the book can be applied by everyone in any struggle. I want my heart to beat hard after my savior. Read this book!

Julie Manning has written an exquisite book, My Heart, that will undoubtedly capture your heart.

Julie shares her incredible story in such a powerful way that it makes this book next to impossible to put down. Her transparency about her life, her emotions, and her relationship with God is truly inspiring. I loved the way she was so honest about how she processed the trials that have come her way.

Julie Manning's faith and her great capacity to love are all over this book. It is a beautiful book and I highly highly recommend it!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, B & H Publishing Group, via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Julie Manning's My Heart is a mother's memoir. (Though one doesn't have to be a mother--or a nurse--to appreciate it.) Manning shares her story--her testimony. During the birth of her second child--a son--her heart stops working. Further tests reveal that her heart is in failure, and, that it could stop beating at any time, without much warning. Her life will never be the same. She's a wife, a mother--a mother of two young boys--and a Christian. This is her testimony of how she found Christ in the midst of her suffering. Of how she's able to hold onto joy and hope and peace despite all of her health issues.

Throughout the book she shares her story. But she also shares some of her journal entries and some letters she's written to her sons. These letters to her sons are by necessity emotional masterpieces. How could you read them and not be touched?!

This book may not be theology proper, but, I'd argue that it is theology lived out. Readers need both.