I purchased this book from Christian Books clearance rack. Leanna takes you with her through her testimony of Navy life, with children. That's not to say that you have to relate exactly in any way to get a kick out of this book. Who hasn't struggled with change and constantly having to be flexible?! For me, a suburban house mom, I found myself giggling and saying, "Yes, girl!" out loud in restaurants and waiting rooms. I'd definitely recommend this to a mom friend. Actually, I paid it forward by giving my copy to our military spouses group leader at church.

If you'd like to read a free PDF version, here's a link:

https://books.google.com/books/about/Breathing_Room.html?id=4lR-BAAAQBAJ&pri... ( )

Have you ever read a book and thought that you would love to be friends with that person? That’s how I felt while reading “Breathing Room” by Leanna Tankersley. She has an easy-to-read writing style and even with the subject, made me laugh out loud several times.

She tells her story of moving with her Navy SEAL husband and three kids to Bahrain – but that’s not the story. Deep down she struggles with feeling overwhelmed and inadequate. I’ve had these feelings so I could relate to so much of what she wrote.

At one point she writes, “In the Come Aparts of life, we find that we have lost some of our capacity to muster, some of our capacity to perform well.” We take on responsibilities and expectations – real and perceived – and feel we must “perform well” like we have so many times before.

Throughout the book she shares stories of feeling so tired that what she could present on the outside became harder to manage and to keep up. “Certainly there are seasons in life when we must manage. But ‘managing’” can be a habitual state of being, and the next thing you know, we are urgently living out of a perpetual deficit instead of taking the time to investigate what we really need, what we’re really longing for.”

But this is a book of hope – we can grow and heal by giving ourselves permission to pursue rest, to get help, to stop, and to breathe. “We can offer ourselves permission to pursue a passion, to dream, to forgive, to get on the treadmill.”

One of my favorite lines in the whole book is, “Now is the time to care for yourself as you would a dear friend.”

I strongly recommend this book if you’re feeling overwhelmed – like you can’t breathe and you can’t maintain pretenses anymore. There is hope.

I received a free book from Revell (a division of Baker Publishing Group) through The Book Club Network, Inc., in exchange for an unbiased review. ( )