Oh man this book was so good.

Lacey's writing was a little clunky at times, but overall the writing manged to fade into the background and let Lacey's story as an early Christian take the stage. A lot of her thoughts on marriage and being married to Jesus first are things I don't necessarily agree with, but this book was more about the "orphan identity" which really made a lot of sense to me.

On the whole though, unless you're a) already Christian or b) already a fan of Lacey, this book probably won't speak to you very well, but I rather enjoyed it.
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In her second book to date, former Flyleaf singer Lacey Sturm shares her lessons to get rid of her orphan identity, and really get to know Jesus Christ, and become whole. In The Mystery: Finding True Love in a World of Broken Lovers, Lacey teaches herself and her intended audience of young female readers to unearth the mysteries of deception, suicide, being fatherless, rage, and unhealthy relationships. It took a long time, spiritual coaching by the trusted couple Eric & Sarah, and a deliberate choice to put faith in Christ again to start over, and learn what it means to be a daughter of God, love a person instead of love an idea. Your identity in Christ and your relationship with your heavenly Father should have #1 priority in all circumstances.

No boyfriend or partner, Nathan in Lacey's case, can replace that. The mystery of marrying Jesus, prepare ourselves as believers as His bride is awesome, and should have spiritual and practical consequences. In Lacey's life, this meant freedom to choose for singleness, to search wisdom in God's word, and listen to His voice. The way Lacey found Joshua Sturm and ended up as his wife is a wonderful story unfolding in the second half of the book. The author invited friends and mentors to write notes to the reader. This gives an additional personal touch to the narrative.

Sturm is radical. The Mystery hopefully relates to many young women using romantic or sexual relationships as kind of painkiller, instead of finding their true human identity first. It's a broken world, and we all need forgiveness, healing, and restoration. ( )