Defiant Joy by Stasi Eldredge

From the publisher:

 We all spend a lot of energy reaching for happiness, but we are never quite able to hang on to it. Real life happens, and our circumstances take us on an emotional rollercoaster ride. So the Bible’s call to “be joyful always” sounds almost crazy—and out of reach. But it doesn’t have to be.

Joy is meant to be ours, a joy that is defiant in the face of this broken world. This joy is not simply happiness on steroids; it’s the unyielding belief that sorrow and loss do not have the final say. It’s the stubborn determination to be present to whatever may come and to interpret both goodness and grief by the light of heaven.

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As an individual that struggles with depression and anxiety what I appreciated was the Stasi doesn't come from the side of "I have a joyful life, so should you!" Instead she shares dark and painful things she has gone through and how DESPITE all that she has chose to take hold of joy and hope and beauty.  Her joy is defiant because it seems like she should just despair and give up, but instead she chooses joy. I and thankful that this book is out there and for her perspective as she wrote and shared.

I received this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.