The Opposite of Certainty

A beautifully written spiritual memoir about motherhood, marriage, and the miracle of faith.

After leaving her public relations career, Janine Reid embarks on a new vocation where she tries to meet her children’s every need and anticipate those that aren’t yet obvious. Her strategy is to control, manage, and do everything right so her kids won’t be hurt, scared, or scarred. What she doesn’t expect is that she will be entering the chaos of an out-of-control life that begins when her bright, charming, ten-year-old son Mason’s hand begins to shake. Mason is diagnosed with a brain tumor, and the day-to-day drama takes her from the pits of despair to wild hope.

But it also draws her deep into herself and the eternal questions we all ask ourselves. Who are we really, way down deep, when everything we thought we knew turns out to have been conditional? Where do we land when the lifelong foundations we have lived on seem to crumble beneath our feet? Where is faith in darkness and terror? And where can joy be found in uncertainty?

When Janine is diagnosed with breast cancer, she also must come face to face with the pain of her past. She says, “I wasn’t conscious I’d created a formula until I started becoming aware that God was not holding up His end of the bargain.” But God . . . He makes a way out of no way and tragedy is transformed into profound healing that offers us a place where grace is bigger than circumstances, and we can be okay no matter what.