I have found a treasure, and a new friend. The treasure is a book with the unusual title of I Was Blind (Dating), But Now I See, and the friend is a woman named Stephanie Rische, the book’s author. This oh-so-wise, sweetly endearing little volume was published by Tyndale Momentum in January of 2016. What exactly is it about, you ask? I’ll let Stephanie, gifted storyteller that she is, explain:

“This is the story of how I tried really hard to find someone to fall in love with and get him to fall in love with me back—but how I mostly just ended up falling flat on my face. It’s also the story of the unexpected ways God showed up when I finally admitted I couldn’t pull myself up on my own… [A]lthough my story and my blind date adventures may be different from yours, my hope is that as you walk with me through these pages, you too will catch a glimpse of the one whose grace is enough to catch you when you stumble and whose love is deeper than you can fathom.” (pages xvii-xix)

Although this book will certainly resonate most strongly with young, unmarried women, readers outside of this demographic will also find much to enjoy. Divided into eight parts, the book shares poignant portrayals of: Waiting, Faithfulness, Community, Hope, Prayer, Gratitude, Joy, and Journey. Basically, if you have ever waited for something that just never seemed to quite arrive, or if you are in a waiting period right now, this book will speak to your heart and touch your soul. Managing to do so much at once, the voice of each short, to-the-point chapter is tender and sweet, hilarious and candid, but most of all it is real; very, very real. At the same time, it is a beautiful story in every sense of the word; plot, characters, and setting included. Stephanie allows readers to step into her shoes and peer into her heart, where we discover that her story really isn’t any different than ours; at least, not in the ways that matter.

How she crafted this masterpiece I will never know. But I do know that Stephanie’s voice isn’t the only one to show up on the pages… God’s voice is also found there, and will speak to any reader with a heart open to listen. Undeniably there are a few (very few) portions that may cause modest young ladies to wince, and wish a few particular words hadn’t been included, but these barely detract from an otherwise stellar book. Overall, if you are in a season of waiting, well, there is one thing you should NOT wait to do… Find a copy of I Was Blind (Dating), But Now I See, and discover both a precious treasure and a friend of your own.

I was given a copy of this book, free of charge, in exchange for an honest review. I extend my heartfelt thanks to the Tyndale Publicity Team for sending it to me!