February 10, 2017
Julie Manning’s journey into the medical field led her to a career in nursing and caring for others. Eventually though, she found herself on the other side of the stethoscope when she became the patient diagnosed with a heart condition. Manning shares her diagnosis, surgeries, and heartache, both physical and emotional, in her first book, “My Heart.”
“My Heart” gives a play-by-play recount of Manning’s experience with heart failure. Her autobiographical take is not only told from a nurse’s perspective, but also from that of a Christian, wife, and young mother. All of these roles help to mold and shape her as she deals with near death experiences and subsequently, living with an on-going medical condition.
Manning’s love for her children and her desire to teach them through her experiences is solidified with an open letter to them at the end of each chapter. This teaching doesn’t end with her children, but is eventually extended to readers. By the book’s end, Manning offers an invitation to readers to be brave enough to tell their own stories. Much of her story involves learning through suffering.
While Manning did not have a choice in the physical condition she deals with, she does emphasize the choices she has in living each day to the fullest. “We have a choice. We have a decision to make. Remain or hope,” she writes. And her hope in Jesus is infectious. Readers will likely discover a renewed gratefulness in their own lives and a hopeful lens with which to view through struggles.
“For God who said, “’Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6