The Most Beautiful Thing I’ve Seen

Opening Your Eyes to Wonder

By: Lisa Gungor

Narrated by: Lisa Gungor

Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's Summary

Lisa Gungor thought she knew her own story: small-town girl meets boy in college and they blissfully walk down the aisle into happily ever after. Their Christian faith was their lens and foundation for everything - their marriage, their music, their dreams for the future. But as their dreams began to come true, she began to wonder if her religion was really representative of the "good news" she had been taught.

She never expected the questions to lead as far as they did when her husband told her he no longer believed in God. The death of a friend, the unraveling of relationships and career, the loss of a worldview, and the birth of a baby girl with two heart defects all led Lisa to a tumultuous place, one of depression and despair. And it was there that her perspective on everything changed. The Most Beautiful Thing I’ve Seen tells the story of what can happen when you dare to let go of what you think to be true, to shift the kaleidoscope and see new colors and dimension by way of broken pieces.

Lisa’s eloquent, soul-stirring memoir brings you to a music stage before thousands of fans and a front porch where two people whisper words that scare them to the core. It is the story of how doubt can spark the beginning of deeper faith, how a baby born with a broken heart can bring love and healing to the hearts of many, and, ultimately, how the hardest experience in life often ends up saving us.

©2018 Lisa Gungor (P)2018 Zondervan

One of the most beautiful things I've read .

LOVE. I've loved Gungor for a long time. Beautiful Things was balm to me when I was going through cancer & chemo. It's part of the soundtrack of my family. My boys were in a band that got to open up for them in Cincinnati. For some reason there were about 4 bands opening up for them so by the time they finally hit the stage we practically got a private concert and it is still one of the most beautiful concerts I've ever seen. When our daughter moved to Denver we went to Bloom the first weekend in their search for a church home. It was lovely. I could see the candles burning when I read about it in the book. There were so many small connections like this, so many beautiful things that I got to see & see deeper as I read this beautiful story. Not only is it entertained with my own, but mirrors many parts of my own story.

Authentic

What an authentic story of faith, love, growth and life! No one’s story is exactly the same. Real faith, knowing Jesus, in the good and in the bad looks a lot more like Lisa’s story than many sitting in the pew every Sunday. Thanks for the encouraging reminder.

A Must Read for Every Father.

Artistic Vulnerability. Reads like a song. The most artistic autobiography I have ever read. As a father of 4 daughters and 4 granddaughters, I never appreciated the struggle that our society has heaped upon my girls. Men are encouraged to protect our girls when we would better serve them by empowering them. No one else could have narrated her story. Broke my heart and inspired hope at the same time. a must read for every father!

This book is still changing my life

I find Lisa Gungor's voice gentle and grounding, and her message the same. She gives the gift of a faith that IS shaken, and thusly beautifully transformed into something humble and divine. This book gave me permission to give new words for God, and also new words and a new grace to myself. All I can say is thank you to the author who was brave enough to believe her story was worth telling. It really was a beautiful journey.

purely gorgeous!

I loved this book from beginning to end. Her willingness to share her story ~ the successes and the failures, her vulnerability, her ability to open your eyes to new things, to new perspectives - it ended me. In a good way.

So sad. Too sad.

We have been fans of the Gungors for years and have attended many concerts. To tell the truth, the best thing about this book is to understand and document a journey of someone who was abused and then slowly drifted away from the Lord. It is good to understand how this can happen to even the strongest of Christians. The Bible talks about "leaving your first love" and even though we all hope this does not happen to us when we come to faith in Jesus. This book shows how someone in ministry can slowly stop believing the Bible and in turn, slowly drift from the teachings of Jesus and have a sort of faith, but not a Christian one anymore. I grew up in the New Age Movement before becoming a Christian so it was interesting to see someone go the opposite direction. But honestly, it was very sad. I bought it for my daughter who had drifted away from the Lord and was a big Lisa Gungor fan. Reading this actually caused her to return to the Lord somewhat because even she could see how sad the dark place spiritually Lisa ended up in grieved even her heart. It's a very sad book. I am surprised it was published by a Christian publisher as it is not really a Christian book but more of a "How to drift away from Jesus" book. I kept hoping she would come back to the Lord in the end, but spoiler alert, it ends in murky darkness. So sad. Too sad.

Lovely

One of the most beautiful things I've read in a long time. I feel proud of Lisa for voicing a visceral and limbic thing with cognition and honesty. It's very hard and often painful work. It helps me in my own younger work toward the same.

Vulnerability at its finest. Thank you Lisa.

I have delayed reading this book. As a mother of a disabled child, I wasn't sure I wanted to cry through another book. However, this book is about so much more than that and though I did cry, the tones of hope and empathy were exactly right in order to receive the message. Thank you for sharing your story.

Beautiful story, beautiful heart

Lisa’s story is extraordinarily vulnerable. I’m so glad that it was her familiar voice reading the book on audio. Not only did I get to experience her world through her writing but I also got to hear the joyful expression of her voice. Love this woman.

Just fantastic!

I was so delighted by this book. The best book I have read in quite sometime. I completely related to so much of Lisa’s story. I feel as though listening to her story is helping me heal my own... thank you. Also, Lisa way of writing paired with her eloquent speaking voice is so beautifully poetic. Was so sad for it to end.

One of the most beautiful things I have read.

This book is beautiful, raw, painful and a must for anyone who has experienced a faith change or know what it is like a raise a disabled child. I can't recommend it enough.