“You don’t know God,” the church elder said, his eyes locked and loaded on me from across the conference table. “He’s absent from your narrative.”
The room went woozy, and I struggled to bring my brain back online, managing to sputter, “God is the center of my narrative!”
But he wasn’t listening. He already had his story about me.
Here’s mine.
Natalie’s writing is vibrant and deeply intimate. The innocence, honesty, and humor (seriously, she is so funny sometimes) that Natalie breathes into her storytelling make All the Scary Little Gods both deeply personal and remarkably universal.
If you have struggled with reconciling the harmful ways that twisted theology has entrapped you while simultaneously struggling to embrace the beautiful and freeing parts of your faith, this book will give you guidance.
If you feel isolated, ignored, or abandoned in your quest to reclaim your own body, mind, and soul from the scary little gods of your own life, this book will stand beside you as an empathetic witness.
If you are frustrated with how long it took to open your eyes to the damage being perpetrated by narcissists masquerading as people of God, this book will offer compassion.
If you are angry at the systems that protect abusers, silence victims, and perpetuate their own twisted version of truth, this book will show you how to fight back to liberate yourself.
—Tiffany Yecke Brooks, PhD, Author of Gaslighted by God: Reconstructing a Disillusioned Faith
“What a journey. Thank you, Natalie, for taking us readers on such a heartbreaking liberation journey. Truly, the words in this book come from a bruised and wise sage who has lived through hell to speak to such heaven. All the Scary Little Gods helps me believe more deeply in the truth of the gospel.”
—Dr. Andrew J. Bauman, Founder & Director of the Christian Counseling Center for Sexual Health & Trauma, Author of SAFE CHURCH: How to Guard Against Sexism & Abuse in Christian Communities
“All the Scary Little Gods is an achingly beautiful and wonderfully creative glimpse into a healing self-awareness where we meet with our earlier selves in empathy and converse with them in kindness.”
—Rick Pidcock, Religion Writer at Baptist News Global
“Natalie’s prose is both powerful and vulnerable, weaving her past experience of emotional and spiritual abuse with her current hard-won wisdom and insight in a captivating chronicle of inner strength, redemption, and love. If you read one memoir this year, make it this one.”
—Beth Lottig, Editor, Founder of Inspire Books
Get the first chapter of my book, Is It Me? Making Sense of Your Confusing Marriage, recommended by therapists. That chapter will help you figure out what’s going on in your marriage.