Deanna Nowadnick's Signs in Life: Finding Direction in Our Travels with God

Deanna Nowadnick’s second book Signs in Life: Finding Direction in Our Travels with God is an introspective look at the ways God makes himself known in her life. Using traffic signs as chapter titles, the reader can relate to the experiences Nowadnick has had. Each chapter also has five questions at the end to lead the reader to apply the lessons learned in his/her life.

As with her previous work Fruit of My Spirit, Signs in Life is Nowadnick's testimony of her day by day walk with Christ. While experiencing God, life gets messy sometimes, especially when we blow right through the traffic signs. Anyone who has tried to walk with Christ can relate to the unfortunate consequences of speeding, missing a sign, or choosing to ignore a sign.

Two particular passages struck me.

“Chapter 5, No U-Turn” was one such passage. In discussing her difficulty in relying on God in some situations, particularly one that seemed hazardous, she realizes that ‘letting go and letting God’ is more than bumper sticker theology. She states, “[I]f we want to experience God’s glory, be it thunder, a beautiful vista, or a new opportunity in life, we have to let go of the past and let God show us the future. In life there are no U-turns.” In this same vein, she quotes a plaque she purchased during the experience in this chapter. It says: ‘You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep reading the last one’ (49).

“Chapter 8, Road Narrows” was another such passage. Nowadnick had rebellious relationship with her dad with her mom running interference. When her mom died, Nowadnick claimed Anne Lamott’s advice of either being right or being kind. She chose to spend her father’s two-year good-bye a time being kind. “With God’s help, I was able to practice being kind. …[K]indness became tolerance, and tolerance became understanding. Understanding became acceptance, and acceptance became love, a messy, imperfect love encased in my own messier version of grace. …that narrow lane of life’s six-lane interstate, that lane in which we travel at the speed of love” (80).

Nowadnick’s transparency throughout is fresh and encouraging. Her application of lessons learned is natural, humorous, and not forced. Signs in Life is a challenge to how you see God and His lessons for your life. Take the challenge and read Signs in Life. Find it in Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

I was provided a free copy for an honest review.