This is a book I needed to read but didn’t know it. Dealing with shame, story, abuse, forgiveness, reconciliation, mental health, love, adoption and hope this easily readable and digestible book is punching well above its 160 page weight. Rob’s writing took me on a journey of pain, joy, hope, and love. I have to admit straight off to knowing Rob a little, as a student at the theological college where he teaches. Rob is a humble, honest and Godly man and that comes across loud and clear in this book. I hadn’t really thought that this book would speak to me, I was reading it out of interest in the author, but the themes of shame, story, forgiveness and hope are ones that spoke deep into my soul. It reminded me that I am imperfect but perfectly loved, as we all are, and that I am called to be me, just as I am, and in that God loves me perfectly and completely. Rob writes about his visit to Rwanda and I was privileged to be part of that trip. As he recounted his experiences of hearing the stories of forgiveness and reconciliation I was immediately transported back, and God spoke again to me about what I had seen and heard there. It nudged me to discomfort at how I had forgotten some of the lessons I’d learnt there. It seems especially fitting at this time of global pandemic, of unrest, a time when Black Lives Matter has entered the forefronts of the global media and protest, that in this book Rob talks about reconciliation coming through understanding of ‘other’, forgiveness as acted, intentional and lived out, finding ways to live in Christ as we have all been forgiven. This image of the body of Christ, made up of vastly different people, bound together by a common Saviour, seems to be a beacon for our times. In this there is great hope for a transformed world. I also greatly appreciated Rob’s gentle but clear explanations of shame, and the need to forgive oneself. Not an easy topic, but written honestly and accessibly. In one sense an easy, fast read; in another a piece of writing that will grab you, niggle at you and force you to engage in things that are not always comfortable. Great work.