Review
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Title: Consecrating Our Waits
Author: Michelle L. Martin
Publisher: Izzard Ink Publishing (P.O. Box 522251, Salt Lake City, UT 84152 www.izzardink.com)
Genre: Inspirational
Year Published: 2016
Number of Pages: 94
Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-63072-911-0
Reviewed by Trudy Thompson for the Association For Mormon Letters
This is the second book written by author Michelle L. Martin. I was not familiar with her or her first book, “Learning To Trust In The Lord.”
I found her new book a delightful and quick read, while being inspiring, personable, and encouraging at the same time.
With degrees in Dental Hygiene and Public Health, Ms. Martin has traveled around the world on humanitarian trips to provide dental care and oral hygiene to the less fortunate. Along the way, she has learned many important life lessons and shares them with us in a heartfelt way.
In “Consecrating Our Waits”, Martin tells of her struggle to understand why the much yearned for blessing of marriage has not come to her. She calls it one of the Goliaths in her life, and shares her personal and poignant struggles to overcome the heartache and despair that it can cause. Most importantly, she teaches us how she — and we — can put aside our worries and struggles and adopt an optimistic approach to life, exercising gratitude at the same time.
The author begins by explaining how everyone is “waiting” for something in their lives. We are either waiting to graduate, waiting to get married, waiting to go on a mission, waiting to find the perfect job, waiting for a raise or a promotion, waiting for someone to come home from their mission, or even waiting to die. She goes on to tell the story of how a good friend of hers was diagnosed with leukemia, and had to wait to find a match for a life saving bone marrow transplant. The author explains how her friend literally consecrated this waiting period in her life, by deep soul searching and reaching toward Heaven and pleading with the Lord in prayer.
This small volume is packed with many stories of people overcoming hardships, trials, and waiting periods in their lives, by either reaching out to others in service, putting others first, or by coming to a deep understanding that God is always with us, waiting to
assist and help, and even perform miracles if we will just ask. Many of these moving stories are from the author’s own life and experiences.
I found one of the most poignant stories from the author was where she had traveled to Guatemala to provide local anesthesia to villagers who needed dental work for abscessed teeth — many who required extractions. Each day they traveled from village to village in the back of the cattle car. There was one day when many of the medical and dental personnel were very ill themselves, and so they were extremely short staffed. Because of this they should have quit for the day, but because there were so very many people waiting for their services, they decided to stay and help as many as they could.
On that particular day, they had no electricity and no running water. They had brought in bottled water to use for sterilization and there were 30 families waiting for dental work. They also needed two translators at all times, because one would have to translate English to Spanish, and the other to translate from Spanish to Q’eqchi. Martin was the only dental hygienist present that day. A man came in with a horrible abscess and severe swelling on his face. This required her to walk to a nearby medial clinic to get a strong antibiotic to give the man. On the way there, several moms grabbed at her, pleading with her by their facial expressions to “please see my children.” On the way back to the dental clinic, the same thing happened again, where many of the mothers waiting in line, with pleasing looks, grabbed her. To top it off, that day they did not have a Spanish to Qeqchi translator, necessary to help the man understand how to take his antibiotic regimen.
The stress was overwhelming and Martin told her assistant that she needed a minute. She couldn’t go outside because there were many people waiting by the door. She went to a dark corner of the room and pled with her Heavenly Father, telling Him that she was in way over her head, that it was too much that day and that she didn’t understand the language or even know the man’s name. As she wept, a calm came over her and with a clear mind she heard the words, “Go back over there, I know Q’qchi and I know each of these people by name. I got this and I got you!” Five minutes after returning to work, a villager walked in and asked if they needed a translator who spoke Q’eqchi. Ms. Martin goes on to challenge us to push ourselves and defy our limits and ask for ministering angels assistance.
At the end of her excellent book, she shares what she has found to be six preparations we can take in life to armor ourselves against the pain, negativity, doubts, fears, and challenges of those “waiting times” in our lives. We truly can consecrate these times, by turning to our Father in Heaven for guidance, assistance and strength.
Each chapter is an enjoyable, uplifting, positive and faith inspiring, containing stories of people overcoming tremendous difficulties in their lives, by stretching their faith, putting others first, and looking for the good in our own lives and in the lives of others.
“Consecrating our Waits” is a wonderful, uplifting book, and will be an excellent gift for anyone of nearly any age. I would give this book to my ten year old grandson. I know he would find the stories and examples very interesting and encouraging.