Shari Zook - Peanut Butter and Dragon Wings: A Mothers Search for Grace

Tears and laughter abound in this charming, interactive memoir. Its a book full of loss, love, and healing that will leave you wanting more from this debut author.

Suzanne Woods Fisher , bestselling author of Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World

Shari Zooks story soars and sobs, punctuated by humor and wisdom. She reckons with, wrestles with, and worships the One who holds and heals the nations. Bewarejust when you think you are safely on the sidelines, she will remember her reader and turn your way with a look of such insight and compassion that it may shatterand then help restoreyou.

Sheila Petre , mother of nine and author of Thirty Little Fingers

In Peanut Butter and Dragon Wings, Shari Zook invites her readers to pull up a comfy chair, take a deep breath, and join her in being honest about the challenges of living faithfully. She writes with authenticity and wisdom as she shares her personal experiences and the lessons learned from them. This book is a fresh wind of grace for weary women.

Gina Brenna Butz , author of Making Peace with Change: Navigating Lifes Messy Transitions with Honesty and Grace

Shari Zook says it best herself: This is not a book about self-care. This is a book about receiving the care that surrounds you. Peanut Butter and Dragon Wings is not a cute mommy book about me time and lattes. Sharis wordsalways honest, often harrowingslice down to our darkest places and deepest needs. If she, a pastors wife, loving mom, and competent woman, can hit the depths and find grace there, can reach out her hand and open her mouth to ask for help, then, God be praised, so can you and I.

Dorcas Smucker , author of Ordinary Days: Family Life in a Farmhouse

With refreshing honesty, Shari Zook drops the mask and shows us realness, brokenness, and pain. In candid, beautifully crafted stories, she bares her heart and shows us how we, too, can invite Jesus into our pain. I wept with her, and rejoiced as she continually points us to the God of grace. This book will bring hope to any woman who faces darkness and difficulty.

Faith Sommers , author of Prayers for a Simpler Life: Meditations from the Heart of a Mennonite Mother

Shari Zook has an ear for beautiful language and a gift for expressing emotional and spiritual concepts in concrete terms. I found myself laughing, crying, and understanding some of the difficult issues of life in new ways.

Lucinda Miller Kinsinger , author of Anything but Simple: My Life as a Mennonite

Herald Press
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PEANUT BUTTER AND DRAGON WINGS
2021 by Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22803. 800-245-7894.
All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021933218
International Standard Book Number: 978-1-5138-0770-6 (paperback),
978-1-5138-0771-3 (hardcover), 978-1-5138-0772-0 (ebook)
Printed in United States of America

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the King James Version.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

25 24 23 22 21 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my mom, who made it look easy,

and to my dad, who gave me paper.

Foreword

I am altruism run ragged.... I am human, and I need things.

I stared at Shari Zooks words, unable to move past the first page. I was hunched in the front seat of my twenty-year-old Subaru Legacy, in a strip mall parking lot where no one would know or notice or need me, biding time between a soul-crushing ministry meeting and a meeting with a congregant whose soul was being crushed. I had fielded a forlorn call from a beloved former foster child, whose spiraling behaviors had landed them in lockup, and from a social worker, who wondered if we could possibly... ? I had groceries to buy and a sermon to prepare, half a dozen foster and bio kids who needed me to be loving and attentive and present, a house and heart cluttered with messes that wore on me, but that I didnt have the time or energy to deal with. I had reached out to someone who hadnt reached back, and the sting of it made me wary. I was doing my best to care for everyones needs, but who was taking care of me?

I am altruism run ragged. I am human, and I need things.

This is a book that tells the truth. It tells the truth about a lot of things, like the fact that we never stop yearning for a mother to swoop in and set everything right; that some children seem to emerge from the womb at odds with their parents values; that girlfriends are a saving grace when men are being outrageous (which I assume is Mennonite for doo-doo head, which is evangelical for something else, bless all our little hearts); that Good Christian Women and Relentless Christian Activists are two sides of the same coin, and neither are very good at saying no. But mostly, this book tells the truth about us human beings having limitations and needing things.

And before you even think about protesting that Jesus is all you need, and that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, consider these words from chapter 3: Being a Jesus follower does not free me from needing.... Counting on him to make special allowances for me because I am a special human is not the way to walk with him. I am a normal human. I need the things normal humans need.

Ouch. Shari Zook may look like a sweet Mennonite pastors wife, but she doesnt pull any punches!

Messy grace books have abounded in recent years, but this one is different. Having needs does not release us from responsibility; instead, it reminds us how much we need our brothers and sisters in Christ. Being stretched past our limits does not give us license to sin; rather, it is a painful reality in which we are invited to identify with our crucified Christ. Being depleted does not mean we should abandon the tasks God has set before us; it means we need to pick up our spoons, dip them in the peanut butter jar, and strengthen ourselves for the journey ahead.

Sometimes we need to say no. Sometimes we need rest, and medicine, and a good meal. But often what we need more than anything is to admit our need to others, and to allow them to minister to us.

We are human beings, and we need things.