Teresa Swanstrom Anderson - Beautifully Interrupted

An honest telling of her journey toward surrender, Teresa Swanstrom Anderson is a friend we can relate to. From childhood to motherhood she recounts the lessons that have shaped her into the woman she is today. For the woman looking for kinship and inspiration, she will find both in this book.

Alexandra Kuykendall,
Author of Loving My Actual Life, Co-host of The Open Door Sisterhood podcast

Faith is the evidence of things not seen, and you will find in this book a life lived believing over and over again in the not yet visible plans of God. Teresas journey to believe in the impossible will encourage you to do the same.

Jessica Honegger,
Founder of Noonday Collection

Teresa is one of the most beautiful people Ive encountered in a long time. She has a soul that is genuine and invites people into her life with open arms. Her book feels exactly like she makes people feel: included and part of a greater story that is happening. And shes determined to help people find hope. Her story is life-giving and life-changing. After reading her words, I knew there was an interruption God nudged in my heart that needed revisiting. This is a great message!

Nicki Koziarz,
Author & Speaker for Proverbs 31 Ministries

If you want to travel roads youve never been, you need a new road map. Through her own compelling story, Teresa leads us on an adventure away from the safe, me-centered life, and toward a destination that holds the richer treasures of trust, wholeness, and surrender. Her story compels us to courageously change our own.

Krista Gilbert,
Author of Reclaiming Home, Cofounder of The Open Door Sisterhood, Co-host of The Open Door Sisterhood podcast

This is more than a book. Its an adventure. In the following pages you are invited to join an incredible adventure through the story of one family. You will undoubtedly discover what God can do if you allow your life to be beautifully interrupted.

Nirup Alphonse,
Lead Pastor at LIFEGATE Denver

With the voice, vulnerability, and comfortable humor of your best friend, Teresa invites you to see the often uncomfortable call of following Jesus as an opportunity to be refined, renewed, and beautified in the mess. Her entertaining, yet gospel-centered writing style is a breath of fresh air in a culture that sometimes waters down Christianity to a more comfortable, me-centered life. Teresas words and stories will bring comfort, laughter, and hope as she shares how God interrupted the life she thought she wanted, and instead brought her to an incredibly beautiful life thats more than she ever dreamed. This is one book I will definitely be buying for all of my friends.

Karen Stott,
Founder of Intentional Home, author of An Intentional Life

I am inspired by Teresas bold faith and her deep and wide perspective on the world. So many of us hear about distant lands crying out for help, but Teresa heard those cries, and actually did something about it. She discovered her purpose on this earth and welcomed children into her home from across the globe. No matter your story or journey, Beautifully Interrupted will challenge you to ask the big question: am I serving the purpose that God has for me on this earth?

Megan Alexander,
Author of Faith in The Spotlight,
TV Host on Inside Edition

TERESA SWANSTROM ANDERSON

Copyright 2018 by Teresa Swanstrom Anderson

Published by Worthy Books, an imprint of Worthy Publishing Group, a division of Worthy Media, Inc., One Franklin Park, 6100 Tower Circle, Suite 210, Franklin, TN 37067. WORTHY is a registered trademark of Worthy Media, Inc.

HELPING PEOPLE EXPERIENCE THE HEART OF GOD

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All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken 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 MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. | 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 are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. | Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. | Scripture quotations marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible. Copyright 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. The Living Bible, TLB, and the The Living Bible logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers. | Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible. Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. | Scripture quotations marked VOICE are taken from The Voice Bible. Copyright 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice translation 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society. All rights reserved.

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Published in association with Jana Burson, The Christopher Ferebee Agency

ISBN: 978-1-68397-260-0

Cover Design: Jeff Jansen, Aesthetic Soup

Front Cover Text Calligrapher: Jordanne Van Wert

Interior Design and Typesetting: Bart Dawson

Printed in the United States of America

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TO MOM AND DADDY

You were right, life is an adventure.

I finally get it and Im all in.

Contents

by Mandy Arioto

Foreword

H ave you ever given yourself just one quiet moment to step back and really take a look at your life? If you are anything like me, there are moments when the truest assessment of your circumstances can be found in one of these statements: This is not where I thought I would be or How did I end up here? I have said both of these phrases more times than I can count, but the perplexing thing is that both statements have been said in such dramatically different life experiences. Like This is not where I thought I would be, this is such an unexpectedly awesome opportunity. Or, This is not where I thought I would be, planning a funeral for a parent at twenty years old. How is it that we find ourselves in the middle of moments where uncertainty, doubt, goodness, and hope are intertwined with such delicacy that we can scarcely differentiate one from the other? We get beautifully interrupted by moments and what we must figure out is how to surrender to the complexities.