Adventure Awaits

I had been enjoying Stacey’s podcast for the last couple of years, so when I saw that she had written a book, I knew that I had to check it out. Then I saw the title and immediately ordered it. I couldn’t put it down. Her story was so engaging and I learned something helpful for my own spiritual journey in every chapter. In one chapter she spoke about how God gave us our deepest desires because he intends to fulfill them. I don’t know why it never occurred to me before that a God who is all good, would want that for me! The book had so many rich insights like that for me. It is a great book for a seasoned mom like myself, but there are also lessons in there that would have been helpful long ago, so I plan to give it as a gift to the teenagers and young adults in my life. A must read!!

As a youth minister, discernment is one of the most asked-about questions from teens. They all want to know how you can “hear God’s voice.” They want to know what that voice sounds like, how you can best hear it, how to remove the distractions that it heard to hear. They want to know about signs, how to interpret them, how to respond to them, how to even recognize them. Teens ask the questions that most people wonder about at some point in their lives. Stacey Sumereau does a wonderful job answering many of these most-frequently-asked questions.

By combining personal experience and the wisdom that she has gained from it, Stacey addresses many of the most burning questions about discernment. Her anecdotes are both very entertaining and poignant in communicating some of the greatest questions and concerns surrounding discernment. Reading about Stacey’s experiences on Broadway, in the convent, and as a new wife and mother really makes you feel as if you’re right there with her, anxiously waiting to see what she will choose and where her adventure will lead her next.

If you’ve ever had a question about discernment, if you’re a teen or young adult with all of life’s “big choices” before you, or if you’re well into your life’s adventure, this book has something of value for you. We all have a wonderful adventure ahead of us, and it’s just waiting for us to take the next (or the first) step.

In Adventure Awaits, Stacey Sumereau depicts two journeys: one, her own adventure from the lights of Broadway to the light of Christ, and from the stage to the altar; the other, your own adventure, from doubt to discernment, and from desire to fulfillment in the loving embrace of God. In a style that is at once gripping, approachable, and entertaining, Stacey deftly intertwines the story of her own life discernment with practical wisdom and advice for each of our own life discernments. She draws on Scripture and the wisdom of such saints and theologians as Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, Augustine, C. S. Lewis, and Thomas Aquinas, while breaking their teaching down into easily digestible concepts expressed in understandable language. Each chapter ends with action items and questions for meditation so that the reader can learn how to recognize "God nods," your "true self," God-given charisms, and many other helpful signals to aid in identifying that deepest desire placed in our heart by God. The book is a joy to read, and recommended for anyone who has ever had any difficulty in hearing God's voice--in other words, everyone!