{"product_id":"2940158662072","title":"Beauty 4 the Ash: A Journey through Addiction and Mental Illness","description":"\"Unflinching, vivid, harrowing, and ultimately uplifting, Beauty 4 the Ash is compelling. In it, you'll find the costs of hiding from mental illness--but also the uplift from confronting it with faith.  Highly recommended.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStephen Hinshaw, Professor of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley\u003cbr\u003eAuthor, \"Another Kind of Madness: A Journey through the Stigma and Hope of Mental Illness\" (St. Martin's Press)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnyone who wants to know what a life transformed by Jesus Christ looks like only needs to read Beauty 4 the Ash, the true story of Misti Kuykendall, a fully healed and restored alcohol and drug addict, who was convicted of the white collar crime of identity theft and spent two years in a Tallahassee, Florida, prison, followed by time in an Oklahoma halfway house.\u003cbr\u003eMisti came from a rough upbringing, her mom and grandmother having both committed suicide, not only because of their addictions but because of their hearts full of bitterness and anger.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBecause of the destructive lifestyle she once led, Misti has faced insurmountable struggles, setbacks, and relapses while on the road to her healing and restoration. She knows what it's like to strive each day, feeling as if she couldn't do anything right. She lived through one destructive relationship after the next, eventually losing all parental rights to her daughter.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter this, she nearly tried to end her life as well when she tried to drive her car off a bridge, but God stopped the car from going over it! In Misti's own words, \"I couldn't even kill myself right!\" God had a much better plan for her life as she vehemently declares \"Suicide ends with me!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMisti also has Bipolar Disorder, a chemical imbalance in the brain which causes severe mood and energy swings and affects her ability to make decisions day to day. While Misti says God has not yet healed her of this condition, she lives each day in full confidence that he will, in his time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe message Misti's book delivers is two-fold: 1) Addiction is not just a physical issue; it's accompanied by heart issues that must be confronted and delivered at the cross of Christ. Only when the spiritual person is healed can the physical addiction be healed as well; and 2) Mental illness is a real medical problem that the body of Christ needs to become better at understanding, talking about, and accepting as a real physical sickness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eToday, Misti lives an abundantly free life on a farm in Northwestern, Oklahoma, with her Godly husband, four children, ten chickens, two pigs, three goats, and three dogs. She can make a mean peanut butter and jelly sandwich!","brand":"Misti Kuykendall","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47084673761520,"sku":"2940158662072","price":5.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940158662072_p0.jpg?v=1764125589","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940158662072","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}