You've Got to be Kidding!
by
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Your daughter is dead. Here, eat this bagel. But no one has been able to tell me how to melt the lump in my throat in order to even consider swallowing the bagel that everyone seems to think will erase my pain. How do I get past the primal scream lodged deep in my stomach afraid to dislodge it for fear that the scream, the horror of what we’re living through will never end? My thoughts bombarded me, memories flash across my field of vision even with my eyes open. She’s three and she’s dancing in the living room. She’s waiting for Daddy to come home from the office. She’s playing bride with Merigen. Jenny was the one that told Kalie “good job” when she won the goldfish at the fair. She was thrilled to be chosen to work at Lone Tree for the summer. She had fallen in love and wanted her mom and stepdad to meet the guy. Jenny was going to be a writer, a wife, a mother. She was protected by God when a lightning storm struck when she was on a mountain top just one week before and she told us that her hair literally stood on end. And now she’s gone and with her passing goes all the hopes and dreams all of us had with her for her life here on earth.
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About the Book
Ultimately, my goal is to learn to bear with others, be present in the moment, press in to God, and bluntly put…shut up! Except of course when the next thing in my life causes me to scream, “You’ve got to be kidding!”
Cookie Leonardelli has always wanted to write a book; a book that would reach people right where they were at – get into their hearts, speak to their souls and ultimately bring them healing from the pain they have experienced in their lives.
You’ve Got to be Kidding! is that book. Cookie begins with the story of her childhood and weaves stories from her adult life throughout the book. We learn about her fears, her hopes and dreams and the pains she has suffered. Ultimately we get to learn about her victory through her strong faith in Jesus Christ. Cookie’s goal is that through her story you will learn that even though some circumstances may seem impossible to survive (like the death of a child) you will always be brought back to a place of faith, healing and victory. She hopes you will laugh, cry, but mostly that you will be able to find a place of peace in your life regardless of the challenges you have faced. So with that in mind, you are encouraged to curl up on the couch with a blanket, bag of Cheetos (or whatever snack you prefer) and crack open this book – at the end, the expectation is that you will say to yourself “You’ve got to be kidding!”
About the Author
Cookie has a refreshing view on some of life’s most difficult situations. She shares with the reader as though she was talking directly to them across the kitchen table. To date she has been a pastor for over sixteen years, and works full time in her husband’s pediatric practice. Boldly honest and at times blunt, her point of view will at times shock, but will always bring food for thought. She has been journaling for years and has prepared and related multiple teachings in home groups and in Sunday sermons. This is her first published work. Cookie lives in New Mexico with her husband of thirty plus years, her extended family, two dogs, two cats, and a wild rabbit named Rupert that refuses to stay out of the sun room.