A Different Beautiful by Courtney Westlake

I Samuel 16:7
 This is a Non-fiction book about the WestLake family. "A Different Beautiful" by Courtney WestLake is about the birth of the author's second child, Brenna.  Brenna is born with Harlequin ichthyosis. The mother, Courtney WestLake, writes about how she discovered the importance of seeing the beauty in differences while living with her daughter's rare skin disease.

In our world, advertisements can make us feel uncomfortable. People seem perfect. They are slim, good-looking and have beautiful skin and their lives are perfect in every way.  Through emotional ups and downs the lesson is learned that no one is perfect. All of us are uniquely created by God. Our differences are our blessings.

I liked the fact that Courtney WestLake did not just write about harlequin ichthyosis. She also wrote about people she had met. For example, there is one mother whose child has Downs Syndrome. There are also blogs introduced in the book which I had never seen or read which are about challenges with health.

A Different Beautiful by Courtney WestLake does have a few repetitions of facts. This bothered me a little bit, but I found putting the book down was not possible. No matter your struggle, this is a practical book about how to love oneself and how to love other people.

The author also mentions The Golden Rule. Sadly, not much is heard about this principle today. Now, this young woman has brought it back to life because when differences are celebrated life becomes exciting in many different ways. I am grateful for a courtesy copy of the book from Barbour Publishing.

barbourbooks.com/
courtneywestlake.com/adifferentbeautiful/


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