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Wrestling With Wonder: A Transformational Journey through the Life of Mary
Who is this God? Who is he who calls us to surrender and then leads us on a journey of twists and turns, ups and downs, unlike anything we could have ever expected? Who is this God who calls a young girl to birth a Savior and then watch him die on a Roman cross? Who is he who fulfills every promise and yet shatters every expectation? Come, join Mary, Jesus’ mother, on a journey of discovery. Hear the angel’s call, walk the long road to Bethlehem, give birth in a barn, search for a lost son, kneel at the foot of a cross, and experience the wind of the Spirit. Come, walk with Mary, and find your own journey in hers. Because life rarely turns out the way we planned...
Because we lose the wonder in the disappointments of life ...
Because being highly favored does not mean being highly pampered ...
Because Mary shows us God -- Passionate, breath-taking, and unpredictable...
Because we lose the wonder in the disappointments of life ...
Because being highly favored does not mean being highly pampered ...
Because Mary shows us God -- Passionate, breath-taking, and unpredictable...
- GenresNonfictionChristian
272 pages, Paperback
First published October 7, 2014
30 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
About the author
Marlo Schalesky
20 books73 followersMarlo Schalesky is the founder and president of Wonder Wood Ranch, a California charitable organization that brings hope through horses to at-risk, gang-impacted, homeless, and other disadvantaged kids in Monterey County. She is also the award winning author of twelve books, including her latest nonfiction, WOMEN OF THE BIBLE SPEAK OUT, Stories of Betrayal, Abuse, Healing & Hope (2020), as well as Reaching for Wonder, Encountering Christ When Life Hurts, Waiting for Wonder, Learning to Live on God’s Timeline, Wrestling with Wonder, a Transformational Journey through the Life of Mary, and Empty Womb, Aching Heart, Hope and Help for those Struggling with Infertility. Her fiction includes RITA finalist Shades of Morning, the Christy Award winning Beyond the Night, and ACFW Book of the Year winner Veil of Fire.
She’s had over 1,000 articles published in various Christian magazines, including Focus on the Family, Today’s Christian Woman, Decision, Moody Magazine, and Discipleship Journal. She has contributed to Dr. Dobson’s Night Light Devotional for Couples, Tyndale’s Book of Devotions for Kids #3, and Discipleship Journal’s 101 Small Group Ideas.
She is a speaker, with appearances on Focus on the Family, Moody Midday, 100 Huntley Street, The Harvest Show, and hundreds of others. She is also a regular columnist for Power for Living.
Marlo is also a California native, a graduate of Stanford University (with a B.S. in Chemistry!). In addition, she has earned her Masters in Theology, with an emphasis in Biblical Studies, from Fuller Theological Seminary.
After twenty years on the infertility journey, and numerous miscarriages, Marlo now lives with her husband, six children, and fifty-some critters in a log home in Central California.
When she’s not cleaning up after critters of all kinds, doing laundry, or writing books, Marlo loves white mochas, reading the New Testament in Greek, and speaking to groups about finding the wonder of God in everyday life.
She’s had over 1,000 articles published in various Christian magazines, including Focus on the Family, Today’s Christian Woman, Decision, Moody Magazine, and Discipleship Journal. She has contributed to Dr. Dobson’s Night Light Devotional for Couples, Tyndale’s Book of Devotions for Kids #3, and Discipleship Journal’s 101 Small Group Ideas.
She is a speaker, with appearances on Focus on the Family, Moody Midday, 100 Huntley Street, The Harvest Show, and hundreds of others. She is also a regular columnist for Power for Living.
Marlo is also a California native, a graduate of Stanford University (with a B.S. in Chemistry!). In addition, she has earned her Masters in Theology, with an emphasis in Biblical Studies, from Fuller Theological Seminary.
After twenty years on the infertility journey, and numerous miscarriages, Marlo now lives with her husband, six children, and fifty-some critters in a log home in Central California.
When she’s not cleaning up after critters of all kinds, doing laundry, or writing books, Marlo loves white mochas, reading the New Testament in Greek, and speaking to groups about finding the wonder of God in everyday life.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 24, 2025
Another excellent Christian Living book by Marlo Schalesky. Her writing is exquisite. I love how she pulled me into the story of Mary as well as her own story to highlight how Jesus was at the center of both. Beautiful!
In this book, the author shared her journey with infertility and miscarriages. She was honest and shared her sorrow but also the joy that God brought her as she struggled to understand the whys of the situations. If you’ve experienced infertility or miscarriage (or stillbirth), please don’t hesitate to pick up this book. Marlo comes alongside you and shares her hard-earned empathy and wisdom of how leaning on God through the hard moments of dealing with such tragedies helps one’s heart to find solace and healing.
Content: miscarriage and infertility discussed (thematic)
In this book, the author shared her journey with infertility and miscarriages. She was honest and shared her sorrow but also the joy that God brought her as she struggled to understand the whys of the situations. If you’ve experienced infertility or miscarriage (or stillbirth), please don’t hesitate to pick up this book. Marlo comes alongside you and shares her hard-earned empathy and wisdom of how leaning on God through the hard moments of dealing with such tragedies helps one’s heart to find solace and healing.
Content: miscarriage and infertility discussed (thematic)
January 4, 2016
Oh, how I enjoyed this book. The lessons I drew will stay with me for a long time. I have been reminded that the word "blessed" doesn't always have a positive connotation...that it doesn't always refer to the good things happening in our lives. To be blessed means that God uses everything...good and bad...to further His kingdom.
I loved Mary's perspective. The words the author used for Mary's first person accounts flowed like poetry.
The reason I rated this with four stars was because I felt as though the author repeated herself too often; she said the same things too many times.
Overall, this was a wonderful read.
I loved Mary's perspective. The words the author used for Mary's first person accounts flowed like poetry.
The reason I rated this with four stars was because I felt as though the author repeated herself too often; she said the same things too many times.
Overall, this was a wonderful read.
February 19, 2021
Insightful. Comforting. Inspiring.
July 31, 2017
"Wrestling With Wonder - A Transformational Journey Through The Life Of Mary" - by Marlo Schalesky takes us on a unique, contemplative and eye-opening journey through the life of Mary, a blessed young woman chosen by God to rear the only beloved Son of God in His redemptive plan for mankind. Her humble obedience to God reveals her selfless commitment, in her journey from the manger of the Son of God to the cross of Calvary, on which He paid the supreme sacrifice by dying to save humanity. In order to know the why's of Mary's difficulties, we must know the Who, who took her and her Divine Son on that journey from the cradle to the grave. "I AM WHO I AM." This is the striking truth at the heart of our faith. When we wrestle with all the why’s, we know who He is. He is perfect in all of His ways. As we wait for wonder, we wrestle with wonder. We struggle with doubts and grapple with distress. Through all our trials and difficulties, we find out who He is. His ways are good, acceptable and perfect. We cannot understand all the baffling why's but God is our ever-present hope and anchor. Who is this God who calls us to complete surrender and fulfills every glorious promise and yet shatters every expectation of ours? Let us follow Mary on an illuminating journey of discovery to find our own journey in hers.
August 1, 2021
An absolutely beautiful account of the life of Mary and about how her journey mirrors our own struggles and hardships. Schalesky guides us along Mary’s journey and invites us to discover wonder and the face of our Savior, even when the circumstances around us seem hopeless and impossible. This is definitely a must-read for anyone experiencing difficulties and suffering.
December 10, 2016
A wonderful reflection on how Mary can be a model, an example for us as we follow her Son through the ups and downs of our daily lives.
March 20, 2020
Theirs a point where you read a book at the right time and it just reaffirms all your values and beliefs.
May 20, 2020
You’ve never seen Mary, or her God, like this before! Mary's journey was transformational for me, and I think it will be for readers too. It seems that in our culture we either deify Mary or we ignore her altogether, but the truth is, she's a lot like you and me. Her journey with God reveals so much about our own journeys. It shows us God in ways we may have never seen Him before. This book invites readers to recapture their hope, restore their souls, and renew their vision of a passionate and breath-taking God. It encourages them to experience a walk of faith that is vibrant in the face of disappointment, a relationship that is dynamic, alive – wondrous! It says, “Come, join the adventure of being highly-favored of God!”
Great for individual study or groups. Discussion questions available for free download on www.marloschalesky.com/nonfiction
Great for individual study or groups. Discussion questions available for free download on www.marloschalesky.com/nonfiction
April 9, 2025
I’ve always been fascinated by the story of Mary, mother of Jesus. What was it like to be His mother? What was it like to see angels, and wonder over shepherds visiting, and watch as He grew, and stand beside His cross? While this book doesn’t claim in any way to be the absolute truth (after all, we can only guess at the thoughts going through Mary’s head and what it was actually like), I loved wondering alongside the author about those moments which shaped Mary as a mother. Then how the author took those moments and thoughts and emotions and brought them full circle to mothering today. The joy, the hope, the heartbreak, the wonder. Privilege alongside pain. Wrestling alongside wonder. An absolutely beautiful look into the life of Mary, and one I’ll be thinking on for a long time.
January 22, 2025
I LOVE this book! It has been such an encouragement, filling my soul and comforting my heart while at the same time challenging me to develop my faith. Full review to come.
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I spent almost every weekday morning of my Senior year of college reading Wrestling with Wonder: A Transformational Journey Through the Life of Mary. This book is so affecting and powerful that I ended up reading only a few paragraphs each morning, and then I would spend time considering what I had read and how it was either reflected in my own beliefs or contradicted by them. If you wonder why life can be so difficult, how God can use hard and bad things in life for good, or what it means to have a biblical calling, then I highly recommend this book. Granted, if you do not come into reading it with a Biblical perspective, you will probably struggle to find the comfort and understanding that I got from it, but even if you are not a Christian I believe that this could be a valuable insight into what we believe about the character of God. It is also an interesting academic study of the life of Mary the mother of Jesus, so if you want to learn more about her, this is a good place to go.
Reading this book will not change the fact that life is difficult and horrible things happen. It will not give a magic formula for understanding why things happen the way that they do. It does, however, challenge your understanding of what it means to be blessed. This is probably the most encouraging book I have read in a long time, and I cannot recommend it highly enough, especially to Christian women who feel that they have a calling from God but aren’t sure how it fits with their current life. The answer to these questions is not something simple that I can explain in a single sentence, or even a paragraph; it is deeper than the overused “you are loved by God, so trust Him”. Marlo Schalesky does not shy away from the meat of the matter, and digs deep into the Bible for wisdom and support.
Not everyone is a ‘Mary’ (called and equipped by God to do abundantly extraordinary things), but everyone has something that they are meant to do, and I believe that everyone can get value from this book. If you have even the slightest inkling of interest in this book, please check it out! It just might be life changing.
This review was first posted on Reviews From the Stacks.
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I spent almost every weekday morning of my Senior year of college reading Wrestling with Wonder: A Transformational Journey Through the Life of Mary. This book is so affecting and powerful that I ended up reading only a few paragraphs each morning, and then I would spend time considering what I had read and how it was either reflected in my own beliefs or contradicted by them. If you wonder why life can be so difficult, how God can use hard and bad things in life for good, or what it means to have a biblical calling, then I highly recommend this book. Granted, if you do not come into reading it with a Biblical perspective, you will probably struggle to find the comfort and understanding that I got from it, but even if you are not a Christian I believe that this could be a valuable insight into what we believe about the character of God. It is also an interesting academic study of the life of Mary the mother of Jesus, so if you want to learn more about her, this is a good place to go.
Reading this book will not change the fact that life is difficult and horrible things happen. It will not give a magic formula for understanding why things happen the way that they do. It does, however, challenge your understanding of what it means to be blessed. This is probably the most encouraging book I have read in a long time, and I cannot recommend it highly enough, especially to Christian women who feel that they have a calling from God but aren’t sure how it fits with their current life. The answer to these questions is not something simple that I can explain in a single sentence, or even a paragraph; it is deeper than the overused “you are loved by God, so trust Him”. Marlo Schalesky does not shy away from the meat of the matter, and digs deep into the Bible for wisdom and support.
Not everyone is a ‘Mary’ (called and equipped by God to do abundantly extraordinary things), but everyone has something that they are meant to do, and I believe that everyone can get value from this book. If you have even the slightest inkling of interest in this book, please check it out! It just might be life changing.
This review was first posted on Reviews From the Stacks.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews