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Bitter and Sweet: A Journey into Easter
Celebrate A Season of Renewal and ReflectionThe theme of bitterness runs through Bible as a sour reminder of sin’s presence in our world—yet it’s because of this bitterness that Jesus’ grace is so sweet and satisfying. As we learn to turn from our vices and crave real beauty, goodness, and truth through the pursuit of virtues, we grow nearer to God and become more like who He made us to be.From Tsh Oxenreider, bestselling author of Shadow and A Journey into Advent, arrives a devotional to help you meditate and rejoice in the transcendent miracle of Easter. You will… uncover what it means to participate in the liturgical traditions of Lent, from fasting to almsgivingexperience artwork and music that illuminate the impact—both personal and global—of Jesus’s death and resurrectioncontemplate the wonder of Christ’s redemption of all humankind, especially as this time of introspection reveals your human limitationsStarting on Ash Wednesday and leading you all the way through Holy Week, Bitter and Sweet is an invitation to better understand Jesus’s sacrifice as you delight in His ultimate love for you.
161 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2022
65 people are currently reading
533 people want to read
About the author
Tsh Oxenreider
21 books1,034 followersTsh Oxenreider is the author of several books, most notably At Home in the World, a book about her family’s year traveling around the world out of backpacks. She enjoys leading trips, writing a weekly newsletter, podcasting, teaching high schoolers, and raising children and chickens in her small town with her favorite husband. Learn more about all these things on her website.
In 2014-15 Tsh traveled around the world with her family of five, and it was as nuts and exhilarating as it sounds. It confirmed her suspicion: a passport truly is a portal for the world’s greatest textbook—the actual planet and all her inhabitants. After meeting her husband in war-torn Kosovo, raising babies and toddlers in a Turkish highrise apartment overlooking the Mediterranean, and living for a few years in idyllic central Oregon, they now live in a historic small-town just north of Tsh’s hometown, Austin.
She loves traveling the world, and equally loves snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef with her kids and puttering around her own backyard with a drink in hand.
In 2014-15 Tsh traveled around the world with her family of five, and it was as nuts and exhilarating as it sounds. It confirmed her suspicion: a passport truly is a portal for the world’s greatest textbook—the actual planet and all her inhabitants. After meeting her husband in war-torn Kosovo, raising babies and toddlers in a Turkish highrise apartment overlooking the Mediterranean, and living for a few years in idyllic central Oregon, they now live in a historic small-town just north of Tsh’s hometown, Austin.
She loves traveling the world, and equally loves snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef with her kids and puttering around her own backyard with a drink in hand.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 113 reviews
April 10, 2023
This book is beautiful and profound. Tsh's writing shines, and I found her accompanying playlist really meaningful. I would love for her to write a book on the vices and their corresponding virtues, because I felt like this devotional, because of the format, just waded into the waters of the subject. My interest was piqued.
April 12, 2023
This is such a good guide for Lent, especially for beginners like myself. I really liked the bite-sized meditation paired with a prayer, scripture reading, and song for each day. Bitter and Sweet will take you on a journey of self-examination and contemplation which fits so well with remembering Christ's life leading up to Easter.
April 17, 2022
I enjoyed Oxenreider’s Advent book, so naturally I ordered this one as well. The artwork on the cover and chapters is gorgeous. I appreciate that the daily scripture reading are printed in the books, so there’s no flipping back and forth between my Bible and this devotional. However, the thing I love the most is the new ways that the author looks at familiar text and the incorporation of artwork and music into the Lenten journey. So rich and emotive!
April 20, 2025
I really liked this and look forward to reading through it again next Easter season. I started it late this year and went back (slowly) and covered what I missed. It covers the the 40 days of Lent and is broken down by week. Written in it there are different sins (the bitter) and the good that can be done to balance them (the sweet). There are questions to go with to provide more thoughtfulness each day. There is also art and music (online) you can use along side it. I have loved Tsh Oxenreider's perspective on so many non-religious things that I was not surprised that I would enjoy her religious writing as well. 4⭐️
Review for 2nd time reading 4/20/25:
Happy Easter! This is my second time reading this. I was able to follow along from Ash Wednesday through today, finishing Easter morning. I think it is such an excellent book, especially if you want to add more thoughtfulness to the Lenten/Easter season. Tsh has done such a great job writing in a connective and natural way and from many inspirational sources. Every day includes a question to reflect on and my hope is that next year I spend more time with that part. She has art references and a play list to go with as well. I love how she goes through the seven cardinal or deadly sins and helps the reader to see them in a different more relatable light Then she goes through how to combat them. Anyway, this was even better the second time around. 5⭐️
Review for 2nd time reading 4/20/25:
Happy Easter! This is my second time reading this. I was able to follow along from Ash Wednesday through today, finishing Easter morning. I think it is such an excellent book, especially if you want to add more thoughtfulness to the Lenten/Easter season. Tsh has done such a great job writing in a connective and natural way and from many inspirational sources. Every day includes a question to reflect on and my hope is that next year I spend more time with that part. She has art references and a play list to go with as well. I love how she goes through the seven cardinal or deadly sins and helps the reader to see them in a different more relatable light Then she goes through how to combat them. Anyway, this was even better the second time around. 5⭐️
April 21, 2025
A great devotional in preparation for lent. I appreciated the focus on the 7 deadly sins and the transformation that came from it. Fasting for lent took on different meaning this time because of it - in a wonderful freeing sort of way.
April 9, 2023
Recommend this one!!! Enjoyed the intro, each day, and the accompanying song and weekly art (then daily during Holy Week)
April 9, 2023
I was raised Protestant and Lent is not necessarily something we observed or even discussed back in the day. In my mind, there were two significant things that happened during Lent:
1. The Catholic kids had to eat fish on Fridays, so the line for hamburgers in the school cafeteria was short, and
2. People chose things they were giving up but had no real reason for it, other than “you give something up for Lent.”
In recent years, more Christians have embraced the practice of giving something up, and this year when some girlfriends were saying what they were thinking, I thought maybe I’d join them, but I needed to think about the “why,” and what it signified.
On Ash Wednesday, one of my nieces shared the playlist from this book and said she was doing this study for Lent. I thought, “this is it!” And ordered my own copy in thankfulness that Amazon would bring it that night!
The only thing I’d change about my reading this book is to have started it the week before Ash Wednesday so I could enter the Lenten season more thoughtfully.
This book fascinated me. I’ve never read a book that was so intentional about incorporating art. Each day, there is a song to listen to, and each Sunday, a piece of art to contemplate. What a brilliant idea for a study! That said, if I were advising this author, I’d have selected an optional playlist as the musical style of the vast majority of the songs was really unappealing. Two different days, I stopped the song altogether and found another version of it (Sara Groves “For the Beauty of the Earth” - so lovely!), and (Fernando Ortega “I Need Thee Every Hour” he’s good any day of the week!). I told my niece I wish there were an alternate playlist and she misunderstood what I’d said and asked me to send it to her as she didn’t much like the majority of the songs either! There were a few I enjoyed, but the vast majority I would have preferred a different artist. Which brings me to the art. I think I liked two of them. And there were too many White Jesuses in them.
So although I loved the IDEA of the playlist and the art, the particular choices didn’t do much for me. They did get me listening to more hymns, which I liked!
All that to say (which might sound surprising), this study and this book are so good! I learned so much and it was so well-researched and so meaningful and so not full of fluff. I will probably do this study again next Lenten season as it was so rich. I will also find another playlist between now and then 😂
No spoilers, but when you get to the part about Tolkien on Easter Sunday, you too might be texting your friends and family pictures from your book!
1. The Catholic kids had to eat fish on Fridays, so the line for hamburgers in the school cafeteria was short, and
2. People chose things they were giving up but had no real reason for it, other than “you give something up for Lent.”
In recent years, more Christians have embraced the practice of giving something up, and this year when some girlfriends were saying what they were thinking, I thought maybe I’d join them, but I needed to think about the “why,” and what it signified.
On Ash Wednesday, one of my nieces shared the playlist from this book and said she was doing this study for Lent. I thought, “this is it!” And ordered my own copy in thankfulness that Amazon would bring it that night!
The only thing I’d change about my reading this book is to have started it the week before Ash Wednesday so I could enter the Lenten season more thoughtfully.
This book fascinated me. I’ve never read a book that was so intentional about incorporating art. Each day, there is a song to listen to, and each Sunday, a piece of art to contemplate. What a brilliant idea for a study! That said, if I were advising this author, I’d have selected an optional playlist as the musical style of the vast majority of the songs was really unappealing. Two different days, I stopped the song altogether and found another version of it (Sara Groves “For the Beauty of the Earth” - so lovely!), and (Fernando Ortega “I Need Thee Every Hour” he’s good any day of the week!). I told my niece I wish there were an alternate playlist and she misunderstood what I’d said and asked me to send it to her as she didn’t much like the majority of the songs either! There were a few I enjoyed, but the vast majority I would have preferred a different artist. Which brings me to the art. I think I liked two of them. And there were too many White Jesuses in them.
So although I loved the IDEA of the playlist and the art, the particular choices didn’t do much for me. They did get me listening to more hymns, which I liked!
All that to say (which might sound surprising), this study and this book are so good! I learned so much and it was so well-researched and so meaningful and so not full of fluff. I will probably do this study again next Lenten season as it was so rich. I will also find another playlist between now and then 😂
No spoilers, but when you get to the part about Tolkien on Easter Sunday, you too might be texting your friends and family pictures from your book!
June 25, 2024
While there was some beauty in these pages, I found with disappointment that this study, unlike her advent study, was so focused on our good deeds that it seemed to miss the heart of Easter. This book read more like a book report on the 7 deadly sins where Shadow and Light felt like a walk into the darkness and the joy that are married in the advent season.
April 16, 2022
I really enjoyed the deep dive into the history of Lent to start the book. Each day’s reading was short and manageable but gives a lot to chew on throughout the week. Including daily music and weekly art was clever and made for a thought-provoking activity.
April 18, 2022
I really enjoyed the scope and approach of this Lenten companion. I appreciated the focus on considering the seven major areas of sin, giving opportunity to think deeply and widely about areas of life that need change. I also liked the inclusion of scripture, guided prayer and the playlist of daily songs.
April 25, 2025
A Lent devotional, incorporating music and art into the spiritual journey of preparing to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. It is thoughtfully done and inspired me to walk more like Jesus and have my life and character molded by His values and not the world around us.
April 20, 2022
A lovely companion during the season of Lent and Holy Week.
Tsh Oxenreider leads the reader through Lent through the lens of the vices and prompts the reader to reflect on how the vices grip our own lives. She gives a song to listen to every day, as well as a painting on Sundays for added reflection.
Each day's reading takes less than five minutes, but could give a hold day of reflection if the reader chooses.
Would recommend for people who want to a simple study during Lent.
Tsh Oxenreider leads the reader through Lent through the lens of the vices and prompts the reader to reflect on how the vices grip our own lives. She gives a song to listen to every day, as well as a painting on Sundays for added reflection.
Each day's reading takes less than five minutes, but could give a hold day of reflection if the reader chooses.
Would recommend for people who want to a simple study during Lent.
April 10, 2023
First, you should know i do not like devotion books. Also, I’m not catholic and I’ve never observed Lent before.
I absolutely loved this book. I appreciated the daily readings & songs, the explanations of lent, and the beautiful art selections.
This was such a blessing to me that I purchased her Advent book 💜
I absolutely loved this book. I appreciated the daily readings & songs, the explanations of lent, and the beautiful art selections.
This was such a blessing to me that I purchased her Advent book 💜
April 23, 2025
I adored this simple and lovely book to prepare for Easter. Oxenreider has a gift as she focuses on themes and concisely wraps each section up with scripture, a lesson, and oftentimes music and/or a piece of art. Such a artful way to experience Lent. I will be revisiting this book each Spring.
April 17, 2022
4 ⭐️ This is a daily devotional for the season of Lent. This is also my first book of that kind! I enjoyed it a lot! Marianne invited me to read this book with her.
I liked how each section was set up: with a verse from the Bible, a note from the author, something to reflect on for the day, a prayer for the day, a song , and (to cap the week off) an art piece to view and think about. Honestly I didn’t listen to the song except for the first two weeks or so 😅. But the ones I did it was contemporary worship music.I also semi expected the art to be all oil painting classics but I was pleasantly surprised by the variety. It was fun to see the art and think about the week’s theme.
Was I always remembering to read my daily reading? No 😅 BUT even in the into the author acknowledges that it’s totally human to do this AND it’s totally ok. I think her saying that made me appreciate the book more.
My one caveat is that the author’s language at the start seemed very ‘flowery’ or ‘poetic’ at times. I had to read through somethings multiple times to parse out what she was trying to say. Either I got use to her language or she started cutting back on it later in the book .
Overall I think this was a good daily devotional. Would I recommend it? Sure! To someone wanting to take a ‘deeper dive’ into Lent.
Happy Easter y’all!
I liked how each section was set up: with a verse from the Bible, a note from the author, something to reflect on for the day, a prayer for the day, a song , and (to cap the week off) an art piece to view and think about. Honestly I didn’t listen to the song except for the first two weeks or so 😅. But the ones I did it was contemporary worship music.I also semi expected the art to be all oil painting classics but I was pleasantly surprised by the variety. It was fun to see the art and think about the week’s theme.
Was I always remembering to read my daily reading? No 😅 BUT even in the into the author acknowledges that it’s totally human to do this AND it’s totally ok. I think her saying that made me appreciate the book more.
My one caveat is that the author’s language at the start seemed very ‘flowery’ or ‘poetic’ at times. I had to read through somethings multiple times to parse out what she was trying to say. Either I got use to her language or she started cutting back on it later in the book .
Overall I think this was a good daily devotional. Would I recommend it? Sure! To someone wanting to take a ‘deeper dive’ into Lent.
Happy Easter y’all!
April 8, 2023
Really lovely. I especially enjoyed the accompanying playlist and suggested pieces of art to contemplate each Sunday, and then each day of Holy Week. The thematic thread of vices and virtues stuck with me throughout the season. I enjoy Tsh’s clear and pastoral voice and may pick up her Advent book when the time comes! I will set this one aside to revisit in a few years.
April 9, 2023
Wonderful devotional. Daily readings are of manageable size and thought provoking. I’ve seen some reviews here and on Amazon complaining that the book is “too Catholic,” which surprised me. As a reformed person, I found it quite ecumenical and would recommend it to friends of any Christian tradition.
April 20, 2025
I used this book for my Lenten devotional this year and I really loved it. Oxenreider is a great writer. And I really appreciated the organizing principles of the seven deadly sins and then the contrast of the seven virtues. It made an excellent focus for the 40 days of Lent.
I will be using this again in the future.
I will be using this again in the future.
April 17, 2022
This Lenten study utilizes multi-media interaction do that your preparation for the celebration of Christ's death and resurrection can be fully immersive and more than just a quick read to check off of the list. The music, art, and prayers give both breadth and depth to this study. This study is for all denominations who want to prepare their hearts for Christ.
April 18, 2022
I loved this book so much. It was easy to digest daily but also really thought provoking. I loved how she focused on the seven deadly sins and what they can look like in our everyday loves. I can see myself reading this again next year.
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March 10, 2023Abandoned half way through. I like my devotional/lent studies to focus more on Christ than me. Think it would have been more beneficial if it used Jesus' life as examples or how he'd modeled these traits...
April 10, 2023
I really enjoyed this Lenten companion. Short, doable, but meaningful daily readings.
April 10, 2023
This was my first time actively participating in the Lenten season besides just giving up one thing. Tsh allowed my rest in the Word, reflect on what God intends of me, connect more with Him
April 10, 2023
Very much enjoyed this guide through Lent. It is well written and invites deeper reflection through a question, prayer and song suggestion. Thoughtful and engaging.
April 1, 2024
I think my favorite part was the preparation for lent!!! Lots of solid background, purpose, and suggestions to have a meaningful Lenten season
August 26, 2024
Wow wow. Yes.
April 20, 2025
This is a beautifully done book with brief, meditative thoughts for the weeks leading up to Easter. I enjoyed it!
April 10, 2023
This is a good book to read during the Lenten season leading up to Easter.
April 11, 2023
Very good book to follow along with the season of Lent. It definitely revealed a lot spiritually to me and helped me focus during my fast.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 113 reviews