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A storyteller at heart, Michele Cushatt inspires audiences with the warmth of her transparency and presence. Her unique style makes you feel like you just spent an afternoon with a good friend, sparking tears one moment and laughter the next. Having experienced both the best and worst of life, she’s unafraid to disclose her imperfect spaces, so that you know you’re not alone in yours.
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Undone is author Michele Cushatt’s quest to make peace with a complicated life. It is an honest confession of a diagnosis of cancer and the joys and disappointments of motherhood and marriage, ripe with regret over what is and, yet, still hopeful for what could be.
With enough humor to ease the rawness of the story, Undone takes the reader on a roller coaster two-year journey through the unexpectedness of life. A look back makes Michele long for a do-over, the chance to make fewer mistakes and leave less of a mess to clean up. A look forward makes Michele wonder if all her attempts to control life have robbed her of the vibrancy of it. And, in the middle of this internal chaos, she finds her once-pristine house filled with the sights and sounds of three small, uncontainable children who just want to be loved.
In the end, Undone turns complication into a beautiful canvas, angst into joy, and the unknown into an adventure, revealing that sometimes life’s most colorful and courageous stories are written right in the middle of the mess. -From the Publisher
Some things discussed on the show…
…Michele’s life changed by orders of magnitude over the span of about 8 months. She got a cancer diagnosis and 3 new (to her) children under her care during that time.
…this quote from the book
“Cancer, as heinous and evil as it was, had delivered an unexpected gift. It taught us how to live. Not in regret over all the ways we wished we could go back and do it over. Not in mourning the countless unfinished, undone places that yet remained. And not in fear of the unknown future we couldn’t predict or control. Cancer–in both its presence and absence–had taught me the immeasurable value of today.”
…how the presence of God felt different to than Michele thought it would.
…how divorce is a part of Michele’s story and how that has made her more able to identify with those that have had a messy life.
…what it was like raising her own children and then essentially starting over with 3 other children.
…Michele has lived a pretty clean life and taken care of herself and her body before her diagnosis, and that moment of feel like “meaningless meaningless everything is meaningless”.
…how coming so close to the realness of death makes you treat yourself better, not physically, but internally and understanding just how valuable you are as a human being.
Win a copy of Undone!
What was your favorite quote from Michele in the interview? Leave it in the comment section and then I’ll pick one commenter to get a free copy of Undone!
My podcasting e-course launched today. For more information on how to register click here.
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I loved, when Michele told us about her process of “adopting” three new kids and had the feeling of god saying: “I’m not asking you to go, I’m asking you to stay.”
So often, we think, we would do anything for God, but in the back of our mind, we have filtered the really bad stuff out.
Picking just one quote that Michele said in the interview that spoke to me is very hard. I loved this whole interview. A few of the many is our obedience to God is not a Hollywood experience it is a very real experience. I have lived my life like that and that is no way to live at all. I am in the middle of a very difficult trial that needs prayer. A part of my story involves my kids getting taken out of my care by CPS. (Praise God they are now back with me!) I learned so much from the experience that I am glad it happened. Like Michele said, a fear of the unknown drawn me so much closer to God. Another quote I loved is doubts are neccessary to grow your faith. Thank for having her on the show and I will definitely subscribing to your podcasts. (I found your show through Michele’s Twitter)
@Tobi Looks like you’re the winner! Want to email me your address so I can send you the book?