Hidden in My Heart – A Review

by Jan Van Staaldinen

Taylor Murray, a 14-year-old TCK, writes about the struggles and blessings of her cross-cultural experiences while living in Japan.

After reading the last sentence in Chapter 1 – Introduction, my response was “WOW!” The author writes, “I find it so overwhelming when I take a step back and realize how God displayed my well-hidden ugliness and then used it to ultimately glorify Him.” WOW, she gets it! At the young age of 14, this young lady understands the truth of God’s love, sovereignty, and redeeming grace.

The book is a series of prayers to God in which the author openly shares her challenges and emotional struggles as well as God’s blessings in her life as a TCK. The book is divided into two parts. In Part 1 (chapters 1-10) the author writes about her struggles with negative emotions she experienced as a TCK. She courageously exposes the anger and bitterness she had “hidden in her heart,” and shares the truths the Lord revealed to her in her search for answers to some of life’s difficult questions. In Part 2 (chapters 11-22) the author writes about the joys and blessings she had been blinded to because of the anger and bitterness. After allowing the negative emotions to surface and dealing with them, she was able to see God’s love for her and how He had blessed her life through her experiences and used them for His glory. At the end of each chapter the author includes thought provoking questions that will aide you in revealing “what’s hidden in your heart.”

Although this book is written by a TCK for TCKs and parents/caregivers of TCKs, I would highly recommend it to all young people, parents and caregivers. Through this book the author gives us an honest look into the negative emotions associated with peer pressure and the desire for acceptance that each of us struggles with and how the Holy Spirit can use our struggles and experiences for our good and God’s glory. This book has been a beautiful reminder of how life is not about me but about God and His glory.

Permission to copy, but not for commercial use.