Holy Hot Mess: Finding God in the Details of this Weird and Wonderful Life-a book review

Throughout her book, Hot Holy Mess, Mary Katherine Backstrom uses weird and wonderful stories from her life to explain what she has learned about God’s grace, how it works in her life, and how that grace can work for all of us.

Holy Hot Mess

finding God in the details of this weird and wonderful life

by Mary Katherine Backstrom

note: This post uses affiliate links to sites that may pay a commission used to fund this blog. The photos used here are for illustration only and are not associated with the author or the book.

I read health and medical books for my own education and to review for this blog. Sometimes I choose something non-medical just for fun. So when I saw this book at the library, it seemed a good choice to escape the medical world for a few hours.

I became a little nervous on page 3 when the author mentioned in college she had dated a “shaggy-haired soccer player named Ian, who was premed” but I kept going. The next page she mentioned that he had “finished his training”.  I was suspicious but kept reading.

Finally, the truth came out; this soccer player Ian guy grew up to be an emergency room physician and her husband. Next, she threw in CANCER and COVID. By then I realized I had picked another holy hot mess health book; there was no turning back.

MK’s weird and wonderful life

Although I’m well past her stage of life, I found Mary Katherine’s book funny, touching, and engaging.  Mary Katherine, MK, had a rather ordinary upbringing, living with her single mother, two siblings, and pets, cheerleading in high school, then off to college ( which she didn’t take seriously). She fell in love, got married, had two children, and lived happily ever after.

Well, not quite happily ever after. That’s why she calls this book HOT HOLY MESS; that’s what her life has been like, and still is. She often (and still does) felt like an outsider.

But she always managed to find soulmates who accepted her for who she was. She also met Jesus who accepts her as she is and she wrote this book to tell us about Him.

A hot mess

When I picked up this book I assumed it was one of those books that she describes on page 210; those written by a

“woman who likes to poke fun at herself for her life being a hot mess. We find solidarity in owning up to our relatable rough edges. That’s why there are so many popular bloggers with mom buns and trashed out minivans. There’s a particular level of mess that plays well to the masses earning a badge of “realness”. God forbid your mess looks like a divorce, poverty, or severe depression.”

But, God

Mary Katherine hasn’t been divorced and she’s not in poverty although money was tight for her family after her father left. She admits to struggles with anxiety and depression as well as some other hot messes that I won’t spoil by revealing here.  Mary Katherine is as real to her readers as she is to her God.

My edges aren’t neat. And I don’t exceed any standards: societal, biblical, otherwise. I’m an impatient parent. An imperfect spouse. An inconsistent churchgoer. I’m a crash dieting, emotionally fragile wreck, who spends as much money on therapy as tithing. I have a very hard time loving myself. All I see is a hot mess Mary Katherine.

But, God. He views me through a different lens entirely.

MK

Throughout her book, Holy Hot Mess, Mary Katherine Backstrom uses weird and wonderful stories from her life to explain what she has learned about God’s grace, how it works in her life, and how that grace can work for all of us.

Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh on Pexels.com

Your life is the backdrop of God’s greatest miracles. Your mess is the clay in his hands.

MK

Other books by Mary

Mom Babble: The Messy Truth about Motherhood

Crazy Joy: Finding Wild Happiness in a World That’s Upside Down

MK on Facebook

I found her on Facebook at Mary Katherine Backstrom, where she promotes her books and shares her views on a lot of other stuff .

You may not agree with everything MK says on her page, or in her book, but she will entertain you and may challenge you to confront the holy hot messes in your own life, with the same honesty, courage, and surrender to what God wants to do in your life.

Photo by Jonathan Borba on Pexels.com

Her husband, Ian, has taken a “sabbatical” from clinical medicine, having lost the “joy of practicing”. I can relate, I have experienced that in my career. Medicine is a demanding profession, and sometimes the hardest demands come from within.

I’m going to follow along his journey, I hope he finds his way back to joy and satisfaction in the work he trained for. Here’s what he’s doing instead.

While I have beeen taking a sabbatical from clinical medicine, I have been spending a lot of time coaching at our local CrossFit gym. I know that fitness and CrossFit specifically sometimes get a bad rap as they are often associated with superficiality, body negativity, and unsafe movement.

In my experience this couldn’t be further from the truth. Fitness and specifically functional fitness (which CrossFit emphasizes) is medicine when delivered and practiced appropriately.

It rehabilitates our bodies, minds, and souls. It also allows for the discovery of deeper truths through the medium of competition and pushing the limits of our physical bodies.

Photo by Victor Freitas on Pexels.com
update August 7, 2024

Several months after writing this post I read on her Facebook page that Mary Backstrom and her husband Ian divorced. I am sad divorce has taken yet another marriage and children who deserve better. I offer my prayers for peace and healing to this family.

exploring the HEART of health in books

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an open book with pages folded to make a heart

Dr Aletha

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The Democratic Party- “Universal Health Care”

Democrats will keep up the fight until all Americans can access secure, affordable, high-quality health insurance—because as Democrats, we fundamentally believe health care is a right for all, not a privilege for the few.

I ‘ve started a series of blog posts that review each major party’s platform on healthcare and related issues. I take this information directly from the website of each party’s platform and include the link so you can read the complete document.

We’ve already looked at the parties’ views on gun violence and control. This post will look at health insurance.

Every office holder or candidate may or may not fully subscribe to their party’s platform. Whether you are registered as a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or some other party, ultimately you will vote for a person. Do your research and learn what that person stands for.

Follow this blog so you’ll know when each post in the series is online.

Note: the photos are for illustration, are not affiliated with the party platform, and are not intended to influence your opinion.

The Democratic Party Platform

This party platform was considered by the 2020 Platform committee at its meeting July 27, 2020 and was approved by the Democratic National Convention August 18, 2020.

ACHIEVING UNIVERSAL, AFFORDABLE, QUALITY HEALTH CARE

Democrats have fought to achieve universal health care for a century. We are proud to be the party of Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act.

Because of the Obama-Biden Administration and the Affordable Care Act, more than 100 million Americans with pre-existing conditions, from heart disease to asthma, are secure in the knowledge that insurance companies can no longer discriminate against them. Women can no longer be charged more than men just because of their gender. And more Americans are able to get health coverage than ever before.

  as Democrats, we fundamentally believe health care is a right for all, not a privilege for the few.

Photo by Olya Kobruseva on Pexels.com

Securing Universal Health Care Through a Public Option

Democrats believe we need to protect, strengthen, and build upon our bedrock health care programs, including the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Veterans Affairs (VA) system. Private insurers need real competition to ensure they have incentive to provide affordable, quality coverage to every American.

Choosing a public option through the ACA marketplace

To achieve that objective, we will give all Americans the choice to select a high-quality, affordable public option through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

The public option will provide at least one plan choice without deductibles; will be administered by CMS, not private companies; and will cover all primary care without any co-payments and control costs for other treatments by negotiating prices with doctors and hospitals, just like Medicare does on behalf of older people.

Everyone will be eligible to choose the public option or another Affordable Care Act marketplace plan. To help close the persistent racial gap in insurance rates, Democrats will expand funding for Affordable Care Act outreach and enrollment programs, so every American knows their options for securing quality, affordable coverage.

Expand Medicare eligibility

And we will enable millions of older workers to choose between their employer-provided plans, the public option, or enrolling in Medicare when they turn 60, instead of having to wait until they are 65. Democrats are categorically opposed to raising the Medicare retirement age.

Americans should be able to access public coverage through a public option and those over 55 should be able to opt in to Medicare.

a senior adult couple relaxing in lawn chairs

Democrats will

empower the states to use innovation waivers under the ACA to develop unique locally tailored approaches to health coverage

work to end other practices that lead to out-of-control medical debt , repeal the excise tax on high-cost health insurance, reducing out-of-pocket expenses, and capping prescription drug costs

fight against insurers trying to impose excessive premium increases

fight any attempts by Republicans to privatize, voucherize, or phase out Medicare as we know it

oppose Republican plans to slash funding and block grant Medicaid and SNAP

keep fighting until the ACA’s Medicaid expansion has been adopted in every state

a nurse discussing blood pressure with a patient.
This photograph was taken during a blood pressure (BP) screening exercise that was being conducted by Centers for Disease Control (CDC) nurses in order to help employees monitor their blood pressure. photo compliments of Yvonne Green, RN, CNM, MSN, from the Centers for Disease Control collection

Supporting Community Health Centers

We also know that finally covering every American through the public and private insurance system alone is not enough to guarantee universal access.

Investing in Community and Rural health clinics

That is why Democrats support doubling investments in community health centers and rural health clinics in underserved urban and rural areas,

including increased support for dental care, mental health care, and substance use services like medication-assisted treatment, support for mobile health clinics.

a female physician talking to a male patient
FROM LIGHTSTOCK.COM, AFFILIATE LINK

Grow the healthcare work force

We will expand the National Health Service Corps and Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program to grow a diverse primary care workforce and to address critical shortages of health care providers in medically underserved rural and urban areas, including primary care nurses, dental professionals, and mental health and substance use counselors.

exploring the HEART of healthcare change

I appreciate your interest in the politics of healthcare, an issue that is vital to all of us every day. These proposals will become more focussed and debated as election day approaches; the national election is Tuesday November 1, 2022. Please exercise your right to vote, I intend to.

Medical stethoscope and heart on a textured background

Dr Aletha

Dr. Aletha