Sheila Walsh is a bestselling author who’s sold almost six million books. She served as the co-host of a national television program and a core speaker on the wildly popular Women of Faith touring event with millions attending. But what most don’t know is that when Sheila was 5 years old, her father suffered a brain thrombosis that changed him from a fun, kind dad to an angry, unpredictable, abusive stranger who would spit in her face and pull her hair out — he eventually committed suicide. Even as a successful TV host, author and speaker, Sheila battled clinical depression and, at her lowest point, spent a month in a psychiatric hospital for suicidal thoughts and depression. In her new book, Holding On When You Want to Let Go, Sheila talks openly about how the global pandemic magnified and exacerbated her struggles, and how she continues to hold on to hope each day.
Sheila makes this powerful statement in her new book, “Fair doesn’t live here but Jesus does.” On the Make Life Matter Podcast, Angela Donadio asked Sheila how this helps us to hold on when we want to let go.
“It’s been such a joy to have my son, Christian, and walk beside him as his faith shaped and grew and changed. I remember the night that he and I were the only ones home on the night my father-in-law died. We drove behind the ambulance on the way to the hospital. When we got to the hospital, we discovered that William was home. Christian did what I expected him to do; he cried and cried. Then, one day, he pushed our cat off the sofa, which wasn’t like him. I said, ‘Do you want to go for a walk?’
“He said, ‘Yeah, okay.’ Halfway through the walk, I said, ‘Are you angry?’ He said, ‘Yes, I’m angry. You said God answers prayers. And I prayed, “God, do not take my Papa,” and he died anyway. And I don’t understand that. God is not fair.’
“There’s not a human being alive that doesn’t understand certain things are not fair. But that’s where the gift of forgiveness comes in. Because so many of us think we need to forgive to be ‘good Christian men and women.’ Forgiveness is God’s gift to us to live in a world that’s not fair. Because fair doesn’t live here, but Jesus does. The bigger our picture is of who Jesus is, it changes everything. We want things to be fair but Jesus wants to give us His presence. Because Jesus is present in the worst moments in life.” {eoa}
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Shawn Akers 
Rabbi Eric Tokajer 
