This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite
The Minister and The Madness: Seven Days of Casting by Natalie McMillan follows Natalie, a minister who receives a startling spiritual directive in the aftermath of her closest friend’s sudden death: she has seven days to let go. As she steadies the grieving daughters from miles away, Natalie becomes the unexpected anchor while privately confronting her own accumulation of delayed sorrow. What begins as an act of obedience turns into a structured reckoning, as each day drives her to examine the memories she has carried in silence, including unresolved family divisions and the weight of pastoral responsibility. Writing under what she believes is divine instruction, she documents the cost of holding everything together when faith collides with fatigue. Across seven consecutive days, Natalie undertakes a deliberate act of spiritual release that will determine whether she continues carrying the burden or finally sets it down.
In The Minister and The Madness, Natalie McMillan shows us that ministry is a deliberate decision to lay down what is crushing you before it lays you down. She structures that decision across seven intentional days that move a person from unrest toward spiritual steadiness. A book like this matters right now because we are living in a time where people can quote therapeutic language all day long, yet they still do not know how to release what they were never designed to carry in the first place. McMillan speaks directly to seasoned believers who look composed on Sunday morning while privately carrying leadership strain and questions that don't have tidy answers. The writing is straightforward and broken down by day, and everything can be applied almost immediately. I love her long-handled spoon metaphor for reevaluating who gets emotional access to you this week, and her spoken “nevertheless prayer” when you feel reluctant to comply with what you know is right. For readers who are pastors, mature believers, or even thoughtful lay leaders, the author offers structured spiritual formation that meets you where you are and calls you higher. Recommended.
