Review: When Love Ends and The Ice-Cream Carton is Empty

We have either read/ heard or seen the movie "He's Just not that Into You" and have read numerous break-up bibles and guides. Ever wondered what the christianity side says and reads ,well today with Jackie M. Johnson, she lets us into her book "When the Love ends and the Ice-cream carton is Empty". Review Copy provided from www.netgalley.com

Review: When Love Ends and the Ice-cream Carton is Empty - Jackie M. Johnson - May 2010

"Though I sit in the darkness, the Lord will be my light - Micah 7v8".

Breaking Up as the song sings is hard to do, it can be damaging to ones self-esteem and can leave us hurting to the point that we all think that we would not be able to find love again and that it is the end of the world as we know it, and like they do in the movies, when the love ends we all retreat to the fridge/freezer and pull out a carton of Ben and Jerry's or in New Zealand a container of Tip-Top/ Cadbury and go through a period of mourning with just you and the ice-cream. But as we all know , the ice-cream only lasts for so long, so what happens when the carton is empty , where to next?

With When Love ends and the Ice-cream Carton is Empty by Jackie M. Johnson , it teaches us what to do next and how to move on with our lives. The book is broken into four parts, that each interweave as a journey for our broken hearts to be mended. The first chapter is called "Twilight" - nothing to do with the Stephenie Meyer saga though. Twilight takes us on a journey to how to deal with the fact and reality that things have ended , it is how you deal with the ending that will reflect in any future relationships that you may endure. Inside Twilight ,it is broken down further to three parts - Sunset: which teaches us how to deal with those messy endings , The edge of the Evening : Getting the comfort and support we need from others in this heartbroken time and Nightfall : this discusses the grieving of loss that we all suffer.

The second chapter is titled Night. Night talks about the darkness that shadows us when we are grieving our loses but as God lets us know , he is the light in our dark times .In the section of Night we discuss the Midnight Hour of Healing the emotional pain we are suffering , Night Lights: the joy of experiencing God's love in all of us through the hard times and climbing Out of the Shadows - this is one of the most important skills we must learn - how to forgive and discover the power within forgiveness. 

In the third chapter we travel to Dawn , it is in this chapter that we slowly awaken to the possibilities that their is more and that this heartbreak has only made us stronger. Within Dawn arises Before Sunrise : where we learn to wait well and that better things will come our way , First Light : just as it sounds is about re-awakening the hope of another relationship and the future within us all and Illumination: this for me was the most important section in the book as from a personal experience ,being the one dumped can be quite damaging and end in a result of self-rejection and low self-esteem. Illumination teaches us how to restore our self-esteem and confidence.
To conclude the final chapter is Day, a new day has arisen and we are a new person, ready to take on the world with a new challenge and outlook. The chapter Day includes Arise : A guide to Waking Up to the rest of your life, just because you had a relationship end it doesn't mean your life ends here so readers go out and Shine and make healthier choices next time, don't flutter from one loser to another and finally there are Brighter days ahead as When Love ends and the Ice-cream Carton is Empty the best place to be living is in the light of God and Yourself.