Magazines at supermarket checkouts delight in revealing the struggles of ‘celebrities’. It may be a ‘star’ desperately trying for a baby, one going through a traumatic relationship, another with an eating disorder or post-natal depression. Their stories are sensationalised. Often they’ll be back next week with a new ‘revelation’ but no real answers.

Everyone, male and female, faces challenges in life. Jean Gibson retells the stories of Christian women who have faced big challenges head-on in her book Seasons of Womanhood. They may not all have a recognised ‘happy ending’ but their faith has kept them going. They have learnt that ‘no situation is beyond hope’. Jean’s hope is that their stories will reassure others that they are not the only ones going through tough times.

For the past ten years Jean has worked for the Christian charity Care for the Family, co-ordinating their work in Northern Ireland. Her work has brought her into contact with thousands of women; each one has a unique story. Jean has brought together the experiences of nine women based on the reality of their everyday lives. They cover various stages of a woman’s life, from early days through to the final years.

Jean tells Challenge readers why these particular stories were included and what she has learnt from the process. ‘I knew all of the women, some better than others. Some I’d known for many years and they were good friends. Others I’d just got to know recently and thought “that’s a story that needs to be told”. ‘I work with Care for the Family and we have a big event in Belfast each autumn called Reality. There are about 1500 women who come to that. I wanted to tell some of their stories.

‘I wanted to go through the stages of life and, I suppose, I wanted the book to appeal to readers of all ages. I’ve already had a 17 year-old and a 90 year-old tell me that they have appreciated it. So it’s meeting that objective. ‘I have always enjoyed writing. I wrote for magazines but there was always so much more that needed to be said. I’ve a lot of stories still buzzing around! What do the featured women have in common?

‘They were all real life stories. These women were vulnerable. It’s not a book of happy endings. And they are following God as best they can. God’s faithfulness in these challenged circumstances is a theme that runs through the book. There are no short cuts or overnight answers for these women - just hanging in there. At the end of the day their relationship with God was the most important thing.

‘For some it was quite traumatic to go through things in detail. I really appreciated the fact that they were so honest.’ We often don’t get warning when we move from one stage of life to another. ‘I suppose the underlying thing is to embrace the good things, the opportunities in every stage we are at.’

‘I have always been inspired by the stories of great women in the past,’ Jean writes in her introduction, ‘women who have overcome enormous obstacles, proving God in unusual circumstances and thereby growing stronger and more dynamic in their faith.’ The twenty-first century women whose stories Jean tells are no less encouraging. ‘Each of the women in this book has something to teach us. They provide us with evidence that none of us is alone in our situation.

‘The good news is that God has a plan for each of us, and although we face difficulties and problems, there is always hope. God reaches out to us in our struggles. He has done it for others, he can do it for you!’