When Life Doesn't Match Your Dreams

      BOOK REVIEW:   Life is full of twists and turns. Relationships falter, careers fizzle, health fades. We may be faced with choices we never wanted to make or have situations pushed upon us we never expected. Yet in all of it, God is at our side---even when He feels far away.
     Drawing on her extensive research into women of the Old Testament, novelist Jill Eileen Smith turns her pen to what we can learn about trusting God from women like Eve, Noah's wife, Sarai, Hagar, Lot's wife, Rebekah, Rachel, and more. You'll discover what these ancient women did right---and what they did wrong---when faced with dashed expectations and deferred dreams. And you'll come away with the confidence that God loves you and is forming you through your trials into the woman He longs for you to be.

     MY REVIEW:   Jill is a fiction writer, and she brings an interesting format into this book. Each chapter is focusing on a different woman from the Bible, and begins with a very brief "If I were so-and-so", with an equally brief "Imagine with Me" halfway through the nonfiction section. I liked how she did it and it gave an image to her thoughts. And while the fiction portions are most likely not how it happened, it gave me perspective on how it could have been, making the women more personal and human. Perhaps their choices seemed obviously bad, like Eve's eating of the fruit. But Jill brings out observations like the guilt Eve would have carried, and the memories of what used to be. And how did it change the relations in her family? She still made the wrong choice. But we can learn from her.
     Following each chapter then is a paragraph or two in summary to make us "ponder" and "taking it further" questions. I found the book to be thought provoking, but not difficultly deep. It was easy to read and grasp, especially interspersed with the fiction sections. Jill takes examples from women often overlooked, such as Potifer and Noah's wives. It is interesting to imagine a bit of their lives and learn from what they may have experienced. For example, Jill imagines Potifer's wife may have felt neglected by her important husband, and talks of overcoming the feelings of rejection. And with Noah's wife, finding hope and security in an evil world.

I recieved a copy of this book from REVELL and was not required to write a positive review.