The Edge of Belonging

 

     BOOK REVIEW:   When Ivy Rose returns to her hometown to oversee her late grandmother's estate sale, she soon discovers that the woman left behind more than trinkets and photo frames--she provided a path to the truth behind Ivy's adoption. Shocked, Ivy seeks clues to her past, but a key piece to the mystery is missing. 

     Twenty-four years earlier, Harvey James finds an abandoned newborn who gives him a sense of human connection for the first time in his life. His desire to care for the baby runs up against the stark fact that he is homeless. When he becomes entwined with two people seeking to help him find his way, Harvey knows he must keep the baby a secret or risk losing the only person he's ever loved. 

     In this dual-timeline story from debut novelist Amanda Cox, the truth--both the search for it and the desire to keep it from others--takes center stage as Ivy and Harvey grapple with love, loss, and letting go. 

     MY REVIEW:   I quite liked this book. It has been awhile since I enjoyed a book this much. The story was moving and sweet. The dual-timeline was done well and each chapter sported a date to keep the reader on track. It is certainly no mystery novel; as it progresses you can easily predict outcomes, but there were a few surprises thrown in. And the story is not a typical one. It's a story of adoption so you know everyone connects somehow, but the focus is on the people--what they're going through and how everything is affecting them. It's a story full of hurt and healing, sorrow and newfound joy. One of my favorite lines in the book is this one about being there for others and not making any pain insignificant: "It's not about your pain versus my pain. It's about sharing in the human experience and knowing what it is to hurt." 

     When it comes to Christian books, there are two ditches: having too much religion leaving no space for realism, and too little giving the characters a happy ending of their own strength. At the start of the book I thought it needed more of God in it, but as it progressed I saw the strong theme of ''you are precious in God's eyes; He created you and He doesn't make mistakes". It's not a story of redemption and turning your life to God as much as it's a story of belonging, and discovering that God--and those close to you--love you deeply simply because you are you. 

     A huge theme of this book that I really loved is the the practice of helping others. Harvey was one of the most loving, helpful people despite his rough life and appearance. He may not have had the resources to help in traditional ways, but he did some pretty selfless things for those he could help. And in turn, he was helped and given a chance to prove himself reliable based only on the giver's generous heart. So little can be so much to someone who needs it. 

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

     

Why Am I Not Healed

       BOOK REVIEW:   Pastor Glen Berteau approaches life-altering events with firsthand insight. In the parking lot outside his church, soon after writing this book, he suffered cardiac arrest and died. Following the lack of oxygen and trauma to his body from the repeated electric shocks that revived him, his chance of survival was extremely slim. For five days his family and friends refused the devastating prognosis.....and prayed the way he taught them to pray. 

     Now, walking out his miracle, Pastor Glen wants to help other believers understand the power we have in the spirit realm to command mountains to move. 

     Do you struggle to know if it is God's will to heal? Let Pastor Glen share his gripping story with you as he counters seventeen hindrances to prayer for healing---and many powerful healing Scriptures and declarations. With the signposts presented here, you can rise up in your God-given authority and declare, "Devil, your request has been denied."

     

     MY REVIEW:   This book is very straightforward: you can pray away any illness. I read the book with some trepidation. There are good solid christians who die of illness; we live in a fallen world with imperfect bodies that are not immuned to disease. How can we declare that we don't have to be sick? Can we really claim to have authority over what perhaps God has allowed to befall us for whatever reason? Glen sounds so sure and gives no backing down, but I don't know that I'd take it to the extreme he does. 

     However, as I reviewed the book, I found many solid principles: 

1. We cannot use the power of prayer as a mere tool at our disposal. We have to be in constant communion with God and His Word. "You must rise with the Word in your life." -pg 16
2. When the four men brought their lame friend into the house where Jesus taught, the way was crowded so they entered through the roof. Miracles don't come on a platter, "if you want to get your miracle, you have to make a great effort, and that means you may be inconvenienced." -pg19
3. Jesus didn't just heal physical ailments, He began with spiritual ones. But here is one of my biggest hiccups with the book: Glen goes on to say "sin is connected to physical sickness."-pg 23   I don't believe that the wealthy healthy man is always the christian, and that the poor sick man always is not. God says that He blesses the just and the unjust, and we do live in an imperfect, fallen world. That's not to say that sickness is never the result of sin, but it's an area I need to study more myself. Glen writes, "Jesus wants to heal you, but first He wants to forgive your sins.... I need to look at not just my physical body but all the areas in my life that God needs to adjust."-pg 31   Yes, but then he writes, "it will be easy to receive your physical healing when you get your life right spiritually... if there are issues in your spirit, it will eventually show up as some form of physical illness."-pg 32    I believe that illnesses can often be the result of sin in one's life, but to put such an unswerving point on it feels overstepped. 
4. We have to put the majority of our time and efforts into our relationship with God, because that is what will stand for eternity. I really needed this reminder: "The spirit world is more real than the physical world. It is eternal. It has always existed and it will always exist."-pg78    If we do not know what God's word says, we will be easily led astray by good-sounding, but false, doctrine. 
5. Often God promises us something and it takes a good long while to come about. Did we hear God wrong? Did He change His mind, or did I do something to affect it? There will be in-between times in life when we just have to trust God and wait. "We all go through the in-between times. You may never understand, but one day we will get to Heaven, and we will get those answers."-pg131   There are usually obstacles to overcome in our lifetime, obstacles that would overwhelm if we knew them before they came. Often it is a blessing not to know what is ahead. At the end of it all, if we turn from God where else can we turn to? So trust, and stick it out. 

     All in all, I give the book a good review, for although I think it does overstep in instances, the material is good and well-written. The subject of prayer is one that can never be over-studied, and no one single book (excepting the Bible), can be an absolute guide to it.  One of the later chapters has a list of seventeen reasons why we may not be healed. While I may not agree that there is always something we can change to be healed, it is a good list to consider for any person, as it contains common pitfalls to every Christian. 

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