A book about forgiveness and faith. Great book, but not my favorite by this author.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD - you have been notified.

I finished this book this afternoon and have been struggling with what I wanted to say in this review. I think that I am struggling because I thoroughly enjoyed the story and don't want to be cynical but I think I need to be.

The issues discussed in the book are as follows: underage drinking, illegal car racing, high school bullying, bomb threats, parents teaching children entitlement, parents rallying to fire a coach, paralysis, a car accident, legal troubles, premature labor, a premature baby in NICU, abortion, troubled marriages/divorce, pornography and I may be missing some.

Yes, all those issues were addressed in this book and although it is a lot I think my real problem was they were all resolved by the end in a happy way. God answered all the prayers, everyone felt better and had resolved their issues. At one point in the book, it stresses that God answers prayers not as we want, but in his time, in his way and that everything that happens, God has a purpose for it. Yet, everything was fixed in the way that the characters wanted it to be. I wish I had faith in positive resolutions.

I continue to remind myself that this is fiction and that the point was that God does answer prayers, continue praying and pray without ceasing. Reality brings us different answers.

Another wonderful love story by Karen Kingsbury.

These books are FULL of cheese but they're so wholesome and refreshing. This book is the direct sequel to the first one so anything beyond here will probably be spoilers. John and Abby are back together and all is well. Their daughter is married, their inlaws are Christians etc. The first problem comes in John's coaching career. The parents have turned on him because everyone thinks their kid needs more playing time. He's considering quitting because there is a campaign to have him fired and then there is the added drama of a potential school bomber. Everyone is scared of a suicide bomber and the upcoming game. Nothing happens, but then late at night when John is coming home he gets hit by his 2 battling quarterbacks who are street racing. He is on the brink of death but pulls through and is paralyzed from the waist down. Of course, their lives are deeply changed. Their daughter also finds out she's pregnant (3-4 years before she wants to be). She has to work through some frustration and unhappiness there as shes also working through the unfairness of what happened to her dad. She had previously been very devout and a prayer warrior, but her relationship with God suffers. Anywho, there is some of the trial for the boy who hit John, but John testifies that he wants him to go to other schools and preach about the dangers of street racing instead of being tried as an adult and imprisoned, so thats what happens. Long story short, the baby comes 2-3 months early and by God's grace, she's' completely fine. John has a surgery that allows him to walk away. Miracles abound!! I like the message that God can do all things and He is bigger than science and all the things, but I also wish there would've been some longer lasting hardships because that's often real life and where God works the most. Not all things will be miraculously solved the way we want them to, though sometimes its comforting to read a book where it all works out perfectly.

Recomendado

Wow. This book was amazing. So glad I read this book as I had heard of Karen Kingsbury, but never read any one of her books. I am now a supporter of her work. If I could sum this book up in a phrase it would be "God still performs miracles". Anything can happen if you are crazy enough believe in the impossible. That's exactly what happened in this book. Everyone experienced a miracle and it just wasn't one person as sometimes we believe that miracles only happen to certain people or they can't happen to us, but they happen to anyone who believes in the source of the miracle, which is God. I found myself rejoicing with John got the miracle of walking again even though the doctors told him he would be paralyzed for the rest of his life. I rejoiced when John's daughter got a miracle with the pre-mature birth of her daughter whom the daughters said would never make it. I also rejoiced in the re-uniting of a husband and a wife who were divorced but decided to give it another shot. There were so many miracles and acts of faith in this book that I'm not able to name them all. When God shows up, our lives will never be the same. We can't stay the same when we have God and that's another lesson this book teaches us. It teaches us that with God nothing is impossible. That's exactly what a miracle is. I can't wait to read other works by this author. This book was heartfelt and very touching. I enjoyed every minute of reading it.

Just like the first book in this 2 book series, I totally loved how things worked out for John and Abby ... It was an amazing book, and an even better ending, a story of tragedy and how the family works together to deal with the emotions that go along with that tragedy. Well worth the read!

This book was one that tears on the heartstrings and I could not put it down. It brought me some tears, but mostly happy tears. Very uplifting!

Review and rating to come...maybe...

this book was much better than the last one.

I enjoy this author. She tackles real problems with a Christian way to handle them. I will be reading more of her books.

Awesome

Another perfect book by Karen Kingsbury! I really don't want the story to end! God is so good and always here for us.