Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

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Saying ‘yes’ to God: Review of The Lucky Few by Heather Avis

My experience of motherhood couldn’t be more different from Heather Avis’, author of The Lucky Few, but I loved this memoir of adoption and found it relatable in so many ways. (It’s much more than just a story of adoption, though.) Heather’s story is about what happens when you say “yes” to God in a season that seems all wrong and find that it’s the only place you ever wanted to be.

The Luck y Few is a story about Heather’s experience with infertility and her struggle for joy as she watched others around her (including family) become pregnant. And how everything changed when she and her husband were led to adopt a baby with Down Syndrome.

I first heard Heather speak on a podcast about how her kids with Down Syndrome are such a joy and treasure in her life, and that’s how I discovered this book. (Check out her Instagram: @macymakesmyday) It would be easy to call her and her husband heroes but they are just people who walked the path on which God led them. Even if you don’t think adoption is your path, this book is relatable if you find yourself presented with a God-given opportunity that you never thought would be yours. (Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from the Booklook Bloggers program but opinion is my honest one.)

Heather doesn’t sugarcoat the challenges nor does she demand that others do exactly as they have done. The book is full of grace and is so inspiring. I believe the title is true. They are “the lucky few.”

 

A true story of true love: Review of Hope Heals by Katherine and Jay Wolf

Katherine and Jay Wolf have the kind of story you wouldn’t wish on anybody, but through the unthinkable, they have found–and clung to–hope.

They were just 26, with a 6-month-old in the house, married only a few years when Katherine suffered a massive brain stem stroke. Her odds of surviving surgery were low, but survive, she did, and though it would be a long road of recovery and loss and acceptance of how life would be, her story is nothing short of miraculous.

hope healsIn Hope Heals: A True Story of Overwhelming Loss and an Overcoming Love, the Wolfs share openly about the dreams that died with the stroke and about the hard days of learning to do basic skills again. Particularly moving is Katherine’s desperation to eat food again and the work it took for her to pass a swallowing test, as well as her realization that she couldn’t feed her baby or take care of him. (Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my review.)

Theirs is no sugar-coated hope. It is gritty and gut-wrenching. They have wrestled with God about the course of their lives and found that He is still good and their suffering is not meaningless.

Katherine writes:

When we share our stories in real and messy ways, we give people permission to do the same, and in the sharing, we release some of the things that keep us trapped in our own isolated hotel rooms. We remember we are not alone. And that brings hope. (p.195)

Grab a box of tissues before you pick up this book, but whatever you do, read it and discover that hope can be found in what seems like the most hopeless of circumstances.