Book Review: Dancing in the Rain

by Jeanette O'Hagan  @JeanetteOHagan

The Book

Sometimes … life hurts.
What do we do then?
How do we keep going?
Who can help us?

The One who created you knows you by name. He draws near to the broken-hearted. He will gather you in His arms. He will hold you close. He will be with you always.

You will find—
• Comfort for your sadness.
• Peace for your fears.
• Hope for tomorrow.
• Light for the journey.
• And joy through every season.

Dancing in the Rain is a collection of poems, stories and life-giving words designed to bring you comfort and hope during life’s stormy seasons. 

Published March 1st 2018 by Armour Books
Available Books in Stock

The Author

Anusha delights in many things – life, the love of Jesus, people, the beauty of God’s Creation. She writes mostly for pleasure. She has decided never to grow old in spite of a body that is already defying her intentions! She enjoys the finer things of life including friendship and chocolate! Singing, walking, connecting with people and sharing God’s love are her some of her deepest passions. Like her writing, she is a work in progress! 

Anusha lives in Adelaide with her husband Shan and their son, Asela.

My Thoughts

I've been looking forward to reading Anusha's Dancing in the Rain as I'd enjoyed her story in Glimpses of Light and have also been encouraged and inspired by her regular blog of the same name. 

The book has a eye-catching cover that entices me to pick it up and read.  Inside, it has an interesting structure, broken up into sections such as Oh No! It's Raining; I need an Umbrella; It's OK to grieve; A Rainbow called HOPE; Splashing Through the Puddles; Laughter the Best Medicine; Tall Stories about Rainy Days; Sailing Paper Boats; How Green is my Valley; And Best of All - the progression seeming to follow, at least in part, the progression of emotional journey through difficult times. Each section is filled with reflections from the author (divided into Part 1 and Part 2), Friends' Stories (told in first person), Nuggets (quotes, epigrams, Scripture), My story (from the Anusha's experiences), a poem and a serialised story 'Each Monday'. 

It's an interesting mix, with different perspectives and approaches to our feelings, responses and options when facing difficulties and discouragement. The personal stories (both from Anusha and her friends) give testimony to depth of feeling, faith, and God in action in each one's lives. The reflections, nuggets and poems give both comfort, commiseration, as well as inspiration and hope in God's loving presence, spiritual meditations and practical ideas to gain a different perspective on the rain-soaked times, how to survive and even thrive. I think my favourite section is the Each Monday story, as I waited for the next instalment of the narrator's journey.

Overall, it's an easy to read, a part devotional, part inspirational gem that brims with Anusha's gentle and vibrant faith. Worth reading and also an excellent gift for those going through hard times.

Jeanette started spinning tales in the world of Nardva at the age of eight or nine. She enjoys writing secondary world fiction, poetry, blogging and editing. Her Nardvan stories span continents, time and cultures. They involve a mixture of courtly intrigue, adventure, romance and/or shapeshifters and magic users. She has published numerous short stories, poems, two novellas and her debut novel, Akrad's Children and new release Ruhanna's Flight and other stories.

Jeanette has practised medicine, studied communication, history, theology and a Master of Arts (Writing). She loves reading, painting, travel, catching up for coffee with friends, pondering the meaning of life. She lives in Brisbane with her husband and children.

Find her on:

Facebook |Jeanette O'Hagan Writes | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Book Review: "And Still She Laughs" by Kate Merrick

By Ian Acheson

The Blurb

Kate Merrick examines the Bible’s gritty stories of resilient women as well as her own experience losing a child—a journey followed by more than a million on prayfordaisy.com—to reveal the reality of surprising joy and deep hope even in the midst of heartache.

Is it possible live fully—even joyfully—in the middle of overwhelming pain?

In the excruciating aftermath of her young daughter’s death from cancer, Kate Merrick struggled to find a way to live. Not just to survive or go through the motions, but to live fully. Faithfully. With real joy amid inevitable tears.

To discover how, Kate delved into the stories in the Bible of real women who suffered deeply and emerged somehow joyful. How did Sarah, after twenty-five years of achingly empty arms, learn to laugh without bitterness? How did Bathsheba, defiled by the king who then had her husband killed, come to walk in strength and dignity, to smile without fear of the future? In her encounters with these heroines of the faith, Kate discovered how to have contentment—and even joy—whatever the circumstances. 

By turns heartbreaking and humorous, And Still She Laughs reveals the secret to finding hope in the midst of devastation. In the end, no matter what hardships we face, we can smile, cry, and come away full—laughing without fear and eagerly looking for what is to come.

My Review

I first came to know of Kate Merrick when I stumbled across her husband, Britt, and their church in Carpinteria, California about 8 years ago. Soon thereafter I became aware of their daughter, Daisy's, illness. And so I joined the global army of prayers that stood on the watchtower for dear little Daisy and this gorgeous family.

After a few years of immense struggle, dearest Daisy passed away in the arms of her parents and brother, Isaiah. The family held a wonderful memorial service for their little girl, which those of us from far way were able to watch.

And then the family went off the grid. For years.

They bunkered down in their grief and loss. I was one of those who from far away wondered from time to time how they were doing.

Until February this year. I was watching IF Gathering annual event and lo-and-behold Britt and Kate step onto the stage and both speak. Britt ministers in the Word (golly gosh can this man preach!) and Kate shared as only she can. And then she mentioned this little book she'd written that was coming out in a few weeks.

It's a wonderful book. As another reviewer states so eloquently: "She (Kate) writes from a depth of understanding grief and from an inspiring place of understanding how to grieve but still live life fully and with joy."

Daisy's presence is threaded throughout every page ... the first few chapters are intense as we read how grief knocked Kate down. But ever so slowly the Lord in all His tenderness lifted this wonderful lady back on her feet. Through His Words and gentle touch.

Kate shares the stories of 3 great women of the Bible who also suffered much: Sarah, Abraham's wife, Bathsheba and Mary, mother of Jesus. Kate's retelling of their stories brings them alive in a way I'd never experienced. Especially, Mary. Chapter 6 is a very powerful chapter. Mary, this teenager, who had everything to lose, says 'Yes" to Gabriel, when he informs her she is to birth the Messiah. How she must have suffered. Her family, her betrothed, her community would have all scorned her.

But she still said: "Yes"

I want her faith.

This is a book about so much more than grief and loss. It's also about the discovery of leaning into the mystery of walking with the lover of our souls, Jesus. It's a book that often brought me to tears but also made me laugh and laugh. Death of a loved one, especially one so young, doesn't make any sense. And even though Kate doesn't know the answer to why Daisy passed away much too young, she knows the lover of her soul is always close, always tender, always loving and suffered as much as Kate did.

Read this book especially if you're struggling with grief and loss but even if you aren't you'll find this a wonderful book that opens one's eyes to the immensity of Jesus' love for each of us and through all of life's ups and downs He gives us hope and a reason to laugh.

Ian Acheson is an author and strategy consultant based in Sydney. Ian's first novel of speculative fiction, Angelguard, is available in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Angelguard was recognised with the 2014 Selah Award for Speculative Fiction.You can find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter

Escaping Reality

Away on a week’s holiday with the family at the snow fields recently I was reminded that no matter how well we make plans and anticipate our needs, there is always going to be problems and things that don’t go quite right; injuries, bad weather, lost or forgotten items, things in the rental accommodation that don’t work perfectly, tensions between family members after a long, tiring day on the snow. There were at least a couple of chapters in our holiday that I’d have liked to re-write. But the reality is, even though we had a lovely time and have treasured memories, I’m aware, once more, that there is something wrong with everything on earth. Perfection is fleeting if we see it at all.

I am now preparing for a module I’ll soon be teaching on Understanding and Working with Grief and Trauma, for our Theological students and Chaplains. Again I’m confronted with, and must confront the students with, the reality that there is much suffering on this earth. So many tragedies, accidents, losses, abuses, with which people must deal and find a way towards healing from. Many times as helpers we feel inadequate to bring comfort or overwhelmed by the magnitude of people's pain. In my counselling, I’m constantly listening to sad stories, of multiple losses, of relationships once romances which are now shattered, of seemingly insurmountable problems, of tragedies that leave life-long scars and grief.  We can hardly watch the news each day without being confronted with these realities.

I don't mean to be morbid here, or to suggest that hope and healing are not also part of our lives here on earth. As Christians we have the amazing power and love of God to draw on, for ourselves and others. However, I can’t help but reflect on how necessary and wonderful it is for people to be able to escape into unreality, or fiction, sometimes.  No wonder stories of romance and victories and great achievement and happy endings are so popular and prolific. I learned very early in my writing that my stories, no matter how many ups and downs, problems and tragedies they contain, must have a happy ending. No-one wants to read a story that ends in grief and pain, or with unanswered questions, or unsolved crimes, or broken relationships.

And I guess none of us want to write such endings either, as writing can be as much an escape from reality as reading.  Perhaps it’s an indication that we are all in some way trying to find our way back to the Garden of Eden, or anticipating the peaceful, safe and loving gardens of heaven. We need to go to perfect, romantic, whole places in our imagination sometimes, in order to deal with the reality of the fallen world and imperfect lives we must live on this earth. Thank God we can have the certain hope of perfection in eternity when we are God’s children. We have a perfectly happy ending to look forward to. And thankfully that is no fiction.

However for the here and now, I am grateful to those who write such beautiful fictional stories into which we can escape for a time. And I’m thankful that I can write a story, though based on reality, in which I can steer my characters towards happy endings, where I can unearth the stumbling blocks to solving problems and draw together the resources a character needs to move through grief and trauma to victory and peace and love. Our stories are a wonderful and necessary survival tool, medicine for those in pain, therapy for the suffering. Let’s keep them coming.

Carol

Carol writes historical novels based on her family ancestry in Australia from the First Fleet. They include the Turning the Tide series; Mary’s Guardian, Charlotte’s Angel, Tangled Secrets and Truly Free. Two of her earlier novels, Suzannah’s Gold and Rebecca’s Dream, were re-released by EBP.  Next of Kin was released last year by Rhiza Press and the sequel, Beyond the Fight, was released this April. You can see more about Carol and her novels on her website, her Amazon author page or FB author page.

www.carolpreston.com.au

www.amazon.com/author/carolpreston

www.facebook.com/writingtoreach