ETCHED UPON MY HEART

Friday, January 18, 2013

ETCHED UPON MY HEART
What We Learn and Why We Never Forget
by Jill Kelly

OVERVIEW: Bestselling author Jill Kelly emboldens readers to embrace all of life's experience as the precious gifts of a loving and transforming God. Jill offers up the unforgettable episodes of her life―some sorrowful, others filled with joy―as a "living epistle" to her daughters. For the many other Christian mothers who also long to pass on their hard-won knowledge of God's steadfast love and healing grace to their children, Jill's down-to-earth reflections provide an inspiring example. Although great personal pain―her son's death, her husband's infidelity―inform these pages, Jill's story is ultimately one of forgiveness, reconciliation, and hope. Through the moments in time that Jill Kelly recounts, readers will recognize the daily reality and eternal value of God's plan for their own lives.

AUTHOR: Jill Kelly is the wife of former Buffalo Bill's quarterback Jim Kelly. In September 1997, months after their infant son, Hunter, was diagnosed with a fatal disease called Krabbe Leukodystrophy, Jim and Jill founded the Hunter's Hope Foundation. As chairman of the board of Hunter's Hope, Jill helps children suffering from Leukodystrophy, and their families by raising awareness and research funds to fight this devastating disease. She and Jim live in buffalo, NY, with their two daughters and three dogs. Hunter's Hope Foundation can be found online at www.HuntersHope.org. Jill is also the author of Without a Word.

MY REVIEW: This is a book that touched my heart in many ways. I didn't think I had the time to read much when I picked it up one afternoon―but I did. I started reading and didn't stop until I had finished the entire book.

In almost fifty years of ministry with four different churches I have had a lot of experience counseling couples who have lost a child by death, unfaithfulness on the part of one or the other or both and other experiences Jill writes about. She writes about love, significance, forgiveness, suffering, giving, prayer, faithfulness, and death. She closes the book with a wonderful chapter on gratitude.

I laughed a few times while reading but most of the time there was moisture in my eyes. Why then would I recommend the book? Do I think you want to be sad? No! But I do think you want to learn from the experiences of others and this is a good book for that. 

( I received this book from Faith Words, Hachette Book Group in exchange for a fair and honest review.)