4 out of 4 stars
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In Grace Poured Out, author Valerie M. Herndon gives an honest, emotional, and redemptive account of very personal grief and a trial of faith. Herndon can scarcely imagine what’s ahead when she finds out her youngest child, fourteen-year-old Katie, is sick. However, it eventually comes to light that this isn’t only a matter of passing sickness but of life and death. Herndon then has to face what it means to trust and have faith in God when her prayers may not lead to the outcome she’s hoped they would.
Herndon transparently describes the state of her family before Katie’s sickness. With three children and busy schedules, Herndon and her husband, Wes, have practically been living separate lives. Katie’s condition forces the family’s dynamics to shift, and the shift is most powerfully uncovered in the book’s distinctive, thought-provoking ending.
Still, all along the way to that ending, the narrative is enhanced with select excerpts in Katie’s own words, entries from her journal. No matter how strange it may seem to them, Herndon, Katie, and their family begin to recognize the good that comes out of this situation—not only for them but for their friends and supporters, and even for the nurses at the hospital where Katie stays. Throughout the book, the author continually refers to the theme of God’s grace, how she sees it through the love and consideration of the people around her.
In the first section called A Transforming Touch, there’s a collection of reflections from other people in Herndon’s life. However, I was initially thrown off by the Foreword that comes later. There’s no name given with it to identify who is speaking, though I soon identified the speaker there as Herndon herself. Because forewords are typically written by someone other than the author, it might have been more appropriate to call Herndon’s opening remarks the Preface.
The dragonfly is a fitting symbolic choice for the book’s cover, on account of what dragonflies mean to the author and why. However, as dragonflies aren’t mentioned until more than halfway through the book, I would’ve liked to see something about them earlier on and more than once. Giving the reader more “time” with an important symbol by referring to it in more than one place makes it easier to sense and remember its significance. This also takes into account the people who may only access the book in Braille or in audio form one day and may never physically see the symbolism in the book’s cover art.
Also, though I appreciated the inclusion of Katie’s artwork and other photos in the book, the images were quite small and hard to see well. (Note: for the digital format I read, my e-reading device can enlarge a book’s text but not its images.) Naturally, I couldn’t tell if it was an overall formatting issue or if it wouldn’t be an issue at all for readers with different digital file types, other devices, or a print version of the book.
Nevertheless, those minor issues do not at all detract from the author’s honesty and clarity in tackling a key question of faith and trust. Therefore, I give Grace Poured Out a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. I’d most strongly recommend it to anyone in search of a true story that deals with grief and healing from a Christian perspective.
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Grace Poured Out
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