About the book: When Alissa Parker lost her daughter Emilie in the Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting, she started a life-changing journey to answer soul-searching questions about faith, hope, and healing. As she sought for the peace and comfort that could help mend her broken heart, she learned, step by step, how to open her heart to God's Grace and will. One step brought her face to face with the shooter's father, where in a pivotal and poignant meeting, she was given an opportunity to forgive. Another step brought her into the sheltering compassion of her community as family, friends, and even strangers reached out to buoy her up with their shared faith. And several miraculous manifestations of Emilie's continued presence and influence lifted her heart and will validate the faith of every Christian.
The story of Alissa and Emilie reminds us that the bonds of love continue beyond this life and that despite tragedy and heartache, we can find strength in our family and our faith.
My review: I will admit that this book had me bawling like a baby! I really enjoyed reading about Alissa Parker's life and her experiences with the Sandy Hook tragedy. Being a mother myself, made the whole story hit me harder than it probably would have otherwise, but her story is really compelling and...well, amazing.
I was amazed by the way she used her faith to move on. And I was really amazed at the way she was able to connect several seemingly unrelated tragedy's to strengthen her faith and be able to move on in caring for her other two children.
I love the way she shares her faith in the eternity of both our lives and our families. I can not even imagine how people who don't have faith in eternal life deal with the death of family members, especially when they die in tragic ways, as in this case.
If I ever get the blessing of meeting Alissa Parker, I want to just wrap my arms around her and give her a big hug, both because of what she went through, but also because of her strength and willingness to share her life with the world.
I enjoyed reading this book, but as I was cleaning one day, I also turned on my Deseret Bookshelf Plus and listened to a few chapters of the audio book. I don't know who reads it, but I like to think I was listening to the author as she described some of what she had done to be able to move on.
Go grab this great book, you'll be inspired to do better with your own challenges!
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This post contains affiliate links.
Labels: Alissa Parker, LDS non-fiction, Shadow Mountain Publishing
About the book: When Alissa Parker lost her daughter Emilie in the Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting, she started a life-changing journey to answer soul-searching questions about faith, hope, and healing. As she sought for the peace and comfort that could help mend her broken heart, she learned, step by step, how to open her heart to God's Grace and will. One step brought her face to face with the shooter's father, where in a pivotal and poignant meeting, she was given an opportunity to forgive. Another step brought her into the sheltering compassion of her community as family, friends, and even strangers reached out to buoy her up with their shared faith. And several miraculous manifestations of Emilie's continued presence and influence lifted her heart and will validate the faith of every Christian.