How is it possible to find the will of God in a busy life? That is just what Mara Keegan is wondering as she has taken the full weight of responsibility of caring for her three children after losing her husband in a snowmobiling accident. Left with the burden of running the business of Bridger Pack and Rescue that they both established, she made David a promise. A promise that is slowly costing her the very life she had left. Running a business that was now thriving was keeping her away from raising her family when they needed her the most and being a strong and determined woman, she fails to see that all the stress of being the sole decision maker is costing her. The warning signs have been in front of her the entire time, but she has failed to acknowledge them.
When her business coach, Joel Ryan shows up to help her with the next phase of her business he's about to discover that he will be helping out in ways he never imagined quite literally when he arrives at Mara's front door. Expecting to meet with Mara and sign the contracts that would double her business, he finds her along passed out on the floor of her home office. With the help of her daughter Cadence, they rush her to the Emergency Room to see if she has had a heart attack, but unfortunately the doctor misdiagnoses her and sends her home with a simple broken ankle in a cast. He advises that Mara take some time to heal but that means that she must trust the running of her business to Joel, a man who tried to take her business away from her before. Has Joel changed or is he really just in the right place at the right time?
In the sixth novel from the Quilts of Love Series, A Healing Heart by Angela Breidenbach has a dual meaning behind the storyline. Not only must Mara dealing with the healing of her physical heart but she must also learn to deal the difficult task of facing the choice to give up some of the control in her business in lieu of helping her heal her family. They haven't had the chance to truly grieve over the loss of their father and it seems like Mara felt the burden to take over all the responsibility when David died. Ultimately Joel and Mara will need to discover the purpose that God has in mind for both of them and be willing to open their own hearts to the possibility of something greater than any of them ever dreamed possible. Sometimes it takes God shaking us to the core of our lives before we will stop and see what changes we need to make in order to walk in His will.
I received A Healing Heart by Angela Breidenbach compliments of Abingdon Press and Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review and received no monetary compensation for a favorable one. I really enjoyed this one and saw so many different overlapping themes running through it. The healing that really needed to happen between Mara and her family, the healing between Mara and her friends and church and the willingness to trust once again, not only with her business but with her own heart to learn to love again in a different way. I love how beautiful the family held a memorial service that enabled them all to process the loss of David in ways that were important to them. All of these themes are woven into the project Mara takes on to complete a memory quilt for her daughter Cadence who is about to graduate. This story from beginning to end is truly priceless and one the author calls upon her own memories to incorporate into the story. Hands down a 5 out of 5 stars! A must read for romance fans and those that wonder if their lives need a little less stress in them!
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- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Abingdon Press (April 1, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1426752695
- ISBN-13: 978-1426752698
- Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
Thank you for a lovely review and the time you took out of your life to read my novel. That's truly a blessing.
ReplyDeleteAngie