Hidden Mercies

Is is possible that your child could do something so horrible that you couldn't find it in your heart to forgive them? Is it possible to honestly hate your own child?

After twenty seven years, Tom Miller is returning home. He is finally willing to face those he has hurt beyond belief and he only hopes that they can find it in their hearts to forgive him as well. Twenty seven years ago, things between his family and the girl he grew up loving from afar were forever changed. His brother Matthew was supposed to wake up that morning and marry Claire, but instead he was offering the opportunity to ride a new thoroughbred horse that their friend Henry owned. Knowing there wasn't a horse that Matthew couldn't ride, this was a dream come true. Only when combined with the effects of drinking and following a bit too closely in the predawn hours, the accident that killed Matthew would be something he would carry with him the rest of his life.

Claire had finally moved on after learning that she was pregnant with Matthew's child just days after she was supposed to marry Matthew. How was she supposed to know that God had different plans for her than marrying the man, she though she would. Now that she is now 44, she has lived a fulfilled life as a wife and mother to Abraham, a man she married strictly out of convenience to give her son Levi, father to teach him what he needed to know to become a man. Now that she is a widow and raising her own children as well as her brother's orphan daughters, she finds that being a midwife and running a small store is enough to keep their heads above water.

When Tom returns home, he finds that after serving in Afghanistan, that due to his injuries sustained when a suicide bomber blew up in front of him, no one recognizes him. The scars to his face and the change in his voice from the attack give him a chance to talk with Claire and his own father to see if he can find a way to truly seek forgiveness in their hearts. Yet Tom soon learns that it might be best if he remained unknown to them when he finds that they both bear hard feelings towards the man they wished might never have come back.

I received Hidden Mercies by Serena B. Miller compliments of Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster Publishers for my honest review and received no monetary compensation for a favorable one. Being a huge lover of Amish Fiction and having read An Uncommon Grace, I was looking forward to reading Hidden Mercies to pick up Claire's story. While it's not necessary to read An Uncommon Grace to gain a full understanding of this novel, once you read the story of Claire and Levi, you will want to go back to revisit Claire's story from the beginning. This is truly a story about the freedom that forgiveness really brings, not so much for the person we are forgiving but for us. There is such a power in letting go of bitterness, hard feelings and accepting that no matter how often we fail in life, God is always willing to extend us the mercy of His love and true forgiveness. This is a beautiful example of that in Hidden Mercies, and one I highly recommend with a 5 out of 5 stars.

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• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Howard Books; Original edition (April 9, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451660359
• ISBN-13: 978-1451660357
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches