Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Book Review - Letters From My Father's Murderer

ABOUT THE BOOK:

When her father was murdered, Laurie Coombs sought justice and found it.

His murderer now serves two life sentences with no possibility of parole. Yet, despite the swift punishment of the killer, Laurie found herself increasingly full of pain, bitterness, and anger she couldn't control. After coming to faith, she realized she was being called to seek something infinitely more difficult than justice: forgiveness.

This is an extraordinary true story of grace, mercy, and the redemptive power of God to change lives. The reader is swept along with Laurie as she undergoes the life-changing transformation of becoming a Christian. As she studies Scripture, seeing God redeeming losses and healing deep wounds time and time again, she starts to understand that her own healing would require her to love her enemy in a real, practical way.

Using her incredible correspondence with the man who killed her father, Laurie reveals a compelling journey of transformation, not only in her life, but in the lives of those whom many would call irredeemable.

Letters from My Father's Murderer is for any audience Christian or secular who


-Craves freedom from the inability to forgive those who've caused them harm 
-Wants to hear testimony of God's power in our obedience 
-Has experienced pain through other's sin against them 
-Needs to know healing is always possible
The real story here is not primarily about murder and its fallout, but rather about redemption and how far it can reach.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Laurie A. Coombs is a passionate writer and speaker on the issues of forgiveness, redemption, and the hope that is found in Jesus. Her story was featured in Billy Graham's new film, Heaven. She is a featured writer and blogger for iBelieve and Crosswalk. Laurie and her husband, Travis, make their home in Nevada along with their two daughters.

Find Laurie online: website, Twitter, Facebook

MY REVIEW:  

This is a book that will not leave my mind. It was one of the most amazing stories I've ever read and, the most amazing thing is, it's all true!

Laurie's father was killed by a man named Anthony whom she had heard about from her father before when he told her he had threatened suicide. Her father was building a home for Anthony and his wife and he and Anthony's wife got involved. This set Anthony on a path of destruction that would affect both his life and Laurie's, as well as their families. 

Anthony had claimed to be a Christian but Laurie didn't believe there was a God. However, through all this trauma, she realized that she needed a Savior and gave her life to Christ. When she still was having anxiety and anger issues, she prayed about it and realized that God wanted her to bring Anthony a Bible and she needed to forgive him. 

This starts the journey of two very unlikely people writing letters to each other and coming to terms with what happened. Laurie is wanting answers that only Anthony can give her and Anthony realizes things about the situation that he had never come to terms with either. 

I really liked how Laurie takes us on this journey of how this affects her and her thoughts and feelings as she is writing the letters to Anthony. She shares from her prayer journal and also shares Scripture regarding this situation. 

I believe this book is a must read for anyone who has gone through something traumatic and needs to come terms with it. If you don't know how to forgive someone, this book will definitely give you the steps to understand how to forgive and, not only that, but show you the miraculous things that can happen when you do. Not forgiving affects us in so many ways - both physically and mentally - and we know we need to forgive but sometimes it seems impossible. After reading Laurie's book, you will never feel that way again. After all, Laurie is forgiving someone that killed her father. 

I highly, highly recommend this book to everyone! This is a must read for church pastors, leaders, counselors and would be especially good to give to prison libraries. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

*This book was provided to me for my honest review by LitFuse Publicity Group


You can read more reviews of this book HERE




Blessings - Julie

2 comments:

  1. Fascinating. I will see if our library has this book.
    My mom and I took many years, but we forgave my father for the many terrible things he did. I only regret that I did not tell my father I forgave him before he died.

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