Book Review: Choosing to SEE

One of my goals for 2012 is to read 30 books. This goal stems from my realization that since becoming a mom three years ago I haven't been reading nearly as much as I used to. And I LOVE to read. So I decided to make it more of a priority this year. Having my Kindle Fire and the Amazon lending library is a big help.

My friend Stephanie over at How Sweet it is! has set a similar goal for herself in 2012 and has started a weekly linky party called Good Reads Thursday for book reviews. While I may not have a new book read every week - that would obviously be well over my goal of 30 for the year - I am trying to link up over there as often as I can. I love getting book recommendations from friends; I have already put Stephanie's latest read, Bloom by Kelly Hampton, on my reading list.



  
{By the way, if you check out Stephanie's blog you might notice her last name is also Gimlin. Crazy, right? One of these days we should really check out ancestry.com to see if our husbands are related - its not like its a common name. It would just be one more reason to eventually meet Stephanie and her fam in real life which, by the way, I am totally going to do whenever we take our family road trip to CA.}


Okay...back to books...


Last month I finished reading Choosing to SEE by Mary Beth Chapman.

Mary Beth is the wife of Steven Curtis Chapman, the Christian singer. Their family was in the news a few years ago when their 5 year old daughter was accidently run over and killed in the the driveway of the family home.

Amazon says:  "Mary Beth's story is our story--wondering where God is when the worst happens. In Choosing to SEE, readers will hear firsthand about the loss of her daughter, the struggle to heal, and the unexpected path God has placed her on."

My review:

This book was so much more than the story of loss and how God has brought them through it. Mary Beth shares about meeting Steven and the tough early years of their marriage, the joys of having their first three children and the depression she found herself dealing with afterwards, and the miraculous stories of adopting three more children from China.

From an infertility perspective, I was moved by Mary Beth's emotions over their first adoption - her hesitations and fears. While we are not actively pursuing adoption ourselves, I found myself identifying with Mary Beth's fears over whether she could really love a non-biological child as much as her biological children. It was also incredible to read about the advocacy the Chapman family has taken on behalf of foreign adoption in the wake of adopting three children themselves.

The story of little Maria and her short but precious life in this family had me in tears. What God has revealed to and through this family since Maria was taken to heaven is astounding.

I did have a hard time reading the last bit of this book as it was merely posts taken from Mary Beth's family blog inserted into the book. While I realize this accurately portrays how the family was surviving day to day in their grief, I felt like the book simply tapered off as an ending, rather than effectively drawing it to a close.

That being said, I highly recommend this book. Mary Beth is very real and transparent - even as the wife of a popular music artist. The story and testimony of this family is encouraging.