Family Matters: My Review

Family Matters is a book I've owned for a long time, but due to the abundance of review books received, I've never gotten around to reading. I'm pretty caught up on review books so today I headed for that stack in my store room and decided on this one. I really enjoyed this this heartwarming story of a divorced couple whose son contracts meningitis, and, while he survives, is left handicapped. They divorced basically because neither was there for the other; now they have to learn to work together for the good of their son. Guess what happens in the end? There is also a subplot about the boy's physical therapist and a local professional soccer player.

The book is Christian fiction. Since the divorce, the father has become a Christian and we hear his prayers--short one or two liners, not page-long mini-sermons. He calls Bible verses to mind periodically, but they fit in the story. The mother attends a Bible study with the therapist and I guess church too. She tells the father that it was the first time she had attended church since they were married, and he could see that there was something different about her--but there was no tearful conversion story and her problems didn't all go away after that point. About the most overt preaching in the book was after the father suffered a loss he was praying and the book said "Michael thought about the times God had called him to let go. He'd probably have to be reminded of that lesson many more times. But he saw now, how if you let something go to God, sometimes it got returned to you a thousandfold".

This is a story about reaching beyond your comfort level, setting priorities and the conquering power of love, including but not limited to God's love. I highly recommend it.