Review: Twelve Days of Devotion that could change your outlook on life.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 2, 2013
This book was written with love and deep devotion. Sarah Price is battling breast cancer. She's a Christian. She is not immune to asking the big question "Why me?" but she chose to ask the second question, "Why not me?" and so she wrote this book to help others who might be battling disease, discouragement, or other disasters in their lives. This book is aimed at Christians and has a clear Biblical perspective, but anyone who is on a spiritual journey would enjoy reading how to cope in the face of  life-changing difficulties. The book is meant to be absorbed slowly, and meditated upon. It has devotional thoughts, scriptures, and personal anecdotes from Sarah and her mother. It is the knowledge that these folks have lived what they preach that gives it a special poignancy, the kind that can bring a tear to the eye of even a crusty old retired newspaper writer like myself.This book is beautiful and true. It is powerful. But the power is two-fold. It reminds the reader that  being happy is, as Abraham Lincoln said, up to the individual's choice. The power of the holy spirit when you keep asking for it, also cannot be denied. Sarah's anecdotes illustrate this. I am a cancer survivor, and in my own life and on my own spiritual journey, I experienced much of what Sarah describes of making the decision to not let the disease define oneself.  Her pink umbrella is a symbol of a quote she loves that talks about dancing in the rain. Sarah dances quite well using lovely words to remind us all to do the same.  This book is a far cry from the fiction for which she is famous, but it may be the most powerful of all of her works because it  is the most personal, and publishing it carries the most risk because of that. These days being Christian is hard. If you are sick, broke, or downtrodden, the path may be even harder to walk. God's Word will show you the way, reminds Sarah. That's a reminder we all can use.There might be some who find its positive outlook in the face of adversity to be "Pollyannaish" and overly cheerful. This book IS all that--but not cloyingly so or in a negative sense. Sarah explains WHY she has a positive outlook, and why she doesn't see cancer as something to be sorry about. If you're tired, cynical, and discouraged, this book just might be the antidote.I was given an advance copy of this book without any strings attached. In other words, I did not promise a review, positive or otherwise. I am posting a review because this book spoke to me in ways I cannot even explain.