Waves of Mercy by Lynn Austin ~ Review

My Review: 

Geesje, Anna, and Derk find themselves facing some of the biggest challenges to their faith and of the heart in the past and present, finding their lives intertwined in this captivating, heartfelt story of God's mercies.

Geesje recounts her younger days first coming to America and leaving everything behind in the Netherlands, including the man that she loved. She tells of her struggles to accept the tragedies that befell her family, and the choices that she made, along with the heartaches she faced.

Anna has comes to Michigan after breaking it off with her fiance to find answers to the questions that she has about her new faith and about her past. She meets a ministry student, Derk, and he helps her sort through her questions and decision about the future.

Meanwhile he is in a similar situation, having also just broken it off with a fiance who wants him to give up his calling to the ministry because she doesn't want to be a preacher's wife.

As Geesje's story unfolds, Geesje, Anna, and Derk, are face with the choice to follow their own desires or God's will.

Anna is the adopted daughter of a wealthy family in Chicago, she loves her parents, but after attending a church service in a less than prominent side of town, she finds herself in need of answers. She finds a friend in Derk, a young man studying for the ministry, yet in a similar situation having just broken it off with his fiance. I loved Anna and Derk's easy and honest friendship. They challenge each other, encouraging each other to perhaps make the choice that they themselves hesitate to make.

I think my favorite thing about this book was the humanity and vulnerability of the characters, they aren't perfect Christians, and would probably be the first to tell you that fact if you ever tried to put them on a pedestal. I found the honesty and rawness in this book so refreshing. They struggle with doubt, jealousy, human desires for love, selfishness, and it was their realness that made me really embrace them and connect with them. Geesje especially, is brutally honest about her life and the choices that she made along the way.

Overall, this is a beautiful story of God's mercies, bringing three strangers together as the threads of their stories intertwine in unexpected ways. A thoroughly memorable read, I would definitely recommend this book, I couldn't put it down!


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