- My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
- Genre: Contemporary Fiction
- Part of a Series: no
- Publication year: 2013
- Publisher: Tyndale
Description:
When Iola Anne Poole, an old-timer on Hatteras Island, passes away in
her bed at ninety-one, the struggling young mother in her rental
cottage, Tandi Jo Reese, finds herself charged with the task of cleaning
out Iola’s rambling Victorian house.
Running from a messy,
dangerous past, Tandi never expects to find more than a temporary hiding
place within Iola’s walls, but everything changes with the discovery of
eighty-one carefully decorated prayer boxes, one for each year,
spanning from Iola’s youth to her last days. Hidden in the boxes is the
story of a lifetime, written on random bits of paper--the hopes and
wishes, fears and thoughts of an unassuming but complex woman passing
through the seasons of an extraordinary, unsung life filled with
journeys of faith, observations on love, and one final lesson that could
change everything for Tandi.
My Thoughts:
I love how God takes seemingly random things and brings them together. I had been contemplating a better way to keep track of prayer requests and to organize my prayers and had come across the idea of a prayer journal. But the journal format didn't work right for me since I wanted to pull things in and out and move them around. So I thought of doing a box, like a recipe box. I had gathered my supplies and started setting it up. Then I came across this book!
So, this was the perfect timing for this book for me. I am now even more inspired to continue to add to my own prayer box and can already feel the difference in my own prayer life.
The story of the book was great too. I loved all the reminders of Iola Anne's prayer life and how her own beliefs about how God could use her and how He loved her made such a difference in Tandi's life. I also grew to love Paul and the ladies of Sandy's shop. I love it when a community of people become family and care for each other like that.
This was a beautiful book and I am so glad I read it!
