A Life's Testimony by Toyria C Bruhier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Updated my star rating because the book was more than "OK" as denoted by a 3-star rating on Amazon.com.
This was a very quick read (listen) via Kindle text-to-speech!
I was excited to read this book because it's focus was on my favorite scripture Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, Thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end". The books description goes on to say "Isn't it good to know that God thinks so much of us the He has already mapped out our life's path. Great news, right. Well, of course it is, however the road to each of our expected ends will have twist, turns, mountain high, and valley low experiences." To this point the author, Toyria Bruhier, does an excellent job at telling the abbreviated story of "Lana". I say abbreviated because the story goes from Lana's birth through adulthood and marriage.
At first I was a confused by the "third person" context the book is written in because based on the title I assumed it to be the author's testimony. I'm not so sure this is the case however. If it is the authors real life testimony I would have preferred it to be written in first person context as I think it would give the book a more inviting feel to be able to relate to the many trials, tribulations, victories and triumphs revealed in this story.
Nevertheless, the "testimony" in part and in whole is very gripping and relative to many today. The power of this book though is in how clearly the author related Lana's life to how God truly does have thoughts towards us. Thoughts of peace and not evil, which would ultimately bring us to an expected end. For God knows our beginning and ending and everything in between even before we were formed in our mother's womb. Lana endured some hardships in life that many people in her situation never seem to overcome, but Lana managed to develop a love and trust in God at a young age that carried her through the most tumultuous times in her life. She was always able to hear that "still small voice" from God lovingly guiding her back to Him. Lana demonstrates and shows every believer and backslider how, even through intentional decisions to sin or go against the will of God, God still loved her and accepted her back EVERY time.
I look forward to reading the next book which, according to the author, will focus on the process of love in marriage. I hope in the next book the author makes it clear if "Lana" is her or someone else, whether real or made-up, as I believe knowing this information makes the "Testimony" even more effective.
I would recommend this book to others to read.
IMAGE of book from Amazon.com: A Life's Testimony
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