The Color of Rain by Michael and Gina Spehn

This is from a book review I did for the Amazon Vine program. I'm very behind in reviews that I would have liked to have written this year as it has been a rough year physically with 2 surgeries on my knees. I have found that too much pain keeps me from reading anything deeper than a cozy mystery. Hoping to get more on track this winter.

The Color of Rain: How two families found faith, hope & love in the midst of tragedy by Michael and Gina Spehn

This book was certainly a tear jerker. Gina nurses and cares for her husband with cancer and during cancer treatments over the course of three years. He dies on Christmas day leaving her a widow with two young boys. She is blessed to have a huge church family and supportive neighborhood that pitched in with food, help and prayers both before and after his death.

Michael's wife, a member of the same church as Gina, hears of her troubles and writes an email to Gina's friend asking what she can do to help this sad family. She never gets a chance to help herself though, as a month later she too dies from a fast growing brain tumor. Michael is left with three children, two boys and girl.

This book is how they came together to help each other in their grief and how God put love for each other in their hearts and they eventually marry and combine families with full support of their children and relatives.

This is a charming book of people helping people. Of people letting God lead the direction in which they should walk. It also shows the often forgotten outpouring of love to the bereft families in the way of food and help. Michael and Gina got so much help, that they had to turn it aside finally, but how nice if more people thought of doing this act of charity towards others in distress and medical problems. This book includes pictures of the family. There is one big editing flaw that I found. No one double checked the spelling of the medications that were mentioned and there certainly was some creative spellings. Read this book with a box of tissue nearby.

I truly enjoyed this book even though there were times that the tears were flowing down my face. I love seeing how God can work and minister in people's lives, especially as they walk through the deep dark valleys of life.