Book review: "And Life Comes Back"

Two years ago, I had the privilege of meeting one of my heroes. She and I had common friends, she used to attend my church before moving to Colorado, our lives criss-crossed over and over. And when I had a chance to plan an event, I asked her to come and share her heart with us, never having heard her speak. And she did not disappoint.

And now I have the honor of encouraging you to go out and buy her book, her debut as a published author. And once again, she does not disappoint.

On December 22, 2010, Tricia Lott Williford was sitting in Starbucks, working to meet deadlines. Her husband texted her to let her know that he was miserably sick, and she worried about their Christmas plans.

On December 23, she held him in her arms as he died, their two small boys sleeping in the next room.

Words fail me right now. What can be said about a man who dies to soon, a wife without a husband, boys without a father? And yet, Tricia captures their story--not just of Robb's death, but of their life together, and of her journey to find life without him.

And Life Comes Back is a story of grief and of happiness, of weakness and of strength, of uncertainty and confidence. Tricia's openness combines with her beautiful prose to create a book that you just can't put down--so be prepared to hold your Kleenex in one hand and the book in the other. She is not afraid to take us, her fortunate readers, into her despair--but she doesn't leave us there. She reminds us that God is faithful and sovereign and good, even when we can't make sense of it all. She tells us that, even when winter is long and lonely and cold, spring is coming.

I want to write you dozens of pages of praise for this book. I want to give you a whole list of my favorite anecdotes and quotes and lessons learned. But I can't, because that would spoil it. You need to read Tricia's words in Tricia's timing. You need to read.this.book.now.

And Life Comes Back was released on February 18, and is getting fantastic reviews all over the place, so you don't have to take my word for it. ;-) But I hope you do. I hope you buy it and read it and love it and read it again.

And when you do, you'll feel like Tricia is an old friend, and you'll want to keep in touch. That's when you'll want to head over to her website. This is one of my favorite places to visit in the whole entire bloggy universe. And now I'm sharing it with you. You're welcome.

So what are you still doing here? Get yourself on over to Amazon and buy And Life Comes Back by Tricia Lott Williford. And some tissues. Definitely remember to buy some tissues.

See you tomorrow. ;-)