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This true story captures a remarkably resilient battle against a harrowing foe, cancer. Despite essentially receiving the death penalty with her terminal diagnosis, Jennifer "Jennie" Martin exudes unparalleled grace and passion, an indomitable spirit that is imbued by her faith in God and love. Using the CaringBridge platform to keep all family and well-wishers connected, Eddie Martin's work is largely a collection of nearly thirty months of journal entries that are unquestionably raw and genuine to their core.
In the face of impending mortality, Jennie chooses to spend her dwindling time on a mission trip to Honduras rather than a lavish return trip to Rome. Throughout the book, examples of Jennie's sacrifices and investment in others exemplify how rooted she is in her belief. Readers experience Jennie's road home through a seamless duality of medicine and faith as the journal entries progress. Audiences become privy to the nitty-gritty details of chemotherapy while seeing the power of faith through interactions with Sister Dulce.
A central question that is prevalent throughout is why bad things happen to good people, and on a deeper level, how a kind and merciful God would allow for such suffering. The events that transpire following Jennie's diagnosis certainly inspire doubt and fear. Still, as the story unravels further, they also deliver a sense of understanding God's mysterious ways, ways that Jennie had embraced unconditionally. While heartbreak is on the horizon, Jennie's tenacity for life, love, and faith is so pronounced that the negativity and pain are almost an afterthought. The entire spotlight is on the power of the human spirit when it is aligned with faith and love. With such a poignant and powerful experience, the tears that flow from readers' eyes will not be from grief but awe.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review