Wednesday, November 2, 2016

A Baxter Family Christmas




A Baxter Family Christmas is Karen Kingsbury's latest instalment in the Baxter Family saga. If you haven't read the other 23 Baxter books, don't worry! You can start right here and join the Baxter's for Christmas. I have no doubt however, after you read this one, you will be hooked and want to go back and read the others.

Losing a loved one is never easy. Although the grief passes, you still feel a void even after years have past, especially around the holidays. What if, they were an organ donor and you had the opportunity to meet the recipient? To hear their heart beat one more time. Who wouldn't want that chance?

John Baxter loves his family, but losing a daughter is hard. You're not supposed to outlive your childen it just isn't right. He's trying to come to grips with it, it's been a few years, but he just can't make peace. So, he reaches out to Kendra, the lady who received Erin's heart. He feels like meeting her and letting her meet the family might provide the healing they need for all of them to move on. He's kept in touch with Kendra and decides to invite her to the family's Christmas Eve celebration. He feels it's the right thing to do.

Not everyone agrees with him. Some accuse him of being selfish while others respect and understand what he's trying to do. The Baxters have never spent a Christmas Eve apart, afterall Christmas is a time to celebrate the Savior's birth and for families to be together. Will this year be the exception?

Maddie West is carrying a huge load of guilt over a pool accident that happened years ago. She has made a promise to herself that if Hayley can't have a "normal" life then she won't either. She never pauses to consider that God may have other plans in store for her, one of them being Connor Flanigan. She is committed to the promise she made and pushes away his attempts at friendship.

I love Karen Kingsbury books and the way she makes the characters come to life and jump off the page and into your heart. This one is no different. I felt for John, how hard it must be to lose a child and simply desire to hold them one last time and say all the things you never got to say. And sweet little Amy, the only one to survive the family's wreck, desperately wanting to see her mom one last time. It's hard trying to hold onto the past while moving into the future. Sometimes the best you can do is put one foot in front of the the other, trusting God to take care of the rest.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

You can grab a copy here:A Baxter Family Christmas

* I was provided a free copy of this book. All opinions expressed above are my own.

  

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