Beautiful On The Mountain


Beautiful On The Mountain: An Inspiring True Story by Jeannie Light is basically a biography of how Jeannie came to minister at a small church in Graves Mill, Virginia. The description from the publisher sounded great: "If you enjoyed the classic novel Christy and the bestselling Mitford series, then you’ll love Beautiful on the Mountain, a real-life tale about serving God in unlikely circumstances. In 1977, Jeannie Light left her fine plantation home amid heartbreak and came to Graves Mill, a tiny hamlet in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Alone in an utterly new kind of life, Jeannie was determined to find the courage to make a fresh start.

To Jeannie’s surprise, she found herself called upon by her new neighbors to open the old, deteriorated country church, a place that had once united the fractured community of mountain folk. With no training, and no small amount of trepidation, she undertook the task. And as she embarked on an unforeseen series of adventures, from heartbreaking to hilarious, Jeannie would learn more than she ever expected about faith, loving your neighbor, and doing the work that God sets in front of you. Because sometimes, God calls us to go where there is no path . . . and leave a trail."

However, the execution was a bit lacking. This was a first person memoir-style book and it lacked depth and needed some editing. It started out strong, but got a bit boring as the pages went on. The ending was extremely abrupt and why she ended up leaving wasn't ever explained. I also don't believe that women should be pastoring a church, so that rubbed me the wrong way as well. There were some interesting stories and great bits and pieces, but as a whole, the book was fairly weak. Some parts were worth reading. Other people may find it more enjoyable - it just wasn't quite what I expected.

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