Under A Desert Sky


Lynne Hartke's new book, Under A Desert Sky: Redefining Hope, Beauty, and Faith in the Hardest Places draws on her experiences with cancer and death to paint a picture of trusting God through the desert times. The back cover says:

"There comes a time in life when we find ourselves in the desert place of burning questions. Why? Why me? But even as we shake our fist heavenward, the heart whispers another question. Who? Who are you, God? It is a question of relationship, a question we all murmur in the hardest places.

Against the backdrop of the Sonoran Desert, Lynne Hartke asks her own hard questions as cancer arrives like a thief with one goal: to take it all. Hair. The contents of a stomach. A marriage. A life. As her days become a blur of doctors' appointments, treatments, and surgeries, she wrestles with a tumble of tangled emotions, a shaken faith, and self-doubt. Cancer is now not only threatening her own life, but, in a surprising twist, the lives of both her parents as well.

Through her raw, lyrical words, Hartke invites fellow sojourners to discover that in life's hardest places, they are not alone in their fear, they are not foolish to hope, and they are never forgotten by a loving, pursuing God. Never."

Under A Desert Sky wasn't quite what I expected, but I did like it. Honestly, it was a bit of a difficult and depressing read for me though, so I could only read it in small doses - a chapter or two at a time. It made me feel a bit heavy reading about Lynne's experiences and loss, but she definitely pointed the way toward the Saviour as our constant companion throughout difficult desert times. I thought this book was going to be a straightforward memoir, but it wasn't. It was more of a topical or devotional type book, jumping from subject to subject and to and from different time periods and events in Lynne's life rather than a straightforward point A to point B narrative. I would recommend this book to anyone going through a difficult season.

I received a copy of this book from Revell in order to provide an honest and unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Surviving Death

Can I Just Hide In Bed 'Til Jesus Comes Back?