A concise overview of how strong beliefs helped a family through trying times.
In this debut memoir, an engineer revisits his family’s most difficult moments and shares realizations about God that helped him through.
“Our neighborhood was fit for a Rockwell painting,” Pratt writes. “We were a typical early ’60s family.” But, like so many other “typical” families, they endured hardships and difficulties; Pratt’s father left the family for another woman, the author writes; his mother had difficulty, as a divorced single mother, finding work and even housing. They and the author’s sister ended up in a simple duplex on the “wrong side of the tracks” in Springfield, Tennessee. Despite this, Pratt writes that he saw God working within his life, eventually bringing his father home and later introducing the author to his own future wife. Pratt would go on to become a successful engineer in Texas; his work took him all over the world. But the author focuses on the idea that when everything is going well, things can fall apart: “The season of dancing would yield to a season of mourning.” Tragically, his son Joshua’s first child was stillborn; the same year, the family lost the author’s mother-in-law as well as a beloved pet. While relating these tragedies, however, Pratt takes the opportunity to explore the story of Job, the nature of God’s help, and the way his family eventually healed. Overall, the author does an excellent job of imbuing seemingly ordinary events with meaning by weaving in numerous biblical references. For example, he blends the stories of Ruth, David and Goliath, and Paul with various memories, such as when Pratt’s mother called the police on him for leaving the house without permission when he was 9 or when Pratt’s disabled son prepared to navigate the Atlanta airport by himself. The main focus though, is on the year of losses, which leaves some other accounts underdeveloped, such as Pratt’s time in Spain. However, for Christian readers, Pratt provides excellent examples of his conviction that “With God there is always a rest of the story.”
A concise overview of how strong beliefs helped a family through trying times.Pub Date: March 22, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-973623-04-5
Page Count: 132
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 8, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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