Denise Hildreth Jones' THE FIRST GARDENER


 The First Gardener by Denise Hildreth Jones





 published by Tyndale House Publishers 2011

One couple...two tragedies.
If one death could steal your joy, then what would two deaths do, steal your soul?
Gray and Mackenzie are brought from joy to despair to hope and then thrown into the pit of hell.
A review will never capture the essence of what this story does. It shows that no matter how big the hurt, the pain, the hope, etc., nothing is too big for God.

The chapters intermingled with Jeremiah's POV give a true Southern taste and how deep our roots go when it come to leaning and trusting our Lord. This story had me laughing and a lot of times--crying (and that is hard to do). Riveting at its best, and poignant at its worst, I have never read such a story with such heartfelt sincerity and bold honesty.

As Jeremiah says: "When God call you to sump'n big, ever'thing in your life gon' be big. Your mountains and your valleys--they all goin' be big. And this here valley, it be as big as any I ever see..."

Denise Hildreth Jones walks the reader through a life of happiness and pain, but more importantly--growth. It's a big story showing growth in oneself, growth in marriage, growth in friendship, growth in spirit, and most importantly growth in knowledge. God owes us nothing, but He gives us everything.

Comments

  1. Shirley CorderMarch 5, 2013 at 10:09 PM

    I loved this book. I got it free on Kindle and truly enjoyed the interaction between the richly-drawn characters.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shirley Corder's Strength Renewed

Image
Shirley Corder's Strength Renewed: Mediations for Your Journey through Breast Cancer Shirley Corder's Strength Renewed is not just for those who suffer or have suffered from breast cancer...it is also for those who suffer from depression, anxiety, lethargy, pain, and all other "cancers" in life. From page one I found myself uplifted by Shirley's words. Although I have read the passages of Scripture before, I reread them with new understanding and new life. Just as her book provides new life to hope. I am listing a few things at the beginning that captured me so thoroughly that I went back and reread that chapter of meditation: " Jesus and his disciples came across a man who had been blind all his life. 'Who's to blame for this man's blindness?' the disciples asked Jesus. 'No one," Jesus replied. He explained that God's power would be revealed as a result of the man's disability.... ...Cancer is finite. God is way
Read more

The Reliant by Dr. Patrick Johnston

Image
The Reliant by Dr. Patrick Johnston (Ambassador International 2017)  Normally I try to think of words that will not only flow but do justice to the book. Not this time. This will be one of my rawest reviews on a book. I couldn't find a single thing that I didn't like about this book. The writing and flow was seamless, taking me down a journey that wouldn't let up. I had to keep turning the page to see what happened. The author's use of flashbacks were masterfully executed. I have never read a book that could handle flashbacks so smoothly. The emotional impact was strong. I would get mad at a character. Sometimes I just wanted to fuss and yell at Sophie or Jimmy. I would want to wring their necks; then I find myself cheering them on, hoping against all odds that things go their way.  That's a sign of a good story. One that hooks the reader, reels the reader in, and then captures the reader until the very last word is read. Sophie and Jim
Read more

Paul the Apostle by Ben Avery/Mark Harmon

Image
Paul the Apostle by Ben Avery & Mark Harmon ( bear truth Collective 2016)  When I came across the chance to read and review a graphic novel, I jumped at it. The kid inside me still loves to read graphic novels/comic books, and I wanted to see how this one played out. There are a lot of comic books out there for children and some of them are Christian based. Although they touched upon and gave highlights to the story, I never really found one that would pull a reader in. Until now. The story of Paul starts at the very beginning. With the science fiction flair, Star Wars inspired vehicles en lieu of camels, donkeys, and horses, and the variety of animals and aliens used for the characters, this book will be a sure winner for that child who loves science fiction and fantasy. The way it is written reminds me a little of Brian Jacques' Redwall series and The Adventures of the Book of Virtues .  Most of us know the story of Saul who later became Pau
Read more