Product Description

Finding Grace is the powerful, often humorous, and deeply moving story of one woman’s journey of broken dreams. It is the story of how a painful legacy of the past is confronted and met with peace. This book is for anyone who has struggled to understand why our desires— even the simplest ones—are sometimes denied or who has questioned where God is when we need him most. This story is about one woman’s unlikely road to motherhood. Finally, it’s a book about the “undeserved gift which is life itself.” It’s the story of “Finding Grace.”

Donna VanLiere has entertained millions with her inspirational stories. In her new book, she gives us a candid look into her own life, a life filled with suffering and pain, but one that ultimately finds peace with itself.

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41517 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-31
• Released on: 2009-03-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780312380519
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Although many books are called “inspirational memoirs,” too few live up to their label. VanLiere’s is one of the finest. Her life journey got off to a rocky start. Molested twice at a very early age, VanLiere was to face other soul-ripping experiences, including miscarriage and multiple failures with fertility efforts. Somehow, through the steadfast observation of small, everyday things, VanLiere experienced life-altering epiphanies, and she shares these in an open, honest fashion. Her folksy, familiar style makes readers feel as though they’re communing with a close friend. At turns poignant and humorous, her memoir is impossible to put down. Laced with thought-provoking quotations from philosophers and other great minds as well as from the Bible, Finding Grace is never preachy or didactic. It has the same appeal as Rabbi Harold S. Kushner’s excellent book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People (1983). Author of the best-selling Christmas Hope series, VanLiere expresses wonder as she finds joy in the mundane and jubilation in life’s little extras. --Shelley Mosley

Review
Although many books are called "inspirational memoirs," too few live up to their label. VanLiere's is one of the finest. Her life journey got off to a rocky start. Molested twice at a very early age, VanLiere was to face other soul-ripping experiences, including miscarriage and multiple failures with fertility efforts. Somehow, through the steadfast observation of small, everyday things, VanLiere experienced life-altering epiphanies, and she shares these in an open, honest fashion. Her folksy, familiar style makes readers feel as though they're communing with a close friend. At turns poignant and humorous, her memoir is impossible to put down. Laced with thought-provoking quotations from philosophers and other great minds as well as from the Bible, Finding Grace is never preachy or didactic. It has the same appeal as Rabbi Harold S. Kushner's excellent book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People (1983). Author of the best-selling Christmas Hope series, VanLiere expresses wonder as she finds joy in the mundane and jubilation in life's little extras.

--Shelley Mosley --Booklist, April 1, 2009

Review

---

Customer Reviews

The Gift of Grace
I have to admit that I was a bit hesitant to accept the opportunity to read and review Donna VanLiere's "Finding Grace." Frankly, I have read very little in the Christian Fiction genre and I watch almost no television, so I was completely unaware of VanLiere's books or the movies made from them. However, I am definitely a fan of memoirs and something about her personal story made me curious to read what she had to say about her life and how she arrived at the point she is today.

"Finding Grace" is an inspirational story - probably more meaningful today even than when VanLiere was writing it, in fact, because of the way people all across the country, and the world, are being tested by the horrible economic crisis we all face. Thousands of jobs are lost everyday, along with the benefits attached to those jobs, such as health insurance, and parents are under tremendous pressure to maintain some sense of normality for their children.

Donna VanLiere shares her own story - and her theory that "broken dreams," the shattering of our expectations of the life for which we believed ourselves to have been destined, are the "launch pad to growth." VanLiere, who suffered sexual abuse at the hands of two perverted young neighbor boys as a child, had her innocence stolen so early that she spent most of her life questioning God about his absence when she most needed His help. As an adult, her dream was to marry and raise a family of her own but her dream plan was shattered by her inability to c0nceive despite spending thousands of dollars and several years trying to right the problem.

It was only when she recognized that God had a different plan for her, adoption, that VanLiere reached what she considers to be a state of grace in her life. Now she wants to share her insights and experiences with others who may be struggling with their own faith as a result of the difficulties they face in their lives. VanLiere's message is one of hope - that when life is at its darkest is the perfect time to open one's heart to an alternative plan, one that just might be what was meant to be all along. VanLiere defines "grace" as "when you get something you don't deserve." It is a gift that you have to do nothing to earn because God wants you to have it, the kind of gift you may not even recognize until long after having received it.

"Finding Grace" will definitely offer hope to those in turmoil about their immediate futures - but it also reminds that life is a long journey with many crossroads, and peaks and valleys, along the way. The most important thing to remember, according to Donna VanLiere, is that it is never too late to accept the grace that is always there for the taking.

Moving from Surviving to Thriving
Donna has provided thoughtful, insightful, humorous and authentic reflections on the blessings and challenges of life. Many will find it simply inspirational as she moves from victim to survivor to thriver. Will Marling, The National Organization for Victim Assistance[...]

Excellent!
It is a wonderful book! Although I am not a reader I read this book from the beginning to the end directly! It is the story of me and us.
Donna writes very honestly and open about LIFE, with its questions, deserts and pain, but also the glorious moments and happiness. I would recommend this book to everyone.
Ron from Holland (Europe)