Forgiveness: The Mystery and Miracle
Annette Stanwick
Heart Message Publishing
ISBN 978-0-9783545-0-3
213 pages 

While attending a recent church service, my pastor asked how many people had audibly heard the voice of God speaking to them.  I raised my hand as did several others in the congregation.  Annette Stanwick in her book Forgiveness: The Mystery and Miracle also heard God’s voice several times in her journey toward healing from the violent murder of her brother Soren. One night, when God told her that the man who had murdered her brother was deeply wounded, she wanted to reject these words.  What about her own excruciating wounds and incredible pain?  Her brother, a long-distance trucker from Idaho, didn’t have any enemies; he was deeply loved and respected by his family and friends. It was unthinkable that Soren had been found shot to death outside a produce plant in Richmond, Virginia.  His lifeless body was in a pool of blood, wedged between the seats and the sleeper of his rig. Annette believed that only an evil, cruel person could have done such a thing, and yet God described him as being wounded.  Furthermore, God told Annette that He loved Soren’s murderer as much as he loved her brother…and as much as he loved her.  Though she struggled to accept what God was telling her, Annette had to acknowledge that it was true.  Familiar verses from the Bible inundated her mind, and it was only after surrendering to the reality of God’s words that she fell into a peaceful sleep. 

This book is an incredible first-person story that is written with total honesty as the author reveals her innermost feelings in regard to giving and receiving forgiveness. Readers will relate to Annette Stanwick as she struggles through the various phases of the grieving process.  They will learn that it is permissible to be angry with God because He understands a broken heart.  As she tells us about several family tragedies, it is easy to see how the choices made by others can affect those around them.  There is a difference between joyous living and simply going on with life.  When Annette chose to personally and publicly forgive those involved in the murder of her brother, she found inner peace and a way to honor her brother’s memory by taking the message of forgiveness to others, even interacting with lifers in prisons.  

If you are struggling to forgive someone, or you need to seek forgiveness, this is a book that will help you move from the past into a living and giving future.  Regardless of the depth of the wounds, the author has the sincere desire to help you with the healing process.  At the end of each chapter, in order to make this book more personal to you, Mrs. Stanwick provides three sections entitled:  Personal Application, Exploration, and Prayer.  

As a husband who held his sobbing and inconsolable wife when she received a telephone call that her only sister had been killed instantly in a head-on collision, I could easily relate to both Annette and her husband Clay.  Not only was the young driver speeding, but he had a long history of driving offenses.  My wife, a devout Christian, went through many experiences similar to the author.  She initially directed her anger toward God and then blamed the young driver for “killing” her sister.  She suffered several agonizing months of pain before finally moving forward with her life.  If I could have placed this book in her hands, I am convinced that it would have been a great help.  Forgiveness: The Mystery and Miracle is definitely a must-read when it comes to healing and finding freedom and peace! 

John R. Tucker
For IP Book Reviewers
03/04/08