Book Review: How My Savior Leads Me – by Terri M. Stellrecht

Book: How My Savior Leads Me

Author: Terri M. Stellrecht

Publisher: WestBow Press – a division of Thomas Nelson; another publisher for upcoming revised edition

Date: October 21, 2011

Genre: Inspirational non-fiction

Pages: 192

Price: $13.95, paperback; less on Kindle

My rating: hard story to read, yet a sincere sharing of pain and hope.

 

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

How My Savior Leads Me is the true story of a family’s loss, the sudden and unexpected death of one of its children in February 2011. The author writes from a place of pain, all the while trying to trust God in her grief.

Trent Stellrecht is a twelve-year-old boy who loves life as a young boy does, being  adventurous, fun-loving, and outgoing. We are not told what exactly happened that tragic day, except that he died in a skiing accident while on a day trip with the youth group.

Terri Stellrecht, Trent’s mother, tells about the shock, the grief, the steps the family went through in preparing to let him go. She tells about how the family ministered to the many who came to express their sympathy and own personal loss. She shares Scripture and asks the challenging question, “If it had been you, do you know where you would be now?”

But Terri is a woman who is still working through her own mourning, and has yet to find that place where life is still good. Having experienced loss in my own life, I know how hard it is to keep on when it seems the world should stop and take notice .. but it doesn’t. My other children needed me, perhaps even more, and I had to be there for them because life continued on. In How My Savior Leads Me, Terri Stellrecht shares while still in that place, so it is a read like no other you will come across.

While I do not agree with all of the author’s theology, the age-old question people come up against has been raised and she has found some answers that work for her. As I read this book, it seemed the writing and sharing of her son’s death is serving as a way to work through a mother’s grief, that the shock has not completely left, and there is much healing yet to come.

Terri Stellrecht uses her own photography throughout the book as she tells the story of Trent’s life. Also, if you are interested in listening to an interview with her please click on this link: radio interview  Once there click on blogtalkradio on the right of that page.

NOTE: For those of you who would like to read her book, How My Savior Leads Me, Terri Stellrecht has generously offered an extra copy for me to give away to one of my readers.  If you want a chance to win this copy, please leave a comment and answer one of the following tough questions: ‘In your life tragedies, to whom do you turn?’ OR ‘If you were to die tonight, do you know where you will be?’

A winner will be selected in a week, the evening of June 12.

You can find How My Savior Leads Me listed on my BUY THE BOOK! page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂