Beauty Beyond The Ashes is Cheryl McGuinness's story of pain--tragically losing her husband, Tom, and triumph. How do you maintain hope in the face of excruciating pain? How does one go about putting her life back together when the props have been knocked out from under her? Cheryl says Tom gave her that answer one night. "If anything ever happens to me, you have to trust God," he told her.
Tom was the copilot on American Airlines Flight 11 when it crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City. That day, Cheryl's life and that of her children changed forever. But her new church in Portsmouth, NH, and their old church in California reached out to surround her with God's hands of love. They kept her household functioning in the blurred days afterward, and continued to support her and her children as they worked through their grief.
Throughout Cheryl's life, God was preparing her for the next stage. "...God ...used our circumstances... to plant seeds of experience that would bear fruit later." Cheryl takes us through her and Tom's life from dating to now. Each chapter is in two parts: the first part is her story; the second part discusses the biblical principal and how we can apply it to our own lives. She writes for those who know Christ as well as to draw those who don't know Christ.
Her chapters include: Navigating Life's Twists and Turns; Loving God's Way; Being God's Hands and Feet; God's Calm in the Midst of the Whirlwind; Mixed Blessings; and Hope for Tomorrow. She writes openly, showing her weaknesses alongside God's strength. I believe both men and women would enjoy this book.
Cheryl concludes: "We need to be constantly developing our spiritual dimension and drawing closer to God. And we need to do all we can to create legacies that will draw others to him." -- Linda Demorest, Christian Book Previews.com
