"Daring to Hope" Book Review

Daring to Hope by Katie Davis Majors

★★★★★

Hope is a daring thing when you don't know how things will turn out.  Or, perhaps more specifically, if they will turn out as you plan + pray + yearn for them to - then hope is a very daring thing made only for those willing to put it all in their Maker's hands & utter, "Thy will be done" at the end of their desperate pleas.  In Katie Davis Majors' second book {& sequel to her best seller Kisses from Katie}, comes a message to hope when all seems hopeless & when things come undone & the ending doesn't seem at all like happily ever after.

Katie has lived this out & writes it raw, as she has loved & cared for those deemed hopeless by the world's standards.  In the poverty stricken country of Uganda, which Katie has called home for many years now, she has opened her house + heart to others in the name of Jesus, & Jesus has brought them to her.  From her dozen or so adopted daughters to the sick & hurting & lost, she has cared for each one.

In the book she shares intimate stories of some of those she welcomed in, many who were very ill & facing tremendous health issues.  Some ended in miraculous recovery & some ended in the ultimate healing in heaven.  Facing discouragement after discouragement, prayers that seemed to go unanswered, sleepless nights spent caring for others, witnessing such intense pain to such loving, God-fearing people, & death of sweet friends brought Katie into a valley season where hope seemed too daring a task.  Ultimately God uses this season to renew Katie's heart & hope & bring her to a deeper understanding of who He is & how He loves.  Eventually, Katie makes it through the valley & into the light with special blessings she'd barely dared hope for.  Throughout this book is the thread of God's all-knowing love for us & how He delights in His beloved ones who belong to Him.  Even though our hopes do not always become our realities in this sin-broken place this side of heaven, His goodness & good plan are unstoppable & unshakable, giving us the courage to dare to hope come what may.