TOO YOUNG TO DIE?
By Andrew Stone
Day One. 124 pages. £7.00
ISBN 978 1 846 255 922
This book is in Day One’s Life Stories series, written by ‘ordinary’ Christians living with great trials. It is not a ‘how to’ book written by an author in a comfortable study, but a heartfelt account by a father whose only daughter suffered kidney failure followed by life-threatening lymphoma.
Hannah’s story is recounted mostly by quoting the emails sent to family and friends during her terrible illnesses and treatment, giving the reader a first-hand account without the editing of hindsight. Thus we encounter both the anguish of the parents, the ordeals of the patient, and the wonderful sustaining faith of them all in the midst of, no doubt, the worst trial of their lives.
Deep trust in a sovereign God
Someone has said that we are only as spiritually mature during trials as we are when we enter them. This family were already in the habit of reading the Bible together each day, and thus well placed to receive hope and comfort from God’s word in the midst of their confusion and pain. Anyone reading this book will be much encouraged by the deep trust in a sovereign God that it displays, alongside the honesty of the accompanying struggles and heartaches.
I highly recommend it but, as one whose family has a similar story to tell, may I ask you not to pass it on to someone who is in the midst of their own trial! Read it yourself to gain an insight into how a suffering family you know may be feeling, and give it to a younger Christian who can learn from its example before facing their own test of faith.
