Beloved Hope by Tracie Peterson

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Product Details

This is the second book in a series about three sisters, Grace, Hope, and Mercy. It being a sequel is the main reason I requested this book to read. Hope and Mercy had been at the Whitman mission at the time of the Whitman Massacre by the Indians. Hope had been raped repeatedly, became pregnant, and gave the child away at birth to a friend who was unable to have children.

Because of all this, she struggles very hard to forgive the Indians and to move on with her life. She is consumed with a desire for revenge and believes that seeing the Indians come to justice would end her struggle. After five Indians are hanged, she realizes that will not bring her closure like she hoped for. Anyway, I don't want to give away too much of the story. As you can imagine, there is a man involved and even though Hope has resolved to never marry, he wins her heart, etc. etc.

But there are a few key things in this book that stuck out to me: forgiveness and releasing fear. Hope came to realize that she was afraid of about everything and while, even at the beginning of the book, she was trying to trust God again, fear was holding her back. She was learning slowly to give that fear over and recognize it as coming from the Devil and not from God.

On the issue of forgiveness and holding grudges, I would like to quote something said by her younger sister Mercy, which I think is very good. "Grace helped me see that when you hate someone, it's like a chain wrapped around your heart that reminds you of all the ugly, bad things that person did to you. Holding a grudge takes a great deal of strength. You keep carrying it, and it wears you down. You can hate so much and get so worn out from it that it makes you ill and ruins your life. It's better to let bad things stay in the past and put the chain down. Leave it to rust. You don't have to carry it and be reminded of what happened....and you don't have to get worn out and sick."  I like the image of a chain around your heart, because that is really what it is, grudges and unforgiveness holds me hostage far more than it does the person I am angry at.

I did enjoy this book, but it is one of your more predictable chick flicks, in my opinion. I do, however, think that there are some good words of wisdom in this book as well.

I received this book from Bethany House and was not required to write a positive review.

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