Home | e-Magazine | e-Products | e-Books | Handmade Originals | Licensed Art

Book
One Imperfect Christmas

Author
Myra Johnson

The Review
They say a mother is the heart of the home, and it’s true. But even when you don’t live at home with her any more, your mother is often the center of your universe—the sun in your sky—the axis around which everything revolves. You just may not realize it, until it’s too late.

Natalie Pearce never realized just how much her life depended on her mother—her just being there, an ever-present part of her life—until she came close to losing her. The day Natalie’s mother suffered a stroke changed every part of her life, dropping her into a pit of guilt and depression she just can’t seem to extricate herself from, no matter how much she tries or how compelling her reasons.

And heaven knows she has good reasons. She has a husband and a daughter of her own—a daughter whose own life has been thrown into a turmoil, not only by her grandmother’s stroke, but also by her mother’s inability to cope with it. A daughter who needs her now more than ever as she enters her uncertain teenage middle school years. And a husband who loves her and needs her, too.

But Natalie just can’t see it. And no matter how her husband, Daniel, and her daughter, Lissa, try to snap her out of it, they can’t make her. So instead of turning to the family she loves for the understanding she so desperately needs, Natalie throws herself into her work, cutting herself off almost entirely from everyone she loves.

Will she destroy her family and marriage in her own despair? Can she ever forgive herself enough to let love back into her life?

They say Christmas is a time for miracles, but sometimes miracles don’t come in the way we hope for. Sometimes God has His own plans—even when we don’t understand them.

I think the substance of this novel can really be summed up in this one passage from the book, and it is my favorite:

“’ ...I knew Jesus wouldn’t let us down.’...‘He never does, sweetie. We may not always understand his ways, but he never, ever lets us down.’”

That, in the end, is the message of this book—and the lesson in life. Myra Johnson did an excellent job of weaving a story that demonstrated this lesson in action, in a true-to-real life way I could relate to as a woman, a daughter, a mother, and a wife. I also love the way she interspersed the story with the common theme of a multi-generational love for—and talent for—painting and art. It really tied the story together and ultimately helped provide closure for Natalie and her family in an unusual way.

Order One Imperfect Christmas Today!

Disclosure: The reviewer received a complimentary copy of the book to review.