The first time I read one of Jane Lebak’s stories, I wanted to cheer. Jane makes me laugh and sometimes shed a tear or two. But most of all, she challenges me to imagine: What if?
When I first read The Guardian, a novel published in 1994 under the name Jane Hamilton, I confronted questions such as: What would it mean if a guardian angel were to break trust with God, even if the severing action initiated from a pure motive? What might be the limits of forgiveness and of faith?
Annihilation from Double-Edged Publishing delved even more deeply into the question of trusting God, and Jane did it with humor and insight that truly touched me. Good stories provoke a suspension of disbelief. Like the works of C.S. Lewis, JRR Tolkien, and Ursula le Guin, Jane’s fantasies reel me in: I believe in the worlds she creates.
I just finished reading Jane’s newest, published as an e-book by MuseItUp Publishing, entitled The Boys Upstairs. This time Jane has written about folk I might know, in a place I might have visited, dealing with issues I might recognize. When the crippled priest said, “Praise God for land mines,” I remembered how often I’ve complained about circumstances instead of praising God for the land mines in my life. Not one of them made me a cripple, but each one changed me and my attitude.
This is a feel-good Christmas story that challenges and inspires. As usual, Jane’s writing sparkles. Wouldn’t you like to smile a little this year?
Her blog is also great reading at http://philangelus.wordpress.com
Seven Archangels Annihilation audio file
Yes, I would like a Christmas story that ignites a smile. More joy? Amen.
I am one of Jane's Muse sisters. Eleven days after 9/11 I was in a very serious car accident that took everything I was working my tail feathers off for at the time. I truly believed my life had been thrown a disatser that would destroy not just me, but my adult daughter, an epileptic with out of control seizures. I would never be able to drive again…in other words, all my independence and confidence in who I am and what I was about went into the toilet. I would be forced to rely on para-transit as would my daughter. The fight to get bureaucracy to finally admit I was disabled was long and frustrating, but once I received it, along with my daughter, we found that riding it introduced us to a world filled with some very incredible people. The accident was horrible, and should never have happened. The young girl driving the car that hit me was too busy talking on her cell phone to notice that pesky thing called a Stop Sign, but what I thought was going to destroy myself and my daughter, gave us a new wellspring of friendships and more. Today I am grateful to God for the accident. It gave me so much more than it took.Jane, your story sounds like a similar journey towards learning sometimes what seems to be the absolute worse, turns into one of the best things that could ever have happened. Bless you.
Kathy, I think you will truly enjoy anything you find of Jane's, especially if you hunt up a copy of either of her angel books. And, Lin, thank you for sharing your story and for offering a life lesson we can all use. It's so true that the worst can become our best, isn't it? I'm so sorry that yours should have happened in such a way, but with the Lord on your team, you have obviously achieved a victory that will be a testimony to many. Bless you, my sister, and may the Lord continue to strengthen you and your daughter.
Thank you for the review, Normandie! And Kathy, I hope the story does bring joy. Lin, I've often been surprised how life circumstances that are absolutely devastating can cause a spiritual and personal inventory that often transforms us into such better people than we were before. I've never driven over a physical land mine, but our family has had its share of spiritual ones. The friendships, the relationship to God, the different perspective — it's amazing afterward that without being at all good, an event can bring about a lot of good. Thank you for sharing your story.
These books sound wonderful, Normandie! And I'm a particular sucker for Christmas stories.I'm adding this to my list! (and checking it twice???)