Between a Rock and a Grace Place: Divine Surprises in the Tight Spots of Life

by Carol Kent,
Zondervan, 2010

After reading Kent's earlier books, When I Lay My Isaac Down  and A New Kind of Normal, I was pleasantly surprised to discover the author's latest book on my (public) library's bookshelves.

Like the previous two books, this one deals with the subject of life after, and in the midst of, difficulty or tragedy. Kent knows her subject well. Her son, Jason, was incarcerated for life without the possibility of parole after killing his wife's ex-husband in 1999. An only child, raised in a good home with caring Christian parents, Jason was the last person anyone expected to commit murder and wind up a custodian of the prison system. As you can imagine, the outcome was devastating - for Jason, his parents, his new wife and her children, and for the fiancee and family of the murder victim.

While the new normal is not what anyone would have wished for Jason or anyone intimately connected with him through his crime, his mother points out that unexpected blessings have come out of his incarceration, not least of which is strengthened faith.

Peppered with stories of other people who have dealt with a variety of challenges and experienced "divine surprises in the tight spots of life," this is an excellent read for anyone, but especially for those who are going through struggles of their own.

A New Kind of Normal

Hope-filled Choices When Life Turns Upside Down
by Carol Kent
Thomas Nelson, 2007

Carol Kent continues the story she began with When I Lay My Isaac Down. Her new normal involves weekly visits behind a prison wire as she visits her son, incarcerated for life without any chance of parole for the killing of his wife's ex-husband.

With this book she outlines the huge adjustments she and her husband have had to make, both in terms of their way of life and where they live it, and in terms of their dreams and hopes for their son's future. In spite of an unthinkable situation and the shedding of copious tears, she and Gene have determined to live lives of hope that will honour and glorify God. They trade ashes for beauty, and use their circumstance to reach out to others who are suffering and in need of hope.

Carol uses the story of Jesus's mother, Mary, as a template for the person whose life has turned upside down and as an example for how those who hurt can choose to live within the constraints of their new normal. At the end of each chapter are questions to help the reader think through his own experience for answers that will help him.

This book is a must-read for those whose life situations have left them discouraged and despondent. Buy it for yourself or for someone you love.