Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Wrapped in God's Grace by Barbara Bras




 
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About the Book

 

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The crushing pain of seven years of unanswered prayer for a child. A miraculous adoption story, followed by unforeseen challenges and heartbreak.

Barbara Bras begins her memoir by sharing God’s answer to her prayers and the difficult times that followed. Although God does not provide an easy fix, the intricacies of God’s plans reveal themselves to her, and she relives her life in a new light.

Bras then recounts the stories of her grandfather Arshag and her grandmother Gulle, survivors of the atrocities of Armenia in 1915. Arshag, sent to South America for his protection, returns as a soldier of the Armenian Legion to fight for his country. Gulle is the only member of her family to survive the death march into the desert. Through God’s grace they find each other, marry and move to America in 1921. Bras is their first grandchild.

The final section of the memoir follows Bras as she marries and moves to Hawaii, only to return as a single mother to teach school in a small town. It is there she finally realizes that God has provided her with protection and direction. Bras discovers that once we truly surrender our will to God, His plan always produces blessings beyond our wildest dreams!


My Review

I have never read a book that spoke to the experiences in my life so closely. Dealing with infertility myself, and then experiencing adoption spoke to me on such a specific level of feelings that I didn't realize others felt as well. Every page I read specifically in regards to the adoption story brought tears to my eyes because of how much I related to this story. This is a memoir like never written before that I have read. It was not just an account of history of someone's life- it was written in such a way that you were part of the story and the characters' challenges and feelings. It was written as a novel memoir so that it is story telling but 100% true to the experiences and history of a woman just like any of us. We get a glimpse into Barbara's family history and the remarkable story of her grandparents through literally life-threatening situations and how the Lord brought about a remnant of her family to continue serving Him. We see how Barbara herself struggles with trying to find contentment and fulfillment in people and life changes hoping that the next experience will bring her true happiness. It's a beautiful story of the grace of God, and we see His grace filling every disappointment in Barbara's life to lead her to His will. Barbara's struggle to allow God to bring her happiness and contentment is one that resonated with me greatly as I tend to be a control freak most of the time. Because Barbara's message resonated with me on so many levels, I know the Lord had to put it on her heart to write this memoir. I was inspired, encouraged, and found a common bond with a sister in Christ that I didn't think was a possibility. Thank you Mrs. Bras for a wonderful testimony that was so uniquely and clearly written- it truly spoke to my soul! Praise the Lord for his unfailing grace!

I was given a free copy of this book to give my honest opinion.


About the Author

In 2015, Barbara Bras left her career to pursue her dream of serving God. She believed that her first step would be to share the amazing ways God had blessed her. As she wrote of her son’s miraculous adoption and the challenging years that followed, it led to the rediscovery of her entire life, including the history of her grandparents’ remarkable survival in Armenia and her search for purpose and love. Her memoir led to her first novel, which she hopes readers will find engaging and memorable.

Guest Post from Barbara Bras

An Unanswered Prayer

I struggled for many years with one unanswered prayer. It was my “go to” request every time I came before the Lord.

Convinced that with God nothing is impossible, I also knew that the Lord may say “Not now” many times, even before he says no. I acknowledged that the Lord probably had a much bigger and better plan in mind for me, but none of that offered any comfort. As I struggled year after year with my unanswered prayer I found more questions than answers.

Was I fooling myself and ignoring God’s “No”? Could my lack of faith be the reason I couldn’t hear the Lord? And if not now, then when dear Lord?

Then I discovered that the Lord said “Not now.” because he had a miracle waiting for me, more amazing than I could have ever imagined. Like Hannah, God finally answered my prayer for a child. And through that miracle I learned that surrendering my will to God allows Him to bless me beyond my human understanding.

To my further surprise, I discovered that the miracle didn’t mean the end of the story. Experiencing a miraculous adoption didn’t come with a guarantee or a promise that the rest of my life would be free of heartache.

After all of those years of unanswered prayer, I found myself back on my knees with a new daily prayer request. The Lord had something else to teach me through this new struggle, a lesson that took me another fifteen years to learn.

Not only did those fifteen years lead me right back to where I started, surrendering my human will to His and trusting in His greater plan, but it convinced me that the Lord wanted me to share my story.  

Wrapped in God’s Grace, a Life Rediscovered begins with my unanswered prayer for a child, but as I wrote it, God’s plan for me became clear. The second section of the book recreates the events surrounding the survival of my grandparents through the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Their immigration to America in 1921 led to my existence. The book closes with the Lord blessing me with a loving husband in spite of the many missteps I made directing my own life. A reviewer found this nonlinear sequence of events unusual, and I am fine with that, since that’s how the book unfolded before me.

Captured by St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, I now view my writing as a tribute first to the God who comforts and strengthens all of us in hardships and trials, and second as my mission to encourage others.


A photo gallery for Wrapped in God’s Grace, a Life Rediscovered can be found on my website AuthorB.Bras.com. Click here to view the Photo Gallery
 

Blog Stops

October 14: Book Love
October 15: A Greater Yes
October 16: Carpe Diem
October 18: Pause for Tales
October 19: A Reader’s Brain
October 20: Bigreadersite
October 22: Mary Hake
October 22: Simple Harvest Reads (Spotlight)


Giveaway



To celebrate her tour, Barbara is giving away a $100 Amazon gift card! Click here to enter: https://promosimple.com/ps/a561

2 comments:

  1. Katie, bless you for the words of encouragement. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think your book will be a blessing to many women. Thank you for sharing how God worked in your life.

    ReplyDelete