Convincing Lou
[d-w13293]

5 of 5 Stars Jodie does a fantastic job with godly themes throughout the book, carrying the story of grace, mercy, justice, and trust from beginning to end. Ellie Lou has lost almost everything, and the story starts with her only four weeks away from losing what’s left. Though the loss of her husband and the imminent loss of her home are painful, it’s the seeming loss of hearing from God that plagues her the most. She wants to trust God, and she feels like she knows what He wants her to do, but the waiting seems so long and she’s afraid that if she doesn’t do something, everything will fall apart. And yet, each time she tries to hurry God along and do things her own way, things go awry. I think it’s safe to say we’ve all been there, and I love how Jodie weaves this into the story through both Ellie Lou’s struggles and the gentle and loving encouragement of the people around her. Caleb is a man trying to absolve the actions of his past, actions that occurred during his time in the war. He has seen death and he does everything in his power to ensure it doesn’t happen on his watch to anyone around him, even when he’s tracking down dangerous (and murderous) outlaws who are “Wanted: Dead or Alive.” Caleb’s determination in this regard comes from a good place, but tends to push others away. And in trying to right the wrongs of his past, he allows guilt to keep him trapped. Caleb’s backstory could easily overshadow the main story, but Jodie does a phenomenal job of bringing in just enough to show us his heart without taking away from where he’s going. As someone who has struggled with trusting God with writing my story—especially when it has felt like nothing is moving and like God is silent—I thought Jodie’s choices of Scripture were particularly inspired. From the story of Noah to the Psalms to the Gospel verses, each was picked with purpose, and placed exactly where it needed to be to create the most impact.