The author, Brenda Spahn, was determined to provide for her children the things she lacked growing up. This drive to be a good mom morphed subtly into a strive for money, luxuries, and a life of ease. Don't judge her yet, though, because the bold steps that she takes to follow God's nudge to minister to others will leave you impressed and humbled.
Falsely accused of a crime related to her tax preparation business, Brenda pleads guilty to lesser charges to spare her family prolonged trauma. Praising the Lord for preventing her from having to serve time in prison and realizing how materialistic she'd become, this spunky woman in her fifties senses God calling her to minister to women prisoners. Not to preach at them, no, Heaven's no, there are enough people to do that! To talk to them, to give them real hope, in their language, and to back it up by putting her money where her mouth is when the going gets rough.
Throughout the book, Brenda shares devastating realizations she has regarding the state of her own heart and the source of her own motivations. Rather than spending chapters on a pity party, God is given the glory for bringing about a meaningful change in her life and she moves onto the next step. This book records Brenda's willingness to be a faithful and courageous vessel through which Christ's love can be poured out on those who need it most. In addition, since the writing covers a broad time span and depth of emotion, the "ripple effect" of Brenda's often impulsive decisions to "do what's right" reveals the grace of God at work among his beloved here on earth.
"Miss Brenda and her Loveladies" touched me deeply & I found it to be: inspiring, humbling, encouraging, & entertaining. This is one of those books that I will smile at when I see it sitting on our shelf.
This isn't released for purchase yet, (goes on sale 2/18/14) but you can pre-order it by clicking on the picture above.
**** In the interest of full disclosure: I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for the purpose of review. I wasn't required to give a positive review, the opinions are my own.