My online friend Bill (a pastor from Indiana) (who posts at Cycleguy's Spin) recommended a book entitled He Heard Hannah by Lynnette Kraft and Courtney Becker. If you read his original post you will notice that he spoke with exclamation points and with bold-faced font. In short, he made it clear that this was a book worth reading. A true story about life, about redemption, about salvation, about love. A book that would help us to see God in the world around us even though his presence might seem little more than a whisper in a strong gale in our daily lives. So, I purchased the book and added it to my reading list. Now that I am finished, I too would raise this book up with a strong recommendation. I expect that it would be well worth your time, whether you are a Christian, someone who claims to be "spiritual", an agnostic, or an atheist. This is a story that serves to demonstrate redemption and model how to hold onto hope and claim joy even after passing through the deepest valleys imaginable.The story seemingly begins on November 19, 2004 when Lynnette and her husband Kyle called 911. Their 6 year old girl Anna, who was born with a serious heart defect, cried out in pain and quickly began to fade. The 911 operator who took the call was Courtney. At the time he was just past the trainee stage, but he did what he could and stayed on the phone with Kyle until the paramedics arrived. In this time he heard everything that took place as the Krafts tried to save their little girl, but he knew that she was clearly dying. Very quickly that phone call dragged him down to one of the lowest points in his life. He came away feeling an unimaginable depth of pain and loss that went well beyond any reasonable showing of empathy, a condition triggered when he personalized the situation. Over the phone he believed the child's name was Hannah, the name of his own young daughter. Yet there was so much more behind Courtney's struggle than the death of a young child of a couple that he had never met.
This wonderful book shares the story of two lives and two families that initially seemed to be separate threads, but were actually interwoven well before that day in November 2004. It shows how God's purpose and plans work themselves out over the long and complicated paths that we take. Inspirational and well written. A beautiful jewel that has so much to teach us about our God and how knowing Him can and should impact our lives.
