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Love Him Anyway






Love Him Anyway by Abby Banks
The story of Abby and Jason Banks is a remarkable one at that.  From finding out their 3rd child Wyatt is paralyzed to both Abby and Jason having different surgeries, including Austin having two hernias removed, the road of life has been a bumpy one at that.  Yet, there are these glimpses of grace in this book that are evident throughout the pages.  It would be easy to go through the life of this family and become jaded, cynical, and downright pessimistic about life and God, but they have been able to work through much pain in faith, not letting those around them be pushed away by their experiences.
One moment of God’s grace shining through when Abby writes, “A short time later, the doctor called Jason and me into the counseling room. The surgery was over, and Austin had done great. The doctor said she did indeed have two hernias that needed to be repaired. He told us they would call us back shortly to be with Austin in recovery, but first there was a nurse who wanted to speak with me. A nurse in scrubs entered the room and introduced herself.

“I was helping in your daughter’s surgery and heard that you have thyroid cancer. I just wanted to introduce myself and let you know that everything is going to be okay,” she said. “I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and just went through my radioactive iodine treatment. I’d like to give you my phone number in case you have any questions later.” I couldn’t help but marvel at how God had orchestrated everything to provide comfort for me during Austin’s surgery.” (36)  We often gloss over small events that happen in our lives when others come into our lives with a similar experience, but these times often leave a deep imprint in our minds and hearts.

Abby spells out the disappointment and heartache very well when finding out about Wyatt’s condition.  The beauty of her writing on this was the sting of trying to figure what the disease was and how to deal with it.  She writes, “This was bad, really bad.  Transverse myelitis is a one-in-a million autoimmune attack, and there is no cure. Only one-third of people with transverse myelitis make a full recovery. One-third make a partial recovery, and one-third make no recovery at all. There was only a 33% chance my beloved little boy would ever get better, and I was devastated.” (71) I felt a similar way when my doctor told me our daughter had a cleft palate, I had never heard of that before.  Further, Abby makes the comment that Jason’s family handled things away from the office at home.  To have a support system like this one is no small thing.

Overall, I know you will enjoy this book, though you may cry and come face to face with real suffering, you will see God’s grace in these pages.


Thanks to Ambassador International for the ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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