Saturday, May 3, 2014

His Grace - A Battle Won, book review



His Grace – A Battle Won, A Missionary’s Journey from Tragedy to Triumph is the story of Dana McCutchen, a missionary to Sao Paolo, Brazil, and her family.

Her story is a full landscape, a very real landscape of life. Told openly and truthfully, even when it hurts.

It is the story of a Christian, missionary, wife and mother of two. A story of love, happiness, loss, pain, crushing difficulties and challenges, and victory trough everything.

In her Preface Dana writes “My desire in writing this book Is that it will touch the reader in such a way that he or she will come away with a greater love for our Lord and Savior. Through each difficulty they face in life, they will be able to say, “Thank you, sweet Jesus””.

In her story Dana faces life’s difficulties. She and her family travel through the States trying to find economical sustainability for their mission. They leave their home and families to live in a new country, Brazil. They struggle and work to learn to speak a new language, with many hilarious difficulties.

Dana has to face the disability of her two children who both are diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome. She learns to accept it and live with their daily problems, even to be thankful for other people’s understanding and the help they receive at school.

During their missionary years in Brazil they work in a very dangerous neighborhood. While Dana’s preadolescent daughter is visiting her friend from the church she is raped and has severe difficulties in accepting it and building her life again.

During those years it takes for her daughter to first come forward and tell about the rape to her parents and then find a way to accept herself. Dana and her husband are there, with the rest of the family, to support her, in any way she needs. Even when she is hurting so much that she tries to take her own life.

I agree with her profoundly with Dana’s words when she tells her daughter’s story. “It’s important for Christians to realize that mental health issues are a very real problem in our society today. Having mental health problems doesn’t make a person strange or weird. It just means that they need to talk out their problems more and maybe incorporate medicine into their daily struggles of life”.

Dana herself is diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder that makes her functionally blind. Through all this pain she remembers to put her faith in her Savior and leave everything in God’s able hands.

Even though Dana’s life may seem hard, there are many happy moments and memories. Instead of letting the difficulties drive her family apart, Dana finds ways to make it even stronger.

She never stops enjoying her wonderful children and loving them, even with their imperfections. And she never forgets to thank God for her wonderful husband and for his love.

She truly has been able to say, through each difficulty she has faced in her life, “Thank you, sweet Jesus”.

I read the book at once; I could not put it down. And while I read it, I laughed out loud on Dana’s descriptions of her mistakes while she learned to speak Portuguese. I also cried aloud reading of the fate of her daughter and how it hurt the whole family.

In my opinion Dana’s heartfelt true story makes a great read for anyone. But with the upcoming Mother’s Day I could not recommend more to give this as a gift. A gift that is guaranteed to bring many happy moments and also raise tears to your mother’s eyes. A gift to a mother who has really known how to love her children, through everything and anything.


Find Dana's book in the Amazon.
According to Dana McCutchen's biography in World Baptist Fellowships Mission Agency:

In 1990 Mark and Dana were approved as World Baptist Fellowship missionaries to Brazil where they served one term. After that time they served for one term in the field of New Zealand.  They have now returned to Brazil.

Mark was led to Christ by his father when he was thirteen years old. Dana was saved in church at age fourteen.
Mark and Dana are 1990 graduates of Arlington Baptist College. They were married at Trentman Avenue Baptist Church of Fort Worth, Texas in 1980.
Their sending church is the Pleasantview Baptist Church of Arlington formerly the Trentman Avenue Baptist Church.
They have two children - Shaunna and Justin.

Disclosure: I was provided with a e-copy of this book for review purposes.  All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

28 comments:

  1. Wow that book sounds like a great story. It's true thay teal stories stories are more passionate and really heartfelt. I myself sometimes feel scared to read or watch real life stories because they make me fear what pain the main character will suffer. It scares me to think that could happen to anyone, I would cry and fear everything. However thank you for sharing this with us.

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    1. It is true that real life stories can be scary, Natosha. But I although I cried together with Dana when she told her story, her attitude towards her difficulties and her trust in God made me believe that no matter what will happen to me, I will be able to overcome also.

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  2. I'm sure being a missionary can be pretty difficult.

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  3. Wow, just reading the synopsis made me shed a tear. It sounds like she went through so many challenges and difficulties. It puts my own complaints into perspective..

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    1. It is a very raw book, Ronnie and very honest. But at the same time it is a triumph, a victory and motivation.

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  4. This seems like a great read! Many people I know struggle with mental and physical disabilities and overcome them on a daily basis. I'm sure the trying times Dana went through with her son's would make anyone fall. What a wonderful story of someone coming out for the better through the help of God.

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    1. I really recomend it, Julie. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

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  5. Having problems with health is so hard as we have experienced them already with my dad. This book will serve as a good inspiration.

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  6. Mental health is a real issue, and it helps when you have the Gospel in your life because of the eternal perspective. Thank you for sharing this read.

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  7. I too suffered health problems .. but everytime i used to lift myself with some inspiration .. :)
    thanks for sharing ..

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  8. This is definitely something I would love to read. I love when you can connect with the author, and this definitely sounds like a book you can connect with.

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    1. I agree, Amanda. It's amazing to read something I find that connection. I really was left with a longing to get to know Dana personally.

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  9. I think i would love to read this having read the synopsis seems very emotional and challenging! We sometimes don't know how lucky we are when it comes to our health hey!
    Awesome post so Kudos to you for sharing it!
    - Phillip Dews

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    1. Thank you, Phillip and I hope you'll enjoy the book as much as I did!

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  10. This seems like a good book to read :)

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  11. This book is a must read, It is so determining and have inspiration from it

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  12. This is a very inspiring story, great for mother's day. I know there's a lot of people suffering and struggling everyday but with hope and faith in God, everything will alright.

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  13. Sounds Like A rewarding Book To Read Great Review Thank You I Must Get!

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  14. I'm from South America Bolivia and I was lucky enough to make many missionaries friends from different churches, and while it is true some of them went tru tragedies all of them had great life lesson to share and most learn how to actually love thy neighbor. I would love to read this book thanks for the heads up

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    1. Yes, not all missionaries automaticly suffer from tragedies, luckily. The change in itself and following God's calling gives a lot of insight to life.

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  15. Wow! Sounds like a good read :)

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  16. Heartache, pain, and illness can make a person very humble and appreciative of life. I think this world needs more books like this. We're all human, and sometimes need reminders of how human we really are, and how possible it can be to overcome struggles.

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  17. Wow - what a story to tell. Thank you so much for recommending this book. Missionaries face such battles on the field...it is inspiring to hear their stories of both tragedy and triumph.

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  18. Wow, this is truly and inspiring story. This book is definitely one to read.

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