I enjoyed this book so much! It was truly inspiring and thought
provoking, all while being very entertaining. I laughed and cried, and
was moved to examine my own prejudices. Now that, dear reader, is worth
the price of admission, as they say! I wholeheartedly recommend that
you check out Miss Brenda and the Loveladies: A Heartwarming True Story
of Grace, God, and Gumption.
Miss Brenda, Brenda Sphan, is a wealthy, driven businesswoman. Her goal
in life is to make LOTS of money, to always have the best of
everything. She was raised in a trailer, and vowed as a little girl
that she would be rich one day. Brenda makes good on that vow, but God
has more in mind for her. Using the very character and gifts He has
already given her, God taps into her guts and gumption by calling her to
prison ministry.
Mrs. Sphan literally pushes her way into the Julia Tutwiler Prison for
Women in Wetumpka, Alabama, where she begins to see how broken the
prison system is.
The statistics on the numbers of women who are
released from prison and then return are appalling and Brenda decides
that her life's calling is to do something about it. She talks her
reluctant husband into turning their nearby mansion into a halfway
house (she refuses to call it that, preferring the term "wholeway"
house) for women.
After miles of red tape and obstacles, Brenda is prepared to receive the
first group of newly released prisoners. She is in for the shock of
her life when they are the toughest, scariest group of women she has
never seen before. All of her newly hired staff for the home promptly
quits and Brenda and her daughter are forced to take on the roles of
cook, cleaner, housemother, and counselor themselves.
You'll love the heartbreaking, yet tender, stories of the women that
Brenda comes to love. Each one presents a unique challenge and has
different needs and desires, yet Brenda manages, with discernment and
wisdom that could only come from God, to minister to each one. She truly
becomes the hands and feet of Jesus to each of the women who comes to
her home, fearful and doubting, yet somehow hopeful that this times
things just might work out for her.
You too will be inspired and moved by Miss Brenda and the Loveladies: A Heartwarming True Story of Grace, God, and Gumption!
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my fair and honest review.
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