United By Love
The Words We Lost by Nicole Deese is a most beautiful contemporary Christian novel that I just could not putdown. It is A Fog Harbor Romance book.
There are some books that just speak to your soul, and this is one such book. It is a book about friendship, love and loss. The grief found within its’ pages is palpable. “Postponing grief may not be the healthy approach… but sometimes it feels the only approach a person can handle.” This is a grief that paralyses, consumes and is obviously, never ending. “There are no winners in grief – only survivors.”
There are two huge losses within the novel – her father and her friend. “She carried his [dad] absence with her everywhere she went.” There is no recovery program for loss. One just has to navigate the best that we can.
There are two stories within the book – present day, and earlier in the form of a manuscript telling the tale of three friends. It is a gift from beyond the grave. Secrets have been kept in order to protect. Now the truth needs to come to light. We release the burden that has been carried. “Practice letting go of the guilt that’s not ours to hold on to.” Guilt will sink us if we do not surrender it.
God walks beside us in our grief, whether we ‘feel’ Him or not. He is there. She hoped “for a miracle from a God I so desperately wanted to believe had heard my prayers.” God always hears our prayers but doesn’t always answer in the way we want Him to. It is at these times that we have to cling to God and believe that He is good even when life isn’t. “I’m simply trying to focus on having faith enough for today.”
Sometimes in our grief, words are not necessary. We just need people to stand beside us. “The words Wendy cares about most are not the ones filtered by the tongue, but those that pulse through the heart.”
We need firm foundations of faith, so that when our lives are rocked, we will survive. “Keeping faithful habits and traditions… is what helps us stay afloat when life goes topsy-turvy.” We need our own faith and cannot stand on the faith of others. “My parents… faith alone wasn’t enough to save me when I was drowning. I had to be the one to reach for the life raft.”
In life we all need to have a place we call home. This is not necessarily bricks and mortar. It is the place where we are loved. “I can’t erase the darkness for you, but I can be the one to hold the light when you are ready to come home.”
All the characters were well drawn, warm and welcoming. Their love seeped through the pages and into my heart. We witness the love for each other and also the faithful love of God for His children.
I adored The Words We Lost and am sorry it is ended. I will leave you with my favourite quote:
“No heartache has ever gone unseen, and no darkness is ever too solid for light to overcome.”
I received a free copy from the publishers. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.
JULIA WILSON
