AUTHORS: Wm. Paul Young
PUBLISHER: Windblown Media
PUBLICATION DATE: July 1, 2007
FORMAT: Paperback
LENGTH: 252 pages
LENGTH: 252 pages
GENRE: Christian Fiction
ISBN: 9780964729230
Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his "Great Sadness," Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.
Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever.
In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant The Shack wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!
MY REVIEW:
Mackenzie Allen Philips has had a rough life. His father was an abusive drunk, and Mackenzie took matters into his own hands (in more ways than one) when he left home at the age of 13.
Now, in his 50s, Mackenzie has a loving wife and they have been blessed with five beautiful children. He takes his three youngest children on a camping trip, and they have a wonderful time. On the last day as the family is packing up to return home, tragedy strikes. His two older children are on the lake in a canoe and, when it capsizes, his son is pinned underneath. Mackenzie dives into the water to save his son. When he returns to shore, his youngest child cannot be found. Little Missy was last seen coloring at the picnic table at the family’s campsite, and a ladybug pin is left behind. The FBI is called in and that ladybug pin is the abductor’s calling card, and there have been other similar cases but the outcome is never good and the bodies are never found. Missy’s torn and bloody dress is later found in an abandoned shack, and all hope is lost. What can be worse than the loss of a child? Mackenzie is living every parent’s worst nightmare. The family merely exists in their grief for the next four years, when Mackenzie receives a strange note in the mailbox signed by “Papa” which is his wife’s loving nickname for God. Papa tells Mackenzie that he has missed him and that he’ll be at the shack (yes, the same shack where Missy's dress was found) the following weekend if he wants to get together. Sounds crazy, right? Is someone playing a sick joke on him?
I think we’ve all gone through some difficult times and probably each one of us has questioned God: Why me? Why did this happen? Am I being punished? How could God let this happen? Those are tough questions. In this book, the author answers those questions and attempts to explain where God is during our times of sorrow and suffering. I was very emotional reading this story. It hits close to home, and it’s a tough read. I totally get that our own pain, grief, and sadness can swallow us up and make us unable to move forward. When the bitterness and hatred set in, then it's even harder. I empathize with Mack's struggle to forgive the man who killed his daughter. Who wouldn't?? However, the message behind the story is uplifting and is a comfort and definitely gives food for thought.
I saw this movie in the theatre, and I bawled my eyes out nearly the entire movie! I loved how the Holy Trinity was portrayed, and I thought they each were fabulous. The movie stays very close to the book, except for the ending. I definitely prefer the book ending to the movie ending!
MY RATING:
This book qualifies as:
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I read this some time ago and don't remember a lot of it. I'm going to watch the movie and then reread the book.
ReplyDeleteGood idea! I hope you love the movie as much as I did! Bring Kleenex :)
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