Photo Credit: Courtesy of www.cynthiaruchti.com
Life is such an extraordinary gift. When everything’s going our way, Cloud Nine is our temporary address.
What happens, though, when things go south? When heartache comes? When healing seems impossible? When hope is fleeting?
In Cynthia Ruchti’s Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People’s Choices, it’s clear that this is not really a how to do this or that or why kind of book. Instead, this treasure is about bad decisions that people make, the domino effect those choices have on others, and God’s supernatural ability to transcend and redeem even the direst of circumstances.
Simply put, in the muck and mire of life where we see no hope, God reveals his majesty in unexpected ways!
In Ragged Hope, the author takes us on a journey of discovery with real people dealing with real-life drama: infidelity, divorce, jail time, financial ruin, poor parenting, and more. It’s all there. The less than stellar moments and life at its worst played out by fallen, fallible folks.
What’s more, the author gives us a bird’s-eye view of what’s left in the aftermath of bad judgment and conscious choices. The reader is immediately drawn into each poignant example that reads like fiction–except that it’s not.
Each story in Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People’s Choices is true and based on people known to the author. These are stories we identify with because woven in the pages of this beautiful book there are folks trudging similar paths to those in our own lives.
As I lingered over Cynthia Ruchti’s labor of love, I prayed for the ones whose lives had been torn apart. I considered choices. How what we say and do affects not only us, but those within our sphere of influence, as well. Sometimes forever. And poor choices rarely have a positive outcome. Praise God, His matchless grace far outweighs our worst sin.
Ragged Hope is a short book (about 200 pages) that packs an impressive punch. The chapters are brief and to the point, and punctuated by “reflections,” tie-in scripture, and hard-hitting questions designed to facilitate thought. It’s a quick read, but heads up: you won’t be the same afterward.
Why?
Because you’ll ponder choices. Your own and the ones of people you know.
And you’ll weep for those who’ve loved and lost. Whose dignity is in shreds. Whose lives have been upended. Whose hearts have been laid bare.
Perhaps, you’ll recognize yourself or your own story within the pages of Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People’s Choices. And because of the author’s gentle, intuitive shepherding, you’ll realize that choices don’t have to undermine your value or steamroll your future.
Negative choices aren’t pretty, fair or kind, but because of Christ, we can cling to that ever-present light on the distant shore called HOPE.
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Have you faced the fallout of other people’s choices?
How did you handle the situation?
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Photo Credit: courtesy of www.CynthiaRuchti.com
Cynthia Ruchti has been involved in radio ministry for the past three decades. She served a two-year term as president of ACFW and still serves as Professional Relations Liason. Cynthia loves Jesus and she’s a prolific author and speaker who has a heart for the hurting. To learn more, please visit her at www.cynthiaruchti.com.
Today I’m giving away one copy of Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People’s Choices by Cynthia Ruchti. Please leave a comment for your chance to win! (You have until noon CST on Tuesday to comment.) I’ll announce a winner on Wednesday.
NOTE: This review is my own honest opinion. The book was provided to me by the publisher and I received no monetary compensation for my review.
Giveaway Rules:
- Must be at least 21 years of age or older
- Must be a U.S. resident, due to mailing restrictions
- This drawing is void where prohibited
- Winner chosen by Random.org
Here’s to HOPE anchored in Jesus!
Blessings Always,
Comments 12
I had the joy of meeting Cynthia Ruchti last year at ACFW…and I had just finished reading her novel They Almost Always Come Home at the time. So good! This sounds like another good one…must read!
Author
Melissa, Cynthia is indeed lovely–inside AND out! I know this little, compact book will change lives! Its questions and practical applications had me thinking in a whole new way!
I’ve certainly faced that kind of fallout. Broke my career, ruined a large part of my life.
It’s hard to see ‘them’ going from strength to strength – some claiming to be blessed by God.
To give in to hate is, for me, a choice, and one that gives them even more power than they already exercised.
I’d choose to love and forgive them, as I think Christ would, but I can’t. All I can do is ask that God let me put those individuals and their actions in a box, to be forgotten for now, and opened again and considered in the fullness of time and grace.
Author
Andrew, I know…forgiveness is hard when the pain is so deep and raw. I love this quote by Lewis B. Smedes– “Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future.” (I cut that quote out years ago and keep it on my desk now. It seems fitting for today’s post.)
I love what you said in your comment… “All that I can do is ask that God let me put those individuals and their actions in a box, to be forgotten now, and opened and considered in the fullness of time and grace.” Eloquent and beautiful!
The fallout from bad choices, that has affected me, is mostly fallout from MY bad choices. I was not following the Lord’s plan for my life when they were made. When I hit bottom, & realized that my way wasn’t working, I submitted to the Lord’s will for my life. My choices caused life-long consequences, but I have learned to live with them, ask for forgiveness from God, forgive myself, & find joy in the life I now have.
Author
Bonnie, ahhh, yes. The fallout from our own choices. How many times do we suffer the consequences from our own actions? Far too many, I think. But the praise, and ragged hope,comes when we finally “get” that and make the conscious effort to change course and redirect our lives.
Giving Him the glory with you today in renewing your walk with Him! So thankful that you’re moving forward and finding joy!
Delighted to have you visit today!
I’ve faced the fallout of people’s poor choices. It’s a delicate balance of forgiveness, healing, and boundaries.
Beautifully stated, Beth.
Author
Beth, you’re so right!
Where does one start? I think one of the biggest heartaches I’ve wrestled with over the last ten years has been the loss of my best friend. She and I called each other sisters. She really struggled financially and I was always giving her money. We had rented a home together and we decided to hire some movers and move to another location. During this time, one of the movers stole a book of empty checks she had in a box. We lived at the new place a few months, but the rent was really too high for me and I gave her a couple of months notice, but moved out right away – still paying the following two months (she moved too). I ended up moving to another state, closer to my family in a small apartment I could afford. About three months later I get a call from a police officer telling me I had a warrant for my arrest in the state she and I had lived in – she was accusing ME of stealing her checkbook. I went there, took a lie detector test, talked to the detective for a day and was cleared – the moving company guy eventually got arrested, but I couldn’t believe she accused me of this crime. She had “Mom” issues and had trouble trusting women, but I never thought she didn’t trust me. I was devastated. It was like she died and I grieved her as such. I wrote her a letter asking her forgiveness for anything I’d done to hurt her and extended my forgiveness, but she never wrote back. To this day it still breaks my heart and foolishly (probably) I still hope to reconcile with her because I meant it when I say we were like sisters. I also pray for her healing with female trust issues. I’m just speechless to understand what happened and why. Mostly, I’ve dealt with it through prayer, grieving, prayer, crying, prayer, and have I said prayer yet?
Author
Oh, dear Leslie! I’m so sorry for your pain! No doubt about it, loss of a special friendship is something that we grieve for a long time–sometimes, forever. It does sound like your friend had deeper issues that really had nothing to do with you, but more with her own life choices and designation of “lines.” I know you know this, but perhaps, it’s been difficult for her to live with her unfounded accusation and her own inability to forgive herself. Possibly, it was easier to put up “barriers” than invite unconditional love back into her life for fear of prior losses she’d endured.
I’m praying for God to wrap His arms of comfort around you, friend!
He is faithful and has for many years held me in His hands – for which I am eternally grateful!