Review and Giveaway: Clouds, A Memoir

I met Laura in a church basement. We’d both spotted a notice for a mom’s bible study (with free child care!) and decided to give it a try. She had Alli and Sam and was pregnant with Zach. My oldest daughter, Rachel, was just one year old. I was looking for spiritual growth and friendship. I found those things and so much more in my friendship with Laura.

The next seventeen years saw the usual joys and difficulties of marriage, children, and family life for both of us. We shared our faith, lots of laughs, some tears. Phone calls discussing our children, God, and our husbands. Every Labor Day we joined two other couples and–with our combined 15 children and a prayer–went camping. In 2008, we traveled together with our husbands on an unforgettable trip to Rome and Tuscany. We were two suburban moms muddling through pretty well.

Then came a cold day in November 2009 when my dear friend received the worst news a mother could get . . . her son, Zach, had cancer and it was deadly. What followed was three and half years of heartbreak, prayer, hope, loss, joy (yes, joy!) and extraordinary grace. And that was just the beginning.

I can’t begin to sum up the incredible testimony that is Laura’s story of her son’s diagnosis, treatment, and death–or what God did with her desperate prayer: “Lord, if he must die, I want it to be for something big. I want someone’s life to be changed forever.” You need to read about it yourself.

Next week, an updated edition of Laura’s original memoir, Fly a Little Higher, will be released and I can’t recommend it highly enough. It is a hard read, a beautiful read, and a testament to something we all need to hear again and again:

God will not be outdone in his generosity when we put our lives–and the lives of our children–in his hands.

You can enter into Laura’s story in any and all these ways:

Enter to win a copy of Clouds, A Memoir, by going to the top post on my Facebook Page and clicking like, love, or any of those icons. I’ll choose a winner on Monday, October 5th. (Continental U.S. only)

Pre-order Clouds, A Memoir, at our local indie store, Valley Bookseller. Read it and share it with a friend.

Watch Clouds the movie when it releases on Disney+ on October 16th. I know, there’s a movie. On Disney. How amazing is that?

Donate to Zach’s Movement here, and help fund a cure for Children’s cancer HERE

Our family, and millions of people around the world have been blessed by Zach’s courage and his family’s undaunted faith. He will always be remembered in his own words as “the kid who went down fighting, and didn’t really lose.”