I love a good short story, especially when it’s impactful. Kathy van Staden with Kim Appelgryn deliver a true story about grace, faith, and tragedy. Heaven’s Embrace: A Story of Sorrow and Faith is a thought provoking piece that combines real life events with musings of spiritual intervention.
Heaven’s Embrace follows the true story of Kathy van Staden and how her faith was shaken after the tragic accidental drowning of her young son in the family pool. This story really hit an emotional weak point for me as I have a young son as well and can only imagine the pain of losing a child. On her journey, she struggles with acceptance, but finds peace in God following the divine signs throughout her life.
I felt like the story holds a calling for those who may also be having a hard time with understanding God’s plan. Sometimes, it feels like bad things happen to good people, but God never said that we wouldn’t suffer in life or know hardships, only that we would be rewarded eternally in His presence. Staden, already devout in her faith before the loss of her son, had to turn her burdens over to God and learn to trust again.
Even if you’re not Christian or don’t believe in God, this story is highly emotional, insightful, and shows how faith and grace can heal. This short story may be using the Word of God to describe the feelings Kathy had to move through, but it wasn’t overly preachy for those who may simply want to know how to cope with such a loss.
It’s not every day I read a story to completion and think about it days or even a week later. It has me reflecting on my own life and that’s a rare thing. I want to thank Kathy for sharing her story, because I know there are people out there who need to hear it.
Check out Heaven’s Embrace: A Story of Sorrow and Faith for yourself and see what it has you thinking about. You may be surprised. Happy reading!
Author Lauren Eason 