It All Comes Down To This: The unforgettable story of three sisters discovering the truth about the past

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This book is really good historically, too. Outside of the racism, it mentions the negro owned signs, "I am a blood brother" sign, Vietnam, riots in LA, and Spelman College. Although this book was at a high school, the reading level is 680 (lexile), which is aimed at 4th graders. That tells you that the content is PG and suitable for all ages. As an adult I liked the book, so it won't bore an older student who struggles with reading.

When we go in the name of Jesus, on mission for Jesus, with the authority of Jesus, He is with us. We have His authority to go. Still, I am left with a niggle. A niggle that wishes I had instead read It All Comes Down to This and not listened to it. My recommendation, therefore, is that if you have any interest in reading it, you do just that. Well, just like a little newborn horse that stands up on its legs and tries to practice walking, so also, practice the mission this week. Pray for a missionary, offer to pray for someone in the community, serve someone else and tell them that you’re doing so because you love Jesus and Jesus loves them, share the story of how Jesus has changed you with a friend or neighbor; practice the mission. Remember, as you do so, Jesus is with you, to the very end.

The beginning wasn’t all that interesting, but the longer I read, the more I became invested in these characters’ lives. It didn’t blow me away, but it was a nice, slow weekend read. Despite her accomplishments as a pediatric cardiologist, Claire, the middle daughter, has always felt like the Geller misfit. Recently divorced, Claire’s secret unrequited love for the wrong man is slowly destroying her, and she’s finding that her expertise on matters of the heart unfortunately doesn’t extend to her own. The middle daughter Claire is a doctor who is recently divorced after her husband discovered she ‘settled’ for him. Claire juggles her career and child and dog, adding up to tension and high blood pressure. Claire, now divorced, is the middle child and a pediatric cardiologist, and while she treats the hearts of others, her heart belongs to one who is unaware. It could have been tighter — but if you go with the flow — there are plenty of micro tales to enjoy.

He is now out of prison and has money left from his grandmother and wants nothing more than to buy a secluded lake home in Mount Desert Island, Maine, to paint since he is an artist. Karen English has created a brilliant cast of complex characters. They are fully realized, nuanced people, flaws and all. She manages to highlight their humanity, no matter what happens. I appreciate that Jennifer and her family try hard to not see skin color as an issue, but that we also understand how impossible this is. It's only in the past few years that I have come to see my own ignorance in claiming to not see this difference. Illustration: This is like when a parent tells all the kids to put away their laundry. One may not do so and say, “I didn’t know that you wanted me to put away my laundry!” The parent will say, “I said for all of you to put away your laundry! That applies to everyone unless I say otherwise!” So also, Jesus has told His followers to go on mission. It applies to us all. You must have. But chemo brain, you know. Okay. I’m going to find the pipe and try it. I hope if the neighbors smell the smoke, they won’t give me any trouble about it.” Jesus makes it clear for His eleven disciples at the time, and for those of us who follow Him today, that He has authority to deliver this message to His followers.God is with us. Jesus is with us. As our lives are changed, and we go out on His mission, His power and authority are with us. The story is skillfully written, and the characters are well developed. The story's point of view alternates between the various characters, so be prepared to keep up. Their lives are filled with complications, difficulties, betrayals, and mistakes. You might even want a glass of wine to accompany this dramatic read. I'm not sure if the author intended this story to pull on the heartstrings, but I couldn't help but have a little cry at the end of it. Possibly it is a cry for having to leave Sophie to continue her life and not know what happens to her next , or maybe its a cry for Sophie, knowing I leave her to continue her struggles with the prejudice she receives. Who knows, but I'm crying just the same, which is wonderful! I love a book that makes me cry.. You’d be amazed at the volume of prison conversation that had centered on women’s breasts. On body parts generally. On sex in every possible form—incarceration made some men really creative. C.J. had chosen not to take part in those conversations. He’d chosen not to take part in most everything optional in the pen, a place he was not meant to be. And yet there he had been, and this made him wonder about meant to be and about fate in general. Therese Anne Fowler is a “new to me” author whose books I’ve heard good things about but never got a chance to read. When I heard she had a new book out and I happened to get approved for an ARC, I figured now would be as good a time as any to acquaint myself with Fowler’s works. Now having finished this book, I’m thinking I probably should’ve started with a different book of hers, as this one turned out to be a huge disappointment.

I resonated with Marti on many levels! Being in the last chapter of your life, single, and facing her terminal cancer, she wants to control things her way and die with dignity. Don't we all? She refused to do the deathbed confession thing. Her girls would find out later. She did not want to die surrounded by the girls and their families. I get it; same here. Claire, the middle child, is recently divorced from her husband, Chad. Although she is an accomplished and highly regarded pediatric cardiologist --- every parent’s dream! --- she thinks that her boring life can’t hold a candle to those of her sisters’. Her achievements, while hard-won and impressive, are not written up in magazines and journals like theirs are, and now that her marriage has unraveled, she doesn’t even have a stable relationship to brag about. What she does have, though, is a terrible secret: for years she has been hopelessly, desperately in love with a completely unattainable man. Remember at the very beginning of Matthew as Matthew pointed to Jesus’ birth and its fulfillment of prophecy. Matthew 1:23 says, “See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated ‘God is with us.’” [on screen] This commission is for all the followers of Jesus! We are to live on mission! This is what it all comes down to!Dr. Tony Evans says this concerning the command to make disciples: “The effectiveness of a church is therefore evaluated—not in the number of its members—but by its disciple-making. It’s the absence of discipleship that keeps a church impotent and ineffective, because by not taking up Christ’s mission of discipleship, its people cannot draw on Christ’s authority.” Well said, Dr. Evans. Church, let us not be impotent and ineffective! Let us develop disciples! This is an important coming of age novel. Sophie has a lot to come to terms with: who she is and wants to be, her changing family circumstances, her sister leaving home, and what it means to her be a person of colour. At the same time, it's sure to educate and open the eyes of readers as well. Marti Geller knows she will be dying soon. It’s only a matter of days. She has organized everything herself, including the directive to sell her summer cottage to lessen the burden on her daughters after she’s gone. There’s just one final secret that she’s ready to tell them.

Romantic and other dilemmas reach flagged-up conclusions in a novel whose destination is gratification. Okay, well, no, I am not high, I’m just relieved to be done with treatment. All those days of feeling terrible.” She coughed, and coughed some more, then, after catching her breath, said, “I’m so tired of that. And food doesn’t taste like anything. And I’ve got all these damned pills. Surgeries. Infusions. So many trips to the clinic. It takes up your whole life! It’s too much, and I’m glad to be done with it. Is that crazy?”An emotionally powerful and evocative tale of family, exploring the lives and relationships of three sisters as they come to terms with their mother’s death and her last request to sell the family’s holiday cottage on Mount Desert Island. I designed It All Comes Down to This to be a big-hearted tale that utilizes dramatic irony, one of my favorite story forms. Everyone’s got a secret, and the reader is in on all of it while the characters are not. The result, I hope, is a smart, entertaining, compelling, even endearing story that in its slightly subversive way also takes on issues of class and feminism and identity. It’s a story about fate and coincidence and choice, about how we can remake ourselves in the face of adversity. It’s about Art. And family. And love. The cabby pulled up close to a gap between parked cars, making space for Marti to get out safely. “Here you go.” So, I ask you to commit to the mission. Commit this week, as we conclude 2020, to be on mission for God going into the future.