Jantsen's Gift

I read Jantsen's Gift by Pam Cope as soon as I could get my hands on it. Pam is related to my friends, Mike and Diane Cope, and her daughter, Crista, was my daughter's roommate at ACU. I already had a great respect for Pam and the life she was living. Living to set others free. I knew how much I loved her daughter and what an incredible friend she is to my daughter, Mary Kate. We also got to know Pam's family while in Missouri for Crista's wedding. Mary Kate had already fallen in love with all of them and then we got to stay with Pam's sister, Cheryl, and her husband, Mark. They were so gracious and so, so fun. So, yes, I already had history with this family before I read the book and I knew the story and yet, wow, I felt like I had been knocked down as I started reading it.
The first night I started reading was a Monday. I was in bed and reading and Pam's grief swept over me so hard that I couldn't stop crying. I had to close the book but the tears wouldn't stop. Pam, you were so honest and so real with us in writing this book that I felt like I was walking beside you and it was a hard place to be. That very next night I was outside doing yoga with my class beside Jacob's Dream at ACU and I was fascinated with a hawk that kept flying over and over us. I had never seen a hawk there before but it seemed to be there for a reason. I didn't know until farther into the book the significance of that hawk.
Pam, your words were convicting and so full...full of grief, full of anger, full of a deep sadness, full of the Spirit, full of the joy of redemption, full of children, full of torment, full of the pull of our hearts. You let us in. Thank you.
The love that Pam feels for the children of the world has been life changing for so many. I only hope that these words lead more to the kind of life that Pam is leading. Like Pam says near the end of the book....it doesn't mean that you have to travel the world....it could mean your very own family, your street, your neighborhood, your city....you get it....Pam, we get it.
Thank you.