A Gift of Mourning Glories: Restoring Your Life After Loss

I found this book quite comforting after my brother's suicide in January 2001. Ms. Shaffer's use of Scripture along with gardening analogies made it easy to read. I was so inspired by her style of writing that I went searching for morning glory seeds. I began germinating right away and gave seedlings to my friends, neighbors, church family and even people I did not know. Two months later, my family relocated to Nebraska and by late summer there were beautiful flowers of heavenly blue, baby blue, and pink along the fenceline...a gentle reminder of the fragility of life. In Texas, an elderly neighbor had once planted morning glories. I would wake each morning, draw the curtains and count the blossoms as they unfolded. On one certain morning, there were over one hundred gorgeous blue flowers...one hundred blessings that I may have taken for granted. Thank you, Georgia, for encouraging me to sow those seeds of hope.

A Gift of Mourning Glories could be called a book of encouragement and inspiration. And you don't have to be recovering from a difficult loss to benefit from it. I bought it to give to a friend with cancer but ended up reading it myself. The short chapters gave me inspiration on how to live my life with more awareness of God's presence and guidance. Although I am not a gardener, I found Georgia's illustrations and analogies from her garden very helpful. I also got information on how to deal with my friends who are undergoing difficult times. I must give them time to grieve. I highly recommend this beautiful and inspirational book.

Cancer has become a household word these days, because every home, family and community has been touched, on some level, by its icy grip. In Georgia's book "A Gift of Mourning Glories", she lets us walk with her on her journey with cancer; from brokenness, to restoration of body, soul and spirit. The deeply personal feelings and experiences that Georgia shares, gives hope to the weary and encouragement to the downhearted. Georgia's struggles were not limited to cancer alone, but divorce and single parenting along with losing her job and health. Just as Jesus used the simple daily things of life to teach deep truths about victorious living, so also has Georgia used her garden to help teach the skills needed to restore life after loss. Just like Georgia's gift of morning glory seeds were not a "wanted" gift, not every gift we are given is "wanted" either. Many times, suffering and struggle are not viewed as "wanted" gifts, but God uses the hard times of our life to root us deep in His truth and love, so we can grow up tall and healthy for the glory of His beautiful garden of grace. This book is a must for everyone struggling to overcome life's darkest hours. In fact, I feel it should be in every Doctor's office waiting room, for it is there that we sit with our fears and worries. It is during those times, when pain opens us up, that we are made able to learn the depths of God's love and provisions for our lives. I have given this book to many dear friends who are hurting and discouraged and they have been comforted by it. "A Gift of Mourning Glories" is a great book for anyone that finds themselves in a support role with a cancer patient or huring loved one.

Just as the tendrils of morning glories entwine the cover of Georgia Shaffer's book, "A Gift of Mourning Glories", her true life stories in easy-to-read short chapters will entwine your heart. Georgia offers hope from one who has been in the pit of hopelessness to those who have suffered loss using lessons God taught her through her garden (And I love the added bonus of her gardening tips in sidebars.) No pious platitudes here, simply encouraging accounts of "Here's how I made it - you can too!" "A Gift Of Mourning Glories" is a refreshing resource for a church library or to give to a friend who is struggling. I plan to buy several!

Each of us experienced the receipt of a gift we did not want. But how many of us took the time to find a use for that gift? In her book, A Gift of Mourning Glories, Georgia Shaffer describes an unwanted gift of morning glory seeds that she received and shares her struggles in finding a place for that climbing vine in her garden. At first convinced that she could not use the seeds, her struggle turned positive when she discovered uses for that gift in both her garden and her life. Although most of us would think to compare these unwanted seeds to the serious consequences brought by cancer or death, Georgia makes a believable comparison and shows how we can change troubling times into something lovely. Pain and loss are two unwanted gifts in life. A Gift of Mourning Glories voices the spirit of triumphantly living through these "gifts". Georgia's message offers comfort and equips the reader with an action plan for healing. Georgia's experiences convey a message that provides a light for the hurting and a path for the healing.