Prodigals and Those

this book came into my hands in 1995... there is also a study guide that was available with it... I found that about a month after I found the book... my two sons were in 9th and 11th grade at the time and were going into scary territory in their lives... they both had started using drugs and hanging out with really disfunctional kids... they would bring them home and my husband and I would be shocked by what their home lives and their parents were like... using drugs themselves, or just plain abusive or crazy home lives... so at some point our sons had stopped being the "helpful friends" for their friends and started getting messed up themselves... so all this I say to say that this book on prodigals came when we were getting scared for our sons... in this book, Ruth Belle Graham has collected personal poems she wrote, stories and clips she collected and scriptures and prayers as she went through her two sons being prodigals as well... every story, every line was a lifeline to me to help me see God was still able to help my sons and was going to help me learn how to pray for them and continue to love them through their crazy years... I have given it to several friends already... I highly recommend it for encouragement...also Franklin Graham's book "Rebel with a cause"... it is excellent from the opposite point of view because he was one of Ruth's prodigal sons...=)

This book lead me to an internal peace that I cannot describe. My son was a runaway and I had not seen him in 4 months when I purchased this book. Reading it gave me strength and hope and the peace that only our Lord can give. I continue to recommend this book to others facing tough teen agers and to mention stories in the book that helped me through a most difficult time. The peace which came as a result of reading this book has brought me to a higher level in my relationship with God.

I found the book to be a very encouraging word in a time of need when my teenage son had turned his back on the Lord. Ruth's words were helpful and insightful. It was a nice reminder that others have gone through the same or similar thing and come out the other side victorious in the Lord.

Ruth Bell Graham writes about famous historical men who lived rebellious lives before submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. She gives parents hope as she unravels these men's crooked paths and shows how in the end they were used mightily of God. In between these chapters she interjects her own words, poems, and prayers of encouragement taken from her many years of journalling during her own sons' rebellious times. She unveils the pain of a mother's heart and at the same time gives great hope for all readers to trust God to do amazing things with their own children. Ruth Bell Graham stresses the need to turn our "borrowed" children over to God and let Him do His work---and often that work is in our own lives first.