Our lives are made up of moments.  Some we hope to remember forever and some we long to forget.  But it’s the tapestry of these moments that come together to write the story God is telling through each of our lives. 

In Etched…Upon My Heart: What We Learn and Why We Never Forget , Jill Kelly shares some of the unforgettable moments in her life – some sorrowful, others filled with joy – as a “living epistle” to her daughters.  Kelly’s raw and honest reflections provide encouragement and inspiration for women and mothers who long to pass on hard-won knowledge of God’s steadfast love and healing grace to their children. 

As she writes, “God will break our hearts, but He will hold the pieces.  He will cradle us and redeem every tear we cry.”  Although great personal pain informs these pages, Kelly’s story is ultimately one of forgiveness, reconciliation, and hope.  Through the moments in time that Jill Kelly recounts, you will recognize the daily reality and eternal value of God’s plan for your own life. 

Jill Kelly is the wife of NFL Hall of Famer and former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly, and New York Times bestselling author of Without a Word.  In September 1997, three months after their infant son, Hunter, was diagnosed with a fatal disease called Krabbe Leukodystrophy, Jim and Jill founded the Hunter’s Hope Foundation.  As chairman of the board of Hunter’s Hope, Jill helps children suffering from  Leukodystrophy and their families by raising awareness and research funds to fight this devastating disease.  She and Jim live in Buffalo, New York, with their two daughters and four dogs.  You can learn more about Jill at www.jillk.org

From the Promotion Company:

Etched…Upon My Heart: What We Learn and Why We Never Forget by New York Times best-selling author, Jill Kelly! Wife of NFL legend Jim Kelly, shares deeply personal experiences as a mother trying to make every moment count, against the backdrop of trying circumstances.

Written to encourage parents who want to instill faith in their children, Kelly shares episodes of her life—some happy, some sad—imparting lessons she hopes will help others pass on the gift of God’s love. Jill writes, “There are precious memories waiting to be unearthed in the moments already etched upon your life. I hope that in sharing some of mine, you’ll be willing and brave enough to open up and share yours.”

Kelly’s touching emotional prose, written with remarkable honesty and tenderness, takes readers into the most private moments of her family’s life and deals realistically with the challenges she’s faced, such as a terminally ill son, an unfaithful husband, and the natural tension from raising Christian kids in a secular society. "Etched…Upon My Heart is an extension of my soul; the heartbeat of what I have learned thus far in my journey as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, and child of God,” writes Kelly.

My thoughts:

This book was easy to read and is written just as if you were sitting on a couch talking in person with Jill Kelly.  The way she alternates between flashbacks of things from her past to teaching in the present is flawless and conversational and draws you into her life. 

Jill Kelly is a woman who has seen much pain in her life, infidelity on the parts of her husband and her father, an empty life of a celebrity, the long illness and death of her son, and through it all met her saviour and learned to lean on him and live for him alone. 

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