Forgiven (Review)

This review is for the book "Forgiven" by Terri Roberts with Jeanette Windle. I am sure that many people remember the day in 2006 when a gunman entered an Amish schoolhouse and shot ten girls, killing five, and then committed suicide. This book is his mother's story. I remember this story from the news and being bewildered at the violence, but also how the Amish rallied around the shooter's family.

In this book, Terri Roberts introduces her family and tells the readers about her son's childhood in order to give a view of his upbringing. Her shock was as big as anyone's when her son walked into that classroom and started giving orders to the teacher and students. She already had faith in God when this happened, but her faith has been strengthened by the Amish in her community that intentionally reached out to her in that time and offered her forgiveness. They mourned together, wept together, and prayed together. Now, many years later, Terri is thankful for the friendships that may not have been there otherwise. It's a really beautiful tale of forgiveness in a situation that could have been a tale of hatred.

Thank you to Bethany House for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.