His Grace - A Battle Won, book review

His Grace – A Battle Won, A Missionary’s Journey from Tragedy to Triumph is the story of Dana McCutchen, a missionary to Sao Paolo, Brazil, and her family.

Her story is a full landscape, a very real landscape of life. Told openly and truthfully, even when it hurts.

It is the story of a Christian, missionary, wife and mother of two. A story of love, happiness, loss, pain, crushing difficulties and challenges, and victory trough everything.

In her Preface Dana writes “My desire in writing this book Is that it will touch the reader in such a way that he or she will come away with a greater love for our Lord and Savior. Through each difficulty they face in life, they will be able to say, “Thank you, sweet Jesus””.

In her story Dana faces life’s difficulties. She and her family travel through the States trying to find economical sustainability for their mission. They leave their home and families to live in a new country, Brazil. They struggle and work to learn to speak a new language, with many hilarious difficulties.

Dana has to face the disability of her two children who both are diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome. She learns to accept it and live with their daily problems, even to be thankful for other people’s understanding and the help they receive at school.

During their missionary years in Brazil they work in a very dangerous neighborhood. While Dana’s preadolescent daughter is visiting her friend from the church she is raped and has severe difficulties in accepting it and building her life again.

During those years it takes for her daughter to first come forward and tell about the rape to her parents and then find a way to accept herself. Dana and her husband are there, with the rest of the family, to support her, in any way she needs. Even when she is hurting so much that she tries to take her own life.

I agree with her profoundly with Dana’s words when she tells her daughter’s story. “It’s important for Christians to realize that mental health issues are a very real problem in our society today. Having mental health problems doesn’t make a person strange or weird. It just means that they need to talk out their problems more and maybe incorporate medicine into their daily struggles of life”.

Dana herself is diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder that makes her functionally blind. Through all this pain she remembers to put her faith in her Savior and leave everything in God’s able hands.

Even though Dana’s life may seem hard, there are many happy moments and memories. Instead of letting the difficulties drive her family apart, Dana finds ways to make it even stronger.

She never stops enjoying her wonderful children and loving them, even with their imperfections. And she never forgets to thank God for her wonderful husband and for his love.

She truly has been able to say, through each difficulty she has faced in her life, “Thank you, sweet Jesus”.

I read the book at once; I could not put it down. And while I read it, I laughed out loud on Dana’s descriptions of her mistakes while she learned to speak Portuguese. I also cried aloud reading of the fate of her daughter and how it hurt the whole family.

In my opinion Dana’s heartfelt true story makes a great read for anyone. But with the upcoming Mother’s Day I could not recommend more to give this as a gift. A gift that is guaranteed to bring many happy moments and also raise tears to your mother’s eyes. A gift to a mother who has really known how to love her children, through everything and anything.

Find Dana's book in the Amazon.

According to Dana McCutchen's biography in World Baptist Fellowships Mission Agency:

In 1990 Mark and Dana were approved as World Baptist Fellowship missionaries to Brazil where they served one term. After that time they served for one term in the field of New Zealand.  They have now returned to Brazil.

Mark was led to Christ by his father when he was thirteen years old. Dana was saved in church at age fourteen.

Mark and Dana are 1990 graduates of Arlington Baptist College. They were married at Trentman Avenue Baptist Church of Fort Worth, Texas in 1980.

Their sending church is the Pleasantview Baptist Church of Arlington formerly the Trentman Avenue Baptist Church.

They have two children - Shaunna and Justin.

Disclosure: I was provided with a e-copy of this book for review purposes.  All opinions expressed in this post are my own.