Book Review: Blessed My Whole Life Through

Blessed My Whole Life Through. Eldon Hatch. 2009. 88 pages. [Source: Gift]

Do you believe in prayer? That God listens to our prayers and does in fact answer prayer? That he answers prayers according to His Will? In this short biographical book, Eldon Hatch shares his testimony with readers. The subtitle in fact reads something like this, "a businessman thankfully recounts seven decades of answered prayer." So you can imagine that his testimony is packed with story and emotion!

Growing up, one of my favorite books was a little book called THE HAND THAT STILL INTERVENES by W.A. Spicer and Helen Spicer Menkel. I liked the stories of answered prayers; I liked seeing God in action, working in the lives of His children. I get the same sort of feeling from reading Blessed My Whole Life Through.

I think probably my favorite story is called "The Bachelor." He writes of one of his 'confirmed bachelors' who happens to meet a woman--at a sporting event, at the booth for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. They smile. They chat a few minutes. (He's sixty; her age is not given.) And then as he's walking away, she prays: LORD, if this is the right man for me, please bring him back. God answered that prayer! He returns minutes later to ask her to dinner that night. They marry after a brief courtship.

One of the more emotional stories is "Goodbye, Mother" about his mother's dying in the hospital despite prayers for healing. At the same time he's praying for his mother to be healed, he is also praying for someone else--a stranger's loved one--he just met. The stranger was healed; his mother was not. But he saw God's will being done in both situations.

The stories are short and straight-forward. Nothing fancy or concocted. I really enjoyed reading this one.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible