A powerful and emotionally charged story,”Color the Sidewalk for Me“,is one of those books that you don’t want to read unless you have a box of tissues nearby.
By the time you are done with this book, you’ll find yourself in tears and smiling and filling interwined with the characters as if they are flesh and blood.
Set in the small town of Bradleyville, Kentucky, the main character, Celia Matthews, finds herself returning home to help her father recover from a debilitating stroke, only to discover herself being set on a path of healing herself.
Centered around the scripture verse,Matthew 11:28-29, you find yourself, by the middle of the book, become so captivated by the characters and so caught up with the estranged relationship between Celia and her mother, that it’s hard not to feeel completely pulled in to the story’s tale of how God’s forgiveness is bigger than all of us.
The story seamlessly moves from the past to the present and back to the present with strong character development of both the major and minor characters whose lives are interwoven with each other. They (the characters) are everyday people-imperfect, proud, close to Jesus, running from Jesus, filled with regrets and/or guilt, they are the everyday people we maybe friends with, know of or are.
Ms.Collins perfectly captures the story of what it means to be saved and what it means to not only to be forgiven, but the journey it sometimes takes to learn to forgive ourselves and others. “Color the Sidewalk for me”, provides a strong lesson that there is a story on both side of the pictures and sometimes, we are not the only ones who maybe hurting.
By the middle of the book, I found myself, having to stop long enough to get tissues , because of the tears that were welling up and feeling that longing pang in my heart as I found myself caught up with both the pain and the love of the characters of,”Color the Sidewalk for Me“.
The feel of a small town and more than anything, the intimacy of the characters, makes it so easy to quickly become attached and caught up in their lives and feeling that they could be anyone you know in real life.
Throughout the time I was reading the book, I couldn’t help but think of how much it is a reminder that we could try to run from the hurts in our lives, but eventually, there comes a time when we need to learn to give it to our Heavenly Father and allow Him to enter our lives and heal us and part of that is, as He has forgiven us, so we need to forgive others and ourselves.
By the time I was finished, I couldn’t stop crying.
“Color the Sidewalk for Me” just captured the essence of Matthew 11:28-29 and more than anything was the subtle but powerful punch that Ms. Collins characters delivered God’s message of forgiveness and there is nothing too big for Him to handle.
“Color the Sidewalk for Me” just reminds the reader throughout that eventually we have to face our hurts and through His forgiveness, forgive others and ourselves, all to His Glory.
It is a heart-wrenching read because it is just such a powerful reminder how much God does understand our hurts and how as much as we want to try to think we are in control, we’re not, He has bigger and better plans for us, and sometimes, it is through others that He helps us heal.
This is a book that I would recommend with a box of tissues to anyone who may have feel like that there is nothing our Heavenly Father can forgive, or may have found themselves, wounded either large or small and thinking there is no hope at the end of the tunnel.
“Color the Sidewalk for Me” is a reminder that there is always hope in and through Jesus Christ.
This is the first time I have read anything by Brandilyn Collins, and it had me wanting to read more in the series, though when I do, I definetely will have to make sure I have a box of tissues nearby so I could try to work on finish reading if the tears didn’t get in the way first.
This is just one of those books that I had check out of the library to read and now, I think I just need to just go and buy the whole series to have at home to re-read again and again or be able to loan to someone who I pray and hope could benefit from the story of healing and forgiveness in and through Jesus Christ that “Color the Sidewalk for me” provides.
The only drawback I could think of owning this book is that it will be worn out from re-reading and tear stained from me crying while reading it.
Be forewarn.
You will smile.
You will be haunted by the powerful story of “Color the Sidewalk for me”.
You will cry (oh you will cry so I highly recommend the box of tissues) and it is promised that you will smile and cry when you are done, but more than anything, “Color the Sidewalk for Me” will have you turning to God and just saying to Him,”I am Yours, Lord”.
This is definitely worth checking out of the library (though hold at arm’s length to keep it from being stained by tears, buy for yourself, give as a gift to someone who loves to read, maybe someone you know who is dealing with past (or present) hurts and need to know that God does love them and not only has forgiven them, but also wants them to learn from His forgiveness to forgive others too.
“Color the Sidewalk for Me” is part of the Bradlyeville Series and if the rest is anything like “Color the Sidewalk for Me“, I’m going to need a lot of tissues.
This is a book that I want to add to my bookshelf and just pull out to re-read again and again.
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