by Christine Farenhorst
2010, 208 pages
When it comes to this author, I am not an objective reviewer – I love every story Christine Farenhorst writes. But this is something special and I would buy this collection of stories just to have the very first one, The Hound of heaven, so I can read it to my children. It is about a German, who was a soldier in the Second World War, explaining to his grandson that he was once a very different man, a mean man, running from God. But God was faster still.
In the third story, Feed my sheep, a Dutch pastor living under Nazi occupation is confronted with the reality that what he knows to be true, and what he is willing to do are two different things; he does not have the courage of his convictions and his own sermons condemn him. I think I found this story particularly gripping because this pastor’s doubts and his attempts at self-justification struck me as dreadfully familiar. But we are blessed to serve a God who, when we admit our weakness and turn to Him, is ever eager to carry us, and offer His strenghth.
In total there are seven stories, and one poem here, all about Christians who lived through the First or Second World Wars and while all are excellent, the first, and the third are among the most beautiful stories I have ever read. Afterwards I Knew would make an excellent gift for anyone 14 or older.
