Beauty Beyond the Ashes
Cheryl McGuinness
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2004 Howard Publishing
ISBN: 1582293899

Choosing Hope after Crisis. The Living Legacy of Former Lt. Commander Tom McGuinness Co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11.

Along with Cheryl, we've all been impacted by 9/11. Security, peace, safety -- things we've taken for granted as part of who we are as Americans -- became casualties of that infamous day.

What we do with the pain that results from such tragedies, is the core of Cheryl McGuinness' transforming beauty out of the ashes of where her beloved childhood sweetheart was taken Home.

In addition to revealing her touching personal story, Cheryl McGuinness also shares twelve powerful Biblical principles that guide her through her loss & her life's journey. & as every life will contain sadness & loss, her suffering, devotion & surrender to God's love & purpose through Jesus Christ, is both inspirational & healing.

Always a searching Christian, gladdened when Tom was called to Christ, Cheryl's spiritual life is transformed when she dedicates herself, now alone without her beloved husband, to God's ministry knowing that that is exactly what he would have wanted. In that dedication, fraught with despair & succour, she experiences the trauma of sacrifice & forgiveness.

& like that dreadful morning, Beauty Beyond the Ashes begins with chaos, terror & loss -- heart-stopping, soul-searing loss ... & the opening of the hearts & hands of her community to comfort her & her children in the aftermath.

I was profoundly moved by Cheryl's story of her American Dream which one day curdled into a nightmare; her spiritual yearnings & how she came to a personal experience with Jesus; her marriage & friendship with her husband, & her decisions to transform the evil into good. I was impressed with the teachings she gives at the end of each chapter. She has since been gifted with a career as a speaker about living a holy life in the arms of Jesus & God.

Deeply inspirational; I could not put it down.
(09/12/04)

Rebecca