Book Review: A Friend in the Storm by Cheryl Ricker

An elegant, beautiful book of poetry, scripture, and quotes to inspire hope during times of great need can be found in A Friend in the Storm by Cheryl Ricker.

The uniqueness of this lovely book is that the words are spoken as if coming from Christ to help a reader facing life's difficulties. Each two-page section begins with a poem, followed by a quote, and then a portion of scripture.

I tend to read books such as these when I'm dealing with my daily struggles, and though things have eased up tremendously in the past few days, when I read A Friend in the Storm, I was in the midst of another battle that left me frustrated, angry, and feeling like a failure.

I wanted to remember which portion of the book touched me so deeply, so I used the attached light green ribbon bookmark to set my place at "Your Advocate", which talks about being judged. In this poem, Christ says,

"Don't worry when they judge you;
Only I can judge a heart.
As the Christ who crossed each crisis,
I will barricade each dart."

There is an additional stanza, but this is what I focused on right away, along with the scripture message from Isaiah 66:13 about comfort.

I read A Friend in the Storm in one sitting and knew it would find a special place on my shelf next to my Bibles, as I plan to read it often.

Ricker has put together a wonderful, inspiring book that makes the perfect gift for anyone who is struggling through the depths of loss and despair. Its small size (5.8 x 5.7 x 0.5 inches) allows you to tuck it into a bag so it can be brought anywhere, and the stunning cover and interior artwork will have you searching out a place in your home to display it for others to pick up and be touched by its soothing words.

You'll feel blessed by reading A Friend in the Storm by Cheryl Ricker.



Title: A Friend in the Storm
Author: Cheryl Ricker
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN-10: 0310519934
ISBN-13: 978-0310519935
SRP: $12.99