Tandi Jo Reese and her children are starting over. However, in the beginning things are not going well. It isn't until Tandi finds Iola Poole's dead body that things start to change. She and her children are living in the cottage on Iola's place, so she is asked to look after and clean up the big house. Tandi and family could use the money and the groceries she finds in the house help too. But as she is cleaning she finds a bunch of boxes in the closet. After getting one down she finds that it is a Prayer Box. Tandi starts to read the letters that Iola wrote to God and learns not only things about Iola but also about herself and her relationship with God and with her children.

Tandi also finds work as a handywomen at Sandy's Seashell Shop. All the times she went to work with her Dad paid off and Tandi is able to earn a living for her family. She also makes friends with all the ladies at the shop, which is something she has never had. Trying to save Iola's house brings Tandi and her children together in a way they have never been before.

The Prayer Box by Lisa Wingate is a thought provoking book. It tells the story of not only Tandi Jo and her family but of the love and friendship between Iola Anne Poole and Isabelle Benoit. Also the relationship between Iola Anne and the Lord. How she wrote letters to God telling him about what is going on in her life and how there were things that she just didn't understand. Tandi's revelation is: "Prayers are answered in ways we don't choose. The river of grace bubbles up in unexpected places."

I had not read a book by Ms. Wingate before and have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The story is one of redemption and finding peace in the main character's life. The use of the prayer boxes to teach Tandi Jo was inspired. Lessons she learned about trusting God and learning to forgive herself can be applied to everyone's life. I highly recommend THE PRAYER BOX and guarantee that when it's started you won't be able to put it down.

Book Summary

When Iola Anne Poole, an old-timer on Hatteras Island, passes away in her bed at ninety-one, the struggling young mother in her rental cottage, Tandi Jo Reese, finds herself charged with the task of cleaning out Iola’s rambling Victorian house.

Running from a messy, dangerous past, Tandi never expects to find more than a temporary hiding place within Iola’s walls, but everything changes with the discovery of eighty-one carefully decorated prayer boxes, one for each year, spanning from Iola’s youth to her last days.

Hidden in the boxes is the story of a lifetime, written on random bits of paper--the hopes and wishes, fears and thoughts of an unassuming but complex woman passing through the seasons of an extraordinary, unsung life filled with journeys of faith, observations on love, and one final lesson that could change everything for Tandi.

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