Days Like These {Review}

Before this book, I'd never heard of Kristian Anderson.  I knew nothing about his life or testimony.  Or his epic battle with cancer.  And yes, in my mind, it was an epic battle.

At the age of 35 years, Kristian was diagnosed with bowel and kidney cancer.  As a young husband and father, he began chronicaling his journey through his blog, reaching out to family and friends for support.  In this blog, his incredible faith in the goodness of God bursts forth with every word.  When the treatments were good, he was optomistic.  When the tests came back bad, he knew the Lord was going to deliver him.  No matter how long his miracle took or how bleak the prognosis was, Kristian never falterd in his belief that God was good, all the time.

In the midst of battling his own cancer, Kristian took on the Australian government as well, lobbying to have a new drug approved that would help bowel cancer patients in his own country.  While feeling that he had yet to accomplish something great, he took on several challenges in his life and journey that inspired, and continue to inspire, everyone he came into contact with.

But through it, all his greatest challenge was that of being a husband and father.  In many of his blog posts, he writes of his love for his Rachel, his wife, and his two boys, Cody and Jakob.  His deep love for them, fueled his fight.  In fact, it was this Youtube video that first grabbed the attention of the world and propelled he and his wife into the spotlight.

Reading this book left me raw.  Kristian wrote in such a way that he took you to the depths of his pain with him.  He also took you to the heights of his faith.  This man knew the Father's heart unlike anyone I've ever met.  In January of 2012, Kristian finally succumbed to his battle with cancer.  But what an epic battle it was.  He never lost faith that the Lord was fighting for him and that even in Days Like These, the goodness of God would shine through.

Don't pick up this book to read a happy-ever-after.  Don't pick up this book to read a typical memoir.  Don't pick up this book unless you're ready to be challenged.  This is an epic battle and ultimately a touching love story: between a man and his children, between an man and his wife, between a man and his God.

*Disclaimer: I received this book free for review from Booksneeze. All opinions are my own.