Book Review
The Church Ladies, by Lisa Samson
Just finished "The Church Ladies," by Lisa E. Samson (Multnomah), and ladies, this is a must-read.
The story centers around Poppy Fraser, whose cushy existence as a Baltimore socialite was up-ended when her husband Duncan felt the call to the ministry. As the story opens, they've been in the little town of Mount Oak for three years, and Poppy is still struggling with her role as the wife of the pastor of the Highland Kirk Presbyterian Church.
Not to mention, she carries around a load of guilt from an indiscretion that took place years earlier, and her twenty-something daughter is outspokenly NOT a Christian.
A close friend's tragedy, and the prayer meetings that develop among several vastly-different pastor's wives in the community, are the catalyst for the change in Poppy that must come before healing and redemption.
It's a testament to Lisa Samson's writing skill that we come to know and love each character. Of course, there's Poppy, whose whimsical humor and simple observations about life and the Lord are so easy to relate too. Then there's the regal African-American blues-singing, soul-food-cooking former pastor's wife, Mildred LaRue, who becomes Poppy's spiritual mentor and initiates the prayer meetings. There's meek,sweet little Sunny, the grocery check-out girl who happens to be the wife of the pastor of the town's independent-fundamental-King James Only church. There's Poppy's beautiful best friend Chris, who's husband pastors the Community Bible Church. And there's Poppy's husband Duncan, whose sermons are boring but who shepherds his flock and loves his wife with unquestioning grace.
This is one of those books that you don't want to end because you don't want to stop spending time with these people. Amid the true-to-life humor and sadness, you manage to learn something more about the Lord.
It's really a story about grace...and that's something we can never get enough of.
