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Here If You Need Me: A True Story

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Author: Kate Braestrup
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Category: Book

List Price: ~~$23.99~~
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Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9

ISBN: 0316066303
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780316066303
ASIN: 0316066303

Publication Date: August 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Customer Reviews:

Showing reviews 6-10 of 82

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thoughtful and engaging story October 21, 2008
I liked this book, and I have found it to be a perfect book for late night reading. It's interesting enough that I can stay awake for an hour or so to read it, but not so riveting that I would stay up all night. This is an interesting story about a woman whose husband gets killed and then she decides to go to seminary. In short order she becomes Chaplain for the Maine Warden Service (like Fish Game).br /br /She recounts dealing with her grief over the loss of her husband, and how she copes with her job and her 4 children as a single working mother, who often has to come and go at weird hours if, say, a child is lost in the Maine woods.br /br /While some of these reviews have questioned her beliefs or her understanding of theology, I think that's irrelevant to the story. I have preferred that what she believes is somewhat vague. If this book had had a proselytizing tone, I would have put it down after the first chapter. I think what's important is that she is doing the best she can with what she has, and she is trying to do some good for people who are frightened or have suffered a loss. br /br /So if theology is your interest, this is not the book for you. But if you want to read an interesting story about a woman who cares, about her children, herself, God and helping others, then you will enjoy this book. I know very little about Christian theology but I can appreciate the anecdote and smile when I read about one of her children dragging around a stuffed toy named (by the child) Jesus, and her late husband saying something like, "I see Jesus is a good friend to you."

5 out of 5 stars

Gifts of service October 15, 2008
My mom is a pastor, not a chaplain (they are related, but not identical), and I see her do a lot of this work, the work of sitting with someone and not knowing the answers. It's hard. There are no good answers.br /br /This was a really hard book to read. Bad things happen to lots of nice people, especially children. As someone who had to give up on some shows (Cold Case and SVU, I'm looking at you) because now that I have kids, they are just too scary. and as you might expect, sometimes little kids die in the woods. Not always -- there are stories in here where no one dies, or is hurt. There are little bits of her life (I am amazed at her ability to be a single parent AND be on-call.)br /br /Interestingly, the author's faith journey, while evident, is not explicated. She doesn't talk about how she came to believe, or even what she believes. The most significant story about faith was about her realization that she hadn't had a religious epiphany, that her scientific faith had not been taken from her by an involuntary mystical experience. I liked that. I appreciate stories where love and humanity are marks of the Divine. Her journey is not road-to-Emmaeus, although it is full of roads.br /br /Read this if: you wish people of faith were more humble, if you want a non-Jodi-Picoult view of widowhood, if you've never thought about who fishes unlucky snowmobilers out of the waterbr /Do not read: without a sufficient supply of kleenex, if your faith is threatened by a chaplain who doesn't believe in an afterlife, if you can't handle people dying

5 out of 5 stars

Trying to See the Forest for the Trees October 11, 2008
Ms. Braestrup's memoir about the sudden death of her husband, Drew, and her subsequent journey toward recovery thru spiritual altruism is uplifting. This is not a book about someone who becomes a religious zealot and follows a certain hardcore doctrine of my-way-or-the-highway to holy salvation. Many unanswerable questions dealing with death, life and the randomness of fate permeate Ms. Braestrup's book. An extremely honest introspection on life and her unique position in the Maine Warden Service. Her observations about calamities which occur in the state's forests are highly informative and sometimes unsettling. The halfwitted wilderness escapades carried out by some of the victims calls into question our bragging rights about being a highly evolved life form. This memoir is well written, non-sarcastic, illuminating, and an all-too-human journey of hope. A beautiful narrative that has quickly become one of my favorites.

4 out of 5 stars

Dealing With Loss Through a Unique Occupation October 7, 2008
By way of revealing and often-humorous anecdotes, Kate tells how her job as a Maine Game Warden Chaplain helps her adjust to widowhood.br /This was a very good and thought-provoking narrative. It seemed choppy at first, but all the pieces came together later on and really made sense.

5 out of 5 stars

This book stayed with me for days...very powerful. October 4, 2008
I couldn't stop thinking about Kate Baestrup's powerful book for several days. How incredible for her to have such an intimate role in the experiences of families who may be -- or may not be -- struck by tragedy. I was on the edge of my seat several times hoping beyond hope that the child who was lost in the wilderness, or one of the other real life characters lost in the Maine wilderness and chronicled by Kate, would be found. br / But There If You Need Me is much more than an adventure book. It sheds light on spiritual truths about life and death with a caring yet totally real sensibility. Kate may be a minister, but she isn't afraid to talk about the saltier side of life, to record the off-color humor of her partners in the Maine Warden service, or admit to her all-too-human frailties. This is a book you'll remember for a long time, and want to come back to for further reading and reflection. br /

Copyright 2007 White Hat Communications.
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