I remember the day when I heard about the school shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary school in December of 2012. I remember that my son was the same age as the children that died in that shooting. I remember hearing that there was an LDS family whose daughter was killed in the shooting. I watched news reports about little Emilie and followed a special Facebook page made for her. She reminded me so much of my blonde hair, blue eyed, art loving daughter. I couldn’t imagine what this family, and all the families were going through. Life move on quickly and I hadn’t thought a ton about that after the news stopped covering it.
Last year I went to Time Out For Women and had heard that the mother of this little girl was going to be one of the speakers there. I was very interested in hearing her talk about her life after this horrific event. She spoke so softly and beautifully about some amazing experiences she had leading up to and following the event. Hearing her story solidified my testimony that God directs our live in the direction that he knows is best for us even thought it might not be the direction we had planned for our live.
I recently received this book called An Unseen Angel by Alissa Parker. I stayed up one night reading most of it. It’s a tear jerker, but also a beautiful story of faith, hope and healing. The most powerful message from the whole book is what the spirit told her after she found out about her daughter had been one of the victims.
“Heavenly Father will never give you something you can’t handle. He will never abandon you. There is always a way. Everything you need will be provided for you – everything.”
She goes on to tell us that life got really really hard and she was in a dark place. She said, “Only when I was completely broken could I finally humble myself enough to be cared for. When my heart was broken it was also broken open to feel the love of all these helpers which embodied God’s love and made it manifest in my life. He continued to prove faithful to the promise he had made to provide for me.”
May small and simple things happened for the Parker family that helped them know that that was the path for Emilie’s Life. This book was powerful and I would totally recommend reading it. Thought the story is heart wrenching it is powerful to see their faith and hope in God plan, and the special events that took place before and after that helped me realize how God watched over us.
Synopsis for An Unseen Angel-
When Alissa Parker lost her daughter Emilie in the Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting, she started a life-changing journey to answer soul-searching questions about faith, hope, and healing. As she sought for the peace and comfort that could help mend her broken heart, she learned, step by step, how to open her heart to God’s grace and will.
One step brought her face to face with the shooter’s father, where in a pivotal and poignant meeting, she was given an opportunity to forgive. Another step brought her into the sheltering compassion of her community as family, friends, and even strangers reached out to buoy her up with their shared faith. And several miraculous manifestations of Emilie’s continued presence and influence lifted her heart and will validate the faith of every Christian.
The story of Alissa and Emilie reminds us that the bonds of love continue beyond this life and that despite tragedy and heartache, we can find strength in our family and our faith.
Purchase An Unseen Angel
Amazon – Deseret Book – Deseret Bookshelf
