Blind Hope, An Unwanted Dog & the Woman She Rescued

Blind Hope by Kim Meeder and Laurie Sacher is my second book to read and review from Multnomah Books.  I was drawn to this book because the cover was so adorable and I knew the perfect friend who would like to read it when I was done.

Most of this book is a conversation between the co-authors, Kim and Laurie.  Kim is the owner of the Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch in Colorado, a ranch that takes in horses they have rescued.  Volunteers come to help and in the process, many breakthroughs are made in their lives spiritually, mentally, and physically.

Laurie comes to the ranch as a volunteer.  She rescues a dog who she renames Mia.  In her care, she takes her to the vet and Mia is diagnosed with diabetes and eventually loses her eyesight.  As Laurie attempts to befriend this dog and teaches her how to function in the world without sight, Laurie learns many lessons that brings her closer to God and helps her see how blind she has been for years.  She says, "My dog was blind...but now I see."

One of the last conversations in this book is very profound about hope, "Mia taught me that blind hope doesn't grope around in the darkness trying to find the way.  Blind hope doesn't depend on what it can feel.  Blind hope depends on what it knows!  Authentic hope depends on what is true.  Hope that is real doesn't come from what we can see --it comes from our heart, from the inside out.  It comes from Christ alone."  (Pg 170)

I loved when Laurie shares about Mia's rescue and how she teaches her to navigate in the world.  The antidotes were very good and held my attention.  From a writer's standpoint, though, there is much telling in this book and not enough showing.  Every time Laurie switches from talking about Mia to how her little blind dog has taught her more about God, my eyes rolled and I skipped paragraphs and skimmed pages.  It was very good stuff but all so predictable.  Nothing was left to the reader to grasp on her own.  Everything was spelled out in a way that began to annoy me.

Kim has written more books about the happenings of her ranch.  I imagine they are wonderful and would love to get my hands on a couple of them.  The ranch sounds like an awesome place and God moves big in their midst.  I do appreciate the spiritual truths in this books, don't get me wrong.  I hope that people who love dogs and/or are young Christians will take hold of this book and be blessed.