I’m always looking for new books that are a good fit to put on the booklist for our bookstore. So when I found out that Megan Saben, a part of the Redeemed Reader team, had written a book, Something Better Coming, I was very excited! I have browsed Redeemed Reader before, and absolutely love what they are doing! It’s a great resource! Clearly, they know all about books and they know what are solid reads for children.
So it wasn’t that surprising that Saben’s book was fantastic! Something Better Coming was so beautiful. Death is such a tricky subject for adults, let alone children. But Saben starts off her book not mincing words. The book opens with the story of the widow who is mourning her only son (Luke 7:11-17).
The illustrations are so well done. They clearly show the hopelessness of this woman. But Jesus! As the Biblical narrative shares, Jesus brought the young man back to life and into the arms of his widowed mother. The thrill and awe of the moment is captured beautifully. But what’s even better is how she ends this section, as well as the other stories of Christ raising others from death to life, with the following simple lines:
You think that’s great? Well, just you wait –
There’s something better coming.Indeed, there truly is something better coming.
I love that this book brings the hope of the stories of the bible to life. I’ve read that story, as well as the other stories of Jesus resurrecting people, so many times. It’s easy to gloss over since we are so familiar with the text. Besides the fact that we know the ending. It all turns out fine.
But it’s a good reminder that when you’re in the middle of the difficulties of life, whether that’s losing a family member or some other challenging situation, we are promised that “There’s something better coming.”
We can’t avoid the fact that life is hard. And we can’t stop hard things from happening to those we love. Although we know the endings to all of these stories during the time of Christ, we don’t know the ending to our own daily struggles. However, we can take comfort that although we may not know the ending, we know the Author and can trust Him. He was good, He is good, and He can be trusted to be good in the future.
Amen?
I highly recommend this awesome, lyrical, and poetic book. Your kids will love it and so will you!
