Death On Hold: A Book Review & Family Christian Giveaway #FCBlogger

**Book received for review. All thoughts are my own.

Do you have a person in your life that you know would not be in your life were it not for God? The circumstances of your meeting can old be described a a 'God-thing'. They were sent into your life to give you just what you needed, just when you needed it. I certainly have a few people like that in my own life. Isn't it amazing how God does this?

Take for instance the unlikely story of a conservative Christian couple reading an article about a man on death row whom they never met, but whom they felt compelled to contact, only to learn that he had recently become a Christian himself- inspiring a lasting and important friendship. Sounds like the plot to a new Hallmark movie doesn't it? But even the best Hollywood writers could come up with this one. No, this is the true story written by God about the unlikely friendship between Mitch Rutledge and Burt Folson. The new book Death On Hold tells their story.

In January 1983 Burt Folsom read a story in Time about Mitch Rutledge, a man on death row with an IQ of 84 who said he was sorry for what he did. "Forget him," the last line of the story read. But Burt wrote Mitch a letter and discovered a man more interesting and intelligent than the article revealed.

Burt and his wife, Anita, began a friendship with Mitch and saw him become a leader and role model for others in prison, teaching himself to read and write (starting with copying down the spelling of items he knew from TV commercials) and becoming a national spokesman on prison life. 

Death on Hold is the amazing story of their friendship, and of grace, reconciliation, and redemption for a man without hope who was given a future.

First and foremost, I must start this review with a warning. While this IS a Christian book, it does contain very mature subject matter. Mitch's experience in prison is not sugar coated. There is talk of violence, drugs and sexual assault. While I would not say that it is particularly graphic, it IS very open, very honest and very real. 

Still, that being said, this is a fantastic read. Not only is it a great story of an unlikely friendship, but it is truly a story of how amazing God is. That's evident just in their 'meeting'. Just imagine reading a magazine article, writing a letter to the subject (without so much as a proper address) and not only does the letter make it there, but it starts a relationship that changes both parties lives? Yes, God certainly had a hand in that.

But more importantly, it's also a story of just how amazing and powerful God's grace is. Let's be honest, we all know that God forgives all sins. We've heard it time and time again. But it's still hard to wrap our heads around. Little lies, sure. Being prideful, why not? But murder? That's a little tougher to imagine. But Mitch's story can help us see that with God all things truly are possible. Here is a man on death row, sentenced to die who was given hope and learned to live.

Perhaps my favorite part of this book was the inclusion of Mitch's poetry written from prison at the end of each story. As a man who went in completely illiterate, this is truly such an amazing example of the changes he went through after turning his life to God.

Death on Hold is available to purchase now at Family Christian.

You can find more great reads and connect with Family Christian at the links below:
Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FamilyChristian 
Follow on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/familychristian/ 
Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FamilyChristian?ref=bookmarks 
Follow on Tumblr: http://family-christian.tumblr.com 
Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/familychristian

And one very lucky reader is going to win a $25 Family Christian Appreciation Certificate. Enter using the Rafflecopter form below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Winner will be contacted via e-mail after giveaway ends, and will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen. One entry per household, winning entry will be verified. Odds of winning depend on valid entries received. A Modern Day Fairy Tale is not responsible for prize delivery