The Waiting by Cathy LaGrow

I received this book in exchange for my unbiased review. 

An unforgettable true story that will touch your heart and make you believe in love’s enduring legacy, and in the power of prayer.
In 1928, 16-year-old Minka was on a picnic in the woods when she was assaulted and raped. And suddenly this innocent farm girl—who still thought the stork brought babies—was pregnant. The baby was secretly born, named Betty Jane, and given up for adoption. For decades, Minka wrote letters trying to get news of her daughter; she kept loving and praying for her, even though she never dared believe they would meet again. Until nearly eighty years later, when Minka whispered her secret, impossible prayer for the first time: Lord, I’d like to see Betty Jane before I die. I promise I won’t bother her or interrupt her life. I just want to lay eyes on her. Unbeknownst to Minka, that very same day, a judge was releasing the sealed adoption records to her 77-year-old daughter. And soon, Minka’s phone would ring. 


Written by Cathy LaGrow (Minka’s granddaughter), The Waiting brings three generations of this most unusual family together over the course of a century to tell a story of faith that triumphs, forgiveness that sets us free, and love that never forgets. - See more at: Tyndale Publishers

This book is available on Amazon, at 

About the Author:

Cathy LaGrow first fell in love with books as a young girl, when she often chose to lose herself in a story rather than play outside. That love has never waned. She estimates that she's read more than two thousand books, and she habitually collects new titles much faster than she can read them.

Her previous writing endeavors include her blog, Windows and Paper Walls; a story for Chicken Soup for the Soul titled "A Good Mother"; and a weekly column for All the Church Ladies on a website created by journalist Karen Spears Zacharias.

In 2006, just after the birth of her first baby, Cathy and her family learned the secret her grandmother Minka Disbrow had been carrying for almost eighty years—that at age seventeen, she'd given up a baby for adoption. Cathy's mother is Minka's second child, born nearly eighteen years later. Cathy began working on The Waiting in early 2012.

Cathy has been married to her high school sweetheart, Dan, for almost twenty-five years. She is a licensed, nonpracticing US Customs broker and a piano teacher. She lives in Oregon, where she's often found in the kitchen baking or curled up in a chair reading. An avid runner, she sometimes runs literal circles around her two small boys at the neighborhood park. Nearly everything fascinates her.

This is Cathy's debut book.

I was blessed with this book by the Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for my unbiased opinion. I was in no way required to give a positive review.

My Thoughts:
This is just an incredible story! It's so moving, it will bring you to tears. Cathy did such a wonderful job showing the emotion involved. Minka's heart torn over having to part with a baby that in-spite of circumstances Minka had come to love dearly. The love Minka had for her baby carried her through many years and kept her writing letters for information for many years. A wonderful demonstration of her love that would pay off immensely in years to come. The hope she kept in her heart after 77 years that just maybe she could see her "baby" again. 
This book is about God's faithfulness. I see it over and over in the pages. How he took care of Minka, her family. But also in a whole different location, He gently cared for Ruth (Minka's daughter) and her family too.  It amazes me, that even with Minka's difficult life and circumstances she lived to be over 100! She outlived her parents, one of her children, and her husband.
The other intriguing part of this story is the history involved. One hundred years of history!! You see America and the world changing right before you eyes. When Minka went to that fateful picnic in 1928 she rode in a Chrysler Imperial. Life was completely different, indoor plumbing was a luxury! She watched the Space Age come to existence, went through several wars and her grandson located her by using a computer!! To me, that is just fascinating.
You will be encouraged and uplifted by this story. You will fall in love with the people in it. It's a five star book and worth the read!