Healing Waters (Sullivan Crisp Series #2)

by Nancy Rue, Stephen Arterburn

Overview

When life seems to conspire against you, how do you find the courage to dive into healing waters?

When Lucia Coffey looks at her reflection, she sees fat and failure. When she looks at her sister Sonia, she sees svelte and success. When she looks at God, she sees that divine love can't possibly be doled out equally. All her life, Lucia has coped by throwing herself into taking care of those who seem more worthy of God's goodness, and feeding the dreams she has buried alive.

But when tragedy strikes Lucia's family, she meets Sullivan Crisp--a decidedly offbeat psychologist who is trying to cope with his own shattered past. They form an alliance to try to hold her family together and, in the process, both tentatively dip their toes into the waters of healing. Step by faltering step they wade in, forging an unlikely community and digging deep for the courage to face a lurking danger that could pull them under . . . or remind them what it's like to dance on the waves.

• Inspirational contemporary read
• The second book in the Sullivan Crisp series, but can be enjoyed as a standalone
  • Book one: Healing Stones
  • Book two: Healing Waters
  • Book three: Healing Sands
• Named Women of Faith Novel of the Year (2009)
• Includes discussion questions for reading groups and an excerpt from Healing Stones

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781418573935
Publisher:	Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date:	12/09/2008
Series:	Sullivan Crisp Series , #2
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishing
Format:	eBook
Pages:	432
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Nancy Rue has written over 100 books for girls, is the editor of the Faithgirlz Bible, and is a popular speaker and radio guest with her expertise in tween and teen issues. She and husband, Jim, have raised a daughter of their own and now live in Tennessee.

Stephen Arterburn is a New York Times bestselling author with more than eight million books in print. He most recently toured with Women of Faith, which he founded in 1995. Arterburn founded New Life Treatment Centers as a company providing Christian counseling and treatment in secular psychiatric hospitals. He also began “New Life Ministries”, producing the number-one Christian counseling radio talk show, New Life Live, with an audience of more than three million. He and his wife Misty live near Indianapolis.

 

Editorial Reviews

Evangelical Christian writing duo Rue and Arterburn collaborate again in this follow-up to Healing Stones, the first of many (one hopes) Sullivan Crisp novels. Therapist Crisp re-emerges in this second outing after a stint of therapy he himself undergoes as he grapples with his faith following his wife's suicide and their baby girl's death. Enter the less-than-doted-on obstetrics nurse Lucia Coffey, who is battling her weight, her drug abuser husband and her famous televangelist, miracle-healing sister, Sophia. When Sophia's private plane bursts into flames and her face is burned beyond recognition, Lucia, with all her acumen and saucy wit, takes on the task of tending to her injured sister. What happens during the healing process is both tender and tragic, and psychologist Crisp is dead center in the middle of all the action. This well-written tale will move and engage readers in its volatile mix of questionable religious healing claims and the real deal-inner restoration of the soul. (Dec.)

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Publishers Weekly

Lucia Coffey lacks self-esteem because she is overweight. To make matters worse, her sister Sophia has a successful ministry and is beloved by everyone. Lucia thinks she is hopeless until she meets a quirky psychologist named Sullivan Crisp (introduced in Healing Stones) whose unconventional approach helps Lucia to see the beauty in herself and the hope she can have in life. The authors use a mix of humor and grace to tell a meaningful story that many readers will be able to relate to in their own struggles with size and image. Tackling the issues of body image and self-worth from a biblical perspective, this is recommended for CF and women's fiction collections and for those readers who appreciate humor along with a dose of spirituality and social relevance. Rue is author of the "Christian Heritage" and "Lily" series, while Arterburn is host of the New Life Live! national radio program.

—Tamara Butler

Library Journal