Customer Reviews

Parting the Waters: A True Story: Finding Beauty in Brokenness

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My eyes are still sore from all of the tears I shed last night while reading Jeanne Damoff's account of her son Jacob's near-drowning in Parting the Waters.

My wife, Meredith, was discovered to have a mass in her brain on February 20th last year. Later we would discover that this mass was a cancerous tumor called a pineal blastoma. What ensued after the initial discovery defies summary in this post, but we are almost a year later with my wife's life (and mine) having been forever altered. Jeanne Damoff's book touched me on every page. There was rarely a chapter that didn't reduce me to tears that needed time to subside in order to continue reading. Before I began the book I acknowledged that Jeanne had taken an incredible risk in publishing her account of her son's near-drowning. It wasn't until afterward that I realized it was not a risk at all but a fulfillment of an instruction from Paul:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. (2 Corinthians 1:3-5, NIV)

It was as though Jeanne, and her husband George, had invited me into their home and tenderly told me about their turbulent life while putting their own arms around me to comfort me during my own tumultuous life. Even after two surgeries and six weeks of radiation, Meredith still has the tumor (albeit smaller and possibly shrinking) and we live from MRI to MRI not knowing what the scan will show us. In addition, the surgeries damaged the right side of her brain so that she has to contend with significant loss of mobility on her left side. One or the other would be discouraging enough on their own, but the fear of imminent death and the dramatic change of physical limitations have been difficult to bear.

The account of what Jacob went through after nearly drowning is nearly identical to what Meredith has experienced. (So identical that even some of the therapists have the same name!) It has been over ten years for the Damoff family and I know that they still face difficulties with Jacob's recovery, but their perseverance has given me strength to keep going even as life's difficulties threaten to engulf me. I would ask for God's blessing on Jacob and his family, but is evident to me that He already has in countless, unimaginable ways. Instead, I'll praise God for a work that, even though it defies human logic, is truly beautiful.

Parting the Waters is a book about authentic, gritty struggle during loss. Author Jeanne Damoff paints a vivid picture of her family's journey through her son's drowning accident, but she does so with broad enough strokes that the reader gleans comfort and wisdom to face any personal tragedy. If you are suffering from grief, worry, shattered expectations, or anger, Parting the Waters is a much-needed oasis to your soul.

It was a Thursday afternoon when Parting the Waters came in the mail. I had about 15 minutes before I had to pick up my daughter from preschool, so I tore open the package and dove into the book. I was standing by my kitchen table as I began to read, and 15 minutes later, I was still standing in the same spot. I was so engrossed in the book, I didn't want to put it down.

From the beginning, Jeanne does a tremendous job giving the right amount of detail and description. She took more than five years of events and milestones and communicated them extremely well. I felt like I was reading the thoughts of a good friend and a devotional at the same time. Jeanne writes with such refreshing transparency, sharing her honest thoughts and emotions throughout Jacob's recovery. Her faith is inspiring, and as a reader, it was amazing to see God's abundant provision and blessings poured out on the Damoff family and those who rallied around them. The real-life characters in the story are God's hands and feet. I found myself wanting to meet each one of them in person.

As I read, I was often struck to the core with Jeanne's narrative. I was drawn in and felt like I was witnessing first-hand Jacob's story. I both grieved and rejoiced as I read, cheering for Jacob as he continually defied the doctors' initial reports. He was surrounded by heroes who gave much of themselves in his journey, but in many ways, Jacob is a hero, too. Jacob's life is a testimony to God's divine purposes and plan. God is beautiful in him.

Parting the Waters is a poignant story that I will never forget. Heart-wrenching and hope-inspiring, this book is a beautiful reminder of God's lovingkindness in the face of sorrow and suffering. It will change the way you view suffering in your life and the lives of those you love.

How do you write a story like Jeanne Damoff's "Parting the Waters: Finding Beauty in Brokenness?"

With a lot of pain, joy, heartache, anger, love; most of all, love.

How do you read a story like "Parting the Waters?"

With a lot of pain, joy, heartache, anger and, yes, love. As you read it, you forget how well and beautifully written it is because the story this mother tells is that compelling.

In May, 1996, Jeanne and George Damoff's 15-year-old son Jacob was one of two boys who drowned in a canoeing/swimming accident. Jeremy, the other boy, died. Jacob should have. He was under water at least 10 minutes, possibly longer. He was found and given CPR. And then he breathed.

We all know what being under water for at least 10 minutes means: brain damage. And that's what it meant for Jacob. But no one would know how extensive until he awoke from a coma.

In the meantime, what did his parents hear?

"His brain is dying."

"I have to tell you of all the options," which included removing his feeding tube.

"At best he'll be a vegetable the rest of his life."

In "Parting the Waters," Jeanne Damoff tells a story you read with tears and often in tears. And you ultimately read it with joy and a sense of wonder at the sheer tenacity of life.

It would trite but true to say that the Damoffs clung to their faith in God. But cling they did, even as they questioned and fought and doubted, even when the answer was often a silence, especially for the question of why.

Damoff walks the reader through those months and years of prayer, choices, decisions and agonies, along with the triumphs and successes and joys. And you do rejoice when Jacob takes his first steps, when he says his first word, when he wants to see his bedroom again, when he remembers things that should have been wiped away.

Damoff also introduces the hundreds of people who rallied around her family and stayed rallied - long-time friends, close relatives, doctors, nurses, therapists, Jacob's classmates, and the people of their hometown of Marshall, Texas, sometimes total strangers. Many, many people were involved in this miracle named Jacob Damoff. His story is an affirmation of life, love and the human brokenness we all share.

I've never met Jeanne and George Damoff and their family, but if I asked them how they managed to survive, manage and overcome what happened to their family, I expect they would say something like, "We didn't."

Parting the Waters by Jeanne Damoff is one of the most powerful and poignant stories of one family's journey of loss, hope, redemption and faith. In her own words, Damoff walks the reader through her family's life changing events surrounding her son Jacob's accident on a local lake.

Her story is heartbreakingly beautiful and leaves the reader spellbound by both the story's real life events and their unbelievable faith and devotion to their son and family. A true page turner, this book grabs you from the beginning and you literally can't put it down. You will laugh, cheer and cry as you make your way through Parting the Waters and will finish with an overwhelming sense of love and compassion.

Parting the Waters is a book that is literally life changing and you will find yourself thinking of this story long after you have read the last page.

For more information on Jeanne Damoff see: [...]

What an encouraging story about a young man who almost drowns in an accident, beats the odds, and survives. His family was blessed and beyond with the care and the monetary support during a very tough time in their lives.

One minute Jacob was swimming with his friends, the next he is being dragged out of the lake not breathing. After desperate attempts at CPR his breath returned and they rushed him to the hospital. He was in a coma and the doctor's were not sure that he would make it. Jacob's parents never gave up. His mother was by his side and pushing hard along the way. When the community heard of Jacob's accident, many different people took turns at the hospital so that Jacob's parents could get rest. The community also contributed money at their time of need. With a lot of prayer and help from their friends, community, and family, Jacob came back to life. It was a time of trusting God to take care of their son and heal him.

Jacob's mother, Jeanne Damoff, is the author of Parting the Waters. She shares her own personal struggles, but we are relieved as she continued to move forward even when there seemed to be no hope all at.

If you are in the middle of any type of faith-questioning struggle, this story will give you hope to move forward even when things seem impossible.

Jacob was a young man full of life. When tragedy struck his life and family, they turned to God and truly asked for His will to be done, even beyond their own understanding. Jacob's mother tells her story; it is one that has made me cry, filled me with gratitude, and given me great hope. If you loved The Hiding Place, you will love Parting the Waters.

When I opened the pages of the book, I wasn't prepared for a true story taken from her the author's life. In Jeanne's own words "All the events unfolded as told. No kindness has been exaggerated. No heroic deed overdrawn. God took a broken boy and sent ripples in motion that spread through an entire community and beyond. On these pages I've attempted to honestly share out battles against fear, self-pity, anger, and confusion as well as our glimpses into God's good and glorious purposes..." That was enough to make me div into the book.

Reading this true story about the tragedy and triumph her family went through when their fifteen year old suffered a drowning accident had me riveted. Jeanne takes you on a spiritual and emotional ride that will grab you from page one and won't let go. Their family's struggles, faith, and miracles left me in awe and the ending, with a yearning for more of Jesus.

Parting the Waters is about discovering God's mercy in desperate circumstances. Jeanne Damoff tells the heartbreaking yet hopeful tale of her son Jacob's near drowning. Though Jacob's journey involves tragedy and loss, his new life is ultimately about God's goodness and grace along the way.

For a discussion on God's purposes in suffering, a lesson on finding beauty in brokenness, or simply the heartfelt account of one woman's love for her son and her God, you'll love Jeanne Damoff's Parting the Waters.

Parting the Waters: Finding Beauty in Brokenness begins as Jeanne reounts a normal day at the end of the school year. Her fifteen-year-old son Jacob calls asking her to bring a change of clothes to his friend's house so that he could go to the lake with a group. This vignette will be familiar to any parent of a teen: last minute plans requiring mom's assistance, foraging through a messy room to find the requested clothing, driving over and dropping them off with very little parent child interaction.

But later that afternoon, the Damoff's life quickly drifts away from the norm when they are called to the hospital. One boy has drowned and their son Jacob was barely resuscitated after being retrieved from the bottom of the lake.

Parting the Waters is the story of so many things. It's an honest look at what having a child with special needs takes out of a family, a marriage, and friendships, but it also examines the hidden blessings that the Damoffs experienced in this town as their friends -- and the entire town -- comes together to support Jacob and the family. But at the core it's a spiritual memoir wherein Jeanne opens a window into her fears and doubts which are covered with a healthy dose of enduring faith.