The Color of Rain: How Two Families Found Faith, Hope, and Love in the Midst of Tragedy

Rarely does a book reach inside my very core and touch me as deeply as "The Color of Rain." It moved me to tears basically throughout the entire book and made me want to hold my children and count the blessings I daily take for granted. It was more than just another good read. It was one of those books that makes you want to change your life and be a better person. It gave me back focus and perspective in a time when my life lacked both.

When two families suffer the most tragic and unspeakable losses; they turn to their faith, family and friends for healing and comfort. Gina Kell loses her husband Matt after a long battle with cancer and just months later Michael Sphen loses his wife Cathy in just a matter of weeks to brain cancer. They become acquainted through mutual friends and quickly develop a bond through their mutual grief.

Their story is moving, deeply personal and eloquently written. There is something about a true story that has the ability to move you in a way an ordinary book cannot. I found myself laughing with them, cheering them on and crying with them in their grief. Often true stories written by people that are not professional writers are not well written but both Michael and Gina are beautiful writers.

This book went through the very real truths of cancer and how it can steal a person's life slowly and painfully or quickly and without warning. Both of their stories are every family's worst nightmare. No parent wants to have to tell a child their father/mother is gone. Because of their faith, both Michael and Gina handled their respective losses with grace, compassion for their children and most of all, love. Love for their kids, for their extended family and friends and eventually; love for each other.

This was the most inspiring, touching book I have read in a long time. Its message will stay with me for a long time. Their courage in sharing their story should be applauded. Anyone who has lost a loved one to cancer will find a friend in the Spehn's book and a true companion in an hour of need.

This book was a great story of God's love and redemption in the midst of terrible pain. It was well written and the agony of the depths of the spouses deaths was overwelming. I appreciated the transparency of both Michael and Gina in telling their stories.

You can only cover so much in a book, and while I understand the other reviewers concerns that the book glossed over the loss and skipped right to the beginning of a new life together, I think if you look at the time line, alot of time took place between the two events. It was two years later that Michael and Gina got married and the book just didn't cover that whole area as deeply as the beginning and the end. It would have been a gigantic book had that been done.

While some stories where these events happen do not end up with this glorious ending, God can still transform through loss. For another book that deals deeply with loss and goes through all the stages and more, see "A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss" by Jerry Sittser. This book delves much deeper into loss on a very personal level, but has much less biography in it. It is excellent also. But all in all, I appreciated Michael and Gina telling their personal stories and opening their hearts for all to see.

Overall, this was a good book, particularly because it provides two povs (both spouses alternate chapters).

It is a bit overwritten though and the religion aspect was a bit heavy-handed for me. But, even though I don't share some of their beliefs, I enjoyed the book overall.

ETA: Overall, I like the t.v. movie made out of this book though the minister is a stronger character in the book. The film adds in a fictional complication for dramatic effect that was a tad heavy-handed. Leads very good.

This is a good story of two families with a faith in God, and how they grew individually and together through similar losses of a spouse. It warmed my heart as I worked through the loss of my wife.

The book is extremely readable and I was pulled in right from the start. The reader can't help falling in love with this family. So much wisdom found in people who are relatively young. I love that Michael gave Gina a 7-diamond necklace as a wedding gift to represent the 7 "jewels" in their new family, and that the spouses who they have lost are always part of their marriage and their family. There were a few incidents where I was a tad bit frustrated (particularly when Michael was upset over receiving lasagne from a pizza place and when Gina arranged for movers the day before their wedding!), but these are what makes this book real. God's hand is all over the Spehns story, and Michael and Gina did not forget Him as the penned it. Hoping for more from the Spehns.

Very well written. Touching and reminds you to come close to your faith

Great

Very good, I had seen the movie and a lot of it takes passages out of the book. I love the way it is written with both people having stories in each chapter and then it intertwines. Very uplifting.

I love based on True-Story books; and especially True Store 'FAITH' based books.
I could really relate to this book, because growing up in Michigan- and personally knowing some of the people mentioned.
God can use any circumstance in our lives for his Glory! AMEN!

Heartwarming lovely story