The Fragile Face of God

Can our darkest hour give rise to miracles? Can departed loved ones intervene on our behalf? And can the most fragile among us light the way? LeeAnn Taylor gives a transformative response in her courageous new memoir, The Fragile Face of God, the true story of a young woman who learns that three of her five children are born with significant disabilities.In this heart-rending, vivid account, LeeAnn opens with an urgent prayer for death-the only option she sees as a way out of her dire circumstance. She then takes the reader back through a quick succession of pivotal life events, beginning with her mother's untimely death from breast cancer at the age of thirty-two, her astounding heavenly encounter with her mother's spirit, a promising marriage, the birth of four children, and her young family's plunge into poverty.At this time, LeeAnn makes the tragic discovery that her three youngest children are all affected by a genetic disorder known as Fragile X syndrome. Devastating mental impairment, autism, and a host of violent behaviors accompany their new life. With unrelenting honesty, LeeAnn describes the harrowing details of their daily battles, the frightening episodes with her disabled sons, and the anguish of mothering these fragile children.Drafted into the ranks of the disabled, she begins to experience a profound awakening to the striking connection between triumph and tragedy, and the supernal power of HOPE. She discovers spiritual attributes in her disabled children-mysterious gifts that seem to open their home to unseen heavenly visitors. She learns of their unique ability to transcend the veil, and gives stark illumination to the seldom-seen universe of the mentally disabled and those who care for them.After the unplanned birth of a fifth child, however, her disabled children's symptoms escalate dramatically, turning LeeAnn's full-time care-giving status into an insurmountable feat, bound within a restrictive home environment that feels like a prison. When her cries for help go unheeded, LeeAnn turns to death as her only escape.It is then that her mother's spirit intervenes in an angelic visitation where LeeAnn is shown her children's eternal identity, the sacred nature of their disabilities, and the unique role of all individuals born into this world with significant impairments.LeeAnn's story takes the reader deep into the heart of the human spirit. A controversial exploration into the gifts of the mentally disabled, backlit by the raw, unforgiving perils of the human condition and the supreme power of a mother's redeeming love, her book fearlessly ventures into one of the least understood arenas, offering a unique glimpse into the primordial potential of every human being. It also speaks piercingly to the heart of anyone who has known adversity, and is a bold affirmation for those who have reached beyond what they believed was possible. Chronicled by her own journal entries, LeeAnn Taylor's life is both a chilling account and an amazing triumph, a luminous story of one family's tragic descent into the darkness, and, ultimately, their triumphant emergence into the light. A victorious tribute to both the mystical essence of our being and to the indomitable power of the soul, The Fragile Face of God is a celebration of humanity-both the fragile and the sublime-and an intimate view into what makes our journey here one of purpose and eternal significance.