After taking my time to read and reflect upon “The Two Souls of Heidi Lonsberry”, by Charles Wagner, I can easily and confidently share that it touched my heart in more ways than one. I would absolutely recommend it to all readers who enjoy a Christian read. The story of the lives and testimonies of both Heidi Lonsberry and Troy
Ashford, reveal God’s love, compassion, forgiveness, healing, overcoming, and new beginnings. God’s love is evident from page one to page 501. I adored the consistent and loving reminder that “God knew their heart.”
Even in the messy, “He knew their heart.”
I will tell you that I underlined, made little notes, and highlighted
all throughout this book, stopping to really soak in some of the words and prayers. If only you could see the actual physical pages after I read them. I truly feel that because of the way God’s love was poured into these pages and this story, there were multiple moments that I felt refreshed, loved, and encouraged as a Christian. In being fully transparent, I have a loved one that has lived a similar life to Heidi Lonsberry in multiple ways. While she is often making better
decisions and has accepted Jesus in her heart, she still falls back into the same patterns at times. With that being said, when I say this book encouraged me in more ways than one...I truly mean it. On page 125 I underlined and wrote, “Our prayers matter, even the ”smaller” ones. Jesus listens.” On page 158, I underlined and wrote, “I feel this often, too.” On page 181, I underlined and wrote, “Believe this for ____.
Remember to have compassion towards her.” There have been many times when I have received phone calls from this person that broke my heart, where poor decisions were made, and I was left on the other end of the phone feeling heartbroken, angry and weary. As hard as this is to share, I am doing so to share with you that another one of these phone calls took place last week. Multiple to be
exact. It just so happened that I was in the middle of reading “The Two Souls of Heidi Lonsberry.” This phone call went a little differently. In that moment, I was reminded that “He knew her heart.” In her messy, in my heartbreak, my hurt and messy, “Jesus knew her heart.” He redeems, restores, uses others, and can sure make something beautiful out of a mess. This book is such a loving reminder and testament to that. I highly recommend and would love to read a
sequel!