"my seventh monsoon"

Naomi Reed is a physiotherapist/missionary turned author.  "my seventh monsoon" is the story of her and her family's missionary journey. She describes a little of her childhood, and conversion to christianity, and the events the led her and her husband to be serving as missionaries in Nepal with International Nepal Fellowship.  The book also describes an extended furlough period, where they dealt together with multiple pregnancy losses, the potentially fatal health problems of her husband, and the accident that crippled her father. After this time, and with 3 children in tow, they ended up in Nepal for a further term, when she clocks up monsoon number seven.

I found this book to be quite unlike any missionary biography I had read to date.  Reed describes many of events and circumstances that they went through, but not in the standard 'show and tell' manner that many of this style of biography use.  She uses the Ecclesiastes passage about seasons to interpret the many things that they experienced.  She then draws parallels that any reader could relate to and learn from; observations about how we all go through 'seasons' in our relationship with God.

I enjoyed this book immensely.  Reed's way of putting words together to evoke powerful images and emotions, together with her explorations of season of faith, made for an excellent read.  I hope to read the sequel "No Ordinary View" very soon!