Unexpected Christmas Hero by Kathi Macias

Unexpected Christmas Hero is an inspiring and compelling story of friendship and survival.  Forced by unexpected circumstances to live on the streets and in homeless shelters, Josie Meyers and her two small children share in the lives and struggles of other homeless people.  Eventually, Josie meets Rick, a homeless, disabled vet who becomes their ultimate friend.

While living in the shelters she continually hears the gospel, reigniting memories of the words she heard and believed as a child.  Will these events lead her and her children home to the ultimate shelter?

Genre: Christian Fiction
Book Length: 240 pages
Source: NetGalley
Purchase through: Amazon

READ YOUR WRITES REVIEW

I had never heard of Kathi Macias before I read this book.  I can’t say that I will read her books again or not, especially, since they aren’t in the genre I usually read.  But I will say Unexpected Christmas Hero for me is one of those rare books that I will hold dear in my heart.  This book is beyond emotional.  There aren’t words to express how much this book touched me.

I think any woman in this world could be Josie.  Josie really was living the “American dream” with a nice house in the suburbs, married to a wonderful man, and having great kids.  Then over the course of a year or so, she lost all of that and more.  Her mother died and then shortly afterwards so did her husband.  With her husband’s death, Josie realized that her life was a lie.  Her husband lost his job, but was too proud to tell her.  He then cashed out all of their savings and even took out a second mortgage on their house, just keep up the pretense that everything was fine.  Josie NEVER had any idea how broke and destitute they actually were.  In a matter of months, they lost everything they had; their house, cars, furniture, jewelry, and clothing.  Josie and her kids, seven-year-old Jacob and five-year-old Susanna only had the clothes on their backs and what little they could each carry in a backpack.

This story really starts with a chance encounter at a soup kitchen serving Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving Day.  Rick Johnson, a homeless vet strikes up an innocent conversation with the Meyers family sitting across the table from him.  That brief encounter changed the lives of four people forever.

Rick is an incredible person.  He has his own problems and issues, but he has such a STRONG belief in God.  He doesn’t worry and knows that everything will be okay and just as it should be.  Josie is a woman who found herself moving away from the Christian beliefs she was raised on.  But with the help of Rick and several other strangers she meets in the weeks after Thanksgiving, she is able to forgive and restore her faith in God.

Unexpected Christmas Hero will reinforce your belief in God and remind you that there are indeed Angels walking amongst us.  In this book, you will see the kindness of strangers at it’s best.  You will realize that no matter how bad your day may seem or how bad you think things are for you, things could always be so much worse.

Unexpected Christmas Hero is what Christmas and Christmas stories are ALL about.  It will touch your heart and make you question yourself and your humanity.  It will make you want to be a better person.  You just have to believe that things will happen in God’s time and not in your time.

Rating: 5 (This is a MUST Christmas read for now and years to come.)

I highly recommend you look at the website for Unexpected Christmas Hero.  There you will also find a Q&A with the author, Kathi Macias.

To find out more about Kathi Macias, please visit her website.  While there, please be sure to check out the Help Reunite a Family section.  The gentleman on the cover is named Willard Parker, he’s a homeless man currently living in Asheville, NC and is looking for his family.