I Can Only Imagine byBart Millard

I Can Only Imagine byBart Millard.  Oh my gosh I just cannot believe that Bart invited me into his life so completely and honestly.  Bart Millard just in case you don't know is the lead singer of Mercy Me.  His childhood was terrible.  His dad beat him. His mom left him at a very young age.  But this is what Bart did to escape that cruel life-- he went to school and church.  He took every opportunity to escape his home and be in church and do whatever that church had to offer.  His dad was a great athlete in his day and Bart tried to be like him but when his ankles were crushed in a football accident Bart found his gift.  God had given him a voice to sing songs up to heaven.  "I Can Only Imagine" is Bart's gift to his father after his death.  The movie evidently doesn't show it (I have never seen the movie) but Bart's dad was a good guy who after suffering a head injury became an awful guy then when he was given a death sentence of cancer Bart's dad turned to God and once again became a good guy.  Bart learned to love and appreciate his dad during this time.  This song which Bart wrote in 10 minutes is Bart's gift to his dad using the comment that his grandma made while leaving the gravesite.  Bart gave this gift to Amy Grant to sing so that it would become a great song but Amy in her love for Bart gave it back to him knowing that this song was his song and that this song would put Mercy Me at the top of the charts.

I would recommend this book for reading to anyone whether or not they have heard the song or not, though I cannot imagine not having heard this song.  This song topped the charts for Christian Music and then managed to crossover into many other venues of songs.  This book shows the courage that it takes to be Bart both as a child victim of horrible abuse as well as the hardworking man who wanted to sing songs up to heaven and make it in singing and then finally making his marriage be the success that it is today.  This book is a great Christian read, a great Bart Millard/Mercy Me read, a great social justice read.  I can't imagine anyone not reading this book and enjoying it even though I cried so much that my sinuses are surely cleared forever.
I received this book from BookLook for this review.