LISA VANDERKWAAK
CEO, Real U Institute™
"Dashed dreams. Broken hearts. Lives torn apart. As you read this story, your heart will not only be gripped deeply at the injustices the Raschke family endured, but you'll also be left feeling infused with fresh hope that Jesus's words are true. Just as the Raschke family discovered, you too can take heart, and overcome your season of ashes and pain, and experience a life where beauty and peace reigns."
LORNA KOPP
Author
"Courageously, Charleen shares her family's survival through tragedy, hope in the midst of despair, and forgiveness in the face of deepest betrayal. Like the pages of a scrapbook, Charleen gathers together graphic word pictures that take readers on a journey of her mother's heart of unimaginable pain to life-affirming restoration.
This is one of the most important books you'll ever read. It will move you. It will change you. It will bring hope to the darkest of places. A must-read for anyone longing to be changed!"
LYNDA BLAZINA
Ministry Leader, Walk With Me Ministries
Tapestry Church, Cochrane, AB
"Pain and grief are often isolating and lonely valleys to walk through. A Season Of Ashes lets you know you're not walking alone. These people have 'been there' and come out the other side with their faith and hope intact. Your heart will be strengthened by Charleen's story of reaching the bottom of the pit and finding out her faith was solid. Her depiction of faith and spiritual growth--amid astounding pain and messiness--reveals the gentle work of the Holy Spirit and God's goodness in the face of prodigious struggle. Charleen's book reads like coffee with a wise friend, and is authentic from front to back."
DAN SCZEBEL
Pastor, Grace Life Church, Kamloops
"This is a true life story of the brokenness of humanity and the faithful underpinnings of God's grace to carry us through to healing and wholeness."
JAN EDWARD STEFFEN
Pastor, Kelowna Vineyard Church
"To Console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes,The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified."
Isaiah 61:3
"For those who follow Jesus and read A Season of Ashes, there will be a resonance of truth and familiarity with the common human struggle for faith and the reality of God in the midst of excruciating grief, pain and loss. This account of a family battling through years of these things, and coming through sane and with intact faith, speaks to God's promises of faithfulness and power to keep us even through horrific circumstances. Read and be extremely encouraged."
DON ROUSU
Pastor, Edmonton Vineyard Church
"After preaching to the church for fifty years, I've discovered that the last thing people want to hear is stories of unmitigated success and blessing 'since the day I made Jesus Lord of my life.' To truly encourage people, I share my weakness, my fears, and my pain. People immediately identify and engage because they feel understood and included in the conversation. It is in the valley of the shadow that we learn the faithful presence of God that quiets all our fears. It is through our encounters with sorrow and death that we meet the Lord of resurrection life, and we learn to trust and hope. This book will resonate with people who are struggling to go on walking by faith, not by sight, and they will find encouragement in the honest faith walk of this family that has come through the waters and the fire. He really does give us beauty for ashes!"