Synopses & Reviews
Matt Kell is a young husband and father in the late stages of terminal cancer. His former classmate Cathy Spehn has recently moved to his hometown with her husband and three children. Four weeks after Matt dies on Christmas Day, Cathy develops a bad headache. She dies seventeen days later of inoperable brain cancer. On her last day of life, she tells her husband, Michael: 'Call Gina Kell.' The Color of Rain illuminates the stepping-stones of healing that led to a new life for Michael, Gina, and their five children. This remarkable real-life Brady Bunch story explores the differences between despair and grief, denial and joy, bitterness and redemption. Told from alternating points of view, Michael and Gina's gripping journey of 'growing new hearts' inspires readers to not just survive loss but to receive the courage, faith, and identity that God gives in the midst of tragedy---and be transformed forever.
Synopsis
When two childhood friends die of cancer six weeks apart, the shared experience of loss brings the surviving spouses together. Told from alternating points of view, The Color of Rain by Michael and Gina Spehn is a remarkable real-life Brady Bunch story about what it means to endure the unthinkable---and still open your heart to what's next.
Synopsis
When unexpected grief brings two families together, how do they start their journey to healing? Join Michael and Gina Spehn--bestselling authors and founders of the New Day Foundation--as they tell their story of resilience, remembrance, and reliance on their shared faith.
Matt Kell and Cathy Spehn had known each other since grade school. As adults, they each got married, lived in their hometown, and attended the same church. Their kids even attended school together.
Matt died at home on Christmas Day after a three-year battle with cancer, leaving behind his wife, Gina, and two young boys. After attending Matt's inspirational funeral and reaching out to Gina with offers of support, Cathy was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. She died only 17 days later, leaving behind her husband, Michael, and three young children. In her final hours, Cathy instructed Michael to call Gina Kell.
The Color of Rain illuminates the stepping stones of loss and healing that ultimately led to a joyful new life for Michael, Gina, and their five children. Their path to becoming a modern-day Brady Bunch was paved with grief, laughter, and the willingness to be restored to a new and even better life despite the inevitable resistance they faced.
As you learn more about Michael and Gina's story, you'll learn:
- The importance of keeping God at the center of your marriage
- How they navigated becoming a blended family
- The life-changing power of faith, even on your darkest days
As their dual first-person narrative reveals what it is like to walk through loss and love simultaneously, you'll have an intimate look at how Michael and Gina lived, lost, and ultimately persevered through extraordinary circumstances.
Praise for The Color of Rain:
The Color of Rain is a testament to God's restoration and grace. Even in our suffering, there is beauty. It rarely makes sense, but it's always true: 'He makes all things beautiful, in His time.'
--Katie Davis, New York Times bestselling author of Kisses from Katie
Michael and Gina Spehn's The Color of Rain is not only an instant bestseller but also an instant classic, certain to be pressed into the hands of hundreds of thousands of grieving men and women by their closest friends, for it is a book that is painfully honest about the depths of sorrow but also full of the joy of the hard path back from near despair. It is another reminder that God is there, however dark the day, and that he will comfort those who call on him.
--Hugh Hewitt, bestselling author and radio host