Cancer, Faith, & Butterflies: How Do You Believe When Your World Falls Apart by Johnny M. Sanchez is love lost, love found, and love embraced. When Joe first saw Brooke, she took his breath away, he had to get to know her better. Whenever Joe was around Brooke, he felt at peace. Was it Brooke’s love and passion for God that was responsible for what Joe loved about her? Joe and Brooke were living life from being married to discovering that they were pregnant. Yes, they were living the life that they had envisioned until Brooke was diagnosed with breast cancer during her last trimester. Johnny M. Sanchez displays that through life there will be challenges, but with a solid relationship with God, He can help you through it all. As a believer, when God guides us through our journey, know that He is developing our character and strengthening our faith.

Reading Cancer, Faith, & Butterflies: How Do You Believe When Your World Falls Apart by Johnny M. Sanchez took me through myriad emotions as I began to look through the eyes of Johnny M. Sanchez in his character Joe. Cancer, Faith, & Butterflies was so well-written that it had a surreal element to its storyline, as if you were watching a movie. I felt like I was a part of the book. As a believer, whether it's cancer, or any other type of illness, the path we are traveling in our lessons is not always about us, but others. In all things seek Him, meditate on His word day and night. Just as for Joe, it was Brooke's unwavering walk that was the catalyst to his personal relationship with God.

Cancer, Faith and Butterflies by Johnny M. Sanchez is a journey through grief. Joey and Brooke Connelly are young, in love, and have a beautiful baby girl. Brooke proclaims that baby Sara is a true “gift of God.” But, in the midst of all this wonderment, crisis erupts. Brooke is diagnosed with breast cancer. Her faith remains strong and sure. Even through her debilitating pain, she reaches out to others in need. However, what little faith Joey has is tested to the core. He has never really completely believed in the sovereignty of God. As a matter of face, Joey is rather angry at this so called deity. He tries his best to avoid God, but he can’t seem to escape His presence, even in random conversations. Day by day Joey is tested. Day by day he asks God why? “How do you believe when your world falls apart?”

Johnny M. Sanchez’s novel, Cancer, Faith and Butterflies, is a process of metamorphosis, a journey of divine transformation. It depicts the ugliness of a hardened heart, bereft in despair, transformed into a soaring, beautiful soul. This story causes you to get in touch with your own mortality; it challenges you to discover what really is important in life. “It is not up to us to understand His plan; it’s just about having faith” - this statement is the theme of this heart wrenching story. Whether it is the lack or abundance of faith is the fabric that holds this story together. Sanchez’s writing style is unhurried; it is very patient. He delicately interweaves his cast of characters, causing their paths to cross, stitching them together with precision.

The story is told from the point of view of Joey. His thoughts, actions and emotions are prevalent as the narrative unfolds. Joey faces possibly the greatest conflict man can face - man versus God. Yes, his character endures loss and betrayal, but his genuine battle is understanding God. The cast of supporting characters is essential to the narrative. They bring a touch of innocence, a voice of reason, abiding strength and grace within the storm of hopelessness, and prove that even wayfaring strangers can be secret messengers from God. Cancer, Faith and Butterflies reveals the lengths, heights and depths that God will perform to prove His great love for us. There is no place we can hide when God pursues us. We can cocoon ourselves in hardened shells, but through God’s grace, He transforms us into lovely butterflies of His Providence.

The sub-title of Cancer, Faith & Butterflies by Johnny M. Sanchez asks a powerful question that has baffled even the finest minds over the ages: How do you believe when your world falls apart? Joe’s wife is dying of cancer, and she’s been his entire world. As he watches her die, his own faith is put to the test. How can a loving and tender God allow this to happen? And can he (Joe) be able to raise a ten-month-old baby alone? This is an emotionally charged story, one that seeks the spark of hope in the midst of harrowing grief. Can one continue to love and trust a God who decides to remain silent when one expects Him to speak? This book will inspire many readers and will show that even in the darkest night of our life, God’s hope still glimmers faintly somewhere, and we only need to trust to find it.

Cancer, Faith & Butterflies is a well-written story. So human, and so believable. It's a very inspiring story. The prose is beautiful and the author has the gift of touching the deepest fears in readers and creating a stream of consciousness in characters that readers will easily identify with. This beautiful story reminded me so much of Tears at Night, Joy at Dawn: Journal of a Dying Seminarian by Andrew Robinson. It’s a powerful testament of faith, featuring very normal and believable characters, asking questions that everyone faced with the mystery of suffering and faith would ask. Johnny M. Sanchez has created a beautiful and moving story that readers will want to keep in their hearts, especially during trying moments.

Cancer. It comes without warning, without being picky about who it chooses, and without much hope for what comes after. It's especially difficult for the families of those it affects. Joe's wife is engaged in her fight and the end is drawing closer every day. She is strangely at peace and she says it is because of her faith in God. But Joe doesn't believe in the man upstairs, though he won't tell his wife that, and he's starting to feel hopeless when it comes to how he'll raise their baby daughter after the inevitable. But God works in mysterious ways and his faith is about to be tested.

Cancer, Faith & Butterflies by Johnny M. Sanchez is a very personal story to me. My own grandfather passed away from cancer this year and it seemed like author Sanchez knew exactly how I felt. He writes about the confusion and heartbreak with such detail that I instantly related to the characters, and I feel many other readers will as well. And the faith message written into this novel is touching and yet realistic. There are no magical changes of heart nor does everything instantly poof into perfection. It's a tough road, but it ends the way it should. Not only is this a great read for a rainy summer day, but I feel there are life lessons that can be gleaned from the pages and the characters within them. I hope to read more from author Sanchez, and enjoy more of the touching, realistic situations he creates. A beautiful piece with minimal errors.

I truly enjoyed every page & Cancer, Faith, & Butterflies hit really close to home lost 3love ones to cancer ...what a testomony what a story so many things happend for a reason and we to busy fail to see how the lord works out everything ...my emotions ran high from crying to laughing...ur truly a great writter MR.JOHNNY SANCHEZ can't wait till ur next book ...