For My Good

by Sarah Holman

It is Christmas time, but nothing is like it is supposed to be. Can a chance encounter help Janet to find joy and meaning despite her pain?

A short story of Christmas, finding hope, and faith

Genres: Christmas, Contemporary, Short Stories

10 pages, ebook

First published November 29, 2017

About the author

Sarah Holman lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, Scott. When not working on her next novel, she can usually be found hanging out with her family, reading, or hiking at state parks with her husband. If there is anything adventuresome about her life, it’s because she serves a God with a destiny bigger than anything she could have imagined. You can find out more about her at her website, www.thedestinyofone.com.
To keep up to date on releases, join her newsletter at http://eepurl.com/bitBIf

Reviews

[Rebekah Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

2023 Reread
Enjoyed it all over again.

Though short, this story carried a powerful message of encouragement. I so wanted to befriend Janet and give her a hug. There was some action and excitement and Patrick and Brian showed up! My only complaint was that I didn't want the story to be over. I wanted it to go on, but in a way it is like real life. We may want to know everything now, but we can't. We have to wait and trust that God is doing everything for good.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yay, I finally got to read a Sarah Holman book! It was a fun read, too. Janet definitely wasn’t expecting an encounter with the FBI when she went out for a bit of Christmas shopping.

Mainly I didn’t score it higher because there was just so much shoved into a few pages, which is very common with my general short story ratings: it needed a bit of space to breathe. Janet is an interesting character, but we really only get to see two sides of her, mostly just the grieving present.

For her reasons for grief (which is from the second or third page, so it isn’t exactly a spoiler)—no matter how wrong your parents might be, if they are sane adults and not abusive, it felt really wrong that all their kids walked away from them for one decision (granted, a large one) that was made. We are to honor our parents despite their flaws, and even if a parent over the edge makes it a necessity to treat them a bit differently, it was worrisome that five kids would rebel against their parents all at the same time without some sort of strong reason. So I’d have liked to have seen that reason, or in its absence to see the kids be a bit more balanced in the whole situation, which obviously just tore the family further apart. Just an example of something that bugged me and that wasn’t fleshed out in the story much at all.

I also had a bit of a personal gripe; Janet mumbles to herself about how much better off she would be with a college degree, but in one year of work she has the budget to buy new clothes and have her own private apartment in Dallas (where housing’s not the cheapest). Nope—at least she doesn’t have debt. Also I found it pretty odd that a single young woman wouldn’t have her car door locked while Christmas shopping in Dallas.

Otherwise, it was great and I especially loved Janet’s reaction to the strange man popping up and felt the ending was simply too sweet! I’ll definitely be reading more of Sarah’s books.

[Virginia Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

New to me author surpassed my expectations!

Also by Sarah Holman: Kate's Innocence and A Different Kind of Courage.

I've been wanting to read Sarah's work for some time. With Christmas hours away, I decided it would be a good idea to read one of her short Christmas stories. I got this during the big Black Friday sale :)

Likes:

~FBI!!! I'm a sucker when it comes to FBI stories/characters. I totally didn't see this coming which made the book extra awesome.

~The Christian content and messages really added to the story and were not only well-written but meaningful and easy to take to heart. I especially liked the Joseph references.

~While it was somewhat Christmassy, it mostly dealt with realistic hardships some face during the holiday. I like all the cozy Christmassy feels but it's nice to read a story where characters aren't feeling festive.

Dislikes:

~The FBI stuff was entirely too short and summed up for my liking.

Overall:
4.5 stars! I enjoyed this very much and I highly recommend this for anyone hoping to squeeze in one more Christmas book. I'll be reading more from this author for sure!

[R.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this so much! It made me quite emotional thinking about all the families who've had broken relationships. But God is always there!! :)

I really love the Christmas aspect of this story too... plus other things, but you should read the story to find out about those. ;)

[Angie Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a unique handling of a Christmas story, a sad and serious theme, and an unexpected adventure all in the same short story! All the different elements threading through and around each other over the course of just a few scenes definitely pulled me in and had me interested. The topic was definitely a rough one, but it was handled with care, and the reality of the pain radiating from Janet is really what bumps it up to four stars for me. I loved Janet's realistic reaction to being suddenly forced into a dangerous scenario with a strange man--much more realistic than the heroines in most suspense stories. ;) And was that a cameo from two of my favorite FBI agents? :D

Content--themes of divorce and its effects; dangerous situations, including gunplay; references to possible danger from being alone with a man

[Abigail Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Review:


My Favorite Character Roger, he was sweet and kind, even if he did scare Janet!

Thoughts: This was a fast paced short story that made it seem all the shorter. I enjoyed it a lot! And the two agents that showed up in it were unexpected though enjoyably so!

My Verse for this story: Psalm 63:3
Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. (King James Verison.)

[deborah o'carroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little story with some lovely messages. Christmas story (featuring a very slight cameo of Patrick and Brian from Kate's Case Files. ;)). Sarah Holman's short stories are always good slice-of-life type of tales. Anyway, lovely. :)

[Mikayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gotta love a good Christmas story. And getting to see Patrick and Bryan was icing on the cake.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A darling story of hope and realizing something is truly "for your good", even when you can't see it. The appearance by Patrick and Brian was PERFECT. xD

[Amelie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story with a heartfelt theme! Roger, especially, was a wonderful character, and I’d love to read more about him someday. Overall, though, this is a fun and lovely Christmas read that reminded me of God’s goodness no matter what darkness we face.

Content: trauma from divorce, very mild violence, mention of perverts who come up with fantastic stories to get what they want

[Sarah]

This is a story that means a lot to me. It is about finding joy when everything seems to be against you. This is a story about finding joy, hope, and meaning when things are hard

[Grace Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comforting Christmas read

This little story was so sweet! It reminds us that no matter what, God is always working things out for our good, even if we can't see it.

I loved that Brian and Patrick from Kate's Case Files were mentioned really quickly<3 (Because I really want another one of those books;)

[C.B. Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a 3.5 for me. (Choosing three as Goodreads has that described as "liked it," which pretty much describes my feelings.)

This was a pretty good short story. I had a little trouble getting into it at first, but then it got more interesting. The characters were very well developed, but I did feel like the issue of divorce was handled very harshly. I do agree with the author's views, but I feel that the entire issue could have been handled more gently. Overall, though, definitely a very interesting story!

[Tarissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Janet is a young woman, suffering in silent emotional pain – and it's the holiday season. She's striving to make ends meet by keeping up with her job at the mall – while feeling miserable inside from her parents' divorce and the distress of having the family and siblings all living separately now.

This Christmas takes a turn that Janet is blindsided by. It involves thieves, FBI agents (yep, the plot thickens and gets pretty intriguing!)... and a reminder that God is always on your side.

So the story deals with adult problems, but is packaged for anyone to enjoy. Teens and young adults would probably get the most out of it, but any age could.

It's truly a sweet story with touching moments in it. I would reeeeaaalllly love it if the author wrote a few more short stories that are very similar to this one. It's one of my favorite short ebooks. If you're familiar with Sarah Holman's “Kate” series, then you already know you'll definitely enjoy this short story too.

[Katja Labonté · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars & 4/10. I really enjoyed this book and thought it was well-done. I was expecting a thoughtful, quiet story and suddenly I was projected in the midst of excitement! It was very realistic and a pleasure to read. The message was not only for children whose parents have divorced; it is excellent for everyone. We all need to be reminded of it. 

A Favourite Quote: “‘Yet, what men meant for evil, both his brothers and Potiphar's wife, God meant for good. Everything that happened to Joseph happened so that he could save a nation and his own family from starving. Not even his lowest moments were without purpose. Neither are yours.’”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “‘Look, I understand this cannot be easy for you.’
“‘Try extremely disconcerting, and frazzling.’”

[Emma Filbrun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Sarah Holman's short stories. She does a good job of bringing things together quickly and bringing resolution to a scenario. I was as startled as Janet when she suddenly found a man in a place she least expected one—and very relieved when a dangerous situation was resolved. I also rejoiced with her when she was able to start moving on from the hurtful things that had happened in her life.

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I really appreciate how this author is willing to tackle a lot of difficult subjects from a Christian viewpoint, even when the way she does it doesn't quite hit home for me. There was a lot of truth in this story, mixed with just a little bad theology, with a main character I sympathized with but didn't really relate to.

I'd still recommend this one for readers capable of being discerning enough to take the good and leave the bad. Content is limited to discussion of divorce and some tense situations.

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tender faith filled Christmas story

Janet feels abandoned by her family and suffers painful loneliness. A dangerous chance encounter unexpectedly brings hope, friendship and peace for Christmas. Sweet heart touching story!

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this story.

Content: clean