Best known for his “Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites” series, LDS author Chris Heimerdinger also wrote a short book called “A Light in the Storm,” which tells us the story of Ben Wylie, a successful entrepreneur who has, unfortunately, placed too high a value on money and too little a value on his marriage and family. Before leaving for yet another business trip right before Christmas, his wife gives him an ultimatum: your marriage or your business. He knows he has a choice to make, and rushes through his business so he can come home early and spend the time patching things up with his wife. He’s even contacted a potential buyer for the business, determined to salvage his life before it falls apart.
But a snowstorm hits and he gets stranded, his truck off the road and the snow piling ever deeper. With no way to drive out, no food and only melted snow for water, Ben begins to hallucinate, wondering what will become of him and his family.
Meanwhile his wife is trying to hold things together at home. Ben is late, but then, he’s always late. It’s a few days before she realizes he’s missing, and then she wonders if he’s left her. But she can’t believe that it’s so, and at the children’s urging, they drive to the spot where Ben was last seen and start looking for him.
Although at times the book is a little campy and one of Ben’s hallucinations unbelievable (although, I’m not sure how believable a hallucination is really supposed to be) overall I found this book to be very inspirational. What could you accomplish if you were determined? How long could you live if that was your ultimate goal? How long could you go without food if you absolutely had to? And most importantly, what is truly the most valued thing in your life?
Chris Heimerdinger creates a Christmas parable that shows us all the immeasurable worth of a family and how real love can keep us going even when it seems impossible.
(This book was published in 2000 by Covenant Communications.)