WHEN YOU COME TO THE END OF YOUR ROPE THERE IS HOPE By Phyllis Tomberg Giglio

Publisher: Synergy Publishers
ISBN-10: 1931727007
ISBN-13: 978-1931727006

This is one of the most challenging books I have read. In her own words Phyllis said:

“I have changed 28,000 diapers, tied 20,000 pairs of shoes, prepared 50,000 meals and outlasted five washing machines and six dryers”.

Phyllis lived in a dysfunctional family; her mother died when she was only eight months old, her father was an alcoholic married to a woman he did not love and her grandparents and great grandparents were not good examples for her. At age 15, Phyllis eloped with a local pizza restaurant owner with only $80.00 between them. Over the next 22 years, they had raised twelve children, and by the next 18 years, all twelve children were married and involved in one profession or the other.

In summarizing her joy about the children she wrote

“God gave us wisdom in how to discipline our children. Each child grew up with deep respect for others. We have seen the fruit of that in our children as they have grown into adults. I am very proud of the respect they show their wives, husbands and others”

Phyllis’s marriage was by no means a rosy one. Her husband left the family emotionally and joined a young group of rascals who had three goals –wine, women and more women. Phyllis, feeling betrayed by her husband, plunged into drinking and adultery. She also began to feel a sense of dissatisfaction with the Roman Catholic Church. The tide slowly begins to turn around and the book ultimately finishes with a good testimony of Phyllis and some of her children being involved in leading a number of people to a saving knowledge of Christ.

Few things make me recommend this book to all:

• Few people dwell on their past that they forget that God has a future for everyone . So it is wrong to judge one by the past only. You can always outgrow your past 
• No matter how small or large a family is, it is possible to instill discipline and thus produce a cohesive family unit to the glory of God 
• Many people have religion but not Christ. It is possible to live a life of strict church doctrine and still die without Christ. Phyllis was for twenty-five years a strict Roman Catholic obeying all the rules but she was lost. 
• And finally, no matter how far you have gone, when you discover you are going in the wrong  direction, it is never too late to make a U-turn. God allows a U-turn on the way of salvation.