How could God let it happen?
Have you ever heard of a situation in which a Christian was treated so unfairly that you wondered how God could let it happen?
In my entire life, Mary Weaver’s story is the harshest example of unfairness I’ve ever heard of. In 1993, Mary was providing childcare for a baby who had a seizure. Mary called 9-1-1 and performed CPR on the baby, but later in the day the baby died from brain injuries. Medical experts believed Mary had to have shaken and slammed the baby during the 42 minutes she had spent with the baby that day. In time, this caring babysitter faced charges of first-degree murder and child endangerment.
The shocking case made headlines for months, then years. But while some medical experts testified against Mary, others testified in her defense. Steve Brennecke, her lawyer and friend, was convinced of her innocence and fought to prove it. Frank Santiago, a prominent reporter in the area, kept her case alive. The Mary Weaver Support Group wrote letters, ran car washes, and marched in the rain to support her. When the unthinkable happened, all hope seemed gone, but God was still working in her case. Yet like Joseph in the book of Genesis, Mary kept trusting God. Her simple faith during this dark time in her life challenged me to want to write her story and bring it to print. It continued to speak to me during the two years I gathered information and wrote the book.
This month is the tenth anniversary of the night Mary, Steve, and I launched Edges of Truth: The Mary Weaver Story in Marshalltown, Iowa. November 22, 2013 was a night I’ll never forget. Mary had stipulated from the beginning that God must get the glory from this book, and the book launch was an amazing opportunity to let His glory shine.
Twenty years after the baby’s death, people came early and lined up at the door of the book launch to get in. Some had come four hours or more to buy a signed book. Mary’s family was there. Lawyer Steve and Reporter Frank stood beside Paul Rosenberg, Mary’s appeal lawyer and traded stories. The one jury member who voted “not guilty” in her first trial attended. Members of the Mary Weaver support group viewed photos of their earlier activities on her behalf. The venue filled with over a hundred people who, twenty years after the baby’s death, still supported Mary. No one was going away soon. Mary, Steve and I all spoke about the amazing way God had worked in Mary’s murder case and the writing of her story.
As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of that momentous book launch. I count it an honor to be Mary’s friend and to be entrusted with her story. To celebrate this special time, I’m sharing her story in various ways with all of my readers. Some of these resources are free. Edges of Truth: The Mary Weaver Story and I Survived! – the companion Bible study – are available on Kindle Unlimited for the first time. Prices on Kindle and paperback editions are reduced until Christmas. Feel free to share these links with others. Think Christmas. This amazing story makes a great gift and is sure to inspire others to trust in God more completely.
“Prison Blues: A Thanksgiving Story,” a free chapter from Edges of Truth that will melt your heart and challenge you to be thankful. Can be read as a stand-alone story. http://debbrammer.com/?p=5123
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Access information from the MaryWeaverStory website.
Read book reviews, copy sharable quotes, find more of the inside story about this true story and its pathway to publication.
Get Edges of Truth: The Mary Weaver Story.
- Free on Kindle Unlimited
- $2.99 for Kindle (price reduced 40%)
- $11.95 for paperback (price reduced 15%)
Do KU, Kindle, and Print editions together and use this link.
Get I Survived! – the companion Bible Study.
- Free on Kindle Unlimited
- $ .99 for Kindle
- $6.95 for paperback