Trip to Everywhere Left Me Conflicted: A Review of Road Trip to Redemption

Road Trip to Redemption left me in a quandary. It was as if I were at a fork in the road with no certain way to go with this review. In some ways the book was good and in others not so much. Even as I write this, I wish not to go overboard in one direction or the other. Conflicted would be a good word for my reaction.

Let me start with the good. Brad Mathias tells a story that represents every Christian parent/spouse's fear. His family is in serious jeopardy and he shares enough of the blame to truly humble a guy. Brad recognizes the error of his ways, he is sensitive to the Spirit's leading and he makes some huge strides in the right direction. What grips the reader is the question that must have overwhelmed him: is it too little too late?

On the negative side, I think that what I shared above that made the book relevant was hurt by an expensive trip that is way beyond the budget of time and money of most Americans, especially in these economic times. To be honest, I'm not sure if it is bias from that or something altogether separate but I grated at the audacity of a trip of that magnitude, covered in such a blitzkrieg of travel time which brought them face-to-face with danger more than once. If Brad or a member of his family were given a limited time to live and the spurt of energy or timing was there before cancer took hold, I could understand, sympathize and even cheer on such an excursion. I even found myself on this point and quite a few others of shaking my head in disbelief at what he declared to be God's leading that coincidentally mirrored what Brad would do and would want to do.

I wondered what the purpose was to see so much in so little time. A week or two spent at Yellowstone or a similar time-frame spent in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado or perhaps in Canada alone made more sense to me. The spiritual aha moments for his children and the connection as a family could have occurred in the same time spent on a vacation to one specific spot of beauty rather than several. A journey that took perhaps a day or two longer to fewer places could have been adjusted to react to weather conditions rather than to drive seemingly recklessly through them because the self-imposed schedule dictated it.

I would give this book a "fair" rating of two out of five. It wasn't poorly done but it wasn't one that I would eagerly endorse. I hope that I gave you enough information in this review that if you would see things in another way, that my review was still helpful to you.

Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.