BLUE SKIES TOMORROW BY SARAH SUNDIN

BLUE SKIES TOMORROW by SARAH SUNDIN is the third book in the Wings of Glory series.  This novel is Ray Novak's story.  He is the oldest brother.

He has had his heart broken three times, and two broken engagements.  Ray is gentle and kind, the pastor in the family, who hasn't been in combat, but who trains fighter pilots.  Many people judge him and see him as a coward. He more than proves to them and to himself that he is every bit as brave as his two brothers, who are war heroes.  In fact, he is forced to face his worst fear when he is shot down in combat behind enemy lines.

This is a novel that brings out the truth about people, and we see that things are not always as they seem.  Ray says there is a certain brokenness in everyone, and he is very sensitive to those in need.  He has a true pastor's heart, and is longing to get back to preaching the gospel full time.  He is the only one that Helen opens her heart to, telling him the truth about her marriage.

Helen Carlisle is a widow with a little boy called Jay-Jay, named  after his father Jim Carlisle.  Helen has been abused and manipulated most of her life, first of all by her ballet teacher and then by Jim, and later by his parents.  She was crippled by polio as a child and feels she has to make up to people and to God for her physical weakness and that she deserves the abuse she gets.  Ray has always been kind to her and she has had a crush on him since she was a little girl.  She sees him as her knight in shining armour.

Her marriage to Jim has left her with physical and emotional scars. However she  acts the part of grieving widow very well to save her son from knowing the truth about his father.  She feels she is always on stage, and the only time she is true to herself is when she is working for the war effort in heading up charity organizations.  She is "Martha" while her sister Betty is "Mary", and she is always busy doing some kind of work.  People think it is to cover up her grief after losing Jim.  Even when she is with Ray she is afraid of what people will think, and is afraid of Mr and Mrs Carlisle's anger, as they don't like the Novak family.  She is beholden to them as they own her house, and also Jim's life insurance was left to them to dole out money to her as they see fit.  They interfere with Jay-Jay's upbringing and won't let her discipline him. The plight of the single mother during the second world war is brought out clearly.  They want her to marry Vic Llewellyn, but she doesn't love him. 

Vic Llewellyn is also not as he seems.  He is in love with Helen and keeps asking her to marry him.  He is a lawyer who is meant to be standing up for the coloured ex-servicemen who are badly treated after returning home.  When Helen works as his secretary she comes across the truth about the man she has promised to marry.  In Esther Carver, the wife of an ex-serviceman who is wrongfully accused of mutiny, we see forgiveness and the refusal to poison her life by harbouring bitterness towards anyone.  In Vic's mother we see the dangers of gossip.  Mrs Llewellyn is very nosey and spreads rumours about Helen and Ray to the Carlisles.

We catch up with Walt and Allie and Jack and Ruth in this book.  The Novak family are supportive of Helen, and Pastor Novak helps her to stand up to the Carlisles when he realizes the truth of what they are doing to her.

We see that it is important that we don't judge people by what we think they are like, and that we don't stamp them as a hero or a coward, as good or bad.  Even Ray's family nearly lets him down because they can't believe that the man who has endured so much behind enemy lines could possibly be their gentle, quiet, brother, who has always been so afraid of combat.  God can make heroes of anyone who puts their trust in Him, and also He exposes the real truth about people who are acting a part.

It is a sensitively written book, and is full of scriptural principles.  Ray compares himself to Gideon, who was in the wine press when the Lord called him to battle.  Ray would never have come to his full potential if he had been allowed to carry on as an instructor of fighter pilots.  Instead it was in the "wine press" of army requisitions  that he made the decision to step out in faith and use his expertise as a pilot to help win the war.