The power of a story

 

I love to read, and have since I learned to read. Growing up, I read and re-read the Hardy Boys books, Nancy Drew, and Trixie Belden...and of course Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Black Beauty, etc.

    Now as an adult, I mostly read Christian fiction. And man, there is such a wide variety of books and authors within that genre'. Suspense, cozy mysteries, Biblical fiction,  science fiction/speculative, military, legal thrillers, the ever popular Amish, romance, historical, dystopian, rom-com (romantic comedy, if you don't know what that is), and more that I haven't thought of, and some I am possibly unaware of. And no, I don't read every genre'. For instance, I don't care for the Amish books - not knocking them, just not my cup of tea - or speculative fiction.

  Some are basically fluff, and not a lot of substance. Others have Biblical truths woven throughout the story. Some may not have any Christian content at all, but are clean, curse-free, and have a Biblical worldview. Authors tackle subjects like abuse, drugs, sex trafficking, marriage problems, and more.

  I grew up in a very conservative church. It was not a prevailing thought or teaching, but there were those in my church and church background who spoke derisively of "the novel", and acted like it was just a step above reading a porn magazine. Slight exaggeration. And I am sure there are still a lot of Christians who consider it a waste of time to read novels of any kind, Christian or not.

  My reading tastes have evolved and changed over the years. When I was younger, there wasn't a lot of choices in Christian fiction, so I read a lot of secular fiction that was clean, including romances. Then I got turned off on romances for a while, especially when I hit a point in life where I realized marriage was an impossibility for me.

But then I swung back around and started enjoying romance in books, and am at the point that I actually enjoy books that are just romance. As long as it has a good plot. A man reading romance? Well, unless it is a lesbian relationship, any romantic relationship requires a man, so why not? 😊

I guess at this point, my favorite genre' is romantic suspense. And to be honest, If I read a suspense/mystery novel that has no romance, I miss it. After all, what better time to fall in love with someone than when you are trying to avoid being kidnapped or killed by a murderer? 😊

  I am fine with reading a clean, curse-free novel that may or may not be Christian that doesn't really have Christian content...but I do like it to have redemptive themes of some sort, if that makes sense. Good vs evil, with good winning. A new author I discovered a few months ago, Rebecca Deel is a great example. She has three series out that are suspense/special ops/law enforcement. There are 16 books in the one series, 15 in another, and 5 in the newest one. Most of the books have no Christian content at all, but are clean, curse word-free, and have the good vs evil. I do believe the author is a Christian, but for some reason doesn't focus on Christian content. And that is OK. I absolutely love her books.

Then there are authors who stand out with their Christian content. One of my favorite authors is Kimberley Woodhouse, who is one of three authors I have met in person. She always has a lot of Christian content, and some Biblical truths woven throughout the story. In fact, she often puts some things in her books that has come up in her Bible studies. In her most recent book, Secrets Beneath, she uses a 10 year old boy to drive home the truth that no matter what we do, no matter what we have done, God will always welcome us back and is willing to forgive us. Excerpt below:

"Since you are on such a noble quest," the ticket agent leaned over the counter, "I believe some grace is in order. I will gladly accept your money for the two tickets today, but your debt is forgiven."

Caleb turned to Joshua and craned his neck to look up at him. "Is that okay, Uncle Josh?" His whisper wasn't all that quiet. "I don't know what debt means."

Josh worked to keep a stoic face and tousled Caleb's hair. "Just like Jesus paid for our debt of sin on the cross, this man is saying your debt to the railroad is forgiven."

"Oh, thank you, sir." Caleb's breath left him in a dramatic sigh as he turned back to the ticket window. "I promise I'll never do it again."

Jesus used stories to bring out truths and teach lessons. We call them parables. And His stories are not the only ones that can encourage, convict, and prompt changes in people's lives.

  My Christian walk has not been a steady even one. Over the years, personal struggles, discouragement, and depression have caused me to stumble, fall, and wander from God. Yet I kept reading Christian fiction, no matter how far or long I wandered. And I cannot count the times I ran across something in a Christian novel that encouraged, convicted me, and helped me to take steps back to where I needed to be.

  And all spiritual aspects aside, I definitely cannot count the times a book cheered me up and made my day brighter. The Bible says laughter is  the best medicine, and even the books that have a lot of humor and fluff are worth reading if it lifts the reader up.

I'll end this post with a story. Karen Kingsbury wrote a book way back in 1999 titled Waiting For Morning. A friend of hers had stopped one night to help a stranded motorist. As he changed the tire on the car, a drunk driver struck him and killed him. As a result of that happening, and the wife eventually forgiving the driver, Karen wrote the book.

In the book, a woman loses her husband and one of her daughters when a drunk driver strikes their vehicle. She is eaten up with anger and bitterness, and focuses on making the guilty guy's life miserable, and seeing he gets the maximum punishment. Everything else falls to the side, including her other daughter. Spoiler: She eventually visits the driver in prison, forgives him, and asks his forgiveness.

I had loaned the book to the wife of my pastor we had at that time. Some time after reading the book, she was talking to a lady from my church I will call Mary. "Mary" told my pastor's wife about a lady at work. This lady's daughter had a little boy, I think between 2 and 3 years old. The daughter's boyfriend had put the little boy in the clothes dryer, and turned it on. Among other injuries, it seriously damaged his motor skills. The daughter and her boyfriend both went to jail, leaving the grandma to care for the little boy. This lady told "Mary" that she knew she needed to forgive them, but just couldn't, and hated them for what had happened. My pastor's wife told "Mary" she knew of a book that might help. The grandma did read the Karen Kingsbury book, and told "Mary" that it did indeed help her. I don't know how much, or what the end of all that was.....but a Christian novel definitely helped a lady struggling to forgive a young couple for a senseless horrible act that damaged a little boy forever.

The power of a story. From a Kimberley Woodhouse novel that is packed with Biblical truth, to the rom-com that leaves the reader laughing and happy, to the suspense novel that shows the triumph of good over evil, there is no end in sight as to the good they can do the reader. There have been times in my life when I didn't pick up a Bible to read, but was still reading Christian fiction, and God spoke to me through some of the books I read. And no...I am not saying we should read books instead of the Bible.😉

So, read a book. You never know where it will take you, or the good it might do.