Redeeming Love

I have a confession.

It's no secret that I'm a bit of a reader but I avoided fiction like the plague.

Something about "reading for fun" has always seemed like a waste of time to me. Once I was out of high school (and my short stint in college) I stopped reading fiction. It just seemed ridiculous to read something that would make almost no impact on my life when I could be reading theology, biographies and Christian living.

Redeeming Love ('RL' for short) by Francine Rivers has proven me wrong.

I started to read RL two or three times now but the prologue was far too difficult to make it though. The last thing on earth I ever wanted to read about was the horrors that this young girl had to endure. Finally, after my fourth-ish attempt I was able to finish the prologue. Then I stopped reading the book all together.

Fast forward 2 years.

My sweet friend Jennifer started a book club for our church called Redeemed Readers. Our first book was called Splitting Harriet by Tamara Leigh. This book would serve as my introduction to CHRISTIAN fiction. I had never read fiction as an actual believer - let alone Christian fiction.

I was so surprised by 1.) how fast I read and 2.) how much I related to the characters that I jumped right into reading a second book (Faking Grace) by Tamara Leigh. Once I finished Faking Grace, Jen announced Redeeming Love as our next book club read.

I can't even begin to tell you how amazing this book is. Take it from this nonfiction-to-fiction convert - it will dig it's hooks into you, make you laugh, make you cry and make you stay up until ungodly hours because you just can't put it down.

Since I don't want to get into the story line too much I can let you know that it's set in the gold rush era and has very strong ties to the book of Hosea. You will fall in love with it's characters - Francine has an amazing way of making them so real. Sometimes I find myself wishing there were more to read or even - don't laugh - wondering how they're doing.

My favorite thing about this book is how it's changed me. It made me realize things and open my eyes to things I had been blind to. It helped me realize that I don't honor my husband the way I should. It tested my faith. Most of all though, it made me fall more and more in love with my God's redeeming love despite how many times I run away from Him.