Cherished

Sometimes the hardest person to forgive is ourselves. Kelli and Heather are shackled with guilt for past mistakes. Kelli’s past keeps her from fulfilling her dream of writing and singing songs for God’s glory. Heather’s sins are on display for the church to see and to judge her. Both feel as though they are undeserving of a future because of their past mistakes. Will they allow God’s mercy and grace to capture them and to guide them to the plan He has for their lives?

There were several things I enjoyed in this book.

*The different ethnicity of characters. Just at my church, we have white, black, and Hispanic members. It’s a good mix, and I love that.  The body of Christ is all races, and Christian fiction books should reflect our diversity of race but unity in the brotherhood of Christ. The author pointed out race a little too much for my liking at the beginning as she introduced characters. (One character looks at another and just wonders about his race…didn’t seem to fit the moment. A brief description of the character would have given the same information.)

*The development of characters. I felt I knew them by the end of the book.

*The theme of being cherished by God. I needed to hear that today as I read the book.

*The openness of topics the church usually tries to ignore. In the Christian church world, we often try to hide sin. We don’t want to think that people in the church struggle with addiction, sex outside of marriage, pornography, abortion, and the other sins Christians have deemed “the bad sins.” This book shares two women’s struggle with sin that others judge as far worse than their sins. It’s an open look at the weight of guilt when it’s carried around and the forgiveness that comes through not only accepting Jesus’ forgiveness but also forgiving ourselves. It’s an important story that needs to be read. I felt convicted for holding someone’s sin against them, but I also felt convicted to forgive myself for sins in my past that I still beat myself up over. When a fiction books makes you think spiritually while still enjoying a story, it’s a good book.

This is the first book I’ve read by Tate, but I plan to check out her other books.

I received this book from Booksneeze for the purpose of reviewing. My thoughts and opinions are my own.