Review: A book to touch your soul, with its deep meaning of salvation.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 1, 2012
This is more than just a Christian romance. It is a story that speaks to your heart, filling it with hope and empowering you to find that meaning within your own life. It gives one a sense of direction, even to those who concider themselves content, and professes the weaknesses in all of us human beings. Not even a Christian and child of God is faultless, hence this story reaches out to those who are new to the faith or who harbor those feelings towards the religious believer that may be mistaken. You are constantly reminded of the power of God's love and how he is forgiving of all sins, hence one can always turn to him no matter what, for he will not judge but guide you. As a Christian myself I was drawn to June Foster's message of honesty, where God looks into your heart to see what lies within all of us, where the outer shell means nothing as your inmost soul is exposed. If you are truthful and honest with yourself and open in your heart, then the Holy Spirit can be seen shining, radiating from inside you as you pass through life.Tim is a youth pastor with ambition, faith and also flaws. His anger stems from an unhappy childhood with his father who chose to respond in anger to his son's plight, that being a young boy who chose to follow a path created by God. Tim uses his anger as a release of emotion, that emotion which stems back to his father and the physical anger that he directed towards his mother and himself. He has to confront his fears, learn to trust in God and wash away all that bitterness and resentment which has been eating away at him for years to then become whole. Rather than switching off to reality (and listening to music or running away), Tim seeks guidance with a close friend and begins to make amends by moving on from the past. With his father's tragic death and the uniting of his family once more, Tim is able to look towards the future more positively.Roxanne Ratner is new to the Christian faith and joins the Bellewood Fellowship as a hairstylist, where God gives her a sense of purpose in her life. Tim and Roxanne are connected by their conflicting and difficult relationships with their families, just as they are joined together by their faith, which they learn to understand even more with every passing day. Roxanne uses makeup and designer clothes as a mask to shield her vulnerability, and the pain from within her as her heart bleeds from a hole created by her father who left her as a child. It takes time for this gap to be filled, as she begins to learn about God's love by learning from her mistakes and being positive for the future. Tough times lie ahead as both main characters loose everything; their jobs, their families, their friends and homes and even each other which is a sign of how everyone can be tested in life.No one is perfect. We all have regrets in our lives and we all have made mistakes. Similarly to these two remarkable characters one can also learn from that and take notice of what direction we should be going in. As I lost myself within Tim and Roxy's story about love and the real meaning of true love (not lust), loss and trust I began to see the meaning behind everything that happened; from the truants played by the teenagers in the youth group to why each character acted as they did, for revenge or guilt or even due to a broken heart. Alongside the narrative voice the story switched from one main character to the other, so as to be able to see many angles and different points of view. Where one must learn to `love thy enemy' for beneath the surface there is always goodness in everyone's heart, hence we should think twice perhaps before judging. The foundations of a lasting relationship is built on friendship, where two individuals work out their problems together and share everything with each other whilst being totally honest, to themselves and God. This is a story that is thought-provoking, poignant and truth-drawing, as it opens your eyes to the meaning of life and the consequences behind our actions. Even if you do not concider yourself a Christian or religious believer I urge you to read this novel, as you will find its inner meaning personal, touching and individual to yourself as you connect to the book.An incredible read.I would like to take this opportunity of thanking the author for letting me have the opportunity to read her work.