Now, I stared out
that window feeling melancholy. It was unfair that all of the joy and peace I
felt last night could disappear so quickly. Something tickled at the edge of my
mind. I stood up and paced my room, trying to remember what brought on such an
intense reaction this morning. Something was different. Then I gasped as I
remembered. It was different. For the first time ever, my nightmare had
deviated from the usual path.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Target Audience: Girls 13-19
Subjects: Spiritual Gifts, Charismatic
Churches, Friendships, Dating Relationships
Summary: The tears she cried when she
heard of her mom and step dad’s divorce weren’t tears of sorrow, but of relief.
She had never really fit into the world of the rich anyway. Maybe now she could
go back to just being herself – whoever that was. Unfortunately, the move to a
small town, the new friends, new boyfriend and other improvements in her life
don’t bring the peace she longs for. When she attends a youth group service
with a new friend, she realizes that the peace she has been seeking can only be
found in rededicating her life to Christ. Even after that though, there’s still
a nagging hunger for something more, to be more, to be used of God for more, to
make more of a difference somehow. A couple of contacts with old and new
friends lead her towards a charismatic church service where her simpler, more
calm life is gone forever.
Notes: This is sort of a coming-of-age
story as we see the character grow and develop a lot throughout the story.
She’s struggling hard with her identity, wanting to know who she is and who she
is supposed to be. She knows that snobbish rich girl isn’t her, but if that’s
not her, then who is? It’s also a look at different denominations of churches.
She starts by attending what many would view as a “normal” church with a large
active youth group. Then she gets introduced to a church that would likely be
labeled as “charismatic”, one that believes in gifts such as healing, speaking
in tongues, and other gifts of the Spirit that many churches don’t practice
today. Her pastor explains that he and his church believe those gifts were only
for the establishment of the early church and due to lack of necessity, aren’t
around today. Some friends reject her because of her display of the gift of
knowledge – knowing things about someone that only God could have known. The
pastor of her church strongly encourages her to not look down on others for
their differences, but rather, to appreciate the similarities. He encourages
her to visit the other church instead of condemning them and even partners with
her at the end of the book. So those are the two focuses of the book – finding
identity and whether or not to judge someone who practices their faith
differently than you.
Spiritual Content
Recommendation Scale: 5/5
Reviewer: J:-)mi
Romans 12:6 – We
have different gifts, according
to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in
proportion to his faith.
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