Demetria Costanas is a married mother of two and a Christan college professor who has started a new program called Faith and Doubt with her colleague Zach Archer, where students can explore their doubts about God, thereby making their faith stronger. The powers that be are not happy with this liberal approach to the bible. The program is not the only thing she has shared with Zach...she has also been having an affair with him.
Healing Stones by Nancy Rue and Stephen Arterburn is a story about an adulterous woman and the ramifications of her decision. This is one of the better christian fictions I have read and I was surprised by the issues that they dealt with in the book.
As it opens, Demitria is going to Zach's houseboat to tell him the affair is over and she is going to try to make her marriage work. He tells her how wonderful she is and how much he loves her. She finds it is harder to get away from him than she thought and as she finds herself back in his arms...there's a flash of a camera.
Pictures make it back to her boss, the heads of the college and her husband and all hell breaks loose. The heads use this as an excuse to not only get rid of her and Zach, but also her boss, Ethan, who encourages her and backs the Faith and Doubt program. Her husband and oldest son hate her and kick her out...and her son turns her daughter against her. She finds herself jobless, homeless and alone.
Ethan asks Demitria to meet with his old friend Sullivan, a psychologist. We follow her through her journey into her past, and what brought her to a place she thought she would never go. We see as she makes new friends that help her through and what it takes to come out on the other side of a really hard time.
This book is ultimately about the legalism that chokes organized religion today and what God gave us when Jesus died on the cross...grace. I loved this book for that. I did find some parts worded awkwardly, and at times it didn't read smoothly, but that was minor. It grabbed my attention, I cared for the characters and it renewed my soul thinking of the grace that God gives even if I don't feel it from other "Christians".
I give this a 4 1/2 out of 5.
Healing Stones by Nancy Rue and Stephen Arterburn is a story about an adulterous woman and the ramifications of her decision. This is one of the better christian fictions I have read and I was surprised by the issues that they dealt with in the book.
As it opens, Demitria is going to Zach's houseboat to tell him the affair is over and she is going to try to make her marriage work. He tells her how wonderful she is and how much he loves her. She finds it is harder to get away from him than she thought and as she finds herself back in his arms...there's a flash of a camera.
Pictures make it back to her boss, the heads of the college and her husband and all hell breaks loose. The heads use this as an excuse to not only get rid of her and Zach, but also her boss, Ethan, who encourages her and backs the Faith and Doubt program. Her husband and oldest son hate her and kick her out...and her son turns her daughter against her. She finds herself jobless, homeless and alone.
Ethan asks Demitria to meet with his old friend Sullivan, a psychologist. We follow her through her journey into her past, and what brought her to a place she thought she would never go. We see as she makes new friends that help her through and what it takes to come out on the other side of a really hard time.
This book is ultimately about the legalism that chokes organized religion today and what God gave us when Jesus died on the cross...grace. I loved this book for that. I did find some parts worded awkwardly, and at times it didn't read smoothly, but that was minor. It grabbed my attention, I cared for the characters and it renewed my soul thinking of the grace that God gives even if I don't feel it from other "Christians".
I give this a 4 1/2 out of 5.
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