by Neta Jackson
6. As things get more complicated with Philip—he’s in debt, he’s in trouble, he’s in danger—Gabby struggles with what it would mean to forgive him (see chapters 4, 16, 17, 18). If you had had a chance to counsel Gabby, what cautions would you give her? Advice? Encouragement? Scriptures? What experience with forgiveness could you share with her from your own life and relationships?
7. Even though Gabby found physical shelter at Manna House when she was homeless and now has a home of her own, emotionally she “still needed a shelter, a safe place for my broken heart to be mended”—a longing for “a man’s arms around me . . . making me feel he would protect me from any storm . . .” (see chapter 18). Many of us can identify with that natural longing, that human need. And yet, why do you think the Voice [the Holy Spirit] in her spirit said, “Wait, Gabby. Let Me be your everything”?
8. Gabby and Edesa use Jodi Baxter’s idea of the meaning of names to bless the shelter women on their Fall Getaway. Do you know the meaning of your name? Check out these scriptures to learn just how important our names are to God: Isaiah 43:1; Isaiah 49:1; and Isaiah 49:14–16—especially if you put both the NIV and NLT translations of verse 16 together.
9. Throughout the House of Hope series, Gabby has been learning that God is the One we can go to when we have no place to go. God is the One we can talk to when no one else seems to be listening. God is the One we can lean on when even well-meaning people fail us. God is the unmovable ROCK of our salvation, the shelter we need when the storms of life rage around us. And yet . . . God uses people, too, to be His hands, His feet, His ears, His presence. In chapter 20, when the Baxter family surrounded Philip and the boys with their presence and protection so Gabby could take the shelter ladies on their Fall Getaway, Gabby thought,“God’s peace in skin is what it felt like.” Has someone been “God’s peace in skin” for you lately? Is there someone for whom you could be “God’s peace in skin” this week?
10. Feeling caught between the two men in her life, and not even sure what she really wants or needs or feels (see chapter 31), Gabby turns often to the verses in Proverbs 3:5–6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (NIV). How do these verses help Gabby navigate her relationship with Lee Boyer? With Philip? Do you think the outcome would have been different if she’d followed her “natural” inclinations? Why or why not? For better or worse?
11. What does it mean to you to “trust God with all your heart” instead of trusting (leaning on) your own understanding of things? What does it mean to “submit to Him” in all your ways? Are you facing a situation in your own life where you need to apply this scripture and claim its promise?
12. Why do you think Gabby had a hard time responding to Philip’s letter, even though he admitted he had hurt her deeply, that he was wrong, and wanted her to know he was “desperately sorry” (chapter 32)? What made a difference at their family dinner before Philip left for Virginia that allowed Gabby to finally respond, to finally forgive (chapter 36)? Do you think it was a good thing for Gabby to ask Philip to forgive her as well for her failings in the marriage? Or did that stick in your craw, like comparing a chilly breeze to a raging hurricane? Explain your reaction to that conversation.
13. Why do you think Lucy disappeared again on Thanksgiving Day—just when it looked as if she would have a chance to be reconciled with her family and finally get off the street? If you were going to write Lucy’s life story, what in her past do you think triggers her disappearing acts? (Have fun with this! No wrong answers. In fact, maybe there’s a book idea here!)
14. In the last chapter, Philip asked Gabby if he could “court” her as a way of starting over. Does that seem like a promising concept to you after the ugly breakdown in their marriage? Why or why not? What pitfalls might be ahead? What would be the benefits?
Has God been nudging you, your prayer group, or your church to ask, “How can we make a difference for homeless men and women in our community?” If so, a great resource is a new book, The Invisible: What the Church Can Do to Find and Serve the Least of These, by Arloa Sutter, director of Breakthrough Ministries. (Breakthrough’s shelters for homeless men and women in Chicago were the inspiration for the Yada Yada House of Hope series.) Check it out on our website: www.daveneta.com.
Author to Author Interview
The Thomas Nelson Fiction team invited our authors to interview any other Thomas Nelson Fiction author in an unplugged Q&A session. They could ask any questions about any topic they wanted to know more about. What we love most about these conversations is that they reveal just as much about the ones asking the questions as they do the authors who are responding. So sit back and enjoy the discussion. Maybe you’ll even be intrigued enough to pick up one of Kim’s novels and discover a new favorite writer in the process.
NETA JACKSON: Kim, I’m so excited to meet a new, promising author on the Thomas Nelson fiction team! And it was so fun to meet you in person at the ICRS convention in St. Louis. Tell my readers a little bit about yourself. (You could pass for a college kid. Are you really only 19???)
KIM CASH TATE: Oh, you flatter me, Neta! You know I turned 22 this year! Okay, my teenager’s giving me the eye, so I’d better ’fess up. I’ve been married to my husband, Bill, for 18 years, and we have a teenage son and soon-to-be teenage daughter—in other words, we’re in the no-drama super fun season! *grin* I’m originally from Maryland, but we’ve lived in St. Louis for almost a decade. Oh, and I had a little stint as a practicing attorney—well, 8 years—but somewhere in there I gave my life to Christ and He kind of let me know that practicing law was my plan, not His. Who knew He had a plan for my life? That still blows me away.
NJ: Okay, okay, so you’re a full-fledged, card-carrying, happily married adult—with kids! In your recent novel, Faithful, you tackle a touchy subject: infidelity. You really peel away the layers of lies and self-deception that usually mask the true nature of unfaithfulness. What prompted you to write this novel?
KCT: I had friends who’d been married for decades, strong Christians I looked up to as role models in marriage, and their marriage ended because of an affair. I was so rocked by it. I remember asking God, “If their marriage could end like that, whose is safe? What hope do we have?”
Over time, that situation and others began to bubble into a story. I wanted to explore real life trials and real life responses to those trials—the questioning, the doubt, the fear, the weariness—as we try to hang on and trust God. The back of the book asks, “Will they trust God’s faithfulness . . . and find the strength to be faithful to Him?” That’s really what it’s about—that two-sided dynamic. God is always faithful, but will we trust that, and will we be faithful to Him? In a very real sense, whether we’re married or single, He’s the One to whom we pledge to be true.
NJ: Let’s get real. Someone reading Faithful might feel your characters could maybe-kinda-sorta be excused for “fudging” a bit on the faithfulness scorecard. I mean . . . A wife finding her husband with another woman in her bed? A believing wife “unequally yoked” to an unbelieving husband—and then she meets a wonderful Christian man who shares her faith? (Is this the man she should have married?) And their friend who’s forty and still single? (That clock is ticking!) What would you say to someone who thinks you haven’t allowed any “wiggle room” for certain “understandable” circumstances?
KCT: Ahh, yes, the perfect storm for each of them! It would’ve been too easy otherwise. (smile) These are Christian women who would tell you in a heartbeat that they love God and want to honor Him in every area of life. But when those storms blow in, they’re challenged to step back and assess whether they’ll really trust Him. A wife finding her husband in bed with another woman is the deepest of betrayals. Without divulging the outcome, I wanted to show that even through the unthinkable, God is with us. He’s our strength, our peace, and our guide. Of all the characters, she’s the one who could resp
ond in a number of ways, and we wouldn’t blame her. But staying faithful to God in the storm is our saving grace.
Phyllis is the believing wife with the unbelieving husband. She actually became a believer during the marriage, and rather than join her, her husband has grown more and more hostile toward her new faith. In her wildest dreams, she’d never think she could be unfaithful. But she finds herself drawn to another man because he’s a strong Christian, the very thing she wants her husband to be. Understandable wiggle room? She’d like to think so!
And Cyd, the friend who’s single and turning forty—and forced to ring in her fortieth as maid of honor at her younger sister’s wedding. I love Cyd. She knows exactly the kind of Christian man she’s waiting for, and she will not compromise her principles . . . until she meets the playboy best man who just happens to sweep her off her feet. Oh yes, that clock is ticking . . . but she knows she’s about to borrow a whole lot of trouble if she doesn’t “wiggle” out of this one fast!
NJ: Faithful is your first novel with Thomas Nelson—but not your first novel. Tell us about your previous books—one of which is a very personal memoir, I understand.
KCT: The memoir was my first book, published in 1999. Had no plans to write a book. I was on maternity leave with my firstborn and felt God tugging on my heart to leave the firm. Got my own new plan and started researching home-based businesses. But one day at church, I heard clearly in my heart that He wanted me to write about my spiritual journey. Even had the title—More Christian than African-American—before I left the service. Seems a little crazy that God would move me to write about my spiritual journey so early in my spiritual walk. But a huge part of my identity—okay, basically all of my identity—was in who I was as a black person. I like to say I lived, moved, and had my being in blackness. But God let me know I had been bought with a price—I needed to live, move, and have my being in Him. That was a jarring adjustment! The book tells the before and after of my spiritual journey, touching on many other ways in which Jesus turned my life upside down.
Fiction hadn’t been on my radar screen either. After the memoir, I thought I’d write more nonfiction—then, with two toddlers, I thought I’d never write again! But years later, a story began forming in my mind, which became my first novel, Heavenly Places. It’s about a woman whose mother had always treated her in an inferior manner. She has little self-worth, and her attempt to find it in a career was successful—until that career was gone. The reader goes on a journey with her as her sister coaxes her into a small group Bible study, where they decide to study Ephesians. Slowly, and with lots of bumps along the way, she begins to learn who she is in Christ. Her views of herself, her husband and children—and even her mother—are transformed. The greatest blessing has been hearing from women who’ve read the novel alongside the book of Ephesians, some reading Ephesians for the first time. Hearing that they’ve been inspired to see themselves and their circumstances through God’s eyes—and even to start their own Bible studies!—has been pretty amazing too.
NJ: Did you have a passion to write as a young girl? Who (or what) influenced you the most to become a novelist?
KCT: I was one of those girls who always had a notebook and pens at the ready, writing little poems, journaling, even taking a stab at song lyrics. But as I said, writing novels never entered my imagination. Total and complete God-thing. When He began piecing Heavenly Places together in my mind, I cocked my head, and said, “Huh. Really? You want me to write fiction? How in the world do I write fiction?” Didn’t know a single fiction author, had never read a writing blog or been to a writing conference— nothing. He led me through the entire process, from books I should read (both novels and books about the craft), to the actual writing. And you’d better believe I was hanging on to Him every step of the way!
NJ: What are some of your other passions and interests? Any secret wishes—something you’d love to do that you haven’t done yet? (You’ve got time, girl!)
KCT: I’ve still got some time? Cool! Let me grab another sip of coffee. When I think “passions and interests,” the Bible comes to mind immediately. I knew next to nothing about the Bible when I became a believer at 27. But once I started digging in, I was totally captivated . . . and my world completely changed—attitudes, beliefs, opinions, actions, everything. Now, I have a passion to help others understand and be changed by the truths of the Bible. I love that I can do that through fiction, and I’ve also done weekly devotions and small group Bible studies. Given the way God likes to surprise me, I’m looking forward to seeing what else He might do with this passion.
But wait . . . can’t leave “passions and interests” without mentioning Hawaii! That’s right, it’s my dream to move there one day, to bask by the ocean, in the shadow of majestic mountains, daily soaking in warm sun. That’s my ultimate secret wish!
NJ: And now . . . you’ve recently joined Women of Faith as one of their speakers! Wow! That’s fantastic! Tell us how that came about and what God is teaching you through that experience.
KCT: Oh, God has taught me tons, from the moment I became aware that I was being considered for Women of Faith. The Thomas Nelson Fiction team threw my name into the mix, and I thought it was nice but it wouldn’t go anywhere. Me? Speaking in front of thousands of women in an arena? The most I’d done was speak to a couple hundred in a church setting. But God had already been nudging me about “upping” my faith, so He kept whispering to my heart, Believe. I was flown to a conference and had an opportunity to meet the Women of Faith leadership, as well as speakers and others on the team. It was fabulous—yet, I still struggled to believe it could actually happen. Soon after, though, I was offered an opportunity to speak at four events in 2010. In 2011, I’ll be speaking at all fourteen events on the Women of Faith Imagine tour. When I think of the way it unfolded, I’m still in awe of God. He’s teaching me, yes, to believe that He is able to accomplish His plans and purposes— regardless of our own limited abilities or experiences. But He’s teaching me so much more. Doesn’t matter how many are in the audience. I have an audience of One, and I need to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus.
NJ: As you know, there haven’t been that many African American novelists published in the Christian market, so I’m delighted the evangelical world is discovering this rich resource. Since each part of the Body of Christ is important and has something crucial to contribute to the kingdom of God, what would you say African American Christians have to bring to “Christian fiction” that’s unique?
KCT: Whew . . . do I still have time? Can I pour a fresh cup of java? It’s interesting . . . African Americans, like everyone else, come from so many different walks of life. What anyone brings to fiction will depend on background, denomination, and his or her personal walk with God, among other influences. For example, many African American Christians grew up in the church, whereas I didn’t belong to a church until my late twenties.
But absolutely, I do believe we bring a unique voice to the genre. We’re able to infuse our culture, aspects of our unique history in America, and perspectives that others in the Body of Christ may have never considered or experienced. For example, in Heavenly Places, the main character has a darker skin complexion, and her mother has always openly favored her sister, who has lighter skin. Many outside of the African American community have told me they had no idea that that sort of favoritism or dynamic existed.
I also think the “something crucial” we bring is simply awareness that we exist as part of this Body. As you stated, there haven’t been many African American novelists published in the Christian market. If someone picks up a “Christian fiction” book, the chances are great that it won’t even contain African American characters (which is why I admire your books so much!). In essence, just as we have our separate places of worship, we have our separate segments of the publishing market. But Jesus prayed that we would be one, as He and the Father are one. I think our voice in “Christian fiction” helps to bridge the greater gap that exists. It’s my pra
yer that many Christian authors, regardless of color, will begin to diversify their characters, to show through story how we ought to live in life, as living, breathing parts of the Body fitted together.
NJ: Who are some of your favorite authors? Any recent discoveries you’d like to recommend?
KCT: Because I’ve homeschooled a number of years and have read lots of books with my kids, my list of favs might seem a tad unusual. But I just love Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey. Such great fun reading those with my son! Another fav is J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Hmm . . . I see I have a love affair going with the epic story. But I do have present-day favorites as well! Can’t claim you as a “discovery”—not in front of your readers anyway—but I can’t let the interview end without saying how much I love you! I’ve told you before and have to say openly that you are my hero. I love your heart for the Body of Christ and love that you write stories that reflect the diversity of the Body. And you’re just a plain good storyteller as well (smile). It’s very obvious that your walk with God spills out on paper. Thank you for being you!
NJ: Kim, I know readers who are captivated by Faithful will be looking forward to your next novel. Any hints what that will be, and when it will be coming out?
KCT: I’d love to give some hints! My next novel is Cherished, and it releases in fall of 2011. It features many of the same characters in Faithful, but will focus on two new main characters, one of whom is “the other woman” who was involved in the affair in Faithful. The heart of this book is the lavishness of God’s grace and mercy to cover the shame and guilt of the past. I’m praying that many women will find healing and strength through the story.
NJ: Thanks so much, Kim! You certainly have your plate full with raising children, writing novels, and speaking for Women of Faith. Whew! We don’t want you to burn out—but we are looking forward to the ways God intends to use you to bless the rest of us in the Body of Christ. Shalom, dear sister!