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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

3 Unexpected Lessons You’ll Love in Will Not See

by Chautona Havig · 2 Comments

The story held me captive as I wrote it. No, really. It happened with None So Blind, and it happened again with Will Not See.
But while I found myself relating to Ella in None So Blind, I couldn’t comprehend the kinds of discoveries the main character of Will Not See made about her life. Add to that a life so very different from mine, and of course, I’d be drawn to try to understand what Vikki went through.

3 Unexpected Lessons You'll Love in Will Not See

And as I did, three things stood out to me—3 unexpected lessons I loved learning as I wrote Will Not See.

1. We were designed for community.

I’ve never “met” anyone more alone than Vikki. Even Annie from HearthLand chose her lonely life. Vikki didn’t. She has no family to help her navigate these unfamiliar and uncomfortable waters.

And I just don’t think we were designed for that. We were designed for family—for community. Even David said that the Lord sets the solitary in families. God gives us community when we otherwise would have none. And that’s rather lovely.

Can you imagine it? No family, no friends, no church to help hold her up. There’s really nothing to make her want to keep going. But the Lord did that for her in my book. He set solitary Vikki in a family before she even knew Him.

Because you see, she doesn’t even have Jesus.

And that brought out a whole ‘nother thought that nearly shook me to the core. I couldn’t have planned this if I’d tried, but Ella forgot her husband, her parents, her children. Every relationship in her life—gone. Except for Jesus. Whoa. And that brings me to the second lesson I loved learning from it.

2. With Jesus, you get a fresh start.

He says we’re new creatures—old passed AWAY. But there’s a bit more… Hebrews 8 says:

For finding fault with them, He says,
“BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD,
WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT
WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH;

NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS
ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND
TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT;
FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT,
AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD.

“FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL
AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD:
I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS,
AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS.
AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD,
AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

“AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN,
AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’
FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME,
FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.

“FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES,
AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE.”

When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

My favorite lines…

“I will remember their sins no more.” But isn’t that the one beauty in all of this horrible memory destruction? Though the Lord forgives—washes clean. We’re really good about getting historical with our sins. We pull them out of the grave the Lord buries them in and dust them off. We let them jab us, stab us, wound us deeply all over again as if Jesus’ sacrifice wasn’t quite enough. We need to suffer just a bit more.

Ahem.

But these ladies don’t have that problem. THEY remember their own sins no more. How beautiful is that? Sure, they’ll blow it again. They’ll sin. But they have a week’s—a month’s—a year’s baggage to rebury each time instead of a lifetime’s.

3. Ignorance is not bliss—not always

As I wrote Ella’s story in None So Blind, I recall feeling a bit envious about not remembering my own faults—the idea that I could start over. You know, a new life Anne Shirley style—fresh with no mistakes in it.

But Ella didn’t have a seriously difficult life. She’d been a rather self-absorbed person, a flawed person. Aren’t we all?

Still, when I started writing Vikki’s story, I saw differences that made me so grateful I didn’t have her experience. Because you see, Vikki’s ignorance could have life-altering consequences. Add to that the terror that comes with knowing that you don’t know what you need to know (how convoluted is THAT?) and not having Jesus, I feel like I’d have given up on life.

Memories can hurt.

There’s no doubt about it. The mistakes, losses, failures, missed opportunities… the past can wound. And when I’ve seen people going through horrible pain due to the ugliness in their pasts, it makes sense that they could long for something to wipe it out.

But as I wrote Will Not See, I saw the other side of the loss coin. As I wrote None So Blind, I grew thankful that I hadn’t lost my memories because I wouldn’t want not to know my children—my husband. I wouldn’t want to forget friends and families.

Even if I’d had a difficult childhood, I wouldn’t want to forget ALL those memories. But that fresh start—yes. I envied it. If I could choose, I wouldn’t ask the Lord for a similar experience, no matter how much that fresh start tempted me. And it would.

Writing Will Not See did something entirely different, however. It showed me the danger that comes when you can’t remember what you shouldn’t even know. When you have no one who knows anything about you. When you wouldn’t even know how to find them if you tried.

They were unexpected lessons, and one of them was rather a hard one, but I loved them. They taught me so much.

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Comments

  1. Lucinda says

    August 30, 2017 at 6:17 am

    Love this…have to admit, I couldn’t fathom “Will Not See” being as good as “None So Blind” and am really happy to be WRONG! I want to re-read both back to back, taking special notice of the lessons you’ve mentioned. Raising my hand at being guilty of digging up sins Jesus has buried and forgotten…

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      August 30, 2017 at 6:13 pm

      Alas, me, tooo!

      Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
byChautona Havig

Hey, we’re back after a couple of weeks of vacation, and boy did I need it. And, have I got a fabulous interview for you. Nancy Naigle and I talked about her books, her most recent release, What Remains True as well as her Christmas books and the one I’m most anxious to read, The Shell Collector. Listen in and learn about what Nancy says about this bet she has going on in What Remains True. Great stuff!

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Need a Great Romantic Read to Wind Up Your Summer Reads?

As I said in the podcast, a while back, someone told me I’d LOVE The Shell Collector–one of those people who recommends books you HAVE to read if they say you do.  So I bought it and it’s been sitting on my shelf ever since. Well, now it’s on my GoodReads shelf, and I’m about to start it (and I optimistically thought I’d be done with it by the time this episode released. Oh, me of too much faith in myself and my time management!)

Author of over thirty books, not to mention a bestselling author who also has movies made of her novels (And The Shell Collector has been optioned! EEEP!), Nancy loves to write Christmas books and small-town stories. Seriously, as we talked, I felt like she was talking about me half the time. We’re so very alike in so many ways. It was fun.

Nancy also pointed out that her first books (if you go WAY back) are not Christian fiction and are a bit spicier than she prefers to write and definitely more than she writes today. So be warned there, but she did assure us that they are all closed-door books.

What Remains True by Nancy Naigle

One woman wants to win a bet. One man wants to become a rodeo champion. One little girl may give them both something even better—from USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle.

“A commitment-phobic rodeo star and a divorcée with secrets find love in this wholesome romance. . . . As uplifting as it is sweet.”—Publishers Weekly

Working at a little shop on Main Street in a small town is exactly the break that executive Merry Anna Foster needs following her divorce. She’s made a bet with her ex-husband that she can live on the amount of money she’s giving him in alimony. If she can do it, then Kevin will have to stop complaining and leave her alone. But after three months of this new life, will she even want to leave Antler Creek?

Adam Locklear, bull rider and owner of the local feedstore, is having the best year of his rodeo career. He’s also a bit distracted by the pretty new neighbor living in his old bunkhouse. But Adam has no time for matters of the heart. He’s got his future all mapped out, and that future doesn’t involve a woman just yet. It doesn’t involve parenting a little girl either. However, Carly Fowler still suddenly leaves five-year-old Zan—the daughter Adam didn’t know he had—in his care.

Is it possible that the future holds a life even better than what Merry Anna and Adam had each dreamed of? One that includes both tenderness and even love—not just for each other but for Zan too?

You can learn more about Nancy’s books and movies on her WEBSITE.

Oh, and PSST… I’m loving the audiobook of this one!

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Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
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August 9, 2022
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