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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

What Do You Do When You Think Your Marriage Was a Mistake?

by Chautona Havig · 7 Comments

She sang in the choir, taught Sunday school, ran the church office, and directed every pageant and VBS the church had produced during her years as the pastor’s wife. Not once did I ever hear a harsh word come from her lips. Never did she look weary or wounded.

And even as a teenager, I knew she had to be.

I heard the whispers—the complaints that this year’s Easter cantata didn’t have the same punch without her solo. She had laryngitis.

How dare she.

When the publisher of the Sunday school materials went out of business, you’d have thought the fault lay solely on her shoulders. And when she forgot her husband’s birthday because she’d been run to the ground with all the expectations, the pitying comments began about how after forty years of marriage, one loses the spark.

At not even fourteen, I wondered if she ever regretted marrying a preacher.

And when my daughter said she wasn’t interested in a guy because she didn’t want to be a pastor’s wife, I understood and supported her. I defended her decision to people who hinted that she might not be yielding to the Lord’s will for her. I cheered inwardly when she gave the guy a chance, making sure he knew her position and cheered again when she said, “No. This isn’t for me.”

Why do people put pressure on folks to do the “spiritual-sounding” thing?

Why not put pressure on folks to obey the Lord in all things? And only that. Isn’t that what really matters?

What Do You Do When You Think Your Marriage Was a Mistake?

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

Breath of Heaven

I thought Breath of Heaven might be a good book. I mean, it’s by Alana Terry. It’s gonna be good. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe she’d slide into the stereotype—the cliché.

No, what Ms. Terry did was lasso my emotions, drag them along for the story’s ride, hog-tie them at the end, and shove them over a cliff.

This isn’t an easy book to read, and frankly, I suspect it was even harder to write. All the emotions. Every one of the temptations.

Half the time, I wanted to yell at Katrina… and she was a victim! She just kept letting herself be a victim. And that’s what made this book so powerful. That slow growth that infuses steel into spinal fluid and changes everything in a person’s life—it’s a thing, and Ms. Terry shows it with the skill of a powerful wordsmith.

Katrina spends much of the book a self-imposed martyr and yet, not once did I get sick of it. I saw, instead, just how easy it would be for her to become the person she had, and how beautiful it was when the Lord released her from that bondage.

But Katrina isn’t the only well-rounded character.

The whole cast worms their way into your heart. Some you want to slap… then hug. Then slap again. Others you want to get to know better—to understand. I suspect Miles has a story in him. I hope if it isn’t written already, it will be. Lucy, Nancy… all the rest. I want to know more.

And that’s what is so brilliant about this Breath of Heaven. I’m invested in these characters. I care about what happens to them, and I want to learn from them. Alana Terry took difficult subjects and laid them out before us without apology or pretense. She didn’t shy away from the raw emotions and the awful temptations we all hope we’ll never face.

Instead, she shoved them at us and shook them in our faces saying, “See! This? This right here? It’s there. It’s in your world whether you want to admit it or not. So, face it. Learn from it. Be the difference in your church. In your world. Be the difference because Jesus made you different. Do it now.”

Now, if you don’t mind, I need to go.

I need to process Breath of Heaven some more. I need to recover from this heart-rending, life-changing book. Because, you know, it is. It is because it’s a story-picture of what the Bible teaches about what Jesus does in our lives.

And what else could you ask for from great Christian fiction?

Oh, and What Do You Do When You Think Your Marriage Was a Mistake?

You realize that God makes no mistakes. He joined you.  And He can make whatever messes you made before and after marriage beautiful.  If you’ll both let Him.

Breath of Heaven by Alana TerryAbout the Book

Title: Breath of Heaven

Author: Alana Terry

Genre: Contemporary Christian Fiction

Release Date: December 9, 2017

She hasn’t fallen out of love with her husband. She just can’t stand his church.

Nobody told Katrina being a pastor’s wife would be easy. But she never imagined that the stress she and her husband would face from his new job could so easily destroy their marriage.

In spite of her mother’s disapproval, Katrina marries a pastor whose job immediately plucks her away from her music, her symphony, and the city life she loves and plants her in the small town of Orchard Grove, Washington.

If she knew going into her new life that she’d be sacrificing her music career for a congregation full of gossips and backbiters and that the pressure of her husband’s new job would turn him into someone she hardly recognizes anymore, she might have reconsidered marrying him in the first place.

Unfortunately, it’s too late to do anything about that now.

Or is it?

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Previous Post: « So Why Is Everyone in Love with Just Let Go?
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Comments

  1. Alana Terry (@AlanaTerryBooks) says

    July 17, 2018 at 7:38 am

    Thank you so much for your thought provoking review. I’m so glad you enjoyed Breath of Heaven. Thank you for having me as a guest on your blog.

    Have a wonderful day

    Reply
  2. jessie Young says

    July 1, 2018 at 1:05 pm

    This sounds so good! It’s now on my tbr list. Loved reading your review. Thanks for participating in the tour!

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      July 1, 2018 at 2:17 pm

      It really is one of my top 3 of the year so far.

      Reply
  3. Pam says

    July 1, 2018 at 9:13 am

    I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your book reviews. I haven’t read this book but you have intrigued me to downloading it on my kindle. It doesn’t sound a bed to read before bed though.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      July 1, 2018 at 2:18 pm

      Well, the problem is you’d have a hard time putting it down. It’s captivating.

      Reply
  4. NZ Filbruns says

    June 30, 2018 at 12:38 pm

    I agree 100% with you–this is a great book. I couldn’t put it down. And some of those characters–that woman who stuck her nose in everything! I loved the time she came in to the apartment on Sunday afternoon.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      June 30, 2018 at 1:33 pm

      RIGHT? That was the best. I was cracking up so hard. And I loved that she wasn’t “evil” as much as just been allowed to stick her nose in way too much.

      Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 263: A Chat about The Love Script w/ Toni Shiloh
byChautona Havig

I had another lovely conversation with Toni Shiloh last month. Her latest book, The Love Script released and boy does it promise to be another #BookTouchdown!  Listen in to what you’ll find in this Love in the Spotlight series and especially in The Love Script.

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

How Many Lies Does It Take to Expose the Truth That Love Brings?

Authors tell me over and over that they experience the same things I do when I’m writing. You start helping your characters work through their problems, and as you do, the Lord starts exposing your own.  He helps you understand where you need growth and helps pull weeds that try to choke out that growth.

The Love Script has a great twist of someone trying to use a lie to smooth over the gossipy ripples of false reporting (genius way to handle it, eh?) and oh the fall out.

Toni promises we’ll see some great wisdom from Lamont’s mother and some deep truths that Neveah discovers.

The Love Truth by Toni Shiloh

A Hollywood hair stylist.

Nevaeh Richards loves making those in the spotlight shine but prefers the anonymity of staying behind her stylist chair, where no one notices her. But when a photo of Nevaeh and Hollywood A-lister Lamont Booker goes viral for all the wrong reasons, her quiet life becomes the number-one trending topic.

The silver screen’s latest heartthrob.

Lamont Booker’s bold faith has gained him a platform, and the authenticity of his faith is well known . . . until the tabloids cause the world to question everything he claims to be. With his reputation on the line, he finds himself hearing out his agent’s push for a fake relationship–something he never thought he’d consider in a million years.

A love that goes off script.

With their careers at risk, Nevaeh and Lamont have to convince the world that their scripted romance is more than just an act. But when fake seems to turn into something real, can Nevaeh trust her heart in a world where nothing is ever as it seems?

You can find out more about Toni on her WEBSITE.  Follow her on GoodReads and BookBub.

And don’t forget that you can get 30% off the book with free shipping at BakerBookHouse.com. And you can get You Make It Feel Like Christmas, too!

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

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Episode 263: A Chat about The Love Script w/ Toni Shiloh
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I love this book so much. And it wouldn't be an "A I love this book so much. And it wouldn't be an "Anne" story without Gilbert and Diana... meet Gage. He's not quite Gilbert, but he's got everything a Gilbert should have--including the ability to completely annoy Anne when he doesn't mean to. She's speaking to him here... barely.
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