Redeeming Love: A Review

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
My boss actually lent me this book recently, and I devoured it! I don't typically go for historical fiction, and by that, I mean I never read historical fiction. Until this book. 
This is a retelling of the story of Gomer and Hosea, one which portrays God's unconditional, redemptive, and all-consuming love. Set in California's gold country in 1850, this book has resonated with me. I knew nothing of the book besides these things, and then I dove into it. 
-----------------------*SPOILER ALERT*-----------------------  If you do not want to know the in's and out's of this book, please skip down to the next section of the review!
Sarah's father despised her - as in, he wished she were never born, seeing as he impregnated his mistress and then wanted nothing to do with the child. He also broke Sarah's mother's heart, for all she wanted was his love. He was everything to her, and to him, she was a good time at most. Sarah longed for her father to want her, but loved her, he did not. He couldn't, wouldn't - he never did. I couldn't even begin to imagine such an existence from the beginning. All this young child wanted was to play with her daddy and sit on his lap, listening to him tell her a story. 
After her mother's passing, Sarah was sold into prostitution, at the young age of eight years old. She had witnessed murder and did things no one should ever have to do, no matter their age.  There, she was branded Angel, of which she would remain. She ran away to California and was taken under the wing of a woman who went by 'Duchess'. Angel was the best in the prostitution business, and men paid a pretty penny to see her. Everyone knew who she was. Heads turned when she walked down the street. 
A local farmer named Michael then entered the picture. He tried multiple times to get Angel to leave with him and marry him, but she would not hear of it. That is, until her bodyguard beat her within an inch of her life, and Michael saved her. She agreed to marry him while in and out of consciousness, and before she knew it, she was a farmer's wife. 
Angel did her part to earn her keep at their single-room cabin, but she laughed at Michael when he expressed his love for her. How could a man that knew nothing of her past love her so much? But God told Michael that she was the one for him, and he persisted. With Michael's best interest in mind, Angel ran away several times, but Michael continually went after her and brought her home each time. She convinced herself that she was no good for him - he was strong, independent, loving, caring, warm, and faithful. She was a prostitute and would not see herself as anything but.  
This kept up until the final time she ran away. She grew to love Michael so deeply and finally knew what true love was. But she could not bear children, which she knew Michael wanted so deeply. Upon hearing this news, Michael reassured Angel that it was okay - they would be okay. But Angel sacrificed her happiness and left so that Michael could find a more suitable wife to bear his children. She came into some good fortune by the grace of God and became part of the church, something she told Michael would never happen - she often would scoff at Michael for reading from the Bible every night. 
After being away for three years, coming to God, and really making something of her life helping fallen women as she had once been, Michael's brother-in-law, Paul, searched for Angel at the request of his new wife. All the time Angel was with Michael, Paul knew she was a prostitute. He also never let her forget that he knew, and he used her on an occasion she was running away from Michael. Upon finding her after being away for three years, he learned that he did not know who Angel really was for all of that time she was with Michael - he had only seen her as a prostitute. He informed her that Michael could not and would not live without her; he loved her. He always had and always would. Angel went back to Michael, who forgave her, and she experienced Redeeming Love.  
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I flew through this book pretty fast, as the story line really flows and is quick to absorb. I honestly had a hard time reading the first part because it truly shows you the life that Angel was living as a prostitute. As the story unfolds, her past is revealed more and more, and the reader learns of the awful things she had done in her past, not because she wanted to, but because she was forced to. She wasn't raised with loving parents that cared about her, so she didn't know what being loved really felt like. This broke my heart. I couldn't relate to Angel on a personal level, but I sympathized for her. It really opened my eyes to prostitution - not that I am oblivious to it, but reading about it at such a depth really mesmerized me. It was awful. 
My heart broke on more than one occasion throughout the book, for several different reasons. But knowing it was a book about God's redeeming and unconditional love, I also knew that it just had to have a happy ending, and it didn't disappoint. This book was so amazing from cover to cover, and it never lulled. I was anxious to find out more as the pages flipped on, and I didn't once wish it would just end. It's such a great read and I definitely recommend it! 

This post is part of the #2014BloggerChallenge.

ROAD TRIP!

Wow, what a weekend! Is it okay to say that I was actually looking forward to Monday? 
This weekend, we traveled over 500 miles. Let that sink in for a minute... it feels like ROAD was all we saw...

500 miles. Now do you understand why I wanted so badly for Monday to roll around? I just want normal back! Is that too much to ask for? I think not! But, I do admit that we really had a great time with so much family and friends! 
Friday, we hit the road at 2:00pm to head south. Wayyyy south. Like, Port Lavaca south. 

When we left for the 3 hour drive, it was 78 degrees and sunshine! Seriously perfect weather for a road trip! We visited with Colten's friend, who we hadn't seen in months, and ate delicious ribs. What more could you ask for, really? Oh wait, there was vomiting involved - on Colten's part. Someone got a bit drunk and mixed just a few too many alcoholic beverages - variety is not your friend, sir. He really should know better. Serves him right, as I slept right through it all! 

Saturday, we woke up early-ish (early for someone with a hangover anyway...haha) and said our goodbyes to head even further south to Ingleside for Colten's niece's 6th birthday! I guess she's my niece too, but that just sounds crazy! Technically, my step-niece-in-law. Got it? Good. We usually have to miss out on such events because Colten is working, but he was fortunate enough to have the weekend off, so it was perfect! And it was much needed, too. It was so good to see him interacting with his family and enjoying some time away from the stresses of house chores, work, and school. A break is always a good thing! Colten's mom definitely enjoyed having all the kids together, which doesn't happen very often! It's hard to get everyone together with work schedules and other things going on, so we made sure to capture this moment for eternity, much to their dismay ;).

Colten & his siblings.

It was definitely a good time. And his sister & brother-in-law's house is gorgeous! I'm so, so glad that we were able to be there to celebrate a birthday and some family time. 

This guy pretty much stole the show!

Bestill my heart! 

Saturday night, we said our goodbyes to his family and got back on the road for another 2 1/2 hour drive to my parents' house. See? Isn't this fun? Living out of a car for the weekend? Blech. No thank you! I didn't enjoy being in the car for that long, as I'm not one to like confined spaces for such long periods of time, but I truly did enjoy the time with family and friends, so it was definitely worth it. It helps that we don't do it too often, so I really shouldn't complain...but this is my blog, and I wouldn't be true to it if there was zero complaining :). 

Now, where were we? Oh yes. On the road. Again. It was about 8:30pm when we headed out, and Colten so very sweetly volunteered to drive. Y'all, he drove for the entire trip this weekend! I'm so blessed (because I got to sleep)! Once we entered Rockport, the flashing lights blinded us. Yep, we got stopped by the county sheriff. One of the headlights on my car went out and we hadn't had a chance to fix it. Thankfully, he only gave us a warning and told us to fix it as soon as possible. Yes sir! So, we went on our merry way and continued our trek to the 'burg. I fell asleep and Colten did great just driving along. Until the flashing lights blinded us. Again. Y'all, we got stopped twice for the same reason in two different towns on the same drive! Halletsville PD pulled us over for our broken headlight and thankfully also only gave us a warning - and told us to get it fixed. By this second stop, it was 11:00pm. There was absolutely no way to get it fixed at this time of night. Therefore, we accepted the warning and went about our merry way for the 20 more minutes to my parents' house. 

Colten is not good with directions. He remembers roads and routes and things pretty well, but he just doesn't do directions. However, he followed them pretty well for being so late at night and being tired! We were on one of the backroads and oh so close to 'home' for the night when I saw them: 6 wild hogs running across the road, right in front of us. My heart caught in my throat and I was filled with dread. We were going too fast to stop in time to miss them. There were so many of them. It was late. We were tired. Please, God, place your guiding hand upon us and give us a miracle to not total our car by hitting a wild hog. Please. I begged and pleaded in those few seconds that I had. 

And a miracle we got! Thank God that we did not hit them. I don't know how Colten managed to miss every single one of them, but he did! I started crying - I don't know if it was from exhaustion or from the adrenaline that had been pumping through my body each and every time a cop pulled us over that night, but I was a mess! It wasn't like full-on ugly crying, but I was just ready to be home for the night and to sleep. We arrived at my parents' house around 11:30pm, and I went straight to bed. And I slept. 

Church was at 9:30 on Sunday morning and was in remembrance of my grandparents, so we went. Josh also showed up that morning to attend mass in honor of them. It was a great mass and it felt good to be back where I grew up. We had a delicious lunch and great entertainment...especially with these two dressed to the nines in their neon! 

They couldn't have planned this if they tried!

A cheeto and a lemon walk into a bar... Haha! It was too, too funny. And I'm so glad they obliged when I requested a picture - thanks guys! :) It's never a dull moment in my family, that's for sure! 

Colten worked on some homework with my dad's help, and mom and I enjoyed a few rounds of Skip-Bo, which made for a leisurely afternoon! And thank goodness, because it was COLD. The weather dropped to below 40 degrees, and the wind was torturous! I went from wearing shorts and flip flops for two days to bundling up in a blanket and a hoodie on Sunday! Thanks, Texas! 

We stayed at my parents' house for the Super Bowl game - which honestly wasn't much of a 'game'. I'm not an avid football follower, but for some reason, I was inclined to watch the game. Now, I have sort of an issue, here. Following Facebook statuses, so many people were accusing not only me, but others as well as jumping on the Seahawks bandwagon. I want to clear that up, mostly for my own sake to justify my position. It's the SUPER BOWL. There are only two teams playing. Whether or not I am a fan of a specific team, one must root for one team or the other. There are only two teams playing. What other option is there?! Yes, I was rooting for the Seahawks from the beginning, because they were the underdog and it was their first time to the 'big game'. Ever. Was I jumping on the Seahawks bandwagon? I don't think so. I was simply rooting for one of the teams I was currently watching that day. Simple as that. Got it? Kay, thanks! It's not my fault the Broncos decided to stay in bed and not participate! :) 

My favorite commercials were the Budweiser commercials. The puppy and the Clydesdale just melted my heart - like, my heart was shattered when the puppy was being taken away...see for yourself! 

Y'all. My heart!! Love, love, love this commercial! And the welcome home commercial was absolutely breathtaking! Check out the documentary on that, even if you saw the commercial already...

After Seattle blew Denver out of the water, we packed up and made the two hour drive home, arriving at 11:00pm. Exhausted is an understatement this morning... 

Overall, I'm so excited to have had such a wonderful weekend with my husband and our families. It was worth all the time on the road! But, I was honestly so happy to be home and to see Ace after being gone for the weekend! I missed him so much. I think he missed us too. :) And a huge thanks to my sister for checking in on him while we were gone! It truly means a lot - thanks sis! Love you!!