"Cherished" Book Review

Cherished

by

Kim Cash Tate

Kelli London once dreamed of being a songwriter. As crazy as it seemed, she hoped that God would use the lyrics that came to her while she slept. She dreamed about Brian too, that the love that they shared would be a forever kind of love. But choices she'll forever regret upended her hope and turned her dreams to dust. When those dreams come knocking once more, she's forced to deal with the pain of the past.

Heather Anderson's life has spun out of control--first an affair with a married man, then a one-night stand with a drummer of a popular Christian band that left her devastated. Broken and alone, she cried out to the only One who can save her. And He did, but that's just the beginning, because now she must leave behind the only life she has ever known.

Two women with shame-filled pasts form an unlikely friendship. What does God's forgiveness look like for them? Will they ever believe that He loves them...and can still offer them a life where they are cherished?

MY REVIEW:
I think one of the biggest issues we deal with as Christians are our feelings of shame, unworthiness and inadequacy. Being human we have all had failures in our lives, many of them moral failures and we allow those failures to make us unworthy of God's love and forgiveness. Kim confronts this head on and leads us on a journey to that acceptance of God's forgiveness and self-forgiveness. This is a moving book that had me in tears a few times. Kelli and Heather have different pasts that have brought them to different places but with the same outcome - they are both overcome with shame. God brings them to a place of grace and I loved the vessel that God used as a mentor in their lives. It helped me realize that God will use even the most unlikely people to be His vessels of ministry to others. In this case an older woman steps in to be Heather's mentor and ends up mentoring both of them but she is the most unlikely person to mentor Heather (the best friend of the wife of the married man that Heather had an affair with...). It turns out to be the most amazing spiritual support system and just what they all needed.

Seeing how God made something beautiful out of the situation was a excellent example of God's grace. I love how reading books by Kim Cash Tate is like having a Bible study while you are enjoying a story - she weaves spiritual truths into everything in a beautiful way!