When a professional woman starts to choke up as she talks about my book, Anna a Story of Redemption, again it makes me realize I did write a good story. Six years ago next month the journey began when I sat down to write a few paragraphs of what quickly became a novel! The entire book was written in about six weeks with eighteen months of editing following. I am confident of this – the Holy Spirit gave me the story and I blindly stumbled through the process of publishing my first novel.
More than eight hundred men, women, and teens have enjoyed being with Anna as she traveled her road of faith and some became good friends with her. She was a sweet, gentle, but powerful woman who loved Jesus without reserve. Anna, a Story of Redemption, is a work of fiction, but with historical events portrayed accurately surrounded by love, passion, romance, hatred and betrayal.
However, I am certain the same story could have been written about countless women and men who experienced the wonder and terror of living in first-century Israel – people who followed the Master Jesus accepting persecution, torture and worse for His Name sake. So yes, I wrote a fiction, but who’s to say it isn’t true? Was there a young Jewish woman who lived in that disruptive time who received Jesus as Messiah then lived, loved and suffered as Anna did?
Perhaps, what has been accomplished by this book is that some unknown Israeli woman from centuries past has been given a voice and her story told. Stranger things have happened. Is it possible that we could meet ‘Anna’ in heaven? Now that would be a gift to me for sure, but knowing that this story has touched so many lives is a sweet bouquet of love from Jesus Himself.
Until next time.