Amy Wallace ~ Nothing is Ever Wasted

Three white sheets.

Recognize those lines? I sure hope so. They’re connected to one of the hardest scenes I’ve ever written—the prologue of my debut novel, Ransomed Dreams.

I’m often asked why and how I would write something that begins warm and fuzzy and ends with death. The simple answer is because that scene was pivotal for the story world of Ransomed Dreams.

A more complicated answer delves into my heart, theology, and calling to write.

I’m a firm believer that God never wastes an experience or trial in our lives. Never is that more clear then when I have the privilege of teaching, speaking, or writing. It’s in those places—a classroom, a crowded meeting room, or at my desk—that I watch God use the painful times in my past to connect with people.

That’s how I wrote the prologue to Ransomed Dreams and some faith-challenging scenes in Healing Promises. I opened my heart up and let the Lord have free reign. I kept in mind the people who would one day read these words as well.

My mentor calls it “bleeding into your work.” A graphic but appropriate description. Oftentimes it feels exactly like it sounds.

I’ve never seen my child in a morgue, but I’ve been with them in an ER. I’ve lived through a car accident. I’ve watched family members die. I know what it’s like to lose a baby.

None of those tears were wasted when I let the Lord use them as I wrote Ransomed Dreams and Healing Promises. As I’ve shared with women’s groups and readers. As I’ve held crying friends and family members. As I’ve let the Lord be my comforter and hold me close.

If we’re willing to be honest and open about where our lives have taken us, first with the Lord and then with others as He directs, there is great potential for hope and healing and seeing the redemptive hand of God at work.

Powerful words draw people into a place where they’re more open to hearing the Lord and letting Him heal their hearts. Whether they’re spoken or written, those words give us an entrance into another’s soul.

Those powerful words are born out of our willingness to embrace our experiences and allow God to use them for His good.

So consider your story. Ask God to use it. He will.

There are people waiting to hear the words only you can uniquely share. And I pray that as you share, you’ll see that nothing in God’s loving and compassionate hands is ever, ever wasted.

Healing Promises
By Amy Wallace
Published by Multnomah
ISBN 978-1-60142-010-7

Back Cover
When FBI Agent Clint Rollins takes a bullet during a standoff, it might just save his life. But not even the ugly things he's seen during his years working in the Crimes Against Children Unit could prepare him for the overwhelming powerlessness of hospital tests revealing an unexpected diagnosis. If only Sara weren't retreating into doctor mode...he needs his wife more than ever.

Sara Rollins is an oncologist with a mission—beating cancer when she can, easing her patients' suffering at the very least. Now the life of her tall Texan husband is at stake. She never let the odds steal her hope before, but in this case, the question of God's healing promises is personal. Can she hold on to the truth she claimed to believe?

As Clint continues to track down a serial kidnapper despite his illness, former investigations haunt his nightmares, pushing him beyond solving the case to risking his life and career. Clint struggles to believe God is still the God of miracles. Especially when he needs not one, but two. Everything in his life is reduced to one all-important question: Can God be trusted?

Review
With the release of Healing Promises, Amy Wallace has joined the ranks of authors like John Grisham and Jeffrey Archer. The second in the Defenders of Hope series, Healing Promises delivers spellbinding action and characters so vivid, they'll live on in your memory long after you shelve the book.

I was amazed by the depth of emotion Wallace gave her characters. Clint battles not only cancer but the ego-depleting realization he can't do what he needs to. The rage he feels over his inabilities and the impatience for God's healing are gut-wrenchingly authentic. The once confident Sara no longer believes what she knows as truth. Fear stalks her as surely as the kidnapper stalks his next victim. The deep spiritual truths they both learn are insightful and life-changing.

And you get to journey with them as they navigate these roads of faith and hope. Normally, I'm not a reader of suspense or FBI thrillers, yet I found myself mesmerized, turning page after page, so engrossed in the story I forgot all about everything else. The impact of Healing Promises was profound, and this reviewer gives it five stars—a must read.

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