Embracing Change by Debbie Roome

Embracing Change by Debbie Roome is the winner of the Rose & Crown New Novels Competition 2009, copyright 2010, 36 chapters and 234 pages clearly illustrating God's hand in our lives and how we can embrace change with His help. It's a beautifully written story of love and loss, regained hope and faith, the courage to not only accept change, but to also embrace it, and one woman's ability to do so when she discovers Jesus has been with her through it all.

Sarah, the main character, is engaged to Luke and looking forward to her wedding. They plan to move from South Africa to New Zealand. Luke wanted to make a home in New Zealand, so when she loses him, she brings his ashes and scatters them on the mountains and waterfalls he loved. As she descends the mountain, she meets Joel, a stranger she is afraid of at first. Biblical principles are applied in this moving story that demonstrates how Sarah finds the strength, hope, and courage to move on with her life without her beloved Luke and learns to love and trust again.

The author uses vivid description to allow the reader to travel through South Africa and New Zealand and visualize the landscapes and flowers. She demonstrates through the power of story how forgiveness is necessary to move forward with one's life and provides two sides of a perspective on violence when Sarah comes face to face with Luke's killer, his mother, and his brother. Sarah learns to open her eyes and heart, forgive, and find a future full of hope and promise. This novel is a quick read that evokes readers' emotions. Come learn how to embrace change with Debbie and Sarah, and ponder what you'd do if you had to move half a world away from all family and friends with nothing left of the love of your life but ashes in an urn.

About the Author: Debbie Roome spent 15 years in South Africa before moving to New Zealand in 2006 with her husband and five children. Her writing has won numerous awards, and you may visit her at www.debbieroome.com.