The Baxter Family

A good friend of mine introduced me to the Baxters back in 2004. I had just started working night shift - NOT an easy adjustment for the natural early bird in me. Needless to say, I was having difficulty staying awake all night . . . hence my strong dependence (a.k.a. addiction) on coffee & all things caffeine!! Jill, one of the respiratory therapists working in the NICU with me, told me I should start reading. It would make the 'down time' during the night shifts go so much faster. Well, I remember just smiling at her & saying "I'm not really a reader." It was the absolute truth. I'd NEVER enjoyed reading.

Growing up, our parents had us make a set of goals for our summer each year. (kinda like new year's resolutions, but made to be accomplished during the ever shortening summer break) These goals would be all encompassing: learning how to sow something new, learning how to cook/bake something new, the ever dreaded scrapbook (wow - how things change with time!!), keeping my room clean (guess some things don't change), and the most dreaded project of all for me . . . reading books from the library (whether from the school's summer reading list or anything with more words than pictures that I was willing to try). I was talking to some girls at work the other night about our summer goals growing up (something I hadn't thought about in a long time), and it has opened up a lot of great memories! :-) But I digress . . .

Back to reading and the more recent past -

As I explained to Jill (& continued complaining about how tired I was - always) that reading bored me and would make me even more tired, she told me about a Christian author that she'd found in her church library while going through a difficult time in her marriage. I know this sounds terrible, but that turned me off the author immediately. First of all, I'd never read a Christian fiction novel that kept my interest past the first chapter. The only books I'd ever read that weren't homework or textbooks were medical mysteries or suspense thrillers. Literally, these books had to be non-stop action to get me past the 1st chapter. Even then, if it got slow in the middle, I could put the book down and never pick it up again - not caring in the least how it ended. Secondly, she said that these books had ministered to her while working through issues in her marriage. Well, this one's probably more obvious - what could that have to do with me?!? I wasn't in a relationship with anyone at the time, much less married. Well, Jill turned out to be as stubborn as me. She brought me the 1st book in the Redemption series by Karen Kingsbury. I remember keeping it for a couple of weeks without even opening it. Every time I saw her, I felt a little guilty - like I was slacking on an assignment. (Remember - at this point in my life, I wasn't too far removed from the school/college mindset.)

Finally, I decided to give it a try, and I've been completely hooked ever since. I think that by the time I started the series, the 1st 3 or 4 books had been published. Well, by the time the 5th (& final) book came to the shelves, I was waiting at the bookstore to buy it! It amazed me how I could relate to the different characters or how they reminded me of people I loved. She really made them come to life. The title of the series, Redemption, really says it all. The books, while telling the story of the Baxter family, are all about God's redeeming love for us all. They tell story after story of His faithfulness even through our continued unfaithfulness & rejection of Him. The characters in the books have failures and real problems, yet God continues to love them and seek them out - just like He continues to do for me.

Towards the end of that series, I began to realize how much I enjoyed reading it, and I realized how excited I was for it to continue in the next series, Firstborn. The same theme of God's redemption carried through this series and the the final series, Sunrise. Sadly, she recently published the final book of the Baxter Saga. Again, I was at the bookstore the day it was released. The difference this time was that I couldn't bring myself to read it for a LONG time. Several of my friends who have started the books over the past couple of years had started & finished the book before I read the first page.

I've never been good at goodbyes. I do realize that these are NOT real people but characters in a fiction series of 14 books. But, over the past 4 years, I've laughed & cried "with them". I've felt the anger and guilt of bad decisions made by the characters in the books - knowing I've done the same or similar things. I've gone through September 11th through their eyes. I've seen characters go to Iraq . . . along the same time that my 'little brother by choice' was going to boot camp & then to Iraq. I've read as characters lost loved ones or miscarried while going through similar situations in my life. I've also watched the healing of an ever faithful and loving God in my life and the lives of people I care about - just as He healed the characters who seem all too real in these books.

All this is to say, I did not want this series to end!! It has been one of the constants in my life during the past two years where not much was constant. I could always pick up the next book, "escape" to Bloomington, Indiana, and spend some quality time with the Baxters. I did finally start (and finish) this last and final addition to the Baxter story. I read it slower than all the rest of them - not wanting to rush. It was a beautiful ending to an amazing love story . . . love between people, but more importantly God's love for us.

Jesus, while on the earth, often taught important lessons through parables. These books, to me at least, have been like modern day parables. Karen Kingsbury is such a talented author. I'm so grateful that she allows herself to be used by God as a storyteller. This morning, through many tears, I finished the story of the John and Elizabeth Baxter Family. In case you haven't gotten the picture yet, I'm highly recommending these books!! I'm forever grateful to Jill for introducing me to the Baxters and the author, Karen Kinsbury.