Reclaiming Nick, Noble Legacy Series #1

By Susan May Warren

Description:

What was his father thinking? Yes, Nick betrayed his family, his legacy and hasn’t been home in nearly a decade, but did that mean his father had to leave the Noble Family ranch to Nick’s worst enemy? Nick doesn’t care what it takes – Cole St. James isn’t going to get a blade of Silver Buckle ranchland. Old secrets and second chances await Nick when he travels home to reclaim his past. Just how far will God go to redeem a prodigal?

Awards:

Why the author wrote this book:

I have two friends. Let’s call them Jim and John. Both are great guys, men I grew up with. They’re friends. One day, Jim gets sick. He’s sick for a long time, until the doctors discover he has liver failure. He has a beautiful wife and four sweet children. Jim is dying, and without a liver transplant, he won’t live to see his children grow up. His entire family (and it’s a large one) is tested. No one is a match. A prayer request goes out to churches far and wide. For two years, nothing happens.

Then, one day, John, who has been praying for Jim, decides to go to the doctor and get tested to see if he’s a match. Miraculously, though they are unrelated, he matches. And, although he has a wife and three little boys, John decides to give part of his liver to Jim. John spends the next year preparing for this surgery, taking care of himself, eating right. And then one day risks his life to save the life of his friend.

Jim lives. John lives. And it makes me ponder the gift of grace –what it means to give– and receive.

Meanwhile, I am studying Philippians –especially verse 1:6– I’m overjoyed with a God who is constantly at work in my life, through all times and circumstances and I wonder what that might look like from the view of person with a tainted past, whatever that might be…

For a year, God kept bringing these two events to my mind, tangling them with the love I have of all things cowboys (trucks, horses, country music, and so on). Then one day, I went fishing. While I was trying to land a walleye, I told my fishing pals (Dan, Bob and Andrew –yeah, I see the oddball in the group) about my story. I discovered that Bob so happened to live on a ranch…

A year later, I found myself on a ranch just outside of a little town called Otter, in Montana. I fell in love with the big sky, the quiet wind, the wide open spaces, and the passage I was studying at the time –Psalm 103– came to life for me. As I stood on the bluffs, I got a glimpse of what it might mean for God to separate us from our sins so much that we can no longer even seen them! And loving us beyond even the heavens. And right there, Nick’s story took life.

Reclaiming Nick is a about God drawing a man back to the person he could be, helping him reclaim the legacy he’d lost, and then giving that blessing to others. It’s a story for all of us, really. The truth that God throws out our mistakes, “as far as the east from the west” and allows us start over. Again, and again, if necessary. It is possible to be healed in our spirits, like the woman who touched Jesus robe. Or like Cole, with new life inside.

God is at work in our lives. This is both a hope and a promise. And, most importantly, a gift of grace. I pray that you are able to get a view of His love for you, through all circumstances, all times. Thank you for reading ‘Reclaiming Nick.’ I hope you’ll join me for the next installment of the Noble Legacy – Rafe’s story. And in the meantime, “Praise the Lord, everything He has created, everywhere in His kingdom. As for me –I too will praise the Lord!”