A Love Restored

By Kelly Goshorn

Description:

Twenty-year old Ruth Ann Sutton doesn't measure up to society's vision of a perfect lady. She would rather read Jules Verne or teach Negro children to read and write than join the Women's Benevolent Aid Society or practice her voice lessons. Her pert opinions and less than perfect figure keep many suitors away. When Ruth Ann accepts a position teaching at the new Freedman's School, it threatens the only marriage offer she is likely to receive. Should she risk life as a lonely spinster or reinvent herself to accept a proposal from a man she does not love?
Determined to rise above his meager beginnings, Benjamin Coulter's reputation as a fast learner and hard worker earn him the opportunity to apprentice with a surveyor for the railroad-a position that will garner the respect of other men. All he needs now is a woman to share his promising future. When Benjamin has a chance encounter with Ruth Ann Sutton, he is smitten with her pretty face, quick wit, and feisty personality. When others ridicule his choice, Benjamin must decide whether he will listen to his heart or put ambition first.

Book Takeaway:

At its core, A Love Restored is a story about the power of words in our lives. It is a story about the struggle each of us faces to take our thoughts captive to the truth of Scripture so we may experience the fullness of God's unequivocal love for us.

Words have the power to lift us up and tear us down, and the most dangerous ones are the ones we repeat in our own mind every day. I spent way too many years repeating words of death to myself-that I was fat, ugly, unlovable and unworthy of the very God I believed sacrificed His son on my behalf.

The Bible tells us in John 10:10 that "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly." My prayer for you is that you will not allow the enemy to steal the joy that is rightfully yours as a child of God. Speak the truth of the gospel over yourself every day and ask God to give you His eyes to see yourself as He does.

Here are just a few things the Bible has to say about you:

1 Thes.1: 4 You are chosen and dearly loved of God.
Ps. 139:14 You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Zech. 2:8 You are the apple of God's eyes. (I just love that one!)
2 Cor. 5:17 You are a new creation in Christ.
John 1:12 You are a child of God.
Col. 1:14 You have been forgiven.
Rom. 8:1 You are free forever from condemnation.
Eph. 2:6 You are his masterpiece.

Awards:

Why the author wrote this book:

A Love Restored is based my real life courtship with my husband. I set the story in the 1870s because I'm a huge history geek! Like my heroine, I have struggled with weight and self-image issues most of my life. Many unkind words have been spoken to me regarding my appearance and I reinforced every one of them with a great deal of negative self-talk. When my husband, then boyfriend, broke up with me, many of those issues came into play and I thought my life wasn't worth living. I'd hit rock bottom.

In the months that followed, I poured myself into the Lord and His word and this verse sustained me. Unbeknownst to me, Mike was doing the same thing-seeking God's healing for the ungodly opinions he held. Despite the incredible pain and sadness of this time, it was obvious that if either of us was ever to give and receive love unconditionally in marriage to anyone, we needed to deal with these issues. But God, in his infinite wisdom, chose not only to have us healed but to forgive one another and restore our relationship. I'm happy to say that my husband and I will celebrate twenty-eight years of marriage this year.