Author's Message

While writing my first book, Love’s Rescue, I met an older woman at church who had published a book of poetry. When I told her my goal was to be a published author, she became silent, looked me directly in the eyes, and said, without a sliver of doubt, “You will be.”
 
Her complete confidence in God stunned me. After nearly four decades of life as a Christian, I finally realized, “That’s what faith is.”
 
As you can imagine, her words and this newfound understanding of faith were never far from my mind while I wrote the books of The Sierra Chronicles trilogy—Love’s Rescue, Hope’s Promse, and Faith’s Reward, the continuing story of Jake and Jessica Bennett as they survive the years of the Civil War at their horse and cattle ranch in Nevada Territory. To keep myself on track as I wrote, I had summed up the three books in these three short phrases: An impossible love, An impossible dream, Against impossible odds; But with God, all things are possible. So the summary for Faith’s Reward was set when I began to write it, but I was uncertain how to present the inspirational message in a way that would uplift readers’ hearts.
 
To the same extent that Francine Rivers’ novel Redeeming Love inspires forgiveness, I wanted Faith’s Reward to inspire complete faith in God, no matter what circumstances life might bring.
 
The heroine, Jessica Bennett, had plenty going against her due to real historical and climatic events that took place in the Sierra Nevadas during 1864, so I knew I had some good material with which to challenge and develop her trust in God. In addition, the end of book two, Hope’s Promise, set up Jess to confront her deepest fears.
 
Finally, after days of plotting the events that would test and strengthen Jess’s faith, these challenges had been woven together: Jess would be in danger of losing everything that mattered to her most—her husband, the people of the ranch, all they had worked together for, and her own life and that of her unborn child. On top of that, Jess has experienced terrible premonitions, all of which have been fulfilled, and during Faith’s Reward, her premonitions reveal that her worst fears will take place. Therefore, she must trust God with the safety of her husband whom she dearly loves, the well-being her closest friends, their economic situation which is about to leave all of them destitute, and her unborn child which, for many months, she had been unable to conceive.
 
Jess’s faith unfurls in unique and unexpected ways, based on her great love for her husband, friends, and child; her innate determination to survive; and complete confidence in God’s boundless love for His children.
 
When I completed Faith’s Reward, I stared at the title, and felt God stirring in my soul as if He were saying, “You have published; I have rewarded your faith in Me.” It is my prayer that Faith’s Reward inspires you to complete confidence in God, no matter what life brings, and that He greatly blesses you for your trust in Him.
 
- Tammy Barley
 
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