The words seeped like salve into my soul, reminding me that I wasn’t alone, that God cared more for me than a mother cared for her nursing baby. It also reminded me that He cared more for Michelle than I did, and He hadn’t forgotten her, either. I kept reading, ravenous for more. Finally, I came to verses 24 and 25: “Can plunder be taken from warriors, or captives rescued from the fierce? But this is what the Lord says: ‘Yes, captives will be taken from warriors, and plunder retrieved from the fierce; I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save.’ ”
Those words hit me with the full force of God’s power, and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that He had led me to that passage and given me that promise. At that moment, I had no idea what the immediate future would hold or how many years it might take for God to fulfill that promise. But I knew how it would end.
Those words carried me through the next few years, and though there were many dark days, that promise loomed in the back of my mind. Despite my circumstances, I knew where my strength and faith lay.
And I knew where Michelle would find her freedom.
In His gentle way, God had prepared me for this fight. My participation in jail ministry had given me many tools and a unique perspective that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. Often, I was reminded that even in the darkness of prison I had seen much light. Some of those women shone with the grace of a redemptive God who had intervened in their lives, and they saw their incarceration as a time for God to get their attention, so that He could speak words of life to them. God sent Christian groups to come in and love them and teach them the Word of God. Some of them saw jail or prison as the best thing that had ever happened to them because it woke them up from their lives of death and gave them a rebirth. They wound up transferring their bondage to all those false idols in their lives, to Christ, who’d saved them.
All through the New Testament, the apostle Paul refers to himself as a bondservant of Christ. A bondservant was someone who had served as a slave for a family, but when he was set free, he chose to remain and continue serving. This only happened if his master was kind, and if the life the servant lived there was better than it would be somewhere else. To demonstrate his allegiance to that master, he would take part in a ceremony. An awl would be driven through the lobe of his ear, and it would leave a large hole. When people saw that hole in his ear, they would understand that he was a bondservant. They would know that his master must be kind and generous and that even though this person had been given his freedom, he’d voluntarily chosen to serve that man.
Paul used that to describe his bondage to Jesus. Christ had set him free from his own bondage to things that would destroy him, and as a free man, he’d chosen to become a voluntary bondservant of the Lord. In that bondage to Christ, he found the truest freedom he’d ever experienced, and he spent the rest of his life telling people about it, even when it resulted in his own imprisonment and execution.
But I’m constantly amazed at the number of Christians who don’t live as bondservants of Christ. Some of them, once they’ve tasted His freedom, even sell themselves back into bondage to darkness. God is a jealous God, and like a loving husband, he’s hurt when we turn away.
In Ezekiel 6:9, He says: “Then those of you who escape will remember Me … how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols.”
It breaks my heart to think of hurting the God who saved me. It literally brings tears to my eyes. He has grieved for my daughter and wooed her back like a wounded husband. He has proven that His promise to me was true, and He has saved my daughter many times over. Through this trial, He’s never forsaken us. Michelle still has a long road ahead of her, but praise God, she’s shaken off the shackles of addiction and transferred her bond-service to the God who never forgot her.
“When the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
Live life free!
Terri Blackstock
Resources
Boundaries, by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend, Zondervan, 2001.
Hit by a Ton of Bricks, by John Vawter, Family Life Publishing, 2003.
Moments for Families with Prodigals, by Dr. Robert J. Morgan, NavPress Publishing Group, 2003.
Praying Prodigals Home, by Quin Sherer and Ruthanne Garlock, Regal Books, 2009.
Prodigals and Those Who Love Them, by Ruth Bell Graham, Baker Books, 1999.
Red Sea Rules, by Robert J. Morgan, Thomas Nelson, 2001.
Setting Boundaries with Your Adult Children: Six Steps to Hope and Healing for Struggling Parents, by Allison Bottke, Harvest House Publishers, 2008.
You’re Not Alone website (for families dealing with addicted loved ones), www.notalone.org.
Discussion Guide for Intervention
1. Did Intervention give you any insight into what families endure with addicted loved ones? What moved you the most about Barbara’s situation? What would you do in her situation?
2. According to her journals, how does Emily view her mother? Does she blame her for her addiction? Do others judge Barbara’s parenting because of her daughter’s behavior?
3. What characters in the story suffer at the hands of Emily’s addiction, and how are they impacted? Would you call addiction a family illness?
4. After finding out about what happened to Sara Leigh at Road Back, Barbara realizes she made a mistake by choosing a rehab too quickly. What could she have done differently? How does Road Back’s method of dealing with drug addiction differ from Greg Leigh’s? What are the downsides of each approach?
5. Barbara believes that our culture sows addiction into its young. Do you agree with her? What beliefs and attitudes does society instill in its children that could contribute to addiction? Can Christians minimize the negative effects of these beliefs and attitudes in their children? If so, how?
6. How did Emily’s previous visits to rehab only make her addictions worse? What causes her to finally decide that she wants to get better? Do you think true healing from addiction requires more than rehab can offer?
7. Greg’s ex-wife Joan deals with the death of their daughter very differently than he does. What does Joan do to cope with her grief? How does this guard her against the bitterness that plagues Greg? What does this say about the importance of faith and support groups?
8. Barbara tells Kent that she hopes good will eventually result from Emily’s hardship. Do you think Emily’s life will have a more defined purpose because of her suffering and addiction? Have you or someone you know ever experienced good as a direct result from pain?
A RESTORATION NOVEL
Last Light
Terri Blackstock,
#1 Bestselling Suspense Author
Today, the world as you know it will end.
No need to turn off the lights.
Your car suddenly stalls and won’t restart. You can’t call for help because your cell phone is dead.
Everyone around you is having the same problem … and it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Your city is in a blackout. Communication is cut off. Hospital equipment won’t operate. And airplanes are falling from the sky.
Is it a terrorist attack … or something far worse?
In the face of a crisis that sweeps an entire high-tech planet back to the age before electricity, your family faces a choice. Will you hoard your possessions to survive — or trust God to provide as you offer your resources and your hearts to others?
Yesterday’s world is gone. Now all you’ve got is your family and community. You stand or fall together. Like never before, you must rely on each other.
But one of you is a killer.
Number one bestselling suspense author Terri Blackstock weaves a masterful what-if novel in which global catastrophe reveals the darkness in human hearts — and lights the way to restoration for a self-centered world. Last Light is the first book in an exciting new series.
Softcover: 97
8-0-310-25767-7
Unabridged Audio CD: 978-0-310-26880-2
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
Night Light
Terri Blackstock,
#1 Bestselling Suspense Author
In the face of a crisis that sweeps an entire high-tech planet back to the age before electricity, the Brannings face a choice. Will they hoard their possessions to survive—or trust God to provide as they offer their resources to others?
Number one bestselling suspense author Terri Blackstock weaves a masterful what-if series in which global catastrophe reveals the darkness in human hearts — and lights the way to restoration for a self-centered world.
An era unlike any in modern civilization is descending — one without lights, electronics, running water, or automobiles. As a global blackout lengthens into months, the neighbors of Oak Hollow grapple with a chilling realization: the power may never return.
Survival has become a lifestyle. When two young thieves break into the Brannings’ home and clean out the food in their pantry, Jeff Branning tracks them to a filthy apartment and discovers a family of children living alone, stealing to stay alive. Where is their mother? The search for answers uncovers a trail of desperation and murder … and for the Brannings, a powerful new purpose that can transform their entire community — and above all, themselves.
Softcover: 978-0-310-25768-4
Unabridged Audio CD: 978-0-310-26921-2
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
True Light
Terri Blackstock,
#1 Bestselling Suspense Author
The darkness deepens in a world without power.
But, daring to defend a young outcast, one family strikes a light.
In the face of a crisis that sweeps an entire high-tech planet back to the age before electricity, the Brannings face a choice. Will they hoard their possessions to survive — or trust God to provide as they offer their resources to others?
Number one bestselling suspense author Terri Blackstock weaves a masterful what-if series in which global catastrophe reveals the darkness in human hearts — and lights the way to restoration for a self-centered world.
Now eight months into a global blackout, the residents of Oak Hollow are coping with the deep winter nights. But the struggle to survive can bring out the worst in a person — or a community.
A teenager has been shot and the suspect sits in jail. As the son of a convicted murderer, Mark Green already has one strike against him. Now he faces the wrath of all Oak Hollow — except for one person. Deni Branning has known Mark since high school and is convinced he is no killer.
When Mark finds himself at large with a host of other prisoners released upon the unsuspecting community, Deni and her family attempt to help him find the person who really pulled the trigger. But clearing Mark’s reputation is only part of his battle. Protecting the neighbors who ostracized him is just as difficult.
And forgiving them may be the hardest part of all.
Softcover: 978-0-310-25769-1
Unabridged Audio CD: 978-0-310-26922-9
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
Dawn’s Light
Terri Blackstock,
#1 Bestselling Suspense Author
In the face of a crisis that sweeps an entire high-tech planet back to the age before electricity, the Brannings face a choice. Will they hoard their possessions to survive — or trust God to provide as they offer their resources to others?
Number one bestselling suspense author Terri Blackstock weaves a masterful what-if series in which global catastrophe reveals the darkness in human hearts — and lights the way to restoration for a self-centered world.
As the Pulses that caused the outage are finally coming to an end, thirteen-year-old Beth Branning witnesses a murder. Threatened by the killer, she keeps the matter to herself. But her silence could cost her life.
Meanwhile, as Deni’s ex-fiancé returns to Crockett with a newfound faith and the influence to get things done, Deni is torn between the man who can fulfill all her dreams and Mark Green, the man who inhabits them.
As the world slowly emerges from the crisis, the Brannings face their toughest crisis yet. Will God require more of them than they’ve already given? How will they keep their faith if he doesn’t answer their prayers?
Softcover: 978-0-310-25770-7
Unabridged Audio CD: 978-0-310-26923-6
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
Double Minds
Terri Blackstock,
#1 Bestselling Suspense Author
As talented singer/songwriter Parker James struggles to make her mark on the Nashville music scene, she finds the competition can be fierce — even deadly.
When a young woman is murdered at the recording studio where Parker works, Parker is drawn into a mystery where nothing is as it seems. Unraveling the truth puts her own life at risk when she uncovers high-level industry corruption and is terrorized by a menacing stalker. As the danger escalates, Parker begins to question her dreams, her future, and even her faith. Does stardom even matter anymore?
Double Minds is a compelling suspense novel that unfolds in the middle of the Christian music industry in Nashville. Terri Blackstock, known for her Up All Night Fiction, grabs readers at page one and keeps them riveted until the final plot twist is untangled. This well-turned mystery is Blackstock’s first stand-alone title in several years, and it was worth waiting for.
Hardcover: 978-0-310-31842-2
Softcover: 978-0-310-25063-0
Unabridged Audio CD: 978-0-310-28812-1
Audio Download, Unabridged: 978-0-310-28813-8
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
Intervention
A Novel
Terri Blackstock,
#1 Bestselling Suspense Author
Her last hope is the beginning of a new nightmare.
Barbara Covington has one more chance to save her daughter from a devastating addiction, by staging an intervention. But when eighteen-year-old Emily disappears on the way to drug treatment — and her interventionist is found dead at the airport — Barbara enters her darkest nightmare of all.
Barbara and her son set out to find Emily before Detective Kent Harlan arrests her for a crime he is sure she committed. Fearing for Emily’s life, Barbara maintains her daughter’s innocence. But does she really know her anymore? Meanwhile, Kent has questions of his own. His gut tells him that this is a case of an addict killing for drugs, but as he gets to know Barbara, he begins to hope he is all wrong about Emily.
The panic level rises as the mysteries intensify: Did Emily’s obsession with drugs lead her to commit murder — or is she another victim of a cold-blooded killer?
Audio CD, Unabridged: 978-0-310-28905-0
Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!
About the Publisher
Founded in 1931, Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Zondervan, a division of HarperCollinsPublishers, is the leading international Christian communications company, producing best-selling Bibles, books, new media products, a growing line of gift products and award-winning children’s products. The world’s largest Bible publisher, Zondervan (www.zondervan.com) holds exclusive publishing rights to the New International Version of the Bible and has distributed more than 150 million copies worldwide. It is also one of the top Christian publishers in the world, selling its award-winning books through Christian retailers, general market bookstores, mass merchandisers, specialty retailers, and the Internet. Zondervan has received a total of 68 Gold Medallion awards for its books, more than any other publisher.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Acknowledgments
Chapter one
Chapter two
Chapter three
Chapter four
Chapter five
Chapter six
Chapter seven
Chapter eight
Chapter nine
Chapter ten
Chapter eleven
Chapter twelve
Chapter thirteen
Chapter fourteen
Chapter fifteen
Chapter sixteen
Chapter seventeen
Chapter eighteen
Chapter nineteen
Chapter twenty
Chapter twenty-one
Chapter twenty-two
Chapter twenty-three