Book Nook: Awakened by Grace

Awakened by Grace:

After the tragic death of his wife, Katie, Professor Franklin Franklyn blames himself. Filled with

anguish, he walks away from his family and removes himself from all social interactions, which augments his suffering. But soon after the second anniversary of his wife’s death, his self-imposed reclusive lifestyle is interrupted by an unplanned visit from his eight-year-old granddaughter, Maggie. From that point on, Maggie’s faith-filled answered prayers manifest before Franklin’s eyes. As the two experience God-led divine appointments, Maggie encourages new people to become part of Franklin’s life. In spite of all Franklin witnesses, he finds it difficult to let go of his guilt and move on without his wife.

I had a chance to interview author Darlene West to learn more.

Why did you write this book?
I’ve met a lot of suffering people throughout my life, especially when I was a street evangelist and when I brought the message of Jesus Christ to those in mental hospitals. I found that many people that either didn’t know Christ or were Christians for years believed they had no hope or they were too guilty for Christ to love them. A lot of people that I ministered to were very insecure about themselves. The people that most impressed me were those who thought that God was a tyrant because they believed that God wanted them to suffer the pain that they were suffering whether it were through a divorce, a death of a loved one, they grew up in abuse, and so on. But the biggest issue that I wanted to take on was the biggest lie of all, which is, “God can’t love me.,” something that God dealt with me about.

When we walk past people on a busy sidewalk in a city, we never know what's going on inside someone's heart. For an example, one day, on my way home from street evangelizing in Hartford, Connecticut, I saw a woman on the street corner giving obscene jesters to a group of men kitty-cornered across the street from her. These men were laughing and encouraging her. The Lord told me to stop and pray for her, loudly. When I did, the men ran away and the woman fell into my arms, weeping. She was a prostitute and had wanted to go back to the church she grew up in all that day, but she thought God would no longer welcome her in church. It was a late sunday afternoon. I reassured her that God never stopped loving her. Then I led her through the sinners prayer and brought her to the church she grew up in. She was welcomed with open arms.

There's a lot of hurting people on our planet earth. And I believe, that's why God has me here, so I can help them.

Through Awakened by Grace, I want to share the message of God's eternal love for all of us, no matter what we have done. The Lord is waiting with open arms for all of us to come to Him. Besides, as I evangelize one-on-one, I reach only one person at a time. With the novel, I can reach thousands, and a movie would reach millions.

Why is it so important for people to really recognize God's grace?
All our hope is in the Lord's Grace. Our hope for salvation, for healing, for prayers answered, from being heartbroken, and so on. For by Grace we are saved through faith, and not of ourselves. Jesus did it all for us when we didn't deserve it. The only way to the Father is through Christ Jesus. When we miss out on His grace, we miss out on His perfect will and plan for our lives. For an example, we can make the wrong career choice, pick the wrong person to marry, and basically make bad choices without God, which are quite consequential. Missed opportunities only have 20/20 vision through hindsight. That's why we need to always be in prayer and in His Word. In all our ways, we need to acknowledge Him and He will direct our paths, and that's the only way we can really recognize His Grace through faith in Him. The most awesome part about God, even when we mess up, when we repent of it, He will not only forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, He'll set us back on the path of the straight and narrow. We may miss out on an opportunity that He originally had for our lives, but He'll lead us into a new opportunity.

For an example, prior to my husband and I getting married, my husband worked a job that required him to start his work day at three in the morning. When we had gotten married, we moved from Maryland to Maine without jobs without inquiring about it from the Lord. We just picked up and moved. When you're young, you take those kind of chances without any thought of consequences. When we were in Maine, the pastor of our church recommend my husband to a company for a job. When the manager of the company called my husband, the manager told him the job started at three am for 14 hours a day, delivering oil. But the job payed $800.00 a day. My husband, without inquiring of the Lord, told the manager that he wasn't going to get up at three in the morning anymore. The manager said fine and hung up. About one minute later, my husband called him back for the job because the area was very depressed at the time. The manager informed him that the job was taken. It was late fall and the beginning of the holiday season, and my husband had no job. I couldn't find work either. After my husband repented and sought the Lord with all his heart throughout the winter, early spring that same manager called my husband back and offered him an office job as a dispatcher. Though the job didn't pay quite so good, it covered the bills, rent, and food. In addition, I need to say, we had a cold winter that winter in northern Maine, but we made it through with only God's good Grace and Mercies.

The importance of recognizing God's grace, reunites our sinful man with the Father and makes us white as snow. Being reunited with the Father, we never walk alone on this earth ever again.

My title Awakened by Grace and throughout the story, is a revelation of God's grace for all mankind who want it.

How can narrative stories help people understand more about God's work in their lives?
As an adult educator, story telling was my most go to teaching technique that I used in a classroom or as I tutored. In fact, story telling is one of the most effective and one of the oldest teaching/learning techniques. I say oldest because Jesus used story telling, such as the Prodigal Son and Lazarus and the rich man. Though these were true stories, Jesus used them to help get a point across. In addition, through story telling people can relate to certain stories, and then begin unearthing what’s inside of them. For an example, have you ever heard a story that sounded like something that you’ve done or something that you were struggling with emotionally? You may think, “Wow, I’ve done that or I got that same problem.” Then there's an answer for you at the end of the story?

For an example, in 2005, when I was teaching a 1st level group of adult learners from the Ukraine in an English as a Second Language classroom (ESL), I told a story about the slave Frederic Douglas to help my students identify the word Emancipation, as meaningful rather than just the meaning. One gentleman in my group was only in the states for two weeks. The following week, this gentleman raised his hand. When I called on him, he said, "I will be Emancipated when I learn English." Of course he brought tears to my eyes because he used the word in a context meaningful for him.

I prefer to write, what I call subjects, but what the literary world calls literary fiction. This way, I know I can help my reader to have a meaningful experience: one that could possibly change their lives. Rather than just a story about the character's life, like a romance.

About the Author

Darlene West has a bachelor's degree in English with a writing minor in the concentration of fiction, as well as a master's in adult education. Darlene is a retired corporate developer, program designer, evaluator, training needs assessor, and curriculum specialist. Though she grew up in and loved the restaurant business, her favorite regular job was being a Christian radio disc jockey in Champlain, New York. She loves being a wife, mother, and especially a granny.