Finally & Forever by Robin Jones Gunn

For those of you who don't know this about me, I've been a huge Robin Jones Gunn fan since Christy Miller.  If you're a fan too, you know what I mean.  So, of course, I've been trying for years to follow the journeys of all my dear friends.  They have been such a part of my life now for nearly 2 decades.  How could I not continue on their journey with them?
I finally picked up Finally & Forever the other day and proceeded to read it in less than 48 hours.  I can honestly say that I never guessed that Katie would end up in Africa.  She has always been an important character in Robin's line up.  A great supporting role for her best friend Christy, but I never pictured her falling for an unknown like Eli and ending up in Kenya.  All of this being said, I am glad that Katie ended up where she was truly supposed to be.  I found myself turning page after page wanting to know where the story would go next.  Katie flew to Africa with Eli to see what was there for them.  She arrived in a new culture and soon fell in love with her surroundings.  Along the journey in Africa, Katie and Eli have bumps in their relationship.  Are they truly supposed to be together?  Do their desires for ministry mesh?  What is God's plan?  Heart searching happens and soul searching and the answer comes.  The realization comes that they can mesh their ministry desires and become one in marriage.  The end of the book is grand - what a creative way to do it!
Go get your copy of Finally & Forever, and see the amazing sights of Kenya.  There may even be a miracle in their somewhere too and a chance to see what God's plan for your own life might be.  Thank you, Robin Jones Gunn, for a great book!  Could you write about the wedding now and bring the whole gang back together one last time??

A Journey to New Books – Coming Attractions - From September 4, 2009

I have been hooked on the whole Christy and friends gang for many years now. So when Robin Jones Gunn started the Katie Weldon Series, I was one of the first to get in line for a copy of the first book. I have certainly enjoyed being able to revisit my friends over the recent past. I enjoyed Coming Attractions very much. It keeps in step with Robin’s other stories in this “set,” yet I am not sure how I truly feel about the way the story turned out in the end. I hope that there is at least one more book to come so that I can really gauge how I feel about the whole thing. None of this is to say that I’m completely disappointed with the book. I’m NOT! I really did enjoy this new installment in Katie’s story. She is a woman with a strong desire to do her Father’s will. She is an adventurer, with a good heart, and a love for those around her. She has a flair for finding herself in slightly embarrassing situations, but she never lets that get her down. She is a girl that many females can relate to in some way or another. I certainly would recommend this fun, soul-searching book to my dear friends. If you haven’t read any of Robin Jones Gunn’s book, then I say start at the beginning – find the first book in the Christy Miller Series. If you’re 16, 30, 45, 60, it doesn’t matter – they are great books!

Katie was thinking a lot about her future in Coming Attractions, and I think that that is something we all need to stop and do on a regular basis. I’ve been married now for almost 4 1/2 years and have a daughter in Heaven and a daughter who’s 10 months old, so if I were to stop and think about the next 5 to 10 years, children would certainly be involved. I believe that God will continue to bless my husband and I with other children over that time and His plan for us – our marriage, our family, everything. God has the ultimate plan in His hands. Isn’t that part of what Katie discovered on a new level in this story? You can’t plan everything out; God has the blueprints, not me. I believe though, truly, that He has something special planned for my husband, myself, and our children over the next few years. He is truly amazing!