Christian Fiction - Giving Us A Hand With Our Young People

Diamond

by

Victoria Christopher Murray

Chapter One

We're gonna be so paid!"I waved my magazine in the air and dumped my messenger bag onto the lunch table. I waited for my crew to say something, but not one of them even looked at me. "Hello? Anybody home?"

India stuffed half a hot dog into her mouth. "I heard you."

"So, if you heard me, why aren't you excited?" But I wasn't just talking to India. I wondered what was wrong with Veronique and Aaliyah, too.

"Because," Aaliyah began, not taking her eyes away from whatever book she was reading, "you're always excited about something, Diamond."

"And what's wrong with that?" I asked. "I'm fifteen and fine! I'm supposed to be excited."


Indeed she should. Fifteen, even with all it's ups and downs, hormonal, emotional and otherwise is a great age, but it's also a time where teens struggle with their own identities. Our young people are bombarded with messages and images all day long, so much so that many are on sensory overload. Music videos that show them they are worth little more than the sum of the their body parts and ridiculous reality t.v. shows that make being FWB, "friends with benefits" seem like the right way to have a relationship, when in reality it's simply another way to be used. Like us, our young people have a very real and strategic enemy who desires to tear them down before they even reach adulthood, so that their womanhood, manhood, fatherhood and motherhood are all stripped of excellence. Indeed we live in scary times, but God is a provider.

I have a two year old and he's a busy little guy. This month my sixteen year old has been visiting with my parents and it's just been me and the toddler. I miss his big brother, because he's a big help. Always available to be the extra hand I need when I'm cooking or cleaning or even taking an important phone call. I can say, "Aaron, do me a favor, will you look after your brother," and he's right there to give mom an extra hand. I liken this to the ministry of writing Christian Fiction.

We, Christian Fiction authors, while entertaining are the extra hand Jesus uses to educate, remind, reveal, encourage, challenge, promote, and even convict those who read our work. I know when I read a Christian Fiction novel I close the book with a lesson learned or a reminder of something I'd forgotten or I'm challenged to consider something a different way. It's not mindless reading. In the same way, young adult/teen Christian fiction can speak to our young people. They need to read books written for them that have characters they identifiy with who may speak to their souls and imaginations in a way that an adult may not be able to. The right books may reinforce the morals and values we want instilled in them. Those realistic portrayls of their everyday dilemmas are written to remind them that their problems are not unique to them, nor are they insurmountable. There are solutions in Christ.

Please visit http://www.divinedivas.com/ and share the trailer and the rest of the chapter one with a teen young lady you know and then purchase the book. It may be just the extra hand you need to help her choose to identify with Jesus.

Thanks for stopping by. Please make sure to come back for an interview on Wednesday with Victoria Christopher Murray.

Blessings,


Rhonda