Looking around the room, John saw Brooke and Kari close their eyes. Erin and Luke and Ashley stared off into the distance, intent on listening. John resumed reading. "Time and again this theme has come up in our lives. Brooke and Peter, what happened with Hayley was devastating. The strain nearly tore you apart, but here you are. Together, stronger than ever before.'"

Peter reached for Hayley's hand and brought it to his lips. He took hold of Brooke's knee with the other and gave her a sad smile.

"'Kari, your life hasn't been without sorrow. Tim's unfaithfulness, his murder, all of it might've had a tragic ending, but God brought, hope to every part. Tim died knowing his Savior; and God led you to Ryan, a man who will care for you and cherish all the days of his life.'"

John saw Ryan put his arm around Kari and hold her close.

"'Ashley, you thought you were the black sheep but, honey, you never were. You had lessons to learn, and God used all sorts 366 REUNION.

of people to teach you. Irvel and Cole and especially Landon. You are a living illustration of God's mercy and forgiveness, of the truth that he has a plan for each of his children.'"

Ashley let her head fall on Landon's shoulder. John saw her shoulders shaking just a bit, but she kept her tears quiet, to herself.

"'Erin, you couldn't have a family, couldn't bear children and you wondered if God had tbrgotten you. Then you show up for our reunion with four beautiful little girls. Can you ever doubt God again, sweet daughter? You were made to be a mother, and a mother you will be. No matter how dark the night, morning always comes, Erin. That's the message in Lamentations, chapter 3. The basis for my favorite hymn. The dark valleys are not where life ends. Not for you and your desire to have a family, and not for me.'"

Erin looked at the ceiling. Her eyes were damp, but a sad smile tugged at the corners of her lips. John saw her whisper the words, 'Thank you, God."

John stared at the letter and found his place. "'Luke, I watch you, and it's like seeing the Scriptures come to life. Your faith wasn't real for so many years. Yes, you talked about believing, but until you were tested, until you realized that suffering is part of a fallen world, you couldn't take Christ as your own. But here you are, and all of us see what God's doing in your life, what he's already done. I said it to you once before, and one far-off day say it to you again: Welcome home, Son. Welcome home.'"

Luke tightened his hold on Reagan's hand. He clenched his jaw, trying to stay strong, but finally he hung his head. Two teardrops fell onto his dress pants, and with his free hand he covered his eyes.

John's voice was still strong, but his eyes were blurred, He blinked and looked around the room. Elizabeth was right. He could see her in them, feel her in them. In the way they talked and hugged and laughed and loved. She was still with them, the way she always would be with them.

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kingsbry s maley His eyes focused on the last paragraphs, and he finished the letter. " 'So you see, the theme is very clear. In life we have choices, choices all of us must make. I'm hardly perfect; your father and I know what it is to go against God's plan for our lives. Everyone breathing knows that awful feeling. In life there will be consequences for our bad choices, and there will always be suffering.

Some of it, like my cancer or Hayley's accident, we'll never understand.

"But this is the part I want you to keep, the part you've illustrated with the stories of your lives. With Christ there will also be hope and forgiveness and faith and love.

"'And most of all, because of what he did on the cross, there will always be his amazing, unlimited, perfect redemption. Remember that, okay? I love you more than you know. And when you come home, I'll be here waiting for you. Then we'll have the greatest reunion of all.'"

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369.

A WORD FROM KAREN KINGSBURY.

AND SO WE HAVE COME tothe endof the Redemption series.

Sort of. I'll explain more about that later. First let's go back; let's revisit the journey of not only Reunion, but the entire Redemption series.

In writing Reunion, I felt again and again the faithfulness of God, working in me, going before me, speaking to me in the plot and story line. But it wasn't just his faithfulness in writing Reunion, but his faithfulness in seeing the entire Redemption series come to an end.

Everything the Baxter kids had to work through over the past several years had seen a transformation because of God's redemption. Not without consequences or sorrow, but always with his love and grace and hope.

I have to tell you, I hated outlining Reunion, because I couldn't imagine saying goodbye to the Baxter family. After writing five books with these characters, they felt more than real to me. I'd find myself talking about our weekly church service and referring to the pastor as Pastor Mark.

I also struggled with letting Elizabeth die, but God reminded me of something in the midst of writing Reunion. It isn't the number of our days that counts, but the life in our number.

Many of you know personally the pain of suffering. Whether you've lost a job or a friendship, or worse, a spouse or a child. Maybe someone you love has walked out of your life the way Tim walked out on Kari in Rcdemption.

Your situation might be overcoming a shameful past, the way it was for Ashley in Remember. Or maybe you've walked away from your faith and just need to understand again that God's still waiting for you, the way Luke had to understand that in Return. Perhaps you've been caught up in a tragedy, the way Brooke vas 370.

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in ReJoice. If so, then the lessons there are yours also. That joy always comes in the morning, that only by keeping your attitude of worship and praise will you ever survive a tragedy.

Or maybe you're in the season of losing a parent the way the Baxters were throughout Reunion. The sad experience of watching a parent die, or getting the call that a parent has passed suddenly, is one that most of us will experience.

That's why I included it here.

It is my prayer that in reading Elizabeth's stow, you might find strength for your own. That you would understand that God's will is always best-even when it doesn't line up with your own. And that yes, trouble will come into our lives, but still, God wins. In the end, he always wins. I'm so grateful for that.

People write to me every day telling me that I've captured their story in the lines of one of my novels. I don't think that's a coincidence. God has given me stories like the ones in the Redemption series so that each of you will know you're not alone. Whatever you're going through, other people around you have gone through the same thing.

Sure, we can fight God. We can get angry at him for our sufferings or our circumstances or even our consequences. But in the end, we must be like the disciples of Christ, who once witnessed dozens and dozens of people walking away during one of our Lord's priceless messages. Jesus waited until only the disciples were left. Then he turned to them and said, "What? Aren't you going too?" They answered the same thing you and I musl answer, regardless of our situation: "Where would we go? To whom would we turn?"

Another theme I hope you've picked up on in the Redemption series is that God has great plans for your life. He loves you because you belong to him, because he made you. And as such, he knows the plans he has for you. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that, and it's a truth you can stand on forever.

Things aren't moving as quickly as you'd like? Ryan knew that feeling in Redemptiott. Confused about the place God has you in?

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Landon understood that while he was digging through the rubble of the collapsed World Trade Center. Certain that morning will never come again? Peter knew that sort of darkness after Hayley's accident. Figuring God has forgotten about you?

Check in with Reagan and the way she felt raising an infant by herself, a thousand miles from the man she loved. The verdict's in, the diagnosis is made, the casket's closed? John knows how it feels to think all of life is behind him.

But the truth is that for each of these-and for each of you- God still has a plan. A good plan, to give you a hope and a future.

From the beginning, when Gary Smalley asked me to consider writing a series of books that might illustrate his teachings about relationships, my hope and prayer have been not only that you would be entertained. Certainly I want you to feel that the Redemption series is good, clean, moral fiction. But my prayer is that these books have been so very much more.

1 love hearing from you, so many thousands of you, who have written to tell me that the books in this series have changed your lives. Marriages have been restored, relationships have been healed, love has been brought back to life.

And many times you have told me that the Redemption series introduced you to God, or better still, brought you back to him.

Because of your letters, 1 know God has abundantly blessed my prayers about these books. The end result of the Redemption series is so much greater than l ever could've dreamed way back when Gary and I had our first meeting.

On that note, yes, I've agreed to write a total of eight more books for Tyndale, books that will branch off the one you're holding in your hand. Four of the books will be part of the Firstborn series, and four will make up the Sunrise series. All of them will be set in Bloomington, Indiana.

The Firstborn series will involve Dayne Matthews and his search for meaning in his life, andJamie Hart and her role as director o1 the Bloomington Christian Kids Theater. New" Ialnilies 372.

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and situations will be introduced, but Dayne's search-and other issues facing single people-will stand at the center.

The Sunrise series will involve the Flanigan family, Ryan Taylor's assistant coach, his wife, and children. This series is very close to my heart because in many ways it mirrors the lessons about love and li[e I've learned in these first fifteen years of being a wife and mother.

Like my own tamily, the Flanigans have six children, three who are adopted from Haiti. Two of the kids will be involved the Christian Kids Theater, andJamie Hart, the director, will live in a garage apartment at the Elanigan house. So there will be a tie from the Sunrise series to the Firslborn series. The other font kids will be athletes. Dad is a coach, Morn is a writer, and people of all ages tend to wind up on their doorstep looking for hope and a new life in Christ.

Expect me to deal with situations involving a host of family issues including learning disabilities, teenage eating disorders, children who are picked on by their peers, teens at the beginning of dating and driving, teens who enlist to fight for our counuy, and the effect these types of issues have on a couple in love with God and with each other.

This is the life [ live-and though there will be dramatic plot changes in the Flanigans' lives compared with my own-it is still my thrill and honor to use my tinnily as a plaflorm to bring you those four books in the Sunrise series.

The Firstborn series will be first, with Book I releasing spring 2005.

Firstborn, fVogiv, en, Found, and Family will be titles in that series, and they will release every lhree to months. Then I will bring you the Sunrise series.

Sumis< diet, 5omeda.y, and 5usct will also release every three to Iour months.

Please pray for me as God brings the story lines into finer detail, as he makes clear to me the types of situations 1 sboukl address in each of these eight bool