The Breaking Point, by Karen Ball

Karen Ball is the agent/editor/author will be hearing pitches at the Write to Inspire Conference in Elk Grove beginning on Friday. I thought you all might be interested in one of the books she wrote, so...here is my humble book review of one fantastic book. I wish I’d read this book 40 years ago!

Two young people, Gabe and Renee, meet and instantly fall in love, with all the starry-eyed, heart-pounding exuberance that the young seem to fall victim to. I won’t say always, but many times, these dizzy, exciting relationships wind up total disasters. Believe me, I know only too well.

Gabe and Renee try very hard to “be good,” especially since they are both church-goers. Only one time, their attraction gets the best of them, and once is all it takes. Renee gets pregnant. When she tells Gabe, he feels like he’s been poleaxed, but after he’s thought through it, he knows he has to “do the right thing.” They get married, they lose the baby, and then constant battles leave both of them wounded, angry, and fearing for their sanity and their faith, not to mention their marriage. Over the years, it gets worse, not better.

It takes a catastrophy to wake them up. That and the help of a couple, Oren and Grace, who have it so together no one thinks they’ve ever had a problem. Oh, yes—and then there’s the love of a dog, a beautiful Siberian husky who loves them, worries over them, and leads them to life.

God’s voice is so soft sometimes it’s hard to hear, especially when you’re arguing. It takes practice to hear His voice over your own. Or over the tumult of angry thoughts. Or self-justifications.

He calls, “Peace, Be still and know that I am God.”

He says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

He pleads, “This is the path; Walk in it.”

He’s the Lamp to keep our feet from stumbling, the Gate to the safe pasture, the Highway to Heaven.

But until we’re quiet enough to hear His voice, we’re doomed to blunder ahead, trip over broken promises, run into stone walls, trying to escape ourselves.

Until Gabe and Renee learned to listen, nothing worked for them. Not time, not fighting, not counseling, not advice from friends. Nothing, until they learned to listen, trust, and love unconditionally. But is it too little too late?