A Time to Dance: Review of Karen Kingsbury's Novel

Title: A Time to Dance
Author: Karen Kingsbury
Publisher: Thomas Nelson, Nashville
Copyright: 2001
Pages: 392
ISBN: 1-59554-187-X
Genre: Christian fiction

John and Abby Reynolds have fallen in love. They have gotten married. They have raised kids together. Their daughter is getting married. And they are getting a divorce. After more than twenty years of marriage, they have come to the point where the end seems inevitable. But the end has not come yet.

The reality of these characters strikes at your heart as you read. In some ways, this is a story about romance. But it is not a romance novel. It's a story about two people who have spent more than half their lifetime together. Now the threat to their romance also becomes a threat to their family, their children, and their faith. John and Abby do all the things that many of us do when we find ourselves caught up in situations that defy our faith; they question God, they justify their behavior, they shift blame, and they make excuses. Abby even begins to doubt Scripture as she thinks of the passage from 1 Corinthians 13 which describes love as never ending: "It was a lie; it had to be. The love between John and her could not possibly bear this . . . . Either they had never loved at all - and Abby knew without a doubt that they had - or this time Scripture was wrong" (154). Of course, this is not the end of the story. God continues to speak to both John and Abby by bringing Scripture to their minds. The reality of Kingsbury's characters means they have flaws, and they make poor choices, and they sin. It also means that they can hope, they can change, they can repent, and they can cry out for God's presence in their lives.

God's speaking personally to John and Abby is an central idea that threads throughout the entire book and reveals Kingsbury's deep love of the Bible and her personal confidence that it has the answers to our deep questions in life. A story on Kingsbury's website relates how Kingsbury first met her husband and eventually became disgusted with his constant attention to the Bible. Then one day, she got so angry that she took his Bible and threw it on the ground. In fact, she was so infuriated with him that she bought her first Bible in order to beat him at his own game. But she didn't find what she was looking for. The more she read, the more she began to see the difference between God's Word and man-made traditions. The story continues, "In the months that followed, Karen felt herself falling in love with God's Word. In it she found direction for every aspect of life, and a faith worth defending in everything she did." Kingsbury's experience with the reality and depth of God's Word is an experience she expertly weaves into the lives of her characters in this novel.

If you are in a struggling marriage, or if you have a friend who is, pick up a copy of this book. I believe you will find encouragement and hope. If you are in a great marriage, you too, should pick up a copy of this book. It contains some good reminders of how we can let a marriage decline simply by not tending to it, by getting too busy to pay attention to our husbands or wives. Walk through John and Abby's journey with them, and you will not be disappointed.

Work cited: http://www.karenkingsbury.com/aboutKaren/testimony/