Hope Springs by Kim Cash Tate
One of the reasons that I enjoy reading Christian fiction is because you are often likely to get equal doses of entertainment and encouragement. This book had both, and also managed to challenge me spiritually and socially.
Hope Springs, North Carolina seems to be one of those places where everyone knows everyone. In this book, the characters all have a connection to ailing Grandma Jeri Sanders. Stephanie emerges from her life of selfishness, to help care for Grandma Geri. Todd grew up in Hope Springs as Grandma Geri's neighbor, and is returning with his family to pastor the church once led by his father and grandfather. Consequently, his wife, Becca, finds herself having to adjust to life in a small town, while yielding to the roadblocks thrown in her ministry path. Janelle is a widow, who finds healing and the will to love again while staying in Hope Springs with her grandmother. Other minor characters, subplots, and an unexpected announcement from Grandma Geri keep the story advancing in a way that makes it hard to put the book down.
I appreciate the reality that is found is this book. Real life struggles and tensions are addressed. You are bound to see yourself or family members in the challenges the characters face. Tate was not afraid to tackle the issue of race relations, the segregation that is so prevalent in our churches on Sunday mornings, and the need to break the silence on the issue so that there can be healing. Family secrets, death, unforgiveness, racism, reconciliation, life, love and hope are all interwoven into this engaging read.
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In a small community where everyone is holding tight to something, the biggest challenge may be learning to let go.
Hope Springs, North Carolina, is the epitome of small town life-a place filled with quiet streets, a place where there's not a lot of change. Until three women suddenly find themselves planted there for a season.
Janelle hasn't gone back to Hope Springs for family reunions since losing her husband. But when she arrives for Christmas and learns that her grandmother is gravely ill, she decides to extend the stay. It isn't long before she runs into her first love, and feelings that have been dormant for more than a decade are reawakened.
Becca is finally on the trajectory she's longed for. Having been in the ministry trenches for years, she's been recruited as the newest speaker of a large Christian women's conference. But her husband feels called to become the pastor of his late father's church in Hope Springs.
And Stephanie has the ideal life-married to a doctor in St. Louis with absolutely nothing she has to do. When her cousin Janelle volunteers to stay in Hope Springs and care for their grandmother, she feels strangely compelled to do the same. It's a decision that will forever change her.
As these women come together, they soon recognize that healing is needed in their hearts, their families, and their churches. God's plan for them in Hope Springs-is bigger than they ever imagined.
About Kim:
Kim
Cash Tate is the author of Cherished, Faithful, Heavenly Places, and
the memoir More Christian than African American. A former practicing
attorney, she is also the founder of Colored in Christ Ministries. She
and Her husband have two children. 
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