The Mother Keeper by Paula Scott

Book Description:

They say the truth will set you free… but what if the truth ruins your life?

Jenny McBride has lost her faith and her reason to live in a terrible accident in Colorado Springs, but meeting a girl in trouble in Tennessee just might turn things around.

Ellie Ryan is seventeen and determined to move to Nashville to pursue her dreams of making it as a songwriter, but an unexpected pregnancy shatters her plans and sets her on a course she never imagined. 

Shawn Klein has it all. The beautiful girlfriend. The scholarship to play football at Vanderbilt after he graduates high school. At eighteen, he leads worship at his father’s prosperous megachurch. His life is perfect. So why isn’t he happy?

Everything changes when Shawn’s parents bring Ellie into their home to care for her until she gives birth. It’s the life with a real family that Ellie has always dreamed about, and the kind of future Shawn never knew he wanted, until Ellie’s past threatens to destroy everything.

When Jenny arrives in Tennessee to adopt Ellie's baby, only one thing is certain. A baby will be born, along with a crime of passion, and a desperate struggle to bury the truth. 

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This novel was and was not what I was expecting. Written with honesty and heartache, but also with hope; this novel takes you on a journey that begs us to stop and examine our own hearts. There are within the Church those who are hypocrites, fakes or cultural Christians as we like to say, and there are those who are the real deal. Still, we all mess up; we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. But we do need to examine ourselves, our hearts, and remove the plank from our own eye before judging and condemning another. Often times, circumstances and people can not be what they seem. We need to remember God's grace, His love, His mercy and His sacrifice. Who are we to determine who is good enough for God's love and salvation?! Did Christ not die to set the sinner free? Yes, He did! That by no means, mean we continue on in repetitive sin. You will know by their fruit, right?!

Scott had me rapidly reading these pages, unsure how everything would work out and still trying to piece parts of the puzzle together. While several hints she tucked in along the way, did pan out the way I expected; others surprised me. This is not a giddy, feel good kind of story, but it is a story worth the read and the reflection. Heavy but good.

* I would encourage you to read the Author's Note at the end.