When I began writing The Sister Wife I was immediately drawn into the “what ifs” an author often asks herself as her characters come to life: What if a young woman named Mary Rose Ashley falls in love with a wonderful young man named Gabriel MacKay and, after a romantic whirlwind courtship aboard a clipper ship bound for America, they marry?

A historical romance? Most definitely. But with a twist. What if Mary Rose, who’s traveling with her grandfather, has recently become a member of the fledgling frontier church known as the Latter Day Saints? What if, when she marries Gabe, neither knows about the revelation that Joseph Smith will claim just a few years hence — the practice of polygamy, especially the requirement of a Saint in good standing to marry multiple wives in order to make it into the highest level of heaven? What if the woman Gabe is required to marry is also Mary Rose’s best friend?

I hadn’t gotten far into the story when much bigger and even more intriguing picture began to surface — a portrait of God’s dealings with us, his errant children. I focused especially on his unfailing love for us, the fact that nothing we do (and he knows the worst about us) can ever separate us from his love, his mercy, his forgiveness, his grace.

I began to look up passages about God’s faithfulness and landed in the Old Testament book of Hosea (which gives us a wonderful story of God’s love for his people).  I came across the following:

When Israel was only a child, I loved him.

I called out, “My son!” …

But when others called him,

he ran off and left me.

He worshiped the popular sex gods,

he played at religion with toy gods.

Still, I stuck with him.

I rescued him from human bondage,

But he never acknowledged my help,

never admitted I was the one pulling his wagon,

That I lifted him, like a baby, to my cheek,

that I bent down to feed him.

Hosea 11:1-4  (The Message)

After studying these verses, I realized that the story in The Sister Wife, book one of the series, had broader implications than the complications of my characters. The deeper story is that of God’s great and tender love for his people — for each of us, no matter our headstrong ways, no matter our sins of the past, no matter how far off the path we’ve veered — God’s tenderness toward us is like that of a mother for her infant. Cuddling us. Lifting us to kiss our cheeks. Feeding us. Laughing and playing with us as he “pulls us in his wagon.” (What a delightful image!)

My characters have a long journey ahead, but their journeys will parallel God’s workings within each of us on our own journeys as we experience his unconditional love for us and his great and awesome faithfulness. At the heart of the “marriage issue” is this:

I will betroth you to me forever;

I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,

in love and compassion.

I will betroth you in faithfulness,

and you will acknowledge the Lord.

Hosea 2:19-20 NIV

In the end, that is the truth behind The Brides of Gabriel.

More to share on another day, dear ones, as I dig even deeper into the heart of this series while writing book two. I would love your prayers for me as the story comes to life in my heart.

Blessings of love, joy, and peace …