By April Clark Honaker
Local author Jean DeFreese Moore’s book “A Father’s Love: Sacrifice and Service” was recently released by Covenant Books. The book is the fourth in the series, “A Father’s Love,” which tells a tale of epic proportions with strong Christian underpinnings. The A Father’s Love series includes three preceding books: “Faith and Family,” “Justice and Forgiveness,” and “Joyous Hope.”
The series follows the Britt family across multiple generations, multiple states and two centuries. Moore’s first book begins just prior to the Civil, with the main character Travis Britt living in the mountains, and the fourth book takes place during World War I and the Spanish flu epidemic.
Moore said the first book in the series resembles a typical western. “The difference in this story,” she said, “is that Travis is a strong Christian. He communicates with God daily and turns to God when there’s a problem.”
Travis passes along his faith and trust in God to his children. Along the way, the Britt family’s faith is tested by many trials including war, injuries, murder, loss, human trafficking and the fracturing of their family. While they endure physical and emotional pain and grief, the characters continue to place their faith in God, find joy in their trials, and trust that good will triumph in the end.
The series is filled with scripture, and Moore said, “It’s showing people how to use scripture in their daily life.”
The initial idea for the books came to Moore while helping her 13-year-old granddaughter with a writing project for school. Because her granddaughter lived in Texas, the two of them would email stories back and forth. At the time, Moore was just having fun and didn’t expect anything to come of her efforts, but one day, she said, “I started a story I couldn’t find an ending to.”
That story, which was the beginning of the first book in her series, went untouched for about two years. Then one day while driving, Moore said God spoke to her: “He said, ‘Finish the story. I’ll give you the ending.’” Moore also felt God was wanting her to share the story with others.
“If God talks to you, you want to try to do what He says,” she said.
Although Moore has found herself experiencing writer’s block on occasion, she’s never remained blocked for long. “It felt like every time I would share or take a step forward, He would give me more of the story.”
In fact, Moore already has an idea for a fifth book. In the meantime, those interested in purchasing a copy of Moore’s books can find them locally at Ruston Artisans, where Moore would be happy to provide her signature as well. The books are also available at bookstores and online.
