Into the Fire

Sally Bradley did a masterful job with a difficult plot and provided enough intrigue and even hope with mostly unlikeable characters – at least for me. Kept is the story of Miska, a young woman  who works from her expensive condo as a freelance editor. Although she is respected for her editing skills, she's relied on her beauty and sexual appeal for most of her life. For her, sex was an assumed result of showing interest in any boy in high school and carried on as an adult. She's a conduit for the lusty desires of men. Two of them happen to be professional athletes who "gift" her with money as they indulge themselves in her pleasures. One of them – the one she wants – is married but of course he plans to leave his wife for her. Her life as a kept woman is emotionally shallow and sexually charged.  

To tell you the truth, I've known young women like Miska. Their laissez-faire attitude about the current love of their lives seems normal to them and sexual encounters are no big deal – just the way life is with a man. Any man. They fall in love with whomever shows them real attention and sex is just part of the deal – and what makes them valuable.

Miska is a self-absorbed young woman who associates her value with her physical appeal. When she meets her new neighbor (Dillan), there's something about him – besides his height – that attracts her. He's living with his brother in the apartment next door until his brother's wedding to his fiancée. When Miska learns Dillan is a pastor, she taunts him with her sexuality. He tries to avoid her but struggles with his attraction to her.

Here's where these two become unlikeable. Miska has set herself up for trouble with a married man who makes vacant promises and another athlete who drops by and essentially leaves a huge "tip" for the time they share together. When she learns more about her neighbor, she mocks him with her arrogant attitude. He wants to like her but decides a woman "like her" would never be okay for him. Their pride and condescension toward one another make it difficult to like either one of them.

The brother's fiancée (Tracy) brings a wonderful testament of honesty and redemption to the story. She's loyal, faithful, and proves to be something Miska hasn't had in her life: a real friend. She's my favorite character in this story. Her persistence and commitment to Miska is admirable and Spirit-led. When Tracy suffers considerable pain, she does her best to walk out her faith in personal crisis. She never abandons Miska and proves her love and commitment to the friendship with steady encouragement and revelation of who Jesus is. 

Sally captures the essence of these multiple characters with finesse and honesty, the challenges of living out Christianity as opposed to living in the world with its destructive lifestyles, the hypocrisy that can creep into a Christian's psyche even when trying to live right. Kept shows the journey to salvation is often troublesome and sometimes takes so much longer than it seems it should. And just because a person knows Jesus doesn't mean they have all the answers and can meet the challenges when faced with hypocrisy in their hearts. Life is a battle for everyone, but with Jesus those hard places can be overcome through Him.

Kept provides a satisfying conclusion to this multi-layered story of broken lives and the ultimate redemption of some of them.

Father, please continue to bless Sally's writing as she continues to serve you however she is able. Encourage her as only you can do and please bring complete healing to her body. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.