Life Choices

This is the story of Sarah Jakes, daughter of well-known pastor, Bishop T. D. Jakes.  She is just twenty-five but has certainly lived a life of drama.

Sarah became pregnant at thirteen. Because of the guilt she felt for becoming a teen mother, she worked extra hard in her high school studies, and graduated much earlier than she would have, had she not missed time with her pregnancy.

Next, Sarah enrolled in college, but started flunking out when she became involved in a dysfunctional relationship with a football player.  This man cheated on her constantly.  As soon as one liaison ended, he was quick to find another to replace her.

Despite his disloyalty, and Sarah’s awareness of it, she sacrificed anything to have a relationship with him.  This included lying to her family, moving in with him, throwing away her chance for a college education and working as a waitress in a strip club.  Despite all this, Sarah wanted to marry him, and his blatant cheating continued after their marriage.

Sarah is blessed to have had her family’s support, and the means to provide a good job and material goods for her.  Her family has stood by her, no matter what, and provided a safety net.

The title of the book, “Lost and Found,” implies there was an “aha” moment with God, when a change took place in Sarah’s life.  However, there never seemed to be a defining moment when she turned away from one kind of living, and started down a path toward a Godly life.  Instead, her story seemed to be one of making a series of bad choices and then, sometimes, adding religion to the mix.

The first fifty pages or so, are filled with her unhappiness about being in a well-known preacher’s family with a mega church. Difficulty dealing with her family being famous is used as justification of why she started experimenting with sex at age thirteen.  I have sympathy for Sarah.  However, I would have liked for Sarah to take responsibility for her actions herself, to hear her say, “I messed up.  I shouldn’t have done that.”

I would also like for Sarah to understand on a very deep level that she has God’s forgiveness.  She does not need a relationship where she is mistreated and devalued as further penance for her past.

I applaud Sarah for being transparent about her life.   Being a teen mother, and a single mother, is not an easy road.  The question is, where will she go from here, what will be her destiny?  She is still a young girl, with a history of making lots of bad choices.  It has only been two years since she got out of her penalizing , dysfunctional relationship and marriage.  My hope is that she accepts forgiveness from God and herself, so that future choices will not be ones to punish her further, but to grow in the Lord’s love.

The author spends multiple pages writing about issues, that seemed like they could have been covered in a much smaller space.  At times, the story rambles a lot, making it a challenge to continue reading.  Because of the subpar writing, this cannot be more than a 3-star book.

The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book through Bethany House Publishing for the purpose of review. All opinions expressed are my own, and I have not been compensated in any other manner. Despite my receiving the book free, it has not influenced my judgment, and I have given an honest opinion.

Author’s Website:  http://sarahjakes.com/author/sarahdjakes/

Author’s Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/SarahJakesOnline

Author’s Twitter:  https://twitter.com/SarahDJakes