Introduction

God was going to save her marriage, Allison was sure of it. But neither her husband nor her marriage had been saved.

What had become of His promise?

Tony Kavanagh had been Allison’s dream-come-true. They were in love within days, engaged within weeks, married and pregnant within a year. Her cup bubbled over with joy . . . but years later, that joy had been extinguished by unexpected trials.

The day Allison issued her husband an ultimatum, she thought it might save him. She never expected he would actually leave. She was certain God had promised to heal; it was clear that she'd misunderstood.

Now, living in the quiet mountain cabin she inherited from her single, self-reliant Great Aunt Emma, Allison must come to terms with her grief and figure out how to adapt to small town life. But when she finds a wedding dress and a collection of journals in Emma’s attic, a portrait of her aunt emerges that takes Allison completely by surprise: a portrait of a heartbroken woman surprisingly like herself.

As Allison reads the incredible story of Emma’s life in the 1920s and 1930s, she is forced to ask a difficult question: Does she really surrender every piece of her life to the Lord? 

Drawing from her own heart-wrenching story of redemption, A Promise Kept is Robin Lee Hatcher’s emotionally charged thanksgiving to a God who answers prayers—in His own time and His own ways.

"Hatcher’s latest is an uplifting and heartwarming story about the power of faith to set people free from the pain of their pasts. Recommended where ­Tracie Peterson’s books (All Things Hidden; The Miner’s Lady) are popular." —Library Journal, STARRED Review

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Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Allison

May 2011

This wasn't the life Allison Kavanagh had imagined for herself, but it was what her life had become. Like it or not, she had to get on with it.

She turned the key in the lock.

Hidden away in the mountains north of Boise, the two-story log house—built many decades before but completely remodeled on the inside—was open and airy with a state-of-the-art kitchen, modern efficiencies throughout, and spectacular views of the rugged Idaho mountains from every window. The place had been left to Allison four years earlier in her great-aunt's will. Never in her wildest dreams had Allison imagined she would end up living in it one day. Perhaps Aunt Emma had seen the future a little more clearly than she had. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1) Allison moved to a new place to begin her life anew. Have you ever done the same? How did you settle in and become part of your new setting?
2) Before Allison moved to Kings Meadow, she had drifted away from church and other believers because she felt like a failure. Have you ever allowed your faith to “drift?” How did you find your way back?
3) Alcoholism is sometimes called a “disease of secrets” because family members often hide what is happening in the home. Has your life been impacted by a loved one with addictions of any kind? If so, have you been able to reach out to someone to help you find healing and hope?
4) Emma thought that marriage would fill the need in her heart. Then she thought a child would feel that need. Have you looked for fulfillment in people or situations rather than in Christ? What were the end results?
5) Allison learns to accept her “new normal.” Have you had to do the same? Can you share how God helped you with it?
6) Emma kept journals for decades, and Allison began following her example. Do you journal? If so, do you find that God speaks to you through this exercise?
7) God saves Allison and Tony’s marriage by first allowing it to crumble. How has God answered prayers in your life in totally unexpected ways?
8) Tony and Allison used verses from Psalm 118 for their wedding vows. Are you able to look at sometimes difficult experiences in your own life and see that “this is the Lord’s doing” and it is marvelous in your eyes?

Weblinks

»	Author Robin Lee Hatcher's web site
»	Publisher's Book Info

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