“Here, Bruce, let me help you with that.”

I watched the hands of my friend, David Boswell, piece together the metal frame for my banner. In that moment, I was back in time almost thirty years. David and Alan Young, tool belts dangling with “Power” built one of the most impressive sets for our church drama. Scaffolding reached high over the stage area and along the front, a facade representing Jerusalem unfolded.
David and Alan had worked their magic again! I looked into David’s intense blue eyes as he helped me with this current simple project. He must have read my mind.

“You remember that scaffolding?” He said twisting two pipes together.

“How could I forget. You and Alan almost had no idea what was going on top of the scaffolding.”

“The entire choir!” His mouth fell open in shock. “I was praying it wouldn’t collapse. No one told me the choir would be up there.”

I laughed. “David, you built that scaffolding. I knew it would hold.”

David merely laughed. “The Lord held that thing together.”

We finished the frame and I had to hold back tears. For you see, David Boswell fell off the roof of his house over a decade before and suffered brain damage.

Martha Boswell, David’s wife, is a member of our local Louisiana chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers. She had brought her books to GeekD Con a few weeks ago and David helped us set up the booth. I had her fastest book, “Nothing to Lose” but had to confess to her I couldn’t get past the first couple of chapters. The story, while fictional, echoed the tragedy of Martha and David’s life. But as we sat and shared so many stories of the struggles in our lives, I realized how important is was to finish that book.

And I did! It is wonderful, encouraging, uplifting. I shared my experience at GeekD Con with our local chapter at our latest monthly meeting. For me, selling books had been the main goal. But God had other plans. Imagine that! As many of you know, I have an adult daughter with epilepsy. So many people wandered up to the booth and after a short conversation, I realized they had someone in their family with epilepsy! I was able to share words of wisdom and encouragement with them.

But Martha! Oh my! She engaged everyone in conversation in such an easy and nonthreating manner. And she had information about TBI, traumatic brain injury. I was shocked at the stories we heard about people with traumatic brain injury.

“Nothing to Lose” is a wonderful story about a family suffering from a father and husband who undergoes a traumatic brain injury. The story is tough to read, but essential reading. Martha has written a beautiful, aching tale of love that overcomes adversity. Not just the love between two people but the love of God.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about how we have this “treasure” in jars of clay. That treasure is the Gospel of Jesus Christ as evidenced in our changed lives. The challenge is the jar of clay. It is not pretty. The potter has placed their own imprint on the jar. And jars crack and break. And even broken and cracked, those jars can still be used to touch the lives of so many.

Martha’s book can be found here. And don’t miss David’s cooking class on Facebook, Supper on the Shelf! Pick up “Nothing to Lose” because you have everything to gain!