Gifted

Contemporary faith-based novel, set within the world of competitive track and field, that traces the inter-related journeys of its three central characters. Sarah Turner, a sophomore with drive and a natural gift for running, lacks the resources to develop it at her small K-12 school and compete at the highest levels in the state. Ben Turner, her father, is a widower devoted to both his daughter and his students at Montevallo Christian Academy, but he still privately struggles with the loss of his wife to cancer almost four years prior. Enter Amber Jones, an unbelieving personal trainer on her own quest of reaching the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Despite initial reservations, Amber agrees to train Sarah by employing an imaginative and sophisticated shadowing regimen, with Ben’s selfless support. As the season proceeds with its twists and turns, sometimes comical and sometimes suspenseful, the Lord increasingly weaves their lives together in profound and unexpected ways.
By the time Sarah places fifth in the 800 meters at the state championships and Amber finds herself toeing the line in the final heat of the Trials, all three characters have been uniquely gifted by God, including Amber with faith in Christ and a newly focused life that just may include Ben, who has broken out of his self-imposed social isolation.