Showing results by author "Grace Whitlow" in All Categories

Eleanor Brooks has spent her adult life behind a piano bench, shaping worship through music rather than words. When progressive hearing loss forces her to step away, she finds herself unmoored—present in the pews but no longer needed, applauded for her faithfulness but left alone with unanswered questions. As Sundays lose their meaning and well-intentioned encouragement rings hollow, Eleanor struggles with a quieter crisis: not anger at God, but uncertainty. What remains when purpose ends? What does faith look like when it offers no comfort?

Maggie Caldwell has spent most of her life being indispensable. For decades, her days revolved around church life—supporting her husband’s calling, anticipating needs before they were spoken, standing quietly behind the work that held a community together. But after her husband’s death and the quiet reshaping of the church without her, Maggie finds herself facing a question she has never had to answer before: Who is she when no one needs her?

Before the Church Bells is a quiet, emotionally resonant novel about devotion, choice, and the lives we build by staying. For nearly four decades, Maggie Brennan has been the steady heart of Grace Point Community Church—organizing records, keeping traditions alive, and holding the quiet stories of a town together. As retirement approaches, Maggie finds herself facing a silence she never planned for: the loss of purpose, the weight of memory, and questions she believed were long settled.

Hannah Brooks returns to her hometown believing she’ll stay only a short while. What she finds instead is a place shaped by memory, quiet faith, and the love she once left behind. As familiar faces reappear and old wounds resurface, Hannah must decide whether moving forward requires leaving—or staying and choosing differently. Told with gentleness and emotional restraint, this is a story about grief, grace, and the slow work of healing. A reflective, faith-forward novel about learning to trust the light that follows even the longest night.

When the pulpit is empty, who are you allowed to become? After more than thirty years in ministry, Daniel Harper steps away from the role that defined him—only to discover that faith does not end when leadership does. As Sundays lose their structure and the church learns to move on without him, Daniel must confront the quiet questions he never had time to ask: Who am I when I am no longer needed? What remains when the work is finished? When the Pulpit Is Empty is a contemplative Christian novella about vocation, long marriage, and faith beyond titles.