Why is it important to accept an apology you’re never given? Do you have any personal experience with this?
I think these might be the most important apologies to accept because they are the most difficult. Yes, in my life I’ve been mistreated, and it’s so easy to let bitterness creep in. That bitterness can destroy you in so many ways, and I’ve learned that while time does help, the only thing that truly heals is forgiving someone who has wronged you.
I also think it’s especially difficult when the person who hasn’t apologized is a fellow Christian. It can scar us more deeply for some reason, and if we aren’t careful, it can affect our faith. We can become consumed with thoughts that “they should know better” and “this is no way to treat another Christian,” but the truth is, we’re all humans and we all make mistakes. We have to come to a place of trusting that God is in control, even through our hurt and pain.
Often, we learn our lessons from those who are older. In Just Let Go, a lesson is taught by a younger character—why did you choose to go that route, and do you feel that’s true to life?
I feel like there is something wonderful about the faith of a child. While Jaden isn’t a young child, I wanted him to have that sort of innocent faith. I liked that he was an unlikely source of wisdom because I’ve found that in life, that can happen—wisdom can come to us even when we aren’t looking for it and from the most unexpected sources.
I also work with kids and teenagers, and I find them to be some of the very best humans in the world. It’s easy to imagine one of them would teach me something because they do it on a regular basis. I suppose Jaden is a bit of a tribute to them. He was a character that sort of burst onto the page, and once he was there, my heart exploded for him.
I loved that while Grady has something Jaden needs—knowledge about skiing—Jaden also has something Grady needs—knowledge about Christ. And each shares their own wisdom so freely. It was one of my favorite relationships in the story.
What is the best way you’ve found to truly forgive someone else and move on? Is there a secret formula or at least a few tried-and-true tips?
I think there’s a misconception that you can pray, “God, I forgive so-and-so for hurting me” and all the pain of it will just go away. I wish it were that easy! Instead, I think the truth is that forgiveness is something we have to offer daily, like a sacrifice.
And every time that pain or hurt starts to torment us, we have to come back to it again—“I forgive them, Lord. I’m not going to dwell on this anymore.” That’s the only way I’ve ever been successful. And some days I don’t feel like it, so I get quiet for a bit and then God gives me another opportunity to forgive. He’s good like that.
How do you hope this book will resonate with your readers?
I hope they will find themselves wrapped up in Quinn and Grady’s story, and that the journey each of these characters is on reveals something true in readers’ hearts. My prayer is that it not only entertains them, but inspires them to think on the idea of letting go.
Maybe there’s something they’ve been holding on to—a hurt or disappointment—and maybe in reading Quinn and Grady’s story they’ll be inspired to finally let it go. I believe stories can capture our heart in a way that pure fact can’t.
My prayer is always that my stories do that, that the reader turns the final page and feels hopeful about the story they’re writing with their own life as they live out each day.
Visit Courtney Walsh’s author page:
https://www.familyfiction.com/authors/courtney-walsh
Just Let Go
Courtney Walsh
Tyndale House
For Quinn Collins, buying the flower shop in downtown Harbor Pointe fulfills a childhood dream, but also gives her the chance to stick it to her mom, who owned the store before skipping town twenty years ago and never looking back. Completing much-needed renovations, however, while also competing for a prestigious flower competition with her mother as the head judge, soon has Quinn in over her head. Not that she’d ever ask for help.
Luckily, she may not need to. Quinn’s father and his meddling friends find the perfect solution in notorious Olympic skier Grady Benson, who had only planned on passing through the old-fashioned lakeside town. But when a heated confrontation leads to property damage, helping Quinn as a community-service sentence seems like the quickest way out―and the best way to avoid more negative press.
Quinn finds Grady reckless and entitled; he thinks she’s uptight and too regimented. Yet as the two begin to hammer and saw, Quinn sees glimpses of the vulnerability behind the bravado, and Grady learns from her passion and determination, qualities he seems to have lost along the way. But when a well-intentioned omission has devastating consequences, Grady finds himself cast out of town―and Quinn’s life―possibly forever. Forced to face the hurt holding her back, Quinn must finally let go or risk missing out on the adventure of a lifetime.
Includes discussion questions.