Teena Myers

I thoroughly enjoyed Christa Allan’s funny, refreshingly honest presentation at the Southern Christian Writers Guild and invited her to meet with me. As we sipped coffee, she gave me more than I expected. Her poignant story of faith lost, faith found, and faith shared dropped from her lips like puzzle pieces waiting to be assembled.

Spurned by the high school “in” crowd, Christa learned that she could escape the harsh realities of life through words. She wrote imaginative stories that vilified her abusers. When a friend complimented one of her stories, Christa sought a second opinion from her teacher. The teacher’s encouraging comments convinced her that she had a talent for writing.

“My first husband liked to say, ‘Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach,’” said Christa. “I taught English, so I didn’t pursue publication.”

Her life fell apart when her daughter was born with Down Syndrome. She turned to the church for an explanation.

“Why can God raise Lazarus from the dead, but he can’t fix my child?” Christa demanded.

The priest studied his distraught parishioner. “You may not want to hear this right now, but I want you to think about this: Lazarus died twice.”

His response failed to dispel Christa’s frustration with the Almighty, so she abandoned the church and consoled herself with alcohol.

“A friend got in my face and told me, ‘You drink too much,’” said Christa. “She refused to give up on me until I agreed to talk to a counselor at a rehabilitation hospital. The counselor convinced me I had a problem.”

Christa entered an inpatient rehabilitation program. Thirty days later, she walked out of the hospital with instructions to attend Alcoholics Anonymous, a support group that helps members maintain sobriety through dependence on a higher power.

“Alcoholics Anonymous brought me back to God,” said Christa. “I knew I couldn’t do this alone, and to me the higher power was God.”

Christa returned to faith in God, but she did not return to the church.

The following year, her marriage ended in divorce. Her former husband agreed to keep their children until she adjusted to her new life. Christa’s new life included Ken, a Jewish veterinarian.

Shortly after Christa married Ken, a friend invited her to church. She enjoyed the service but was not prepared for the unexpected follow-up visit. She had been married less than a month when her Jewish husband returned home to find three Christian men in suits sitting in his den. She never returned to that church.

Christa prayed for a way to provide a spiritual foundation for her children when they came to live with her. A friend encouraged her to invest in her emotional commitment to God with a financial commitment. She chose a church down the street from her home and began mailing small donations from her salary.

A month later, Christa received a call from the recipient of her donations.

“Is this Christa Allan?” a woman asked.

“Yes.”

“I’m the secretary at First Baptist Church. Our pastor would like to speak to you.”

While Christa waited, she wondered what she had done to warrant a call from the pastor.

“Hello, this is Pastor Bailey. I was wondering why you started sending money to our church. We checked the rolls, and you’re not a member.”

“I know,” said Christa. “We just moved here, and a friend told me I should invest in my emotional commitment to God with a financial one. Your church is near my house, so it made sense to send you some money.”

“Okay, you probably don’t know that most churches don’t receive money on a regular basis from people they don’t know.”

“I never thought about that,” said Christa.

“I met with Pastor Bailey shortly after he called. He was personable, and I felt very comfortable,” said Christa. “I liked that his wife taught in the public schools and that his daughters attended a public high school. It spoke volumes about his faith and commitment to the community. I felt that I could connect with this church. Ken didn’t mind as long as I didn’t bother him with it. He just didn’t get this Jesus thing, so I didn’t force my faith on him.”

Christa joined the church and increased her giving from small donations to a tithe. Shortly after she increased her contributions, Ken told her that he needed to talk to her. She braced for a disagreement about money. Instead, Ken announced, “I’m going to talk to your pastor.”

Several months later, Ken accepted Christ and was baptized in the church.

“My pastor calls him a completed Jew, and I really like that,” said Christa.

Ken encouraged Christa to pursue publication. She was reluctant until she discovered the Christian fiction of Kristin Billerbeck.

“I wrote two one-page stories and emailed them to Kristin. I don’t know what I was thinking, and I didn’t expect her to respond, but she did. She said the stories had a great beginning but needed some structure. Her encouragement and my husband’s support were all I needed,” said Christa.

One day, Christa was flipping through her journal and stopped to read an entry. She decided she could do something with those thoughts and began writing her debut novel. When her enthusiasm for the project waned, Ken bought her a laptop. His gift spurred her to continue writing.

When friends in Christian publishing said a story about alcoholism would never sell, she abandoned the novel and began writing about safer themes.

“I studied the market for articles that were selling and tried to write about the same things, but it was like putting an octopus in a box. I finally decided, ‘I’m writing my book whether it sells or not.’”

Christa’s manuscript eventually found its way into the hands of a literary agent who loved the story. God fulfilled Christa’s lifelong dream of becoming a published author when Abingdon Press released her debut novel, Walking on Broken Glass.

The Bible tells us to “… encourage one another and build each other up …” (1 Thess. 5:11). Christa’s story is a good example of why we should do so. Words of discouragement suppressed her gift for writing. Words of encouragement drew out her God-given talent to deal with, in Christa’s words, “the elephant in the room.”