It has been my honor to read and review Long Live Love: Walking Out Freedom from Painful Generational Patterns. Rena Roberts is one incredibly courageous woman to bare her soul as she did in her autobiographical Christian living book. For her to share her painful memories of family dysfunction with the world was brave and extremely generous.  The things she saw happen in her family while they were under the influence of alcohol, drugs, and possibly demonic influences were disturbing.  The level of depravity that her mother fell into was shocking to me.  I cannot imagine being a teenager and witnessing some of the things Rena saw.  I was reminded very much of Romans 1:24-26:

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵ They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.²⁶ Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.

The fact that Rena went on to seek God and was so determined to be a great mother is wonderful.  She made certain her children studied the Bible daily, and like a gardener, she tried to weed out the sin issues and carefully cultivated great character traits.  However, she struggled inwardly with bitterness and unforgiveness, and what was in her heart came out in her conversations no matter how much she tried to speak with grace.  She also struggled with faith that her daughter Amanda, in particular, could avoid the sin traps that Rena and her family had become mired in.

Then Rena’s fear that her daughter would get trapped in dysfunction came true.  On her eighteenth birthday, Amanda confessed something that shattered Rena.  And, that was just the beginning of Amanda taking relationship risks with men who were involved in the same sort of abusive and drug-influenced lifestyle that Rena had grown up in.  Then at twenty, she married Steven, a man who was trapped in a family cycle of “chaos, promiscuity, abuse, broken families, incest, drug addiction, and criminal incarceration.”

However, it took Steven to teach Rena that one doesn’t break free from generational bondage by kicking people out of one’s life.  Like she says in her book, “His ways are higher.”

Rena went on to show the lessons she learned about finding freedom from generational patterns and what she calls “familiar spirits.”  Many of the topics she wrote about resonated with me.  Through working through some of the questions she has after the chapters, I realized some areas in which my faith is stagnant and how I haven’t always trusted God to keep my own children safe. 

I wanted to read this book for insight into painful generational patterns that could affect my own children.  Though their ancestors didn’t have the same troubled past that Rena’s did, they were affected greatly by loss: early deaths from hazardous jobs, disease, depression, trauma from being in foreign wars… And if one traces the lineage back on the Walsh side, one runs into the Potato Famine – and all sorts of cultural, economic, and political turmoil.  The Irish appear to be more prone to alcoholism and depression than many other cultures.  With both of my daughters struggling with autoimmune issues, I’ve also discovered that the Irish have a higher prevalence of many autoimmune diseases than other parts of Europe. 

Reading Long Live Love reminded me that I need to walk with the Holy Spirit daily, praying for my family and giving them to God, trusting Him fully knowing that He loves them more than I can comprehend. As I finished reading Rena’s book, I had much to ponder about humility, where my motives lie, and repentance. 

Here’s more about the book: 

While utterly broken and at the end of herself, Rena Roberts broke free from spiritual bondage…and you can too.

In real life, victory over destructive generational patterns is rare. Psychologists have studied pathological family patterns for decades, trying to discover why they persist but to no avail. Part memoir, part psychological education and application, and part Christian living, Long Live Love is an invitation and opportunity for self-reflection and healing from family-of-origin issues.

Rena Roberts grew up in a profoundly dysfunctional home and set out to create a healthy, loving Christian family of her own. But when her daughter began to rebel in her late teens, Rena found herself stripped of her faith and everything she counted on from God. It was then that He began to radically transform her as she surrendered to His will and word, no matter what.

Rena’s approach to overcoming deep bondage and spiritual darkness will embolden others to go after freedom recklessly and bring the power of God’s supernatural love to their family line. This journey of freedom from generational jail is told in three sections: Longing, Living, and Loving. Each chapter ends with spiritual growth and reflection questions to examine the longings we have throughout our lives, how we try to live differently from our family of origin, and how we can truly love those we never thought we could.

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Rena is giving away the grand prize package of a $50 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/29586/long-live-love-celebration-tour-giveaway

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, December 15

Batya’s Bits , December 16

Artistic Nobody, December 17 (Author Interview)

Chronicles of Courage, December 17

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, December 18

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, December 19

Guild Master, December 20 (Author Interview)

Texas Book-aholic, December 21

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, December 22

Fiction Book Lover, December 23 (Author Interview)

Splashes of Joy, December 23

The Lit Lady, December 24

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, December 25 (Author Interview)

Locks, Hooks and Books, December 26

JESUS in the EVERYDAY, December 27

Life on Chickadee Lane, December 28