Francine Rivers stays true to the Scriptural record of Jesus’ life in her novella, Unafraid, but uses her imagination to fill in the gaps of Mary’s story. The climax in Rivers’ series of the five women listed in the lineage of Jesus, Unafraid tells the story of the woman God chose to bear His Son.

We walk with Mary and imagine her amazement at Gabriel’s visitation. We envision her struggle with expectation and disappointment, and weep with her at the foot of the cross.

Joseph’s burden becomes ours, as we grasp the magnitude of his responsibility fathering the Son of God.

I love this short story, so poignant at Christmastime. It captures the miraculous mission of God – to willingly humble Himself taking on the lowliest human form, compassionately bearing every human temptation, and graciously rescuing us from the ultimate consequence of our disobedience.

Unafraid is suitable for middle school students and above. It’s a quick two-hundred page read and I highly recommend it.

Rivers, Francine, and Peggy Lynch. A Lineage of Grace: Five Unlikely Women Who Changed Eternity. Tyndale House Publishers, 2004.