When her drunken husband threatened to kill her and her children and fired a shotgun in her house, Xulon author Patricia Ann Rini fled with a few meager possessions, no self-esteem, and no means to feed her children. She was so desolate that she prayed for her own death as a solution. Her prayers were answered in a different way. She learned to fight back and to heal. In The Power of Choice: The Journey from Addiction, Trial by Fire and Blind Faith ($17.99, paperback, 978-1-60477-984-4), which has been newly released in bookstores, she recounts how she started her life over, learned to support her family, joined a twelve-step program, and doggedly struggled to overcome her codependency. The book--as well as the forthcoming biblically-based companion workbook--addresses a growing problem as it relates to addictions within the Christian community.
Says Rini of her God-inspired book, "(I hope readers learn) we were not born to simply survive or master life's circumstances. We were made to conquer and overcome every obstacle,
becoming living testimonies to others of God's grace and goodness. Men and women who are addicted to a substance, person, or thing need to know that real sobriety, peace, and joy comes
from God--even in the midst of chaos and confusion."
The writing process was, at times, bittersweet for Rini, who poured her heart and soul into sharing the most intimate details of her life that many people might consider shameful. "During
the endless hours of writing, I cried tears of bitter remorse and pitted regret for the years I wasted looking behind me," she says. "But tucked between each paragraph and in every
sentence is a message of hope, healing, and unshakable faith I knew the reader would find and use."
Xulon Press, a part of Salem Communications Corporation, is the world's largest Christian publisher, with more than 5,000 titles published to date. Retailers may order The Power of Choice
through Ingram Book Company and/or Spring Arbor Book Distributors.