A Thing Devoted chronicles two years in the life of a Christian family devastated by adultery and divorce. Three, adopted, multi-racial children, struggle with the question of God’s seeming indifference to their pain. Ten year old Abster, a tiny spy in the house of loss and confusion, keeps a daily record of her observations.“If you attend church weekly, and on time, are attentive in Sunday school, get full immersion baptism, tithe more than ten per cent, volunteer in the nursery, pray for missions, and really, truly believe in God, shouldn’t you be protected? Shouldn’t He keep terrible things from happening to you? I understand my obligations to Jesus, but what are His, to me?”This intimate story of one family’s journey through fire, considers the purpose of suffering, its defining nature, and ultimately its life giving power.