VANCOUVER, Wash. (FBW)—Pulling a slimy, Gummi Bear out of Gatorade for a science experiment wasn’t exactly what Karen Kingsbury had in mind when she envisioned finishing the second book in her new novel series before leaving for a trip early the next day.

In fact, looking over their six children to catch her husband’s eye, Karen shared a laugh with her husband Don at how much help their brood needed that particular night.

First it was fifth grader Austin who was in the middle of his fifth grade science project comparing the effect of water versus Gatorade on Gummi bears. Then Kelsey, 19, reminded her mom she had a two-hour college algebra final. E.J., 14, had already engaged his father’s help in math, and then Sean, also 14, asked his mom for help in understanding how the U.S. Constitution impacted homelessness.

“I’m bounding like a pinball between these different kids,” Karen, 45, recalled. “It was 10 o’clock before you knew it and I hadn’t even put together my folder for my trip. So I didn’t get my book edited.”

Perhaps most well-known for the title given to her by Time magazine, the “queen of Christian romance,” Kingsbury—the author of more than 40 books with over ten million copies in print—said in a recent interview while that particular school night with her children is an example of her greatest challenge in life, she’s up to the task of maintaining a “balance.”

“I’ll always err on the side of my family and I’ll never regret that,” Kingsbury told Florida Baptist Witness. “I won’t get a second chance to do that, so that’s got to take precedence.”

Testimony

Getting to the heart of life’s priorities pushed to the forefront for Kingsbury when she was working a one-year-stint as a young religion editor at the Simi Valley Enterprise (now Ventura County Star) in southern California after graduating with a degree in journalism from California State University, Northridge, in 1986.

Raised to believe in God, play by the rules and attend church occasionally, Kingsbury said coverage of faith-based events and reading press releases about a multitude of religious ideas converged on her at about the same time she met Don.

From the start, Kingsbury said she knew Don was different. For one, he asked her if he could bring his Bible so they could read Scripture on their first date.

“I didn’t know Philippians from Colossians,” Kingsbury said. “I had no idea what that even was, but he was really cute and I didn’t want to lose him right off the bat and so I said, ‘Yeah, OK, I mean, bring the Bible.’”

It seemed God was working on her on two fronts.

“I had this great guy trying to show me the Bible and tell me about key verses and that kind of thing, meanwhile I am also getting a fresh look at thing that kind of disturb me about some mainstream traditional faiths and religions,” Kingsbury said.

At 22, Kingsbury said she had already come up with her own version of what faith should resemble.

“Love God, be a good person, don’t steal—and, as long as you are not doing these certain things, then it should be OK, kind of maybe, if you slept with your boyfriend,” she said.

Feeling “convicted” was something new and so when Don pointed out specific verses, she took his precious, earmarked Bible and flung it to the ground where it split apart at the binding. “It was devastating for him to see his Bible shattered on the ground,” Kingsbury said.

He picked up the pieces, gave her a sad look, and left.

Moved by what she had done, feeling like “the world’s worst person” for throwing his Bible in an expression of her beliefs, Kingsbury said she took her first trip to a Christian bookstore, purchased a Bible and a Strong’s Concordance and began to prepare an “effective argument” looking up key words.

“It took about five minutes for God to show me they were completely unfounded biblically and I could either fall away with all the traditional things I believed or I could grab on to God’s Word and never let go.

“It was a dramatic, complete turning point in my life,” Kingsbury said. “A complete transformation where I cried out to the Lord to be my Savior. Everything in the Bible was vividly alive and made complete sense to me and I literally fell in love with God’s Word.”

The two were back together within the hour and began looking for a Bible-believing church where they could worship. They celebrated their 20-year anniversary wedding in 2008.

From fact to fiction; crime to romance

“God really worked out the details in a very specific way for me,” Kingsbury recalled of that time in her life. “It was amazing.”

In fact, she landed the assignment as religion editor because it was considered the least desirable post at the paper and handed was off to the newest hire—not because of any background she could offer. An additional assignment, sportswriting, was one in which Kingsbury also distinguished herself while completing a college internship with the Los Angeles Times. Continuing work for the Times and for the Los Angeles Daily News, Kingsbury eventually wrote emotional feature stories for the Sunday paper’s front pages.

Getting a book offer to write a true crime story, Missy’s Murder, six weeks after her daughter, Kelsey was born, Kingsbury quit work as a full-time journalist and began writing from home where she has been ever since. After four true crime books and four books on miracles and answered prayers—she wrote her first novel, Where Yesterday Lives.

Since then, she has written dozens of books including the Redemption Series with co-author Gary Smalley, one of American’s best-known authors and speakers on family relationships. Under the trademark, “Life-Changing Fiction,” the five-book series follows a family with everyday trials and triumphs. The series highlights Gary Smalley’s key lesson: “Love is a decision.” Kingsbury’s Firstborn and Sunrise series follow the Baxter family as they continue to face life’s certain joys and struggles.

Unlike most fiction, however, which makes immediate claims to non-reality, Kingsbury’s works are often derived from true stories—and drawn from her own imaginings of what it would be like to be in someone else’s shoes.

With three adopted children among six, Kingsbury said when she wrote Like Dandelion Dust, published in 2005, there were several news items about children being “ripped out of the arms of their adoptive parents” and given to biological parents under various circumstances.

“I couldn’t even fathom that kind of a loss,” Kingsbury said. So compelling was the story, it has been adapted into a movie.

Like Dandelion Dust the book was based in Palm Beach. The movie was filmed in Jacksonville in 2008. Starring Mira Sorvino and Barry Pepper, it is the story of how far a couple will go to keep their adopted son when the biological father comes back into the picture. Kingsbury said it is a classic parable of King Solomon “come to life” in the portrait of two mothers and their child.

Watching people respond at the movie’s premier at the Palm Spring’s Independent Film Festival Jan. 8 where it garnered “The Best of the Fest” award, Kingsbury said she was deeply humbled by their “tearful” and somewhat subdued reactions after seeing the movie.

“It was different, definitely. Usually what you’re going to see in a movie is beyond violent and gore and sensual overload. And there’s nothing to it, it’s empty,” Kingsbury said. “But this is so not that, it’s so much richer and deeper that. Watching the audience was just the most rewarding thing because it was what we all prayed for.”

The family

For Kingsbury, the message of the need for families to adopt children and how “precious” those relationships are—was intimate and convincing because of her own family’s familiarity with the real issues.

After Kelsey, 19, and Tyler, 16 were born early in their marriage, Austin, now 11, came along in 1997. A “surprise” in several ways, Kingsbury said she and her husband first thought he was going to be a girl — and were “shocked” when he was a boy, but further “shocked and saddened” to find out he had a dramatic and very severe heart defect and would likely die.

Calling him a “miracle child,” Kingsbury said he had surgery at three weeks old and is now “off the charts” in growth and athletic ability.

“He just hit a home run yesterday,” Kingsbury glowed.

At the time, however, cautioned by doctors that the same thing, or worse, could occur in future children, Kingsbury said they ultimately decided Austin should keep his place in the family birth order, but they should adopt another child between his age and the others.

“We have room in our hearts and in our home,” Kingsbury recalled saying.

Their search for a child turned overseas to a Christian-run orphanage in Haiti before long—where they saw a photo listing of Emmanuel Jean “EJ”, 13, who was then 5. “His smile just won our hearts.”

“We looked and we thought, you know, different color, different culture, different country, but the same Christ,” Kingsbury said.

Shortly after the family sent in a “down payment” to secure the adoption, Kingsbury said the Redemption Series contract was finalized and it became apparent the Lord would provide the means for another family member. “We felt like God was just opening up the floodgates of Heaven and saying, ‘yes, yes, I want you to adopt.’”

If one was in the plan, the Kingsbury’s thought, why not two? And so they chose another, Joshua, 6. Turns out Joshua probably wouldn’t work out they were told months later by a woman at the orphanage who said he was “difficult.” So going back online, they withdrew their request for Joshua and chose instead Sean Angelo.

Nine months later when Kingsbury traveled to the orphanage to pick up EJ and Sean, Kingsbury said another little boy walked up to her and touched her bangs gently, saying, “Hi mommy, I love you.”

“All around me, the noise just stopped,” Kingsbury remembered, describing the small area she was in with 42 children surrounding her. “I felt like all of the sounds diminished and I connected with him.”

Kingsbury learned from the older children, the child with the beautiful voice and huge smile was indeed Joshua—and rather than a trouble-maker, he was an innocent in a foiled scam by a corrupt worker at the orphanage who had been caught trying to steal him in the process of establishing her own orphanage.

The family ended up adopting all three boys who were best friends.

The Kingsbury’s are members of New Heights Church (BGC) in Vancouver, Wash., where husband Don has coached sports and taught homeschool and at a local Christian school the children attend when not being homeschooled.

Involvement in church is key to the family, Kingsbury says, as is daily Scripture and devotional reading.

Striking a balance between spiritual, family and professional life means thinking outside the box when the reality of mothering six children and meeting writing deadlines, keeping up speaking appearances and promoting books merge.

“I have a laptop and I have headphones,” Kingsbury said, thrusting aside the notion writers must sit on a secluded shore daydreaming while stories play out in their heads. “I can be sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with the kids while they are watching a playoff game on TV and I can be writing.”

Although Kingsbury has a secluded room upstairs where she heads when her attention is not needed, she can never really anticipate what each day will bring and says her “first call of duty” obviously is to take care of her family. Sometimes this means—although she can turn around a book in just 10 writing days—it will take her an extra month to finish a project. And for every hour of writing, Kingsbury anticipates she spends about 20 hours on publicity, speaking or on charity donation programs.

Leadership

Meanwhile, the ideas don’t stop coming.

On Good Friday, Kingsbury, who dropped about 80 pounds last year by cleaning up her diet after losing her father to complications from diabetes—was working out and watching a music video. In it an elderly man evicted from his home after losing his job was watching his angry and frustrated son fight police and fell to his knees with a heart attack.

“I thought, my goodness, I meant that’s a real thing that’s happening to people today,” Kingsbury said. “That people are losing their jobs and their places and their lives are being financially shattered—and I’ve never written about that.

“I could feel God saying, ‘You need to write about this,’” she said.

A week later she’s twittered: “KarenKingsbury is delayed in Dallas ….(.” That night followers learn she’s stranded overnight enroute to Baton Rogue for a conference.

But even in the throes of returning 500-600 emails a week, signing book contracts, watching her New York Times bestsellers made into movies, and writing books—Kingsbury gives God the credit.

“I think the bigger it all gets, the smaller I feel,” Kingsbury said. “God puts a movie in my head and I have the privilege of being a pen in His hand. In a sense, I am able to take that movie and put it on paper. I need to be obedient to what He’s calling me to do.”

Kingsbury said she can’t know if there’s a reader in Pensacola, for instance, whose marriage is on the line who reads one of her novels and things change as a result.

“Only God could have had her faith in mind,” Kingsbury said. “It’s all about Him, it’s all for Him, it’s because of Him and I really can’t take any of the credit.”

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