(The fourth in a series of posts highlighting some fictional characters who I want to be more like during the new year. Check out past spotlights on Charlotte Graham, Brandy Phillip, and Poppy Martin.)

Gage McKenna
From Dani Pettrey’s Stranded

“Sometimes there is nothing you can do, no matter how earnestly you ache to. Not even if you’re willing to give your life in place of theirs . . . I know how it feels to be helpless, to want to save someone so badly you’d die to do so and it still doesn’t make a difference.”

Character Description: Gage McKenna is a man with a broken heart. He lost his son mere days after birth and the boy’s mother mere days later. The first woman to kindle his heart in nearly a decade is Darcy St. James, but she’s working a case that may get her killed. Fortunately for her, Gage is passionate about everything he does, whether it’s protecting the woman he loves from danger, honoring his son’s memory, being there for his family, or simply extreme kayaking. Every endeavor he pursues, he pursues with passion and his whole heart.

Noteable Character Quality: Passionate

Dani’s Reaction: I long to be more like Gage—to do everything with passion, including loving my God. Psalm 42:1-2 says, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” and Isaiah 26:9 says, “My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you.” What these verses have in common is that they are cries from a heart that is passionate for God. That describes Gage when he comes to know the Lord. I pray that describes me as well.

Amy’s Reaction: In some ways, I identified with Gage—like him, I went through a time where I asked some difficult questions about God and his justice in letting bad things happen.  In other ways, I was challenged by Gage, especially when it came to his passionate faith. It can be easy to let my belief in God be passive and lukewarm . . . but this generation needs believers like Gage who have been changed by God’s love and are passionate about sharing it with others.

Related Scripture:
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!” —Revelation 3:15 (NIV)

About the Author:

Dani Pettrey is a wife, homeschooling mom, and author. She feels blessed to write inspirational romantic suspense because it incorporates so many things she loves–the thrill of adventure, nail biting suspense, the deepening of her characters’ faith, and plenty of romance. She and her husband reside in Maryland with their two teenage daughters. Visit her website at www.danipettrey.com.

Is there someone you know who could be described as passionate about his or her relationship with God? Tell us about that person.