Little Rachel "Rae" Evans was a happy little girl. Her mother would say that when she laughed, she could make an entire room of people break out in smiles. All that changed when she was four and the laughter stopped. From then on, she withdrew into herself and hid from the world, convinced that no one, not even God, could ever truly love, or even understand her.

Using the author's memory of her life as a template, For God So Loved the World... is a fictionalized re-telling of one aspect of her life and how she reconciled her Christian faith with her self-identity. Spanning decades and set in her home state of Northern Nevada, the story tells how a scared and lonely girl learned the most important lessons in life; that each and every one of us, no matter how different, has the love of God within them to fulfil their purpose, and that all things, good and bad, are necessary to make us who we are meant to become.

This book is dedicated to my wife Tami, who unconditionally loved
me for who I am when no one else could even see me. You gave
more meaning to my life than I ever thought possible or deserved.
"...the greatest of these is Love."

Copyright © 2020, 2021 Roberta Elder - All Rights Reserved

124,548 words

This is a work of fiction inspired by the recollections of the author's life. Though based on recalled events, the names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are solely the products of the author's recollections and used in a fictitious manner. Some events have been re-ordered, altered, omitted, or invented for narrative purposes. Any connection or resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing and signed by the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed upon the subsequent publisher.