God’s Instant

A coming-of-age story about Rodeo, Revenge and Redemption

Can a desire for revenge lead to redemption?

Salvation doesn't always take place in church. God’s Instant is the story of how two young people overcome the crippling effects of a missing parent and how a concrete connection with the recent past and exposure to a practical, bedrock faith in God brightens their future.

Set in the rugged deserts of southeastern Washington and the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon and against the exciting world of professional rodeo, God’s Instant is the story of Jill and Grady. Jill has been hiding from the world in plain sight, and Grady is a brooding loner subject to periodic bouts of nearly homicidal rage.

They’re brought together by an enigmatic old couple possessing a determined and practical faith, and who despite their own tragic past, refuse to live completely in the present. Their practical faith will bring Grady and Jill face to face with an impossible question: Can desire for revenge lead to redemption?

Praise for God’s Instant

“Bruce Blizard, author of God's Instant, is a talented writer of smooth flowing, easy to assimilate, engaging prose fiction. At his best, each page is a pleasure to read simply because he writes so well. The unhurried simplicity of Blizard's understated style is nicely complemented by the depths of the insights he uses in developing his most interesting characters, and a varied group they are, a testimonial to the breadth of Blizard's empathy.”

— Reader, West Virginia

Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive." Bruce Blizard's intriguing novel, GOD'S INSTANT, is just such a story of sustenance, drawing together everyday folks adrift in hidden secrets, brutal honesty, unrealized connections, faith, and hope. Grady, the main character, is a bull rider, whose sense of the rhythm of the bull dictates his success or failure once the chute is opened. Similarly, opening these pages, the reader leans and lurches, spins, breathless, anticipating the worse while praying for the best. Like the characters herein, no reader `escapes' this story unchanged, and luckily, much better for this rich ride.”

– Jim D., United States

“This author knows his audience and is the master of his subject. This isn't just a story about bull-riding in the rodeo. It is a genuine study in triumph over tragedy. Blizzard cleverly reveals the main character in the first two chapters with a backstory that builds throughout. Each character contributes critical pieces to the plot. Their development and back story are interlaced so that as the plot unfolds, the climax is something magical. There is just enough mystery associated with each of the characters that I can guarantee that the surprise ending will leave you breathless.”

— PDX Author, Oregon

“I intended on leisurely reading this book over the course of a weekend, but it was hard to put the book down once I picked it up. The author is quite detailed regarding the setting and his descriptive writing really paints a picture of the landscape, as well as the characters in this book. To me, the main theme of this book was forgiveness and grace. The further you get into the book you realize that each character is like a piece of a puzzle that eventually fits. I'm not a western reader, nor am I a romance reader but this book was a combination of the two in a coming-of age story that is really quite good. This book was an easy read and I would recommend it.”

— Nurse, Tennessee

“God's Instant is an enthralling story combining the best of contemporary westerns with an enthralling tale of various individuals and how they all interact together in the situations in which they find themselves. It is a page-turner, with the reader keen to find out just how the characters find their own salvation. A rollicking good read.”

— App Designer, United States

“I couldn't put God's Instant down, I became invested in the stories of each character and couldn't stop until I found out how they were all connected and how they would overcome tragic loss.”

— Dave Castro, United States

Excerpt

Grady wasn’t sure what time it was, but it felt late in the morning, and the house was silent. He walked to the window, moved the faded curtain aside, and peered out. The sun sat higher than he thought it should be if he was going to help John. He pulled on his boots then retrieved his black hat from the foot of the bed and rushed out of the room. He found Adah sitting in her chair in the small kitchen vigorously mixing something doughy in a glass bowl that she held against her body.

“Well, well. We was gettin’ worried. Anyone that sleeps this late might ought to move to town. Ain’t going to be much use out here.” Adah punctuated her remarks with a slight grin and a hint of mischief. Grady wasn’t sure how to react.

“Oh well, I reckon a free hand gets to say when he gets up,” she said. “Even if most a’ the work’ll be done by the time he gets around to it.”

“I’m sorry ma’am, I…”

“Don’t pay her any mind, youngun. She’s just sassy ‘cause she can’t walk too good or do much a nothin’ else anymore.” John had come into the kitchen from outside just as Grady started to speak. “I haven’t done nothin’ but feed the saddle horses and check on the colts in the barn corral. I won’t be ready to go after those cows for a while.”

Memorable Quotes from God’s Instant

  • “Well, he weren't no boy, the way you might think He was twenty-five. I might a' loved him. I reckon I must of. But I don't remember thinkin' too much about it. We didn't have time to think much about making up our minds. Seems like all folks these days do is worry themselves sick about makin' up their mind. The best way to go might be to take the road that's right there in front of you. Just go.”

  • “Down here in the world, sometimes it seems like a thing matters more’n your own life. Matters so much it hurts. Hurts so much it seems like you can’t think of nothin’ else. But there’s a little spot deep inside of you where it really don’t matter. Your daddy’s gone, yes sir. Left a hole. But there’s a little spot, ‘bout the same size as that speck a’ time out in space the scientists can’t see through. That little speck inside a’ you is all that matters for now. All that’ll ever matter really. Sooner you learn that, the better.”

  • “My boy was killed in a fight. You know that. Do you understand? All my boys is gone now, one way or another. We ain’t been the same. It ain’t going to be the same.”

  • Maybe it ain’t that God’s so big,” she said. “The scientists, they say no matter how close they look or how hard they figure, they can’t quite get back to that time when it all began. There’s just an instant, a tiny, little speck a’ time they can’t see through. And the closer they look, the narrower that speck gets, but it don’t go away. Maybe that’s where God’s been all this time.

  • Time and space don’t mean nothin’ in heaven anyway. If eternity down here is an instant in God’s mind, then why can’t that tiny, little speck of time the scientists can’t see through, that instant, be eternity to God?”

Meet the author

Bruce Blizard is a former coach turned author who brings inspiring messages about sports, faith, and community to youth athletes, fans, and coaches worldwide. He has spent over 20 years teaching at Southeastern Washington State University. He brings that expertise to the stories he tells his audiences through his book series. During his teaching career, Bruce witnessed the challenges youth face in sports and life. After he walked away from his teaching career, he decided to continue to make a difference by writing stories about redemption, faith, forgiveness, and love.