When We Were on Fire

In the strange us-versus-them world of the '90s Christian subculture, your faith was measured by how many WWJD bracelets you wore and whether or not you’d “kissed dating goodbye.” Evangelical poster-child Addie Zierman wore three WWJD bracelets, led two Bible studies, and listened exclusively to Christian rock. She was “on fire for God,” unaware that the flame of her faith was dwindling until it burned entirely out. With candor and transparency, Addie chronicles her journey through church culture, first love, and her entrance — unprepared and angry — into marriage. When she washes out of church and nearly her marriage on a sea of tequila and depression, she isn’t sure if she’ll ever go back. When We Were on Fire is a funny, heartbreaking story of untangling oneself from cliché in search of a faith worth embracing. It’s a story for anyone who has ever felt alone in a crowded church. For the cynic. The doubter. The former Jesus freak struggling with the complexity of life. It’s a story about the slow work of returning to love, Jesus, and (perhaps toughest of all) His imperfect followers. And in the end, it’s about what lasts when nothing else seems worth keeping.