Contemporary Christian Fiction

Write Stuff Wednesday with Gail Sattler

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Today’s guest is Gail Sattler who shares a quote that I doubt would be heard on television these days. But there’s a lot of truth in it, and I thank her for sharing it with us today.

I have a quote today from one my favorite comedians from my childhood, Red Skelton (1913-1977). He ended every show with the same words – “Good night, and may God bless.”

If you are not old enough or don’t know who he is, here is a link – https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0804026/

My favorite quote is one from Red Skelton.

“If you have a talent, that’s God’s gift to you. If you use that talent, that’s your gift to God.”

We all have different talents, and I like to think mine is writing. Red’s words imply that we all have talents, but many do not use them, as he says “if” you use that talent.

How sad it would be to have a talent and not use it. However, as we all know, life gets in the way of doing what we like, versus what we need, and in order to live, and to live with others, what we need must come first.

I have a friend who is the most talented singer I have ever heard in my life. How big? Think big, like Susan Boyle (famous from Britain’s Got Talent). She was overweight, not pretty, frumpy, and older. She walked out on that stage for the first time at 47 years old, and showed the world her talent. At first all the judges rolled their eyes, but were stunned by what they saw  – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D5DgQi2oqA

Believe it or not, Susan Boyle did not win Britain’s Got Talent that year. But by her using her talent and trusting her faith, her life and career were launched.

Is my talent going to launch me into stardom like Susan Boyle? Well, I think not. But that’s okay. God has given me a talent, and wherever it takes me, even if it’s nowhere, I want to give my gift back to God.

Here’s a little more about Gail.

Tim and Gail Sattler - fun photoGail Sattler lives in Vancouver BC Canada, where you don’t have to shovel rain. When she’s not madly writing (Gail Sattler has over 40 published novels and novellas, plus a few works of non-fiction) she plays bass for an Elton John tribute band as well as a community jazz band, plus she plays piano for a smaller private jazz band. When she’s not writing or making music (or at her day job) Gail likes to sit back and read a book written by someone else, along with a good cup of hot coffee.

Visit Gail Sattler’s website at http://www.gailsattler.com

Gail Sattler’s blog – What Goes On In The Mind Of A Writer – http://www.gailsattler.com/category/new/

Facebook  – https://www.facebook.com/gail.sattler.3

Gail Sattler’s Facebook author page at https://www.facebook.com/Gail-Sattler-author-568988573496833/?modal=admin_todo_tour

More about Gail’s Books:

The Other Neighbor coverThe Other Neighbor – Cheryl Richardson doesn’t know that her landlord who owns the other half of the duplex where she lives is plotting to build a bomb—but the FBI does. In order to discover what her landlord is planning to blow up, agent Steve Gableman moves next door to get closer to Cheryl to learn what she knows, namely the target and motive, so they can stop it. But when Steve involves himself in every area of her life, including her dog, will Cheryl be the one to explode?

Mercury Rising CoverMercury Rising – Michael wants to save his daughter, but first he’s got to save the world.

Michael and Charlotte meet when Michael is trying to find Ashley, his missing daughter who has fallen into drug abuse, and Charlotte is searching for her son Jon, a brilliant and aspiring young scientist who has also gone missing.
Ashley and Jon should have nothing in common, but after the murder of Jon’s favorite professor, they become ensnared in a tangled web that becomes worse with every new discovery.
When Michael and Charlotte join together to figure what their children have become involved with, they, too, are sucked into a sinkhole for which there are no answers, only more questions.
When all seems lost, will they all recognize the source of strength offered to them, and… will they take it?

What I’m Reading – Carolina Grace

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book signingLast weekend I had the pleasure of attending a book signing celebrating the release of Regina Rudd Merrick’s newest book, Carolina Grace. Carolina Grace is the third, and sort-of final, installment in her Southern Breeze Series. It also happens to be what I’m reading, or more specifically what I read, this week.

If you’ve followed her series from book one, you will be delighted to find all the familiar characters return in this new book. If you haven’t, you’ll want to start with Carolina Dream and Carolina Mercy. It will make understanding what’s going on in Carolina Grace much easier and the story becomes richer when you can see all the loose ends coming together.

Set a few years in the future from the events of her second book, readers get to see how “happily ever after” is playing out for the previous main characters. And due to the added years, Carolina Grace is able to focus on a secondary character who was too young to be more than a supporting player in the previous stories.

Charly Livingston is all grown up in Carolina Grace. While the previous books’ events would have given her an up close view of faith and love lived out through the lives of her brother and family friends, this book is about her own journey.

Raised to embrace faith, Charly struggles to reconcile what she’s always believed about God with difficult circumstances in her life. Her family’s faith isn’t enough to keep her from growing resentful and her resentment puts distance between her and God.

Though she still believes, it’s when Charly is in this place of doubt that she meets Rance. He’s a man that’s got it all together. The only thing missing for him is faith, but does he really need it? When family secrets come out into the open, it challenges everything he’s believed.

God’s grace is the answer for both Charly and Rance. Charly has to learn to embrace grace as her strength for the hard times and move forward in a faith that is her own. Rance needs to experience God’s saving grace and allow God to work in his life.

As someone raised in a believing family, I could relate to Charly’s experience. I believe at some point, God brings every believer who embraced faith at an early age to a point where their faith must become their own. A lot of times that means a trial of the faith they have.

Like Charly, they may never completely walk away from their faith. Instead, they may feel like they’re going through the motions or like God is no longer close to them. They let the circumstances or sinful choices put space between them and God and then wonder why they don’t hear Him as they once did.

Carolina Grace serves as a great reminder that those who are struggling to keep the faith or find it for the first time are not alone. There is hope. There is an answer. And it is found in God’s grace.

carolina grace

 

A Snake in the Path

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forest-438432_1280I was a carefree kid tromping through the woods behind our house. I wasn’t oblivious to the dangers that lurked there. The tunnels running under the highway that cut through the woods were dark and damp and the perfect hiding spot for snakes. I came across a very large black snake one afternoon when I rode my bike down our well-worn trails. So I knew they were there. But it didn’t keep me from the woods, and I didn’t need anyone to accompany me on my treks down the path of the creek.

I can’t pinpoint when it happened or why, but somewhere along the way I lost that carefree kid. I still enjoy a hike in the woods. I prefer the trails at Giant City State Park though. They’re clearly marked and regularly used. In my mind that means less chance of coming across and unwanted guest. Even then, I don’t like hiking them alone. I prefer cooler weather for hiking, late autumn or early spring. Reptiles, if they’re out, are sluggish in the cold. I stand a better chance of a successful getaway, at least I can tell myself that.

There are several areas of life where I don’t proceed with as much abandon as I once did. I didn’t give jumping into the muddy pond at church camp a second thought as a kid. Now you can’t pay me enough to get in it. The health department approves it each year, like it has to for every beach. But now, Tantor’s words from Tarzan ring in my mind. “Are you sure this water’s sanitary? It looks questionable to me.” And don’t even get me started on eating food with suspicious origins. I want to know who brought what to the potluck, and I’ll gag if I see someone double dipping. I’m not about to eat that dip anymore.

It’s not that I live in constant fear. I don’t have any phobias, and I don’t let these things keep me from doing what I want to do. But it’s interesting to me that I now give time to things I never considered as a kid. Fears like these are manageable. They’re really more of a nuisance. Other fears can be crippling. Just ask Jake Porter.

Jake, one of the main characters in A Love Like Ours by Becky Wade, knows about the kind of fear born out of trauma that digs its talons in and doesn’t let go. He was always cautious and provided a balance to the reckless abandon of his childhood friend Lyndie. He was beside her every step of the way. He protected her and respected her freedom when her ideas could land her in a mess. Then, she moved away, and Jake knew his first taste of loss.

His desire to protect and caution served him well in the military until a disastrous mission changed his life forever. Dealing with PTSD, Jake retreated to the solitude of home to train Thoroughbreds and shut out the world. When Lyndie marches back into his life, Jake’s tentative peace is shattered. Lyndie hasn’t changed. Her spirit is as free as it was in childhood. Her passion for riding and his desire to protect conflict.

Though they quickly find friendship again, it’s not without difficulties. As Jake’s feelings start to go in a more romantic direction, his fears threaten to keep a wall up between them. He can’t lose Lyndie, and Lyndie can’t settle down. Jake has to deal with his past and his fears or face losing his love for the second time.

While most of us won’t ever deal with circumstances that lead to PTSD, we still let fear influence our decisions. As believers we are taught that God has a plan for us. We have a purpose, and whatever ministry God has for us to accomplish, He will provide the way for it to work out the way He intends. Our heads know this. Sometimes our hearts forget.

No one wants to fail. That’s a big fear factor for a lot of people, myself included. The first time I gave Faith’s Journey to a professional author to read and tell me what she thought, I was terrified. What if she said it was awful? What if she told me I was wrong, that God wasn’t calling me to write anything because I couldn’t write? And if she did think it was worth something a whole new set of worries developed. It meant I was ready to send it to publishers and agents. What if I sent it out to everyone I could and no one wanted it? I knew that feeling from other projects I’d worked on, things that I believed in that no one I spoke with wanted to take on. But this book was different. This was the dream. I’d wanted to write Christian fiction for as long as I could remember. If no one wanted the other projects, their rejection stung but it wasn’t my first love. If no one wanted to take a chance on Faith’s Journey, it would be devastating.

I had a choice. I could let my fear keep me from going forward with what I felt in my heart God had called me to do, or I could work through my fear and send my manuscript out. More than I wanted success, I wanted to be a good steward of the passion and ministry I felt God had given me. Even if that meant no one wanted my book, I had to put my fear aside and send it. I queried a few agents and publishers. A few said no and that stung. But it made it sweeter when Mantle Rock Publishing said yes. In His time and in His way, God has brought me to where I am today. My first book has been out almost a year. In March the sequel arrives. And I’m currently working to wrap up Katie’s story in a way that will be honest and encouraging for readers.

None of this would have taken place if I hadn’t moved out of the place of fear and done what I felt God would have me do. It was mine to move when God said move and to trust God with the outcome.

Main Character Monday: Anna Marie Johnson

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anna's songWelcome to Main Character Monday. Today my guest is Anna Marie Johnson from Anna’s Song by Brenda Gates. Welcome, Anna Marie. Let’s get started.

If you could choose only one thing to buy without money being an issue, what would you buy?

Oh, dear. That’s a hard one. At the beginning of my story, I’d have asked for enough to pay for the best private detective in the world. By the end of the book? What I would give for a car! But then, they hadn’t been invented yet. Then there’s antibiotics—but they hadn’t been invented yet either. Can you buy an end to war?

World peace, then? How much better would everything be if we could really learn to love each other. And it wouldn’t take money to do it. The New Testament tells the story of two sisters who react to Jesus visiting in very different ways. Mary chooses to spend her time with him, while Martha chooses to see to the physical details of his visit. Are you more a Mary or Martha?

Definitely a Martha. I’m very self-sufficient and am driven to solve problems. I usually end up making things worse for my meddling.

“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” James 1:27 – Do you think this verse, lived out would have made a difference in your life? If so, how?

Most of my life I found religion to be useless. I became bitter and trusted no one. Then I met the Dickersons. They lived out this verse to such perfection that it broke me. They constantly lived seeking to help others—me included. Because of this, they were able to face their worse enemy and love him anyway.

It sounds like they made quite the impression in your life. What scripture verse would you claim as a life verse?

Psalm 40:3. “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.” Because of my synesthesia, I could often hear the songs that are the essence of different people. I don’t know how to describe it aside from maybe the sounds of their soul? My own “song” was a tangle of chords that made no music. By the end of my story, God gave me a song of my own.

If there was one message you could give those reading this interview, what would that be?

Nothing you have done, nothing that has been done to you, can make you unlovable to God.

That is a powerful message for sure. Now for a little fun.

Indoor or outdoor: I’m more of an indoor girl. Boy! Was I stretched out of my comfort zone!

Writing or reading: Reading. I’ll leave the writing to my mother and sister.

Apples or Pears: Apples. Hard and sour. Kinda like me? Pears are too mushy.

Early Bird or Night Owl: Night owl.

Anna Marie, how would you describe Brenda Gates in three words?

Passionate, adventurous, mean. Look at what she made happen to me? No sweet and kind person would do all that.

Thank you to Brenda Gates for allowing me the opportunity to interview Anna Marie. You can find out the rest of Anna Marie’s story in Anna’s Song, which is available on Amazon.

More or Less

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It’s getting close to that time of year when stores entice customers with pastel colored jelly beans and chocolate bunnies. I know we haven’t passed Valentine’s Day, but I’ve already seen a few Easter treats taking up residence near check-out counters. I love Easter candy. It’s better than chalky conversation hearts and blobs of peanut butter cups that are supposed to be hearts but somehow lack that tell-tale shape.

My favorite confections by far are made by Cadbury. Mini eggs are addicting. And for a long time it wasn’t spring until I had my first crème egg. I like the caramel ones as much if not more. But as I’ve aged and developed a few stomach issues, I can’t enjoy these treats in abundance like I used to. A full-size egg makes me queasy. The person who came up with the bite-sized versions deserves a Nobel prize. They took everything I love about a crème egg and put it into a perfectly proportioned miniature version that doesn’t offend my tummy’s sensitivities. Add cute packaging that resembles a dozen eggs, and you’ve got the best Easter treat on the market. It’s perfect when I want to enjoy a favorite treat without feeling sick after.

I’m learning bite-size can be great for a lot of different things. Since Christmas, I’ve enjoyed two books made up of three novellas each. I love to read, but I also have a lot of demands on my time.  I work 40 hours a week as a receptionist. Local ministry needs take up time. I have a family and a writing ministry that both need my attention. There are times I want to be able to sit down and enjoy a good story in a sitting or two, and all of these things prevent that. Or they did until I got my first compilation.

My most recent foray into the world of multiple novellas in one book was just what I needed. To Have and to Hold is, according to the cover, a collection of three autumn love stories. Each stands on its own. Love Takes the Cake by Betsy St. Amant is a sweet story about a baker (see what I did there?) who has been less than lucky in love. But her luck may change when she’s thrown together with a difficult bride’s best man to plan the desserts for all of the wedding festivities.

The Perfect Arrangement by Katie Ganshert is a fun story about a chance meeting and a friendship that starts by accident. It’s reminiscent of one of my favorite movies, with the main characters developing their friendship through email. And though they don’t find out that they’re mortal enemies, they do have a few roadblocks in taking the next steps in their relationship. The story leaves you with a smile on your face and a list of old movies you need to watch.

Becky Wade wrote the final novella in the set. Love in the Details brings former flames back together in order to help plan a friend’s wedding. Two broken hearts that never healed and a secret reason for the break up mean neither of the main characters can move on and trust is fragile to try to move forward. There’s no escaping a hard look at their real feelings for each other as they work together to make the day special for their friend. And neither can deny the love they still feel for each other.

All three stories were the perfect length to let myself dive into them without worry over having to set them aside in favor of other activities. All three gave me the time of relaxation and enjoyment I look for in a good book. Am I going to abandon full-length books in favor of shorter compilations in the future? No. There is a depth that can be achieved in story and character development only when time is given to it. There is something comforting about following a loved character through various seasons of life as you read additional books in the series. I will always make time for full-length novels and book series.  But I guarantee I won’t turn away a good collection of novellas like this in the future either. There’s a place for both in my reading life.

There’s also a place for this type of thinking in my spiritual life. Busy lives pull us in many directions leaving us exhausted and unable to think clearly. Too often we may be tempted to neglect time in God’s word because we can’t dive in deep.  It doesn’t have to be this way.

From books to apps on our phones we have a variety of devotional materials at our fingertips. We can find them on any subject we desire. They’re bite-sized nuggets of truth from God’s word to turn our hearts and minds to Him. Using them can help change our attitudes for the day ahead or convict us of sinful behavior from the day we’ve finished. They can foster praise and worship in our hearts as we go about our day. And they’re perfect for us when we need a little reminder of God’s presence in our lives.

We also have books that serve as guided studies for us. They may lead us through a subject or scripture and expand on a theme. They present questions and allow us time to participate in the learning process. They take us deeper than devotions, but they tend to be lighter in the actual study part with a heavier focus on explanation. More time is required, but we will come away with a bit more complete understanding of the subject.

But we don’t have to stop there. We shouldn’t stop with what someone else tells us about scripture, whether it’s a devotion, sermon, or book. We have the scriptures at our disposal. We also have the Holy Spirit living in us to testify to the truths contained in God’s word. Devotions and books are wonderful tools, but there is something special about diving deep into scripture on your own. A good study that leads you to search out the context and meaning of a scripture for yourself is invaluable. As with the books mentioned above you a participant in the learning process. Because you are uncovering the truths for yourself, they become part of who you are. To dig deep into a passage and find out the answers to who, what, when, where, why, and how, to understand the words in the context of the surrounding scripture, and to ask yourself “what does it mean for my life” are all powerful elements of study that will change the way you live.

It’s amazing to know whether I have time for a little or a lot, there’s always a way to spend time with God.

If you’d like to read To Have and To Hold you can find it here:

Where to Belong

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home-429571_1280My grandparents owned a farm. By the time I came along, the livestock was severely diminished. I remember chickens and maybe a few cows early on but not much other than that. My brother remembers a peacock or a turkey, not sure which. The only reason he remembers is it because the thing chased him around the barnyard. That’s traumatizing to a kid.

I don’t remember the animals, but I remember the house and the land. We spent Sunday afternoons there when I was little. My brothers and I would play with two of our cousins if they were there. If not, we would hike through the pasture and into the woods to explore.

There was a drawer in the kitchen by the sink that always had bubble gum in it. This was back when Hubba Bubba and Bubblicious contained only real sugar and made the best bubbles ever blown. My brothers preferred orange and grape. I loved the rare occasions when my grandma would stock the drawer with watermelon.

The house itself was nothing special, just your average old-fashioned farm house. But even though I’ve not stepped foot in it for thirty years, I can remember each room. I even made it the home Katie grew up in my book, Faith’s Journey. One day I would love to see it back in the family, but it wouldn’t be the same. The new owners renovated, updating the look and removing the memories. But it will always be the same in my mind.  It’s amazing what one can remember when fueled by pleasant memories.

That’s why I immediately felt connected to Where She Belongs by Johnnie Alexander. Shelby Kinkaid has similar feelings about the home her grandparents owned when she was a child. She made sweet memories there that helped her in the dark times. It’s a home that was ripped from her family by others who took advantage of her grandparents and left the home abandoned and in disrepair. The disappointments of her present make the pull of the past’s joys even stronger. Determined to give her daughters the same beautiful memories she treasures, Shelby arranges to buy her grandparent’s home and restore it to its former glory.

Though there is a lot of work to be done, it doesn’t deter Shelby from her plan.  But the descendants of the man who took her family’s home are working against her to regain the property for their own benefit. Add to that the mystery of the past that continues to haunt and hurt the current generations, and Shelby has to determine friends from foes all while trying to make the house her home once again.

Shelby’s story starts with a house and her memories, but it doesn’t end until she comes to understand where she belongs.  And I think that’s something we can all relate to.

The desire to belong starts young. Even on preschool playgrounds children want to be part of the group. It can tempt us into friendships we would be better off without. As we age, I’d like to say we outgrow this desire, but I don’t think that’s true. For those who never quite felt they measured up, it may be a life-long battle. Sometimes even our faith can leave us feeling like we don’t fit.

We’re called to have the mind of Christ. This means we strive to live the way Jesus lived, love the way He loved, and have the same standards and priorities. It’s a tall order that we fail to meet, but even if we only live it a small percentage of the time it’s enough to set us apart. We can see it at work, with our friends, and with those who aren’t believers in our families. Our language can set us apart. Our unwillingness to cut certain corners can make us stand out. Our refusal to participate in certain activities or watch certain things can leave us on the outside looking in.

Sometimes we may wonder if it’s worth it when all we want to do is belong. In these times it’s important to remember we do belong, just not to this world or the things in this world. First and foremost we belong to God. We are His children, and our home with Him in eternity is the home we were created for. That is where we belong, and until we reach it, there will always be the feeling of not quite fitting in. We aren’t supposed to fit in with this world. We were made for more.

We also belong to the body of Christ. Believers aren’t meant to be on their own. We’re meant to encourage, teach, and challenge one another to walk in faith every day. We’re to celebrate each other’s victories and support each other through the hard times. Ministering to each other is why God blesses us with spiritual gifts. We need to seek out other believers to be in fellowship with. Shared faith experiences can strengthen us and give us a glimpse into what this world was supposed to be.

When the differences between our faith and the world we live in leave us feeling alone, we need to look to Jesus. With Him, we always have a place to belong.

Write Stuff Wednesday with Micki Clark

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Welcome Micki Clark to Write Stuff Wednesday. I had the opportunity to read Micki’s book, Don’t Ask Me to Leave. I’ve reviewed it, and you can find that review in my archives. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, and I even bought it for my mother-in-law for her birthday. (Who later told me she really enjoyed it too.) Here’s what Micki Clark has to say about a quote that’s inspired her in her writing journey:

MRP-Micki-Clark-Dont-Ask-Me-to-Leave-360x570 Ernest Hemingway once said, “There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”

            I think for many writers that’s absolutely true. I can still remember when I first wanted to be a writer. It was more of wanting to be a journalist, you see, than a creative writer. I would make up these fantastical newspapers and sell them to people at my church. One of my best “clients” was a blind man and his wife who paid me a quarter for all the best news.

            In elementary school, I wanted to be a teacher. I would get old teacher’s edition textbooks from the school where my mother worked and give my poor little brother lessons in our playroom (however, you can all thank me now that he’s such a brilliant computer scientist, ha ha).

            I’m not sure when it was exactly that I first decided I wanted to be an author. I think it was more of a vague dream than a concrete belief, mostly because I realized that it was a lot more difficult than most people said it was. First there was the fact that you had to have an idea (ugh) and then be able to say three hundred pages’ worth of things about it. And then, horror of horrors, you had to find someone ELSE willing to read those three hundred pages and say they liked it!

            As I write this, it’s been two years to the day since the cover of my debut novel, Don’t Ask Me to Leave was written. I’m still at times in shock that it happened, but I’d love to share with you the story of how (and why) that book came to be.

            Several years ago, in 2012, a friend of mine and I challenged each other to participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November. I had this nugget of an idea to write a story based on Ruth and Naomi, since my husband and I had used their words as our wedding vows in 2002. I faithfully sat down at the keyboard and banged out a manuscript.

            When I finished, I felt a sense of release–I mean, it was done, after all–but not a sense of accomplishment.

            And that’s where I realized that I had misunderstood Hemingway.

            In 2012, I had “bled” out my manuscript in the sense that I spent hours working on it. But I hadn’t really poured out my soul. When I went back five years later and revised the manuscript, I realized that was the thing that was missing–soul.

            I’ll also admit that soul is why I haven’t thrown myself into a second writing project. I’m too busy in my professional and personal life to give something that passion again at the moment. However, I can’t wait until that day, one day soon hopefully, when I’m able to sit down at the keyboard and bleed.

—

Micki Clark is the author of Don’t Ask Me to Leave (2017), published by Mantle Rock Publishing. She lives in western Kentucky with her husband and three children, and she teaches high school English.

Don’t Ask Me to Leave is available from Amazon and other major booksellers. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06X6J7QLZ)

Heirlooms of Faith

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I have a favorite cookie recipe passed down from my grandma. I have a handkerchief collection in an old candy box passed down from my great-granny along with all the stories she told me about the origins of each one. I also have several pieces of her costume jewelry, though the jewelry box I played with as a child was destroyed when a basement where I had it stored flooded.  I have my mother’s class ring and a charm bracelet she had growing up. I have things from each of the women in my family, but none have been passed from generation to generation. As far as I’m aware we have no family heirlooms.

I love the idea of a family heirloom. An item so treasured that it passes from generation to generation like a baton in a race. I can imagine the stories and secrets the item would share with each owner. I love the idea that the one possessing the item adds their personal chapter in the tale before passing it on to a new owner.

It’s this continuing story that weaves together the lives of several women across several generations in The Christmas Heirloom, a book of four holiday novellas written by Karen Witemeyer, Kristi Ann Hunter, Sarah Loudin Thomas, and Becky Wade. Each author’s novella is a story of love that takes place during the Christmas season. Each story is from a different time period but they all focus on the women of one family and a treasured gift, an amethyst brooch, passed down from mother to daughter after its first gifting from an elderly woman to her caretaker.

The stories of loss, hope, and love are enough on their own to bring both laughter and tears. Each novella is worthy to stand on its own. Each is enjoyable. I loved watching each woman’s life and love develop on the pages.

But it adds depth to each woman’s story to see how the brooch plays its part in their lives and makes them a single chapter in a story that is bigger than their individual part in it. The history the individual stories give to the ones that come after bring depth to their themes. True, an author can use well-placed back story to fill in the blanks, but it falls short. It’s like reading the Cliff’s Notes instead of the whole book. You don’t get a chance to connect with the characters that way, and the whole point of The Christmas Heirloom is connection. The brooch comes when each woman is ready to connect with the love of their life, and it connects them to their family’s past like a treasured heirloom should.

I may not have a family heirloom rich with stories to pass on to my children, but the idea of the heirloom brings to mind a scripture my mother shared with me tonight in our nightly prayer time. Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

It’s not a physical treasured item passed down from believer to believer. But just as the brooch in the story reminded the women they were part of something bigger, this verse reminds me there were others before me and there will be others after me. We are part of the same family as adopted sons and daughters of God. Through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross we gain more than forgiveness for our sins and reconciliation with God, though that is more than enough. We also become part of a story that is much larger than ourselves, and the Creator of the universe is its author. Each believer’s story is unique but intricately woven together with the story of every other believer. It’s a connection we too often fail to realize can bring understanding and depth to our own chapter of the story.

 

Holiday Help Wanted!

/ bythebook724 / 4 Comments

christmasThe only thing better than getting cozy and watching the newest Hallmark Christmas movie is getting cozy and reading a great Christian Fiction Christmas book. I’d like to use my review days this month to highlight some great holiday reads.

Here’s where my “Holiday Help Wanted” comes in. Maybe you’re an author with a book that fits this description. Or maybe you’re just a person who loves to read as much as I do, and you’ve read the best CF Christmas book on the market. It doesn’t matter how you found this book. I want to know about it. It doesn’t mean I’ll be able to read them all before Christmas, but it will give me a place to start. So, think about your Christmas favorites and let me know the title and author in the comments. Thank you for your help!