Laurie Larsen's Blog, page 5

The Holy Trinity foreshadowed in the Creation Story?

Prior to my straight-through reading of the Bible in 2023, I always thought of God being the divine master of the entire Old Testament.  Jesus was introduced in the Virgin Birth story in the New Testament gospels, and then Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to his apostles as an Advocate after his resurrection and ascension as we read about in the second chapter of Acts of the Apostles.  Thus, the members of the Holy Trinity, I always thought, were successive, appearing one after another.

But one thing I noticed very early on in my reading, in Genesis 1 in fact, were clues that this might not be true. 

Genesis 1:26: Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky…” (I added the italics for emphasis...)

Later, in Genesis 3 after Eve has eaten the apple from the tree of Good and Evil, (Genesis 3:22) And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”

And one other reference, this one in Genesis 11 describing the story of the Tower of Babel. At that time, the whole world had one language and common speech. Earth’s inhabitants were planning to build a tower as high as the heavens so they could all live together.  God wanted them to spread their population across the earth.  In Genesis 11:6-7: The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

These three references open the possibility that God was not alone in his creation of the world and overseeing its early days. There are times when he is referred to as singular, and then these instances where he is mentioned in a plural sense.  One explanation is that from the very beginning of creation, God existed as the Holy Trinity – God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Three in One.

It was an interesting possibility, but not necessarily confirmed just because of the plural references I pointed out. The plural references could’ve been referring to one of his legions of angels, who we know are mentioned throughout the Old Testament.

But then …

Months later I had reached the Gospels in my reading schedule. In particular, the Gospel of John has several verses that helped illuminate this question:

In John chapter 8 the Jews are questioning Jesus about who he says he is.  Are you a Samaritan? Are you demon-possessed? Jesus denies that he is demon-possessed and goes on to say that he is there to honor his father. “Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.” (John 8:51)

The Jews speaking to him now get very upset at this outrageous comment and tell him that their esteemed ancestor Abraham had died, and so did all their prophets. By making the comment Jesus did, is he saying that he’s greater than Abraham?

Let me quote the response: (John 8: 56 – 58 – Jesus is speaking) – “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

“You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”

“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “Before Abraham was born, I am.”

WOW! From Jesus’ own mouth he points out that he (Jesus) existed before Abraham was born. And Abraham knew that the coming of Jesus would come to earth eventually, and now that it has happened, Abraham was glad. As if Abraham, after he died, joined the Trinity and learned of the future plans for the Messiah to come to earth and save the world – a concept all Jews (including Abraham) would be very excited about.

This is an amazing revelation to my mind. It also helps define the Holy Trinity, a concept which is very difficult to grasp. They were referred to as “they” or “us” but they acted as One, in complete unity. Together, they planned out the creation, all the events in the Old Testament and then the long-awaited arrival of Jesus.

Another verse in John’s Gospel makes it even more clear: John 17:4-5. Jesus is preparing his disciples for what is to come with the torture he’ll have to endure, his arrest, crucifixion, and resurrection. And yet they still, in their humanness, don’t understand fully what he is telling them. In their presence, Jesus looks toward heaven and prays to God.  “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.”

Mind blown twice!  Before the world began! Not only was the Trinity present for Creation, but they were there in what I imagine to be the planning stages of this great creation of the world. That’s why Jesus was so sure during his crucifixion that he was going to sit on the right hand of his father’s throne!  Because that’s where he’d been before this little earthly jaunt he’d been on the last thirty-three years or so.  He was comfortable with it, because he’d been in God’s presence and God’s glory since the beginning of time.

Of course, Jesus was divine, but he was also human. He was born the way all humans are, as an infant. He grew up with a loving earthly Jewish family and it wasn’t until he was an adult that he embarked on the divine quest that God had sent him for. But I often wonder … Jesus the Son, the divine part of him, knew all along what he was sent for. But what about Jesus the little boy, the teenager, and the young adult … when did He know?

You know that Christmas song – Mary Did You Know?  Yes, she knew what the angel had told her – that she was going to give birth to God’s son, and she was going to name him Jesus, and he was going to eventually save the world from sin.  But did she know all the details?  Did she know the miracles he’d perform and the healing he’d do and the sermons he’d preach?  No, I don’t think she knew. I think she supported him in his ministry and whatever he felt was right. But I believe she was seeing it unfold just like the rest of the humans were.

But what about Jesus? Did God’s plan for his ministry suddenly download like a computer program into his mind and consciousness when he was born? When he was ten? Twenty?

I don’t know the answer to that, and that’s okay. When he began his ministry, I believe he knew everything that would happen and everything that had happened.  And in that, I take great comfort.  God’s got us all in his hands and there’s no surprises to Him (or Them).

 

Prayer: God, thank you for not only the answers we get when we read your Word, but also the questions. The questions are the ones that increase our interest and our faith.  We know that although we may not know all the answers in your divine plan, we certainly know that YOU DO.  And we trust that all your plans are for the good of those who love and believe in you.  Amen.

 

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The Year I Read the Bible (Intro)

2023.  The year I read the Bible chronologically, straight through in one year.

 

Welcome to my blog project for 2024!  My goal is to increase my Bible knowledge, and maybe in doing so, you’ll want to come along for the ride.  But first: what is this project all about?

As a life-long Christian, I’ve always believed in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. While growing up, my family attended church regularly. When I was in high school, I was an active member of the Youth Group. Our youth leader challenged us to read the Bible straight through, finding out what we could learn about this God we followed.  So, I did.

My chosen time was at night before I turned off the light for sleep. I’d lay in bed and for at least a half hour I’d read the Bible, using my colored markers to highlight verses that appealed to me, spoke to me, made me happy. I still have that Bible that I used “way back then” and I page through it, grinning at the sixteen-year-old me and what I had found interesting. And how much I missed!

Although I’ve always made church and worship and prayer priorities, one thing that fell to the wayside in my adulthood was my own dedicated Bible study. I would hear the Old Testament and New Testament readings each week in church, and I would see inspirational Bible verses everywhere – in the Hallmark shop on cards and on home décor, in social media memes that constantly showed up in my newsfeed – I was lacking in my own personal thirst for reading and studying God’s Word.

By 2022, I had spent ten years in my dream role as a novelist, focusing on inspirational fiction. I’d written and published over two dozen books that were all written to share the message of God’s love and redemption alongside a romance journey between two people. I loved writing those books and many people loved reading them! But after I drew the curtain closed on my fourth series, I realized I didn’t have any more fictional story ideas tapping at my brain. None!  This was a new phenomenon for me, because for over a decade, as I was nearing the finish line of one novel, I knew exactly what and who I would write about next.

What would become of my writing career if I no longer wrote novels? I considered my books to be my ministry to the world; the way Jesus used my writing skills to share his message. If I no longer did that, how could he use me?

By the end of 2022, I had discovered a very inspiring and educational Women in the Word Bible Study at my church and we met weekly to read and learn about the Bible, then discuss what we’d learned in our small groups. I thoroughly enjoyed those sessions! It was amazing to me how I could read a section on my own and come away with … nothing much in the way of knowledge and inspiration, but then the instructors would illuminate those same words with knowledge that I never would’ve gained myself.  They were true Bible scholars, and I began growing an immense respect for all Bible scholars.

I’d been through enough semesters of Women in the Word to get a taste of what the Bible could teach me. How about, if I weren’t writing a new novel this year, I commit to reading the Bible instead?  The whole thing, not just the parts I’m already familiar with, or the “fun” parts.  By reading it from the very beginning and straight through to the end, I’d get a birds’ eye view of the entire faith, beginning with Creation and God’s Chosen people, the Jews. I’d take my time and not just plow through it. I’d take notes of things I wanted to look into more, I’d research parts that confused me, and I would come out more knowledgeable about God’s Word.

Yes, that was a good plan for 2023.

I bought the Chronological Bible because I thought it would be more enlightening to learn everything from a historical perspective. I also bought a blended version of the Four Gospels, which I read in addition to the true gospels format. Along the way, I attended Bible studies on the Book of Esther and also the Acts of the Apostles.  And I did a separate personal Bible study on the Book of Revelation.

The Chronological Bible separates itself into 365 readings – if you read them all you’ll complete the book in a year.  I started off in early January with zest and dedication. I really immersed myself in the Bible.  I was on schedule till mid-February. I missed a few days of reading, and then a few more.  When I started up again, I had to read several hours, instead of twenty minutes a day, to catch up. I was back on schedule until the end of March when I was slogging my way through some of the duller books of the Old Testament. Somehow, I managed to “quit” reading for a month or more, before jumping back in.  My notes and questions increased as I read. During the summer I spent a good deal of time traveling and visiting the beach, where I love to read, but not the Bible. I read contemporary fiction instead.

Finally, my husband and I were preparing for a long road trip the end of September. He would do all the driving and I usually read several books from the passenger seat. Instead, I picked up the Bible I’d been neglecting. I had at least forty pages to read before I caught up to where I was supposed to be.  Well … this would be my trip reading.  I put myself on task – no reading anything else on this vacation until I caught up to where I was supposed to be!

As it turned out, hours of uninterrupted time to read the later books in the Old Testament was exactly what I needed to become intrigued with it all again. I read and read, and I didn’t want to put it down. I found that when I was reading the Bible steadily, God would drop reminders into my everyday life that corresponded with my reading. The Old Testament reading at church and the pastor’s sermon would be on the exact topic I’d just been reading about! Yes!  I knew that stuff!  I could follow along and my new knowledge was enhanced.  Or, I’d be watching TV and a reference was made to something that sounded very familiar! Yes! That’s a story from … whatever book … but one I was previously unfamiliar with.

Sometimes, my husband and I would have a philosophical discussion and he’d say, “One thing I don’t understand about Christianity is … this or that,” and I’d get a big smile on my face.  “I just read that in the Bible! Hold on!” and I’d run to get my book and look up the pertinent verse and read it to him.  God was blessing my challenge to read the Bible in a year by showing me how the ancient words are so very relevant to today’s world.  My world – my life.

In December we were preparing for another road trip to spend Christmas with our family members, and I became inspired to finish the Bible before we left. That meant doubling up on the daily readings so I could get to the end of the book before the end of the year.  With a couple weeks’ work, that’s exactly what I did.  And boy, what a wonderful feeling it was, too.  I had challenged myself to read the Bible in a Year, and despite the fact that I didn’t read it regularly every day, I still managed to complete the task, and God had blessed me with encouragement and knowledge all along the way. Because of how I did it, I feel like I have a much more complete picture of the entire faith than I did when all I’d do was spottily read the Bible.  I of course have so much more to learn, but because I’ve accomplished this vital first step, I’m not intimidated or frightened to keep going.

So … what’s next?

The last few years I’ve gone to a Christian website, Dayspring.com and taken a quiz, answering a series of questions that leads you to one guiding word for the year.  For 2023, that word was Confidence.  And I know God had a part in that because it took Confidence for me to pull myself out of my established comfort zone of writing multiple inspirational romance novels a year as I had for so long.  In 2023, in addition to my Bible in a Year Challenge, I’d also accomplished some other writing-related activities that were completely different than my norm.

For 2024, I went back to the website and answered the questions and waited anxiously for my word.  It came back … Imagine. 

I thought about it for a moment, and I was assured that it was another word from God.  I could just “imagine” Him telling me – just imagine what you can do for my Kingdom. You can do more than what you’ve always done. Something different.  Imagine the possibilities to spread the word about my love.

I did just that.  And my imagination went wild.

What if I took those notes that I jotted down about my thoughts and questions and additional research while I was reading the Bible, and I used those as Devotional topics?  I could write up each one and then publish them as a book of devotions.

Sure, that’s good. That’s in my wheelhouse, writing and publishing books.  Different than the fiction I was writing, but yes, I could definitely do that.  That would be my writing project for 2024.

Keep imagining …

How can I get the word out faster? To more people? Maybe to people who wouldn’t find or be interested in reading the book?

Imagine if I released these devotionals regularly in every format I can think of to reach people with these important messages from God’s word …

·        Weekly blog posts

·        Weekly YouTube videos

·        Weekly podcasts???

·        Imagine …

So that’s where I’m at with this exciting project – the very beginning of Phase 2.  Phase 1 was reading the Bible, phase 2 is sharing my thoughts, learnings, questions and inspirations, in the hopes that some of you may find them and like them and find inspiration to strengthen your own faith.  I no longer worry that I won’t be writing any fiction this year because I am so absolutely certain that I’m doing what God wants me to do.  And maybe throughout the year I’ll imagine more ways to get the word out and reach God’s people with these messages.  And maybe some of them will strike a chord with you and encourage you to open up your Bible and read.

Let’s get started!

 

 

 

 

 

Hearing God's voice

In Sunday’s sermon, the pastor was preaching the Luke 6 Love Your Enemies theme. He described a friend of his who was in the middle of an intense battle with a co-worker. He felt he was entirely justified in this disagreement and had no intention of backing down. That is, until he heard a message from God. The friend said, “God told me in no uncertain terms to go to that man and ask his forgiveness.” Of course the pastor’s friend didn’t want to do it, but he had no doubt that God had given him this direction.

On the drive home from church, my son asked, “What do you think about people hearing God’s voice?”

“I think it’s possible,” I said.

“Have you ever heard God speaking to you?” he asked me.

“Yes, I have definitely heard God speaking to me, but not a big booming voice out of the sky like you might see in a movie.”

We continued talking and I shared the ways that I thought God speaks to us. One way that I’ve gotten messages from God is through the parents that he provided me for my childhood. I was blessed to be raised by two wonderful Christian role models. They not only took me to church as a child, but they lived their faith every day. By growing up in a Christian home, it’s always been clear what God expects from me.

God uses His believers to deliver messages to me. Sitting in church I’m flooded with communications from Him – the lyrics of the worship songs we sing, the scripture verses that are read and the sermon messages preached. If I open my mind and let those words flow in, I can always find messages that are important for me to hear in my everyday life.

For example, that sermon about Love your Enemies: I may not have heard God’s booming voice from the heavens, “Laurie, go talk to that co-worker of yours who always publicly ridicules your input and tries to take credit for your accomplishments on the project.” That same co-worker sports a “Thank You Jesus” bumper sticker on his car and once made a comment about Jesus to my husband. He’s a brother in Christ. But he’s also nasty to many people in the office and he gives me a stomachache and racing pulse when I know I have to confront him at work. As a result, I avoid his office while I burn with anger that he would dare criticize my perfectly valid ideas!

Did God talk to me about that? Yes, he most certainly did.

Another great way that God talks to us is through his written word – the Bible. The Bible documents actual words from God and His Son – He may have been saying them to someone else at the time, but the messages still apply to me. When I sit down to read the Bible I look at it two-fold – what was the historical setting and intent of the original document, but also, what can those same ancient words mean in my own life in the 21st century?

When I want to hear God’s words about my writing, I often use the Bible to do his talking for him. There are Bible verses that answer me when I’m asking God for direction or encouragement on my writing career. For example:

· Why is this so hard? Why can’t I find an agent? Why have I gotten so many rejections or bad reviews? Will I ever get more readers?

Let’s hear God’s words in response –

Matthew 19:26: With God all things are possible.

Proverbs 16:3: Commit your actions to the Lord and your plans will succeed.

Isaiah 43:2: When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.

Philippians 4:13: I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.

Joshua 1:9: The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

God also speaks when I’m asking for his guidance on the actual story I’m writing. For example:

· How do I make this story meaningful to others? How can I redeem my hero who did bad things at the beginning of the book? How can I create a deep, emotional story that will resonate with my readers?

Let’s hear God’s words in response –

· Isaiah 26:12: Lord, you establish peace for us: What is he telling me? Maybe I created characters who have been through every challenge in life and can’t settle down and find love. They need to establish God’s peace in their lives.

· Psalms 3:3: You, Lord, are a shield around me. What is he telling me? Maybe I'm writing about a hero who thinks that he has to be the strong one to protect the heroine. But he could pray for God’s shield around them both.

· Song of Solomon 2:4: His banner over me is love: My heroine grew up in foster care and never felt the love of her own family, so she doesn’t trust when the hero is offering his love. She can rest assured that with God, his banner of them both is love.

· Beloved hymn written by Horatio Gates Spafford: It is well, it is well with my soul: In a genre of Happily Ever Afters, this is the ultimate Happily Ever After.

· Colossians 3:12: Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience: When I'm building a character I can use these characteristics as a baseline and formulate his or her actions in the story around these guidelines.

Let’s pray: Dear God: we thank you that you speak to us every day, either through messages from other believers, through worship song lyrics, the Bible or a booming voice in our ear or our subconscious. We feel honored to have the ability to communicate with you and we welcome your input into our lives and our writing. Please watch over us this month as we write the words that will help our readers to hear your message. Amen.

Behind the Ugly Duckling ...

This week I had the truly magical experience of taking part in the famous Pawleys Island (SC) event called the Movable Feast. It's a joyful place where book lovers convene to listen to an author discuss their latest book, buy a signed copy, chat with the author and then enjoy a delicious lunch. I've attended many of these events as a reader since relocating to the Lowcountry. But this week, I appeared as an author! (In fact, it was my second time!)

The book we were promoting was the very special project Charleston Light, an anthology of stories written by members of my American Christian Fiction Writers Lowcountry chapter co-members. All the stories featured the lighthouse on Sullivan's Island. I opened up with a description of the project, then I went on to describe my own contributed story. And the other authors all came up to describe their story too.

I can't really describe what a Cinderella moment this was for me, one in a multitude of "that will never happen to me" magical moments that have occurred over the last two decades in my writing career. So in this blog I'm going to share my comments and some photos. Enjoy!

Opening Comments

Thank you all for coming! We are all thrilled to see you here, and we welcome you

and thank you for your support of our anthology.

The eight of us, as well as five other authors, are all members of a national organization called American Christian Fiction Writers. National organizations are great, but they’re so much better when they offer local chapters for people to join and attend regularly, but the closest one to me here in the South Strand was four hours away in Anderson, SC. Three and a half years ago, four of us (Christina, Annette, Melissa and I) decided to charter a new Lowcountry chapter of ACFW. We went through all the steps and we now have a thriving chapter in Mt. Pleasant.

We have about a dozen members, and we’ve become a close-knit group. We’ve done some really fun things for such a smallish, newish group. Two years in a row now, we’ve held a writing beach retreat right here in Pawleys Island! We’ve stayed at SeaView Inn, which many of you have probably stayed in, or at least driven by on the island.

Last year, we came up with the idea of writing an anthology of stories and publishing it. We knew the stories should all be tied together by a common object or theme. After brainstorming, we settled on the Charleston Light Lighthouse on Sullivan’s Island. Each story could be whatever genre or tone or style of story the author wanted, but the lighthouse had to appear in the story to some extent, and the story also had to include an inspirational element.

We took a fieldtrip to see the lighthouse in person. We observed it from a distance, then we came up close and personal. We climbed up the hill to where it stood, we looked out from the structures on surrounding Fort Moultrie. We visited the gift shop, talked to the park rangers about its history and we crept through the cement bunkers nearby.

One thing became clear to all of us: this lighthouse was very odd-looking. It’s not like other beautiful, majestic, scenic lighthouses. It’s triangular, and very low-budget. The US Coast Guard built it in 1962 to be functional, not decorative. Let’s just be honest – it’s kind of ugly. BUT! Its ugliness lends all kinds of story ideas to an author’s brain, so we stuck with it as our anthology object. And now that the collection is complete and we’ve read all the stories, I think we’re all amazed by how each and every story is completely different. Each author took that one common object and created something unique and meaningful.

My story is called Looks Aren’t Everything. When I first saw the Charleston Light in person one idea popped into my head, “It’s an ugly duckling.” Remember the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale? The baby swan who grew up around ducks and all the birds put him down because they thought he was ugly. Until he grew into his own adult beautiful body and was exactly what God intended him to be all along.

I decided I would make my anthology story a modern-day retelling of The Ugly Duckling. Charleston Light, although it’s not beautiful in appearance, excels in function. In fact, doesn’t everyone have some sort of ugly duckling transformation sometime during their life? Not necessarily transforming from ugly to beautiful like the swan did. But God can (and does) transform all sorts of imperfect people to be perfect for the calling he has in mind for them.

I started with Wanda Byrd. (B-Y-R-D). When we meet her, she’s at work as a nurse in the pediatrician’s office of Dr. Marcus. She calls a new patient for her appointment and it’s Kendall Swann (you see what I did there? ). Kendall is a ten-year-old girl with a bald head and a scar on her skull. From those clues we find out that Wanda has a deep connection with little Kendall because beneath her own hair that has long since grown back, Wanda has that same scar. Wanda had a brain tumor removed when she was a kid, just like Kendall.

Because of this experience, Wanda’s childhood took a sidetrack and she did not develop into a happy, carefree teenage girl like those around her. She grew up self-conscious, she withdrew from others’ attention. She just wanted to avoid anyone looking at her because she was different. Without realizing it, she came to think of herself as an Ugly Duckling. She grows up healthy and accomplished and is living a perfectly fine life, but she never had any experience with romance because she kept herself so closed off from the opportunity.

Once she’s met Kendall, she becomes friends with her and Kendall’s mother. Wanda is a big help to the two of them, giving them advice about the scar and the illness and hope that Kendall will recover fine, just like she did.

One day Wanda gets a call from Kendall’s mother who asks her a favor: would she take Kendall to visit a nearby lighthouse? Kendall has an assignment from school and she has to write a paper on it. Kendall’s mother had to work and couldn’t go. Of course, Wanda would be happy to. She happily shows up for a fun day with her new favorite little girl and when the door opens, a handsome, muscular, very un-ugly man about her age is standing there. Wanda stammers until Kendall announces, it’s her Uncle Mark who surprised them with a visit!

What turns into a magical, once-in-a-lifetime day they spend together learning about lighthouses is really the first time Wanda finds herself in such close company with a handsome man. But he’s such a nice guy that she pushes aside her shyness and begins to calm down and enjoy herself. There’s no pressure, she tells herself, because a man who looks like him would never be interested in her!

Or would he?

When Kendall is selected to read her Lighthouse paper out loud at Class Night, Wanda and Mark find themselves face-to-face again and Mark’s got some news that Wanda would’ve never EVER expected. Is it possible that he is a transforming Ugly Duckling of sorts himself???

Read Looks Aren’t Everything to find out!

Was All of 2022 Bad (or Just the Last 2 Months)?

The year 2022 went out with a wallop with an emergency amputation surgery and a double case of COVID. And that was just in the last five weeks! But memories being what they are, (focusing on the most recent), I'd like to actually review the whole year because I think I'll find that it wasn't THAT bad!

January: In the first month we were still riding high on the joy and excitement of the birth of our first grandchild, Owen, in October! We had already visited him twice (once at a week old, and once at Christmas) and we were getting photos almost daily. His mom and dad were doing great adjusting to their new life as parents of an infant. Both their companies provided them with very generous paid leaves, giving them the chance to set up a routine together as equal partners. (Unlike when I had my babies -- I had six weeks paid leave and scraped by enough funds to stay home without pay for another month, while Dad only had the day of the birth off. How times have changed!

Another exciting event in January was #1 Son, who had been living with us for five months, moved into his beautiful new house that he'd bought in December. Oh, how exciting getting him in and settled and readjusting to life in our own home without a roommate.

February : The second month was exciting for two reasons: First, I flew to Orlando to stay with a friend who was "snowbirding" there. We enjoyed some fabulous meals out, a relaxing afternoon at her resort pool, and most importantly, an entire day at Universal Studios Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park! Both of us are huge HP aficionados so we soaked in every imaginative, wonderful, geeky detail of the entire place! I bought a wand and was able to practice using it at designated spots there. I had been to the park when it first opened ten years ago, but they've added so much -- actually an entirely second park! We had such a great time!

In addition, February marked the release of my book, Her Secret Desire, the third in my Big Apple Blessings series of inspirational romance that takes place in New York City.

March : The third month proved why living in a beautiful vacation destination is a good thing -- one

of a million reasons -- people stop by when they're in the area! My niece Brianna and her then-fiance, now-husband Isaac stopped by for an overnight visit. We were able to catch up with them both, hear about all the wedding plans, take them out to our favorite restaurant and enjoy a walk on the beach.

In addition, Norm and I took a fun getaway trip to Nashville! Although I'm a huge country music fan and have been there many times, Norm isn't and hadn't. We went at the invitation of Dave and Nancy, two good friends who were sick of being stuck at home because of the pandemic and were ready to start traveling. We were too and we were happy to join them. It was a couple days of honky tonk bars, great food, music and walking everywhere. Wonderful!

April : More fun and excursions followed in the fourth month. In my role as President of my ACFW chapter, I planned a writer's weekend retreat at a beachfront inn on Pawleys Island. Eight or nine of

us attended and everyone had a great time. My stalled writing muse let herself loose and I wrote 17,000 words on a new project. The inn was cozy and rustic, and despite the temps being unseasonably low, and the fact that the inn had no central heat, we bundled up in front of the fire and had a great time!

My brother and his wife came to visit my parents nearby for a few days and that's always a great opportunity to get family together. And, Norm and I finally got to see the Elton John concert that had been delayed for two YEARS due to the pandemic! It was a stop on his farewell tour, and it was fabulous. We drove out (two hours away), went to the concert and spent the night before coming home. I'm so glad we went! Although I'd seen Elton in concert before, this was literally, the last chance to see him live before he retires. Now I'm hoping to see Billy Joel one more time.

May : Another fun and fabulous trip with Dave and Nancy! We had so much fun together in

Nashville, we scheduled a beach vacation in Marco Island, Florida. Oh boy, what a fabulous destination. Beautiful views, awesome resort, wonderful beach and pool, lots of great food and live music. Pure heaven.

This month brought more visitors to the area -- our annual week hosting the kids, and this time, grandkid! We had fun spending a day on a pontoon boat, and another day visiting the beach. We had several great meals out but unfortunately, sickness attacked us one by one that week. It was rough trying to go out and do fun things when someone was always sick.

In addition, four of my cousins had a sisters' trip to the area, and we spent one fun and raucous dinner with them at their beach house. My country concert partner Pam and her husband were here and we spent several days with them having fun. And my cousin Scott and his wife Tracey came for a Memorial Day visit. It was wonderful catching up.

June : The sixth month did not contain a trip but upon perusing the calendar, I see we had lots and lots of fun activities including attending a play, pool time with various friends, several Movable Feasts with best-selling authors, Book Club, Supper Club and more. Three big events were my 60th birthday (WOW that a milestone!), Norm's and my 33rd wedding anniversary and hosting our dear friends John and Krissi for a week! We always have a great time with them and this time was no exception.

July: The seventh month's highlight was my trip to New York City! I had

obtained tickets for GREAT seats to see Hugh Jackman perform in The Music Man! It's my favorite musical and holds a special place in my heart for a number of reasons and I was thrilled to nab tickets to see Hugh in it. I flew out on a Tuesday and met my fellow theater-and-adventure-loving friend Beth at LaGuardia. We spent a whirlwind three days there and fit in not only Music Man, but also two other Broadway shows (Funny Girl and Hadestown), had lunch with Beth's relative who is a Tony Award-winning actress herself and had performed as Hugh Jackman's mother in The Boy From Oz on Broadway! Oh my gosh, what a special, special lunch. We had a ball and also vowed to do more traveling together, Beth and I.

August: The eighth month featured lots of normal events on the calendar -- a couple guests, Supper

Club, Book Club and pool days -- but also I went to visit my friend Tracy who moved several hours away to Fayatteville, NC. We had a really fun and laid back (rainy) weekend together where we got caught up on hours and hours of conversation. We've been friends since 1995 and share so many fun memories together.

September: The ninth month featured a fun solo roadtrip to Carlinville, Illinois which is the home of my college alma mater, Blackburn College. It was

Homecoming weekend, and I hadn't attended in several years. In addition to touching base with many of my college friends and reconnecting with the campus and some of the faculty and staff, I had a special project there. One of my dear lifelong friends who I met my first day of freshman year, left us way too soon and way too suddenly 18 months ago. For the last year, I had been spearheading a project to create a memorial courtyard on campus. The courtyard was completed and dedicated that weekend at Homecoming. Lots of friends gathered to tell stories and share memories of our special friend, and marvel at the beauty of the courtyard, the benches, the flowers and the plaque with his picture and a poem he'd written while a college student. It was such a beautiful ceremony, and worth the thirty hours of driving roundtrip!

October: The tenth month was a busy one! We flew out to Dallas to attend the special first birthday party and celebration for our precious grandson! My son and daughter-in-law put on a wonderfully festive party and invited all four of Owen's grandparents. Later in the month, many members of the family traveled from all over the country to converge on Indianapolis where my niece Brianna got married in a beautiful outdoor ceremony and reception in one of the most scenic parks I've ever seen. That weekend I got my "fall foliage fill" that I miss out on in South Carolina.

November: The eleventh month took a bad turn when my husband's toe began aching (at first), then started shredding skin. For a month I treated the toe with

prescription wound care, dressed it carefully with gauze, while he took strong antibiotics and limped around in a orthopedic shoe. It got better for a while, and then it took a nose dive. On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, his orthopedic surgeon said with a bit of exasperation in his voice, "I can't fix this. It's a bad toe. It needs to come off."

"When?" my husband asked with alarm in his eyes.

"Tomorrow!"

The day before Thanksgiving Norm had his toe amputated, starting a month of recovery.

December: By far the highlight of the final month for me was participating in a wonderful author event called The Movable Feast in Pawleys Island where I got to speak to 150 readers about my books and dress up in a sparkly pantsuit! Other than that, we cancelled our planned trip to Dallas for Christmas with the grandson, followed by first hubby catching COVID, then me testing positive a few days later. So, we had to cancel our revised Christmas with my parents and local son. It was a tough month of healing and pain and wondering if everything was going as it should. Amputation is something neither of us had any experience with and it's easy to get a little paranoid about. I'm happy to announce that as New Year's Eve arrived he was back in shoes and socks and walking fairly normally. We both recovered from what we considered minor cases of COVID and we are looking forward to a HEALTHY AND HAPPY 2023!!

My 2020 Inspy Romance posts

For several years now, I've been blessed to be a blogger on a website called InspyRomance. It's made up of several dozen authors who write ... you guessed it, inspirational romance. We each blog once a month-ish, we also take part in guesting on the StoryChats podcast and we host a Facebook group called Christian Romance Reader Gathering. It's fun! It gives me a sense of community in my chosen genre, and yes ... it involves some work! But it's all good work and it keeps the creative juices flowing.

I'll link you to all the appropriate locations I just mentioned ... at the end ... but for now, here are links to my 2020 grouping of InspyRomance blog posts.

Without further adieu ...

January: Remembering Christmases Past

February: 2020 Is Shaping Up to Be a Productive Year

March: Getting it Right

April: And the Lights Went Out on Broadway

Late April: Matchmaking Moms Approach the Starting Gate

June: Time to Meet the Moms!

Late June: Let the Games Begin!

July: Finding God's Message Through His Word

August: An Author's Retrospective

September: It's Christmas Time for the Matchmaking Moms!

October: We've Been Boo'd!

November: 10 Ideas for Turning "Survive" Into "Thrive" Without Leaving the House

December: A Holiday Gift from the Matchmaking Moms

What a year! Hope you enjoy my blog posts. Now, as promised, here are the pertinent links pertaining to my involvement with InspyRomance.

The website: InspyRomance

The podcast: StoryChats (available in video and podcast formats)

The Facebook Reader Group: Christian Romance Reader Group (answer some questions and wait to be approved to join).

My blogs over at InspyRomance (Part 1)

A couple years ago I received an unexpected, exciting but very welcome surprise! A fellow Inspirational romance author, Valerie Comer, invited me to join a group blog named InspyRomance.com. It's made up of roughly a dozen authors who write the same genre I do, and we each write one blog a month. Together, we provide new content each and every day to our subscribers and readers!

I immediately agreed, so excited to be noticed and invited! Now, I'm 28 blogs in. You'd think I'd run out of things to write about, but thank God, so far, that hasn't been the case! I encourage you to subscribe over at InspyRomance so you see our posts every day. We also do a Back to School special where we give away great prizes. But if you love contemporary inspirational romance books, then this is truly the place for you!

Meanwhile, I'll link you to my blog posts over there. Enjoy!

My first post: Right Where God Wants Me: April, 2019

May, 2019: Is a Wedding the End of a Romance?

June, 2019: Who Are My Country Music Fans Out There?

July, 2019: Try the Chocolate

August, 2019: Setting as Character

September, 2019: A Dog's Love

November, 2019: I Walk the Beach

December, 2019: Shakin' It Up a Bit!

If you like blog posts, those will get you going! I'll return in a day or two to post my 2020 InspyRomance blogs.

A Cloudy Day at the Beach ...

... is still a pretty good day in general, don't you think?

I've been busy lately, crossings items off the To Do list. You know, those chores that take some analysis. Some digging. Maybe research on the internet, filling out forms, hanging on the Customer Service line waiting waiting waiting for resolution.

As a result, I've gotten some long-delayed jobs completed! Resulting in some great feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction.

Last night I decided as a reward, I'd spend the day at the beach today! Beach days are my favorite days in the world. I enjoy plopping my chair down in the sand, sitting there, relaxing. I love walking and getting my steps in amidst all of God's impressive beauty. I love going out in the waves, especially when they're mild, pushing out beyond the breakers and just lying flat, floating peacefully.

I love pulling a book out and reading. I love listening to snippets of conversation of those around me. Watching families have fun, throwing beanbags, tossing a football. Listening to other peoples' music floating through the air.

The only thing I don't enjoy about the beach is when it starts raining. I 'm not referring to a nice, gentle shower -- that's okay. I mean, it's okay to be wet. We're at the beach! But a sudden, angry, pelting rain -- that's not fun. You have to gather all your things, stuff them in your bag, grab your chair and RUN to your car. That's happened to me several times.

This morning, I was enjoying my morning coffee, gleefully anticipating my perfect day on the beach. I took the dog for a walk as my last activity before leaving. But then I realized ... it's kind of a yucky day. Cloudy, dark skies, cool, breezy. Here I was, so ready for a perfect beach day. I'd worked hard, I deserved it, I was free. And now ... it wasn't going to work out.

Disappointed, I took the dog back home and looked around my quiet house. I sighed. None of the other activities I could do with my time appealed to me now.

I checked the forecast. You know? Even a cloudy day at the beach is still a pretty good day. Better than sitting around inside. Maybe just an attitude change was needed. I was going to have my beach day, darn it. And I was going to love it even though it wasn't perfect.

It's a pretty good attitude to have about most things in life. Perfection isn't attainable, at least not long-term. If we set our expectations so high that the only way we'll be happy or satisfied is with perfection, we're setting ourselves up for a basketload of unhappy. Nothing is ever going to be handed to us. Everything we achieve should be hard-earned. Achieving something that is pretty darn good after working hard against all odds, is so much better than something perfect that you didn't work for.

So, perfection is in the eye of the achiever. So my beach day was a little cloudy, but it was beautiful and wonderful. I read about 100 pages of my book, I rode some pretty awesome waves for almost an hour, I walked two miles and witnessed a ton of beauty. And as I was driving home, I didn't even remember the clouds.

It was perfect.

A Departure from the Lowcountry ... to New York City!

My new series kicked off last month with Book 1: His Secret Daughter! I love the intricate plot and strong personalities in this book, and the "How can they ever get over this?" love story. I hope you will too. Despite setting my last three series at the beautiful South Carolina coast, my new series will take you to the exciting and frenetic streets of the best city in the world ... New York City!

A compelling tale of ambition, love, faith and changing priorities in the Big Apple.

She had the perfect life all on her own …

Alyssa Stark works hard to make her life's dreams come true … all on her own. She built her reputation as New York City's top advertising executive, client by client. And when her ill-advised marriage didn't work out, she knew she had to make her dream of becoming a mother happen by untraditional means. Now, she and her eight-year-old daughter Caroline are living the dream life in the Big Apple.

He'd lost everything that meant anything until he made a discovery …

Grant Fontaine is the widowed president of his father-in-law’s electronics company. Since the tragic death of his pregnant wife a decade ago, he’s become a high achieving businessman, but a social hermit. Several years ago, his lonely life took on new meaning when he discovered that the donation he’d made to a reproductive clinic long ago had sired a child. Through the services of a discreet private eye unafraid to push legal limits, he identifies his “daughter,” Caroline, and her mother, Alyssa.

Could it be time to reveal his secret?

He satisfies himself with maintaining a watchful eye from a distance, keeping his identity secret until Caroline reaches adulthood. That is, until Alyssa’s career path transports her into his professional realm. Now, his careful plans are thrown out the window. His dream of being a part of Caroline’s childhood is so close … the last thing he counts on is falling in love with the girl’s gorgeous mother.

Readers are enjoying it, judging by these reviews:

"This was so lovely and attention grabbing! I ended up reading into the night and up early to finish it this morning."

"Lovely story of love, faith, forgiveness and the abuse of power."

"I really enjoy reading a book that is exciting and emotional but has an element of faith in it. Reminds me to always look to God for guidance and encouragement."

Check it out! Download your ebook to the ereader of your choice.

Or go old-school and get a paperback!

Make sure you let me know what you think!

Can a Playboy be G-rated?

You better believe it, if he's the hero of a Matchmaking Moms of Oceanview Church book!

Today, Book 4 releases, Finding Love for the Playboy! "The Playboy is Micah Benjamin, Dahlia's son. One high-powered LA talent agent who is at the top of his game. One newly widowed mom whose life is scraping the bottom. What could they possibly have in common? It would take a miracle for them to discover each other.

Have faith. God wants to help.

Get your Kindle ebook: https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Playboy/dp/B086NP81WR/

Get your paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Playboy/dp/B08G9N3VHF/