Davalynn Spencer's Blog, page 54

Circling the Wagons

My heart stops when I see the hospital number displayed on my ringing cell phone, but it is only the nurse helping my loved one call me.

Other callers I don’t have to answer, though I cherish their hearts and prayers, for they weave together into the hammock of God’s grace that holds me close to Him.

But sometimes I just can’t answer.

I’m circling the wagons, pulling the rough board bellies as close as possible and hunkering down behind them, looking out through the lower spokes of the wheels.

Have you ever felt like that?

I build a fire and sit in front of it with the end-of-the-month bills. The house payment. Electricity, water, internet. The phone rings. People want to help and it blesses me and I hope they understand if I don’t always answer.

Unavailable is okay, I’m learning. Instead, I turn off the phone, put down the bills, and pick up my Bible. Quiet fills me.

The peace of God’s presence rushes in like water through an opened valve and I lean as if against Him, to the left, toward the warmth of the fire.

For He is there, with me, in the circle of the wagons.

 

Be still, and know that I am God. –Psalm 46:10

The $5 Bill

I spotted the bill on the carpeted hospital hallway as I rounded the corner from the rehab unit where I’d been sitting with a loved one.

Folded twice, it looked like mine.

Instinctively, I reached into my left pocket and felt the few ones and fives I carried rather than fidget with a purse at the hospital café.

Earlier that morning, I’d pulled out a $5 bill for the drive-through carwash. But the line was too long, so I stuck the money back in my pocket. Had I later tugged it out with a restless hand?

What if the $5 belonged to someone else who walked this hall as often as I? Someone who needed it more. What if finding it was a test—by God or security cameras?

Part of me felt it would be poor stewardship of my money to leave it there.

And part of me felt like a thief as I picked up the bill and shoved it in with my double-folded wad on my way to the elevator. Surely God would forgive me if it wasn’t mine.

An hour later as I pulled out of the Walmart store parking lot, I waited for traffic at the main exit where a young man stood holding a cardboard sign: “Iraqi war veteran. Anything will help.”

I didn’t have to fumble with my purse and wallet because the $5 bill slipped easily from my pocket. I rolled down the passenger window and held it out.

“Thank you,” he said. “God bless you.”

Then I turned left onto the road for home.

It didn’t matter if the man was pulling a fast one on soft-hearted shoppers.

It didn’t matter if the man went home to a nice apartment and a girlfriend with a job.

It didn’t matter what he spent the money on. That was between him and God in the same way my act was between God and me.

What mattered was that the $5 bill on the hospital floor made its way to his hand.

 

 

“Give and it shall be given to you …” –Jesus

Dying can be easy…

… especially for the believer who knows his God awaits him.

Death of the human body, of a dream, of a goal—not necessarily painless, but easy if one lets go in faith. The death is not an end, but the beginning of a new life, a new dream, a new goal. A new direction that perhaps we didn’t see before.

But what if death does not come? What if transition tarries, and it’s hard, really hard? Then what? Do we believe God is with us still, in the rehab ward where progress is measured in centimeters? In the cold dark desert where ideas once flourished and only partial thoughts remain? In the bleak job market where no one seems to want our skills?

Will we take God at His word and believe that He is with us even there?

The dilemma is centuries old. We can choose to be Job or we can choose to be his wife.

Perhaps the road God asks us to walk is one of faithfulness in spite of pain, frustration, or defeat.

Are we called to support and encourage yet see no measurable improvement? Then encourage we must.

Are we called to pray yet see no answers to our prayers? Then pray we must.

Are we called to sing, yet no one is around to hear our songs? Then sing we must.

Christ is with us in the hard way. His presence abides. It is a matter of trust and when we lean into him through the fog that dims our sight, we feel His warmth, His strength.

He is there. He is faithful.

It is a lesson we learn in the living.

 

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” –Jesus

Expectation or Expectancy?

I’m learning the difference between expectation and expectancy.

Expectation weights my foot on the gas pedal because I need to arrive at an appointed time.

Expectancy allows me to enjoy the ride, respond to careless drivers without elevating my blood pressure or hand, and consider the view.

Expectation calls for a predetermined desire/event/goal, and can, therefore, spawn disappointment.

 

Expectancy eagerly anticipates what lies ahead.

When God reveals Himself to us, expectancy often follows: “What will He do?” Expectancy allows us to stand in awe of His grace and power and love. Expectancy acknowledges that He is sovereign.

Expectation stamps its foot and demands that God do things our way.

We walk by faith, not by sight. Do you sense the expectancy in that statement?

New Year’s resolutions take on a different flavor when I look toward tomorrow in expectancy.

What might God have in store for me?

What might He have for you?

First day after Christmas we wrecked our car

Not exactly the plan. No, I take that back. Not at all the plan, not even a little bit.

Who wants to ride a spinning teacup across a snowy road only to slam into a highway sign?

Sometimes things don’t go as planned. I’m sure Mary didn’t plan to give birth in a barn, but she made do with what she had.

Our Christmas overnight get-away this year was a long-anticipated break from the norm. Breaking the driver’s side window was a last-minute add-on. So was the road closure that prevented us from taking the usual 50-mile stretch home and forced us into an over-the-mountain detour. But hey, who’s hurrying on icy roads?

 

At Trout Creek Pass, elevation 9,487 feet, my husband pointed out a herd of elk that had to number in the hundreds. “This wouldn’t be so bad if I could roll up the window,” he said.

Humor has seen us through hard times before, and on that Dec. 26 return trip home, it got us through a four-hour drive in 10- to 18-degree weather without a window.

Did you know that if it’s snowing and your windowless car is not moving, it snows in the car?

No, things didn’t work out the way we planned that day. We hadn’t planned to see a Rocky Mountain big horn sheep stroll across the road in front of us, or spot a majestic bald eagle surveying the area from atop a bare cottonwood tree, or marvel at an elk herd blanketing a high mountain valley. We hadn’t planned to drive across a snowy plain near a rise of steam from a subterranean hot springs or witness the severe contrast of piercing blue sky against blinding white.

But we made it home safely with a tale to tell … and maybe even a great scene to write into my next book.

What adventures did you have this Christmas that were unexpected?

 

In his heart a man plans his course,

but the Lord determines his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

 

Book 12 – The Fruitcake Bride

This final tale in the 12 Brides of Christmas collection is well worth the wait. The delightfully complex heroine had me empathizing with her insecurities and laughing at her dilemmas—not in a bad way. But who doesn’t need a good chuckle now and then?

Lighthearted moments in this story are peppered with frustrations and fears, as well as some of the most thoughtful gifts from…well, I don’t want to give that away before you get a chance to read.

Do you have a favorite gift you’ve received, one that meant a lot to you, not for financial value but for heart-felt value?

May you have a truly blessed Christmas this year, and thanks for reading The 12 Brides of Christmas!

 

About the book: Pastor Clayton Parsons waited a year to bring his fiancée, Karen Briggs, to his new church post. They plan a Christmas wedding, but in the meantime Karen helps the church ladies with various projects, including a bake sale. But revealing her fruitcake recipe could spell disaster for her future in Bakerstown, Missouri.

Vickie McDonough is the author of 33 novels and novellas, including two books in the Texas Trails: Morgan Family series, The Texas Boardinghouse Brides, The Pioneer Promises series and A Pioneer Christmas Collection. Vickie has been married 39 years and she and her husband live in Oklahoma and have four grown sons. Connect with Vickie at her website, on Facebook and at Heroes, Heroines and History.

 

 

Book 11 – The Snowbound Bride

I had such fun writing The Snowbound Bride, imagining that I could really step back in time to a cold Colorado winter in 1885 … and wondering what I would do if I were the one traveling alone, stalked by a less-than-reputable character.

And then I met Beetle. How I love that dog! But I don’t want to spoil any surprises, so I won’t say much more about him other than to mention his owner, Nate Horne.

The closest I could come to my mental picture of Nate is Chris Hemsworth (as seen on my Pinterest page).

 

Of course that picture doesn’t show the neckerchief and low-riding cowboy hat that made my heroine Ara Taube shudder when  … He slanted her an eyes-only look she’d expect from a bandit. What kind of person had she attached herself to?

I hope you enjoy reading The Snowbound Bride and all of the 12 Brides of Christmas novellas. The last one releases next Monday.

Hint: Christmas is THAT close!

 

 

 

 

 

Book 10 – The Christmas Star Bride

Christmas traditions play such an important part of the holiday for many people. Most of us like to celebrate with specific foods, gifts, and company. But what happens when those expectations are not met?

Can it still be Christmas?

For some, it’s hard to find hope once dreams have been shattered.

But God is at work even when we don’t see His hand. In this story, two characters have resigned themselves to get by the best they can. However, as author Amanda Cabot puts it, “love comes when it’s least expected.”

About the book: Esther Hathaway lost her one true love at Gettysburg twenty years ago, but she is still willing to celebrate her niece’s wedding by commissioning Jeremy Snyder to paint her portrait. Will Esther’s prayers for God to ease her loneliness be answered by a wounded vet?

Amanda Cabot is the author of more than thirty novels, including the CBA bestseller Christmas Roses and Waiting for Spring.  A Christmas-time bride herself, Amanda now lives in Cheyenne with her high-school sweetheart husband, where they celebrate a fairly simple Christmas tradition. Visit her on her website, blog, or Facebook.

 

 

Book 9 – The Festive Bride

This is my favorite time of year – getting ready for Christmas – because it’s so festive.

Book 9 in The 12 Brides of Christmas collection has a very picky Alma Pickens—but in a good way. I so enjoyed reading about this spunky heroine who refused to lower her standards and give up what was important to her.

Have you ever doled out conditions before agreeing to participate in an event, even if some of those conditions were near impossible for others to meet?

Like flowers in November—in 1886? You’ll love where love and consideration lead in The Festive Bride.

 

About the book: When Roy Gibbons finds Alma Pickens as a mother to give his daughters for Christmas he thought it would be a simple arrangement. But this is the only wedding Alma will have, and she is determined to make it festive. Will this bride be more than Roy bargained for?

Multi-published author, Diana Brandmeyer, began her career in 1987 writing devotionals for children. From there, she moved to contemporary fiction, and then wrote about the journey her family took to become well blended. Now she writes historical fiction and loves the surprising way God works. Connect with Diana on her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

 

 

 

 

Book 8 – The Christmas Tree Bride

Author Susan Page Davis invites us to the hearth of a loving family’s bleak Christmas on the Wyoming plains.

Well, maybe not so bleak, if a certain hardy, young stage driver has his tree-hunting way.

But all that snow and wind … is such a temporary gift worth the risk?

Have you ever received a gift that was the result of sacrifice or risk?

 

 

About the book:  Polly Winfield lives at the stagecoach station that her father operates and often sees Jacob Tierney, one of the drivers. But winter arrives on the prairie bleak and uneventful, and she confesses to Jacob that all she longs for is a Christmas tree. Will a stagecoach accident prevent him from making her wish come true?

 

Susan Page Davis is a veteran author of 50 novels. She loves historical fiction and often finds inspiration from her family history. A native of Maine, Susan spent most of her life there, with forays to her husband’s home state of Oregon, and is now relocated to Kentucky. Visit her website or check out her blog on the 23rd of each month at  Christian Fictional Historical Society.