Steadfast - Guest Blogger Janice Thompson

November seems to be flying by. And lucky for us, it's Wednesday. This week I have a special guest, Janice Thompson. Though we've never met in person, I feel as if we're good friends. She's a doll. You're going to love her.
   

Award-winning author Janice Thompson has over a million books in print. She has published over 100 books for the Christian market,
crossing genre lines to write cozy mysteries, historicals, romances, nonfiction books, devotionals, children’s books and more.

Janice is the incoming president of the Woodlands, Texas ACFW chapter and was named the 2008 Mentor of the year for ACFW. She loves teaching at writing conferences, both local and national.

Janice’s tagline, “Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters!” sums up her take on life.

She lives in Spring, Texas, where she leads a rich life with her family, a host of writing friends, and two mischievous dachshunds.

You can find out more about Janice at www.janiceathompson.com.

Don't skip down to the contest details. You really want to read this. Janice knows what it means to remain steadfast. 

The Worst. . .and Best Year of my Life

When I think of a particular season of my life where I had to remain steadfast, I can’t help but be reminded of the worst—and possibly best—year of my life. In the middle of 2006, my twenty-six year marriage came to an end. I didn’t wish for it. I didn’t plan for it. It just happened. Abruptly. I’d been through one heartbreak after another in the relationship but that didn’t make the severing any easier. A few weeks before the divorce was final, I received a call from my dad, letting me know he had cancer: Multiple Myeloma. He was admitted to M.D. Anderson Hospital, one of the leading cancer centers in the world, where he had a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, he continued to get worse. After two agonizing, painful months, my father passed away. I was devastated. I was also a woman of faith, who had been quick to tell people, “Just trust God.” Now I found myself in a position where I had to trust Him fully and completely. I had no husband to lean on and my older daughters were already married and gone. So, I did my best to (as I told others) trust God.

The need to trust Him grew and grew over the following months. My first grandchild was born early under emergency circumstances. She was a teensy-tiny little thing, but did fine. I focused on her to ease the pain. Then another unthinkable thing happened. One of my best friends had a heart attack and passed away very unexpectedly. About three weeks after that, (just three days before my daughter Megan’s wedding) my forty-five-year-old sister passed away in her sleep. . .completely out of the blue. I remember that week so clearly. My daughter’s wedding was on Friday night; the funeral was on Saturday. I carried around a purple folder with wedding plans in one pocket and funeral plans in the other. Horrible. I was in a literal fog.

One month after Megan married (leaving me with an empty nest) I went to the theater where I direct plays. We were setting up for a meeting on the stage and needed a couple more chairs. I went bounding down the stairs to the auditorium to fetch them. I can’t tell you exactly how it happened, but somehow I missed a step. Such a simple thing, missing a step. I knew when I landed that I’d done serious damage. My right foot was in the oddest position I’d ever seen and I’d never known such pain. Thank goodness the pain didn’t last. I went completely numb from my knee down and could feel nothing. I would later learn that the injury was a catastrophic break: tibia, fibula and three bones in the foot. I’d also injured my left foot and my right wrist, so I only had one available limb.

The rest was a blur. Paramedics were called. I was put into an ambulance, given morphine, and whisked away to the E.R. The next week and a half involved four ambulances, three hospitals, surgery to pin and plate the ankle and then several days in a rehab. They were (truly) the hardest days of my life. I had a couple of sweet friends who helped out but with my husband gone, my father gone, my daughters married and living their own lives, I’d never felt more alone.

The next couple months were spent in a wheelchair. I had a conundrum because my house was a two-story with bedrooms upstairs and living room/kitchen down. At night I would scoot up the stairs on my backside and then use an office chair to roll my way to my bedroom. Talk about tough! And to make matters worse, my only book contract was pulled. I was out of work and out of luck with very little money in the bank and no way to make more until I recovered and could find a job.

You can imagine that these months provided a lot of opportunity for depression. This hit especially hard on the anniversary of my dad’s death. I’d never been so low. Fortunately, several good friends took notice. They set camp around me and prayed me through. They offered encouragement, prayer, and even a bit of fussing, when the situation warranted it. In short, they were the hands and feet of Christ.

The fog slowly lifted. I was able to get my feet back under me again (literally and figuratively). New book contracts came. New possibilities arose. Grandbabies started coming in droves. In short, my life took off. God took a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year and began to use it for His glory. I not only survived; I thrived. It didn’t happen all at once, but in time I could truly see that God had walked with me every step of the way. Even when I felt completely alone, He was right there.

I’ve had several years to watch God’s hand at work. He took this frightened, lonely woman and gave her new projects, new grandbabies, sweet friends and much, much more. In fact, my plate is so full now that I can barely keep up. He redeemed my life and gave back what the enemy had stolen. No, I could never replace the people I’d lost, but with the birth of each grandchild, I saw how life continued, how hope was restored. I really did learn to trust God, just as I’d always encouraged others to do.

I don’t know what you’re going through today, but I can say this: Hang in there, friend. Remain steady, steadfast. God can (and will) take even the toughest experience and use it for good. This, I know.

Connect with Janice:
Website: www.janiceathompson.com
Twitter: booksbyjanice
Facebook: Janice Hanna Thompson


Janice, what an amazing story. Thank you for sharing it. I am encouraged.

Janice is offering a free book to one of  you.

A BOUQUET OF LOVE

She didn't expect to fall in love--but roses aren't the only thing blooming on Galveston Island

Cassia Pappas has found herself in a nearly impossible situation. She wants to spend her time immersed in her new job at a Galveston Island floral shop, arranging blooms and brightening occasions with her lovely creations. But her boisterous Greek family--especially her father--has other ideas. They've all relocated to Galveston to open up a new family restaurant located on the Strand--directly across the street from iconic pizza place Parma John's--and they want Cassia's full participation. 

To make matters worse, as Cassia is trying to develop a strong professional relationship with Galveston's premier wedding coordinator, Bella Neeley, her own father is intent on stealing all of the Rossi family's faithful customers. Not exactly the best way to get into this former Rossi's good graces!

Still, at least Alex, that hot delivery guy from the nursery, is always hanging around the flower shop . . .

This sounds like a fun read. I'm definitely getting a copy.

For a chance to win a free copy leave a comment along with your email address and you'll be eligible. I'll be drawing a winner one week from today.

Our winner from last week is oldthingsnew.com. Congratulations! JoAnn Durgin will contact you. 

Grace and peace to you, from God,

Bonnie

Steadfast - Guest Blogger, Ann Shorey

It's Wednesday, guest blogger day. And today my guest is Ann Shorey, a dear friend and writing comrade. I'm so glad she could join us. Ann has a special giveaway offer so make sure to read to the bottom of the page.

ANN SHOREY has been a full-time writer for over twenty years. Her writing has appeared in Chicken Soup for the Grandma’s Soul, and in the Adams Media Cup of Comfort series. She made her fiction debut with The Edge of Light, Book One in the At Home in Beldon Grove series for Revell. Her latest releases include Love’s Sweet Beginning, the third book in the Sisters at Heart series, and a novella in the Sincerely Yours collection, also from Revell. She’s tempted to thank Peet’s French roast coffee and Dove chocolates when she writes the acknowledgments for her books.
She may be contacted through her website, www.annshorey.com, or find her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AnnShorey.




Words of wisdom from Ann Shorey:


STEADFAST IN THE STORM

In February of 2012, I started writing Love’s Sweet Beginning, the final novel in my Sisters at Heart series for Revell. The deadline for the novel was the end of January, 2013. Eleven months is a long time, and I started off with a bang and moved right along into the story.
Then my mother-in-law died on February 29. My husband comes from a large family, and our home is the place where everyone congregated for the week or so before, during, and after the funeral. But by mid-March I was back to writing.
In April, hubby had rotator cuff surgery. He’s a real estate broker, which necessitates spending a lot of time behind the wheel of a car. Of course, he couldn’t drive with his arm tied to his torso during the recovery phase, so I drove him to and from work and to and from appointments—for six weeks.
By now I was beginning to worry about making the deadline, but figured I could redeem the lost time by writing for longer hours during the fall when hubby went hunting and I had the house to myself.
He did go hunting, but while he was gone I got the flu and was very sick for a couple of weeks. He came home, left again, and unbelievably I got sick again. By now we were into the holiday season and I was in full panic mode. When January rolled around, I was 30,000 words short of my contracted word count, with less than 30 days to finish the book.
I rose in the middle of the night so panicked my brain was numb. I laid the problem before the Lord, like Hezekiah did in 2 Kings19:14-15. As I prayed and listened, ideas came and I’d jot them on a yellow legal pad. After further prayer the next morning, I’d go to my computer and continue the story using the prompts the Lord had provided. Night after night this continued as the ending of the novel took shape. The book was completed and ready to be turned in exactly on time, without a day to spare.
My editor’s reaction? She said it was her favorite book in the series.
  The Lord’s presence with me during those days kept me centered on Him, rather than on my own inadequacy. It’s a lesson that has stayed with me. He’s never far when we call on Him—in fact, He’s right there. We just have to reach up. He’s waiting.
In the acknowledgements at the back of Love’s Sweet Beginning, you’ll find these lines: “Speaking of prayer, the Lord should be listed as co-author of this book. As the greatest creator of all, He is my guide. All glory goes to Him.”



Thank you Ann. I needed to hear this.

And here's the book Ann was working on when she 

panicked and sought God's help.

I love this book!

It isn’t Cassie Haddon’s fault that she has reached the age of twenty-five without possessing any useful skills. Until the war, she always had servants to wait on her. Since then, she and her widowed mother have moved from place to place, relying on family to care for them. Now she’s forced to find work to support them both. What isn’t in her plans is falling for Jacob West, a local restaurateur and grocer. She needs a job and he needs help.

Love’s Sweet Beginning is a tale of two people from very different backgrounds finding common ground and the hopes of a bright future together.

TODAY AS A SPECIAL TREAT, ANN IS OFFERING A 

FREE COPY OF LOVE'S SWEET BEGINNING. 

All you have to do for a chance to win is leave a comment along with an email address and you will be added to the drawing.

Grace and peace to you from God,

Bonnie