Today, from 9:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. between services, I signed books and chatted with the friendly people at Woodside Bible Church! They have graciously hosted me since the first book Michal released in 2009, and today’s release of Rebekah marked the fifth book and fifth signing. I appreciate every one who stopped by to talk to me, and to those who bought books, thank you as well! I hope you enjoy each story. As I talked to the people at Woodside today, I learned some things. One woman is a missionary who was soon returning to another country. Another was a young mom expecting her third child. One was a Bible teacher, who led a Beth Moore Bible Study I participated in last spring, while another was a woman I knew from many years ago but hadn’t seen in forever.
Old friends and people I didn’t know stopped to talk, which was fun. And as I sat in on the message during one of the services, I was reminded of some things about God and His choices for us that I hadn’t considered quite that way before. Sometimes we ask why things happen the way they do, but God isn’t under obligation to tell us. Why, for instance, did the apostle James die a martyr as a young man, but Peter was released from prison right before his execution in the same manner? Why does God sometimes wait until the last minute to answer urgent, heartfelt prayers?
Sometimes time reveals the answers. But probably in most cases, we won’t know until we see Jesus and can see life from heaven’s perspective. James, for instance, looking down from heaven might have wondered why he got to be with Jesus and Peter had to wait! So much in life has to do with how we look at things.
But the questions are worth pondering, especially as life gets hectic and circumstances suddenly change and we don’t understand the reasons. They are questions I will think about as I start research on Rahab – who could not have imagined how drastically her life would change once the walls of Jericho fell! (Rahab is the next full-length novel on my to-do list due this December – and will be book one in the Brides of the Promised Land series.
But first, Rebekah should be releasing from bookstores SOON! If you are a reviewer or on my influencer’s list, you should have received your copy this week. The blog tour for Rebekah is coming up in early February, so stay tuned!
In the meantime, Rachel will soon be in my inbox with suggestions from my editor. And Naamah (e-book novella) will hopefully get the go-ahead to send in as well to her.
Life is busier than it’s ever been, but I am learning not to fret about it. One day at a time is all God gives us. One day’s grace and one day’s work and one day’s peace.
