Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt Stop #21

Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you’ve just discovered the hunt, be sure to start at Stop #1, and collect the clues through all the stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 5 grand prizes!

• The hunt BEGINS on 3/14 at noon MST with Stop #1 at LisaTawnBergren.com. 
• Hunt through our loop using Chrome or Firefox as your browser (not Explorer).
• There is NO RUSH to complete the hunt—you have all weekend (until Sunday, 3/17 at midnight MST)! So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books and learn new things about them.
• Submit your entry for the grand prizes by collecting the CLUE on each author’s scavenger hunt post and submitting your answer in the Rafflecopter form at the final stop, back on Lisa’s site. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way!

Hi! My name is Jill Eileen Smith and I write Bible stories for grown-ups. I’ve loved the stories in the Bible since my teens, especially the overall history–HIS Story–of Jesus. But the people I write about are those who are often overlooked–the women in Bible times. Until this year, all of my works-in-progress have been women who lived in Old Testament times. This year, I’m stepping into the New Testament, so I’ll have a whole new group of women who have unique stories to tell. You can learn more about me on my Social Media sites, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter and see a list of my books here on my Books Page. My newest release The Ark and the Dove took me back in time to the famous world-wide flood story. The story is mostly about Noah’s wife, whom I call Zara. Here’s a bit about her story:

Zara and Noah have walked together with the Creator for their entire lives, and they have done their best in an increasingly wicked and defiant world to raise their three sons to follow in their footsteps. It has been a challenge–and it’s about to get much, much harder.

When the Creator tells her husband to build an ark to escape the coming wrath against the sins of humankind, Zara steps out with him in faith. But the derision and sabotage directed their way from both friends and extended family are difficult to bear, as is knowing that everyone she interacts with beyond her husband, her sons, and their wives is doomed to destruction. And when the ark is finally finished and the animals have been shut up inside, Zara and her family embark on an adventure that will test their patience and their faith as they await deliverance and dry ground.

To watch from a boat’s window and see nothing but dark water beneath had to grow tiring after a while, wouldn’t it? Imagine what it felt like to finally step onto dry ground only to realize that you were one of…

The Last Eight People On Earth

If you’ve ever watched “end of the world” movies, you have an idea of what it might be like to survive–to be one of the last of the human race. Imagine what it would have been like to endure a world-wide disaster and have only your family with you to live to tell about it. 

Scripture gives us some of the details of Noah’s flood. In my book The Ark and the Dove, I put myself into the story, and imagined how that might have come about.

Step onto dry ground after a year on a three-story ship. What do you hear? Animals bellowing, squealing, trumpeting their release from small cages or birds singing, free at last? The wind might rustle the leaves on the trees, and the smell of fresh earth would be a welcome change to your stuffy environment. How might that feel?

What was it like to be the only eight people left on the earth? When Noah and Zara and their family left that ark, they knew it would take years before they could rebuild all they had lost. 

Years passed. Vegetation grew, celebrations ensued, and attitudes changed. Family discord erupted and people separated until one day, God sent them off in different directions. And the cities and countries expanded into what we see today.

Jesus said that as it was in the days of Noah, so would it be when He returned. People would not expect His return any more than they expected the flood. Judgment is like that. Only God knows when it will happen, but He will not abide evil forever. In the future, we won’t have only eight people to survive a future world. Future survival will be eternal. Spiritual. The kind that escapes fire and flood because we trust the One who welcomes us into His ark of safety.

Noah and his family listened to His voice. In the world to come, we need to do the same.

Here’s your Critical Stop #21 Info: if you’re interested in purchasing The Ark and the Dove you can find the book at Baker Book House, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Christian Book, or your local bookstore.

Clue to write down:

Now I have

Link to Stop #22 – Jennifer Deibel’s Site

BUT WAIT! Before you go, I’m offering FOUR books to TWO winners! Books included are my choice-three of my novels and one non-fiction. U.S. residents only. All you have to do is sign up for my e-newsletter (look for the envelope in the top right hand corner of any page of my website) or indicate that you already receive it. Additional points if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram.

Enter my Rafflecopter giveaway