As a Floridian, I am Christmas challenged. I see the Hallmark stories with the cold weather and snow at Christmas Eve, and as one who has never experienced snow, I somehow felt that my Christmases didn’t measure up.
But, hey, I have had Christmases where the upside-down thermostat strip on my AC/heater would cut off the contraption when it dropped below forty degrees. Even with those occasions being rare in Florida, I have spent nights when the temps dropped into the teens wrapped in a full-winter coat to sleep. Oh, and alligators. I’ve seen alligators on lawns, basking in the sunshine to stay warm in the winter chill.
Attention-Grabbing Alligators
Now that I have your attention, I can tell you that, while a perk, the setting of the swamp town of Mullet Harbor in All I Want for Christmas was simply a perk for me. I had another reason for writing this story.
Abigail Brewster is my favorite type of character: unassuming and under-estimated, a David hidden by the misconceptions of others. Her meekness is mistaken for weakness, but take a stance against the people she loves, the town she holds dear, or the God she loves more than anything, and her light shines.
Sheriff Remy Arneaux is the boy, now a man—and a handsome Cajun at that—that Abigail, or Abby, as Remy calls her, has always loved.
In their relationship and the pitfalls that they face, Abigail presents herself as the pre-married Proverbs 31 woman, the one who has set her sights on the man she loves and intends to present herself chaste before him. She’s not perfect, and she has to backtrack sometimes, because, after all, Abigail Brewsters in today’s society are very real.
All I Want for Christmas is meant to shine a light on their attributes and their failures, to show others that their efforts will never be fruitless when they place their trust in God, and well, those quirky folks of Mullet Harbor made the pathway to Abigail getting her man a hilarious adventure. And you won’t want to miss the antics of Abercrombie: the alligator on the lawn.
Fay Lamb is the only daughter of a rebel genius father and a hard-working, tow-the-line mom. She is not only a fifth-generation Floridian, she has lived her life in Titusville, where her grandmother was born in 1899.
Since an early age, storytelling has been Fay’s greatest desire. She seeks to create memorable characters that touch her readers’ hearts. She says of her writing, “If I can’t laugh or cry at the words written on the pages of my manuscript, the story is not ready for the reader.” Fay writes in various genres, including romance, romantic suspense, and contemporary fiction.
If you’d like to catch up with Fay, visit her at her website, on Amazon, Goodreads, and Twitter. Also, Fay has become a “novel” gardener, and she shares her adventure in her newsletter, Tales from the Azalea Garden. You can sign up for her newsletter, here.
The season was “Summ-fall,” that time when summer’s blossoms were gone and autumn’s were yet to come. We’d returned from vacation, and even though we’d soaked the plants before we left, they didn’t survive. The combination of Georgia’s hot September temperatures and the end of the growing season did them in.
My husband discarded the impatiens from the clay pots on the porch and began preparations for the pansies that would take residence next. I grabbed the broom and went out to sweep up the dirt scattered about the old “patina-ed” pots he loves, and I saw it. A volunteer, orphaned impatien. Science might have said the timing was wrong and the setting certainly less than ideal, but the little flower didn’t listen. It did its job and bloomed away.
Timing is Everything
Timing is everything. How many times have we heard that phrase tossed about, often in reference to a commercial campaign? Millions of dollars are spent by corporations and advertising companies to determine the perfect time to introduce a product to the market. Thousands of man-hours are invested in polling people to ensure the product is relevant, attractive, and appropriately priced.
And yet, if the season is wrong, all that time and money are wasted, and hopes and dreams are dashed. And the plans? Maybe they’re postponed. Maybe they’re discarded. But certainly, those who invested a portion of their lives into the venture never believed failure would be the outcome.
God’s word doesn’t tell us that timing is everything, but that everything has a time. The fuchsia flower had no idea the growing season was supposed to be over. It only knew what its job was, and against all odds, in a crack between the bricks and the concrete, it put down roots and bloomed. Summ-fall was its time, its season.
God’s Timing is Perfect
As Christians, we’re called to be faithful with any gifts and talents God has given us…even when the prevailing opinion might be that the timing is wrong. I remember when I first started writing, I had no idea what I was doing, but people said, “Write what you know.” So I did. I wrote a novel set during and after the Vietnam War. While attending a writers’ conference, I had the opportunity to ‘pitch’ my manuscript to some agents and publishers. Filled with butterflies, I sat down at my first appointment and began telling an editor about my manuscript. Before I could complete my narration, she raised a hand and said, “Why in the world did you choose that time? No one wants to read anything set during Vietnam.” I wanted to cry as I stood and walked away, but a voice deep in my heart said, “Wait. The timing will be right one day.”
God has ordained a time for everything, every activity. Even writing. And whether the timing seemed perfect or not to me, the little flower fulfilled its purpose and bloomed. When its season came, it was ready. Our job is to be ready and obedient so that when our seasons come, we can bloom, too.
When we planted the pansies, we took care to leave the little impatien undisturbed, happily growing next to the winter flowers. So it could fulfill its season, its purpose, as a reminder of God’s perfect seasons and timing in our lives.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
Charlee Bennett is running from her past. Once deserted by her musician ex-fiancé, she’s vowed to avoid anything that reminds her of the pain of his betrayal. Chance Jackson is starting over. Hoping to redeem the mistakes of his earlier life, he wants to become the music and worship pastor of the largest church in Crescent Bluff. Charlee tries to convince herself she should not be attracted to Chance. But then she discovers an old letter hidden in the secret drawer of an antique desk. The pain expressed by its author resonates deep within her. Can the words of long ago soften Charlee’s heart and help her to discover that there is a time for singing?
As an Air Force brat, the longest Carol James ever lived in one place was a year and a half. Maybe that’s why, when she and her husband bought their first home forty-two years ago, they stayed put. She lives in a town outside of Atlanta, GA with her husband, Jim, and a perky Jack Russell Terrier, Zoe.
Loving intriguing stories with happy endings, she writes Redemptive Romance. Her debut novel, Rescuing Faith, was an Amazon number one best-seller. Visit her website to sign up for her newsletter and learn about new releases: www.carol-james.com
Recently, Carol allowed Zoe to establish Instagram and Facebook pages with two of her dog friends, Sandy and Brody. Follow them at 3 Dogs and Their Authors to discover the behind-the-scenes info about being a writer’s dog.
When she’s not walking Zoe, Carol enjoys spending time with her husband, children, and grandchildren, as well as traveling. On Sundays, she loves serving in the production department at her church. And most days, in the late hours of the night, you’ll find her bringing her newest novel to life.
In general, the Western world—and many in the church—do not know what to do when confronted with fearsome circumstances or unexpected suffering. We need only to observe the world as it navigates out of a global catastrophe that has torn through churches and communities to see that God’s people haven’t always suffered well amidst the fearsome unknown. Yet our responses have the power to either draw others to the Lord or drive them away. How we represent Christ while we face our fear matters. This is part of the reason I love writing fiction. It’s therapeutic to craft characters who love the Lord and then put them into situations where God stretches and tests their faith. It helps me work through impossible choice scenarios, consider how to rebound after failure, and how to seek the Lord humbly.
Meet Meg Gilmore
Meg Gilmore seeks more than an absence of anxiety, fear, or stress. If that’s all that inner peace required, her twisted insides would have smoothed out when she escaped her abusive ex and resettled in the small town of Sycamore Hill. But the peace she sought didn’t come through removing the source of tension. Meg wants the Lord to remove the root of her fear (like her ex trying to extort her). She wants God to save the ancient tree that’s become her safe space. But neither would guarantee her the kind of peace that remains when the storms rage. She needs a peace that is different from the world’s peace (John 14:27). A peace that doesn’t come through the removal of trials but from enduring the trials with a trust that what the enemy meant for destruction will be the very vehicle God uses to strengthen her soul.
Meet Eli Martin
Eli’s need to control his environment feeds feelings of anxiousness and challenges his theology. Which is true? His chaotic feelings or God’s promise of peace? His flesh whispers that failure is guaranteed, but the Spirit says he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him (Phil 4:13). His flesh pushes people (and God) away, but wisdom says humbly seek the Lord, and God will meet every need (Phil 4:19). His flesh screams there is not enough time, but the Spirit reminds him that there has always been enough time when he keeps the Lord first (Matt 6:33). Yesterday, fear overwhelmed him. Today, he starts again with the Lord and trusts Him for another day. God’s mercies are new every morning. He is faithful (Lam 3:22-23). Eli knows this. Now, he has to live like he believes this.
The Sycamore Standoff
Meg and Eli fight for biblical thinking one day (one hour!) at a time, and they learn to live and focus on each day as it comes, not worrying about tomorrow (Matt 6:34). Peace follows this battle for their minds. It is exhausting but freeing. It feels dangerous yet is safe. It provides no answers, but it causes them to depend on the One who holds the answers, and that is why it brings peace within circumstances that haven’t changed. Meg’s fearsome past still exists. Eli can’t control the present. Yet peace anchors them—to God and each other.
Perfect Peace in the Face of Fear
Managing our circumstances will never bring lasting peace—the darkness and pervasiveness of sin roots far too deep than that. Instead, peace comes with an understanding that God uses suffering to accomplish far more extraordinary things than He would by removing suffering. Like Eli and Meg, I’ve found God in the blessings and provisions of life, but the spectacular sights and rewards that come from the harder work of seeking God in difficulty are even more precious. God has strengthened me to endure and revealed that nothing I fear can limit His hand.
“Why doesn’t God answer my prayer?” Even mature Christians ask this sometimes. The truth is: He does answer. Each and every time. But His answer may be “yes,” “wait,” or even “No. I have something better in mind.”
I’m very grateful for my prayers God answered yes. Prayers for relatives with major health issues. Prayers for direction when making life-changing decisions. Prayers for even minor concerns. Like when I was terrified before having to merge onto a busy highway. “Please, God.” For the first time in my experience, there were no other cars in sight. Not one. How blessed we are to know God is watching all the time. In every situation. No matter how small. If it’s important to one of His children, it’s important to Him.
But with age, I’ve also become grateful for prayers God said “No” to. At the time I was majorly disappointed. But looking back, I can see how His “noes” were for my benefit. God doesn’t think short-term. He has a large chest we can beat our fists against. But, like a good earthly father, He won’t swerve from the best path.
Modern Christians aren’t the only ones God says “no” to. When Elijah prayed for God to take his life, an angel sent food and water. (1 Kings 19:4) Jesus prayed prior to his crucifixion: “Let this cup pass from me.” (Matthew 26:39) We know how that turned out.
The Curious Prayer Life of Muriel Smith
In The Curious Prayer Life of Muriel Smith, Muriel wonders, too, why God doesn’t answer her prayers. All she wants is someone to mow her lawn. Someone cheap. At age 71, she can’t pull the cord on her old lawnmower. And her son-in-law won’t let her withdraw money from her accounts to buy a new one. She taught high school for fifteen years and has nothing to show for it. Her life has been meaningless. Or so she thinks. Then she gets carjacked. But before things look better, they look downright disastrous.
E-books are also available through KOBO, Christian Book Distributors, and Pelican Book Group.
Carol Raj grew up in Illinois, went to college in Minnesota, and lived with her husband in the beautiful state of New Hampshire for 40 years. To the day! There they raised three children. They now live in another beautiful state: Georgia. This time there’s no snow to shovel! Carol loves to read, but her favorite activity is playing with her seven grandchildren.
Way back in 2001, I wrote an article for Today’s Christian Woman about my experience with secondary infertility, which is the inability to bear another child when you’ve already had at least one biologically. Toward the end of that piece, I noted, “I wish I could say I was totally ‘over it,’ but I know there’ll forever be an ache inside me for the children who might have been.”
Was I ever right.
Here I am in 2022, in my 60s, my solitary child in her 30s, and I still have those pangs.
As authors often do, I also took my experience and fictionalized it, in my historical romance e-novella, The Christmas Child. The main character, Hannah, agonizes over her failure to get pregnant. If you’re familiar with the Biblical prophet Samuel, you’ll recognize that I named her after his mother. Her account is found in 1 Samuel chapters 1 and 2. I related to her deep grief and anguish as I slogged through medical treatments and failed adoption attempts both to initially conceive and then through my second, unsuccessful endeavor.
The actual Hannah finally bore Samuel. I gave birth to my daughter. Unlike me, though, she went on to have five more kids. I won’t give away the conclusion to my fictional Hannah’s story, but here’s a hint: romances usually have a happy ending. So what do I do with my not-as-happy ending?
In those moments when I brood over my lot, I always cast my mind back to the last chapter of John, where the resurrected Son of God appears to two of His disciples. As Jesus talks to them, He alludes to Peter’s eventual martyrdom. Naturally, this is upsetting news. I imagine Peter thinking, Why should I have to suffer by myself? It’s not fair! Looking at his companion John, he blurts out, “What about him?” (v. 21).
Jesus’ reply, spoken twice, brings me up short every time: “What is that to you?” (v. 22, 23).
Because He asks me a similar question: what do women who have more than one child have to do with you?
My only answer is—nothing.
Then He issues a challenge, both to Peter and, by extension, to me: “You follow Me!” (v. 22).
I take great comfort in the assurance that Jesus understands my mourning over my greatest “what if” (Prov. 30:15-16). He sympathizes with me and even shares that burden (Ps. 68:19, Is. 53:4a, 1 Peter 5:7). But He loves me too much to leave me stuck in self-pity. He calls me to live fully and abundantly in “what is,” (Jn. 10:10), fixing my eyes on Him, the author and perfector of my faith (Heb. 12:2).
My real—and forever—happy ending, He gently reminds me, is “what will be,” an eternity with Him, in a place where tears and pain are no more (Rev. 21:4).
I love the way King David sums it up: “You [God] will make known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence [and] with eternal pleasures at Your right hand” (Ps. 16:11).
So what do I do? I hold on tight and keep walking.
“There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, “Enough!”: the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, “Enough!”
Proverbs 30:15-16
A barren couple. A baby who needs a home. A husband adamantly opposed to adoption.
Infertility casts a shadow over Robert and Hannah’s marriage in 1891 New York. So does her newfound faith, a result of Dwight L. Moody’s evangelistic campaign. Their world is further rocked by their immigrant maid’s pregnancy, and by Jacob Riis’ shocking exposé on life in the city’s tenements.
Penny Musco is a freelance writer with publishing credits in AARP, Fodor’s Travel, and AAA publications, among others. She was an Artist in Residence for the National Park Service, and speaks regularly about the national parks at libraries and senior residences. Her first book, Life Lessons from the National Parks: Meeting God in America’s Most Glorious Places, came out in 2016.
