Welcome, Spring Fling Hoppers

Hey, hoppers!  Glad you found me!  I'm excited to be part of this event and hope you decide to comment on the question I have for you at the end of this post.  

Even if you’ve never had occasion to need the serenity prayer, my guess is almost every person can recite some portion of it.

God, grant me the serenity 
to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference.

But did you know there’s quite a bit more to the prayer?  I didn’t either until a few days ago when the bottom fell out of what I would have called my otherwise typical, boring life.

Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.  Taking, as He did, this sinful world
 as it is, not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make all things right
 if I surrender to His will.  That I may be reasonably happy in this life 
and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.  
Amen.                                                                                                                       -Reinhold Neibuhr

My son is in his first year of middle school, seventh grade.  And while it’s been a transition I’m not sure I was ready for, as I look back over the year, it dawns on me the very things I worried about having to deal with as a part of seventh grade just a week ago no longer bother me at all.  Last week when a classmate took his own life, my son’s world changed forever and suddenly texts and first girlfriends and hours of homework didn’t seem to matter so much anymore.  At times over the last few days, the uncertainty has felt overwhelming.

But the truth is, I know there’s hope.  In this crazy world we live in, I hate that it takes a tragedy to see the good in people.  Although it often takes a backseat to flashier, more marketable news, good is out there, lurking in the shadows, at the ready to help in a crisis.  Ready to help right the wrongs and create the happy ending.

Which is why I believe writers write.  It’s why I write.  I can head to my office and lose myself for hours in the worlds I create, making life on paper as perfect or dysfunctional as I want for my characters.  God has blessed me with the ability to be largely transparent about the hurts and hang-ups in my own life and in turn, I feel he's blessed me with the ability to be able to use those things ripped from real life and spin them out in incredible ways on paper.  It’s my sincere hope that I can use the issues in the world spinning around me in a way that helps someone else make sense of their own wacky world.

I think we all want good to triumph.  For those of us that write our hurts and hopes into fiction, it’s why we want heroes to rush in and save the day.  It’s why we love to get lost in fairy tales.  It’s why we love to hate the bad boy in our stories but make sure the good guy gets the girl.  That's the part of the prayer I cling to, not as I would have it (this world) but trusting He will make it right.  That's where I find my hope.

Just as the hurts in life are sure to come, we’re sure to continue to hope and look for the good in those around us and we'll continue to write our stories.  And while I’m sorry it had to happen this way, hope is the very reason my son decided to put pen to paper this time last week.

Here’s more about my debut release, Hope 22…

In the aftermath of losing his wife and unborn son, professional quarterback Brody Jackson turns to his faith, making a vow to live a life that will honor those he’s lost.  Yet on a field of endeavor where outrageous antics get a player noticed and if it feels good, do it often seems to be the maxim, walking the straight and narrow path can be a hard thing for a guy to do.

Whitney Ryan is in the mother of all slumps, struggling to watch as her player ranking dips into double digits.  With three weeks to go until she’s slated for her next tournament, Whitney would rather be anywhere than on the tennis court and under her mother’s constant glare.  When Whitney decides to run away from her responsibilities, her resolve is firm—she doesn’t need anyone getting in her way, especially a know-it-all with problems of his own.

When two household names holding widely varying views on how to live life in the spotlight and measure success are thrown together, is there any hope they can call a time out and find middle ground?

Readers can find Hope 22 here...

GIVEAWAY time!

How about a $10.00 Amazon gift card and a copy of Hope 22?  All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment.  Tell me an issue you’d most like to see tackled in a story…  Check this post Monday, March 24, 2014 after 5 pm EST to see who wins. I’ll post the winning name and info on what to do next here.

Be sure to drop by Hops with Heart to continue hopping and don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win some really nice grand prizes.  Thanks for stopping by!

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