Amanda Cabot – Real Life Romance – Part 1 of 1

Shannon here: Amanda Cabot shares how she met her husband. Comment or answer the question at the end of the post to enter the drawing for her contemporary romance title, At Bluebonnet Lake – Book 1 in the Texas Crossroads series. Deadline: Sept 3rd, 11:59 pm central time. U.S. only. Here’s Amanda:

True Love: The Unexpected Answer to Prayers
Most women can tell you when and where they met their husbands for the first time.  I can’t.  If that sounds strange, read on.  There’s a good reason.  You see, he and I attended the same church and the same high school, so we knew each other by sight well before we were ever introduced.  In fact, we were never formally introduced.  But even though I can’t give you a story of a romantic first meeting, I can tell you when, where and how our love story began.  It was in a classroom on the Ides of March the year I was a junior in high school that God answered my prayers in a perfect but unexpected way. 
Earlier that year I became a candidate for a year-long foreign exchange program.  Although no one from my school had ever been chosen for that program, I was convinced that I would be the first.  For a number of reasons, I wanted this desperately.  Ever since I’d been a young child, I’d wanted two things: to be a writer and to live in Europe.  This would give me the opportunity to do one of them.  Another part of me longed for the distinction of being the first from my school to accomplish something, but mostly I clung to the idea of living abroad as a way of escaping a less-than-perfect home life.  I prayed and prayed and prayed that I’d be selected.
You know what happened, don’t you?  I wasn’t chosen.  To say that I was heartbroken is a major understatement.  I was devastated as only a teenager can be, convinced that nothing would ever be right again.  But then, on the Ides of March, when I was feeling particularly sad, I stayed after school to help one of the Latin teachers with a project.  She and I were cutting up pieces of fabric to make tents for a model of a Roman camp when one of the seniors came into the room.  
He and I started talking.  One thing led to another, and the next thing I knew, he was walking me home, then inviting me on a date.  That was the beginning of a lifelong love. 
After almost five years of courtship, we were married a few days before Christmas.  It wasn’t an elaborate wedding, but it was just what we wanted: a day to celebrate our love with family and close friends.  And, to make it even more special, my uncle traveled 400 miles to be the minister who married us. 
Remember how I’d prayed for that year abroad?  It took six years, but that prayer was answered.  My husband was deployed to Germany with the Army, and I was able to accompany him.  That was the start of a wonderful adventure as we explored Europe.  We had very little money, but what little we had we used to travel.
What a joy it was to visit places I’d only dreamed of – Heidelberg, Frankfurt, Munich, Dinkelsbuhl, the Black Forest, the Nuremburg Christmas market.  The list goes on and on. 
Eventually my husband’s tour of duty ended and we returned to the States, where we lived outside of Philadelphia until his job took him to New York City.  It was a difficult move for a number of reasons, but once again I saw God’s hand at work.  The difficulty of that move led directly to the sale of my first book. 
And now, many years and many books later, we’ve achieved another one of our dreams and are living in Cheyenne, Wyoming.   
I think back to that March so many years ago and realize that God answered my prayers in ways I could never have imagined.  He didn’t give me the year abroad when I wanted it.  Instead He gave me what I needed at that time: a man to love and a man who would love me.  And then He gave me the opportunity to live abroad, but instead of being alone I was with the love of my life.
Never doubt that God answers prayers – every prayer – and that both His answers and His timing are perfect. 
About Amanda: Amanda Cabot is the bestselling author of more than thirty novels including the Texas Dreams trilogy, the Westward Winds series, the Texas Crossroad trilogy and Christmas Roses. A former director of Information Technology, she has written everything from technical books and articles for IT professionals to mysteries for teenagers and romances for all ages.  Amanda is delighted to now be a fulltime writer of Christian romances, living happily ever after with her husband in Wyoming. Learn more and connect:

Amanda’s Website               Amanda’s Facebook               Amanda’s Twitter                Amanda’s Blog

About the book – On Lone Star Trail:
A woman without a future. A man running from the past.
One enchanting place where broken dreams are mended.
If there’s one thing Gillian Hodge never wants to see again, it’s a man on a motorcycle. Her last encounter with one left her right hand crushed, ending her promising career as a concert pianist. Unsure about the next phase in her life, she heads to Rainbow’s End Resort for some R&R when a sudden thunderstorm causes a motorcycle to crash right in front of her.
When TJ Benjamin’s wife died, he lost more than his best friend; he lost his faith. He has spent the past year wandering the country on his motorcycle, trying not to think about the future. When he finds himself stranded with a busted bike and a reluctant rescuer, he has to wonder about God’s sense of humor.
As these broken people collide, they find that a bright future is still ahead—it just might not be the one they imagined for themselves.
Question for Readers: Has there been a time when God’s timing worked better than yours did? Tell us about it.

Come back Aug 29th for Rose Allen McCauley!

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