Shannon here: Candace West shares her heartfelt devotion, plus a chance to win her Historical Romance title, Lane Steen. Comment or answer the question at the end of any post dated August 6 – 9 to enter the drawing for a copy. Deadline: Aug 17th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Candace:
He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. Psalm 147:3
Has your heart ever been so wounded that you doubted healing would ever come? Most of us have lived through those times. The trials we pass through darken everything around us, and we wonder if the warm light of God’s presence will ever shine on us again. It’s easy to forget, sometimes, that He dwells in the shadows too.
Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. Psalm 97:2
In other words, the Lord never stops being righteous. He never forsakes justice. He is always ever present in our lives no matter the circumstances. He dwells both in the light and in the darkness. Because He is ever present, His love and care for us never fails. Even when it is hard for us to see it.
The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. Psalm 34:15
When I first met Lane Steen in the Ozark valley of my imagination, she wandered over to me in her threadbare, flour-sack dress, a purple lump rising on one side of her face. The bitterness and anguish in her blue-green eyes looked right through me.
Who was going to bind up her wounds? And how was God ever present in her life?
For the next year, I journeyed with Lane as God brought her from a bitter and hopeless place to her moment of victory. The God she doubted became the God who healed her broken heart and bound up her wounds.
The compassion of our Lord never fails. The Bible says that they are new every morning.
Isn’t He a wonderful Lord? No matter who we are, no matter where we come from, God loves us and longs for us to enter into the shelter of His waiting arms. There we find salvation, forgiveness, and healing for those inner wounds that plague us.
About Candace: Candace West was born in the Mississippi delta to a young minister and his wife. She grew up
in small-town Arkansas and is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Monticello. When she was twelve years old, she wrote her first story, “Following Prairie River.” Since then, she has dreamed of writing Christian fiction. Over the years, she has published short stories as well as poems in various magazines. Since her teenage years, she has written many church plays. In 2018, she published her first novel Lane Steen. By weaving entertaining, page-turning stories, Candace hopes to share the Gospel and encourage her readers. She currently lives in her beloved Arkansas with her husband Aaron and their son Matthew along with two dogs and three cats.
About the book – Lane Steen:
How can she let go of the past when she is forced to confront it?
Kidnapped by her father at two years old, Lane Steen never imagines she is living a lie until a new schoolteacher, Edith Wallace, comes to Valley Creek. Yet Edith is more than a schoolteacher. She is part of the past–a past hidden in a mysterious dream that has haunted Lane since childhood.
At sixteen, Lane yearns to escape from her embittered father’s hatred that engulfs her home. The schoolhouse is Lane’s only escape. Carefully, Edith works to earn Lane’s friendship, but love and trust doesn’t come easy for a heart plagued by hate. But then the truth shatters Lane’s world.
The truth sends Lane on a turbulent search into the past. Leaving Valley Creek behind, Lane reunites with a family she cannot remember–a family that surpasses her wildest dreams. A family that belongs to her.
Despite her newfound joy, her hatred for her father only deepens. Although she desires to experience the faith of her family, Lane can’t cast away one thing she holds closely: the hatred that helped her survive.
Digging into her father’s unbelievable past, she confronts the story behind her father’s ruin. Will she always be bound by hate?
Yet something even stronger binds her. Something stronger than her family, something stronger than her will. She is bound to Valley Creek, the place of her stormy childhood, the place of the man she loves, but more importantly, the place of God’s calling. Ironically, she finds love, purpose, grace, and forgiveness in a place she’d sought all her life to escape.
Can’t wait for the drawing or worried you won’t win? Get your copy now:
Lane Steen – Amazon Lane Steen – BarnesandNoble Lane Steen – itunes
Question for readers: Is there a Christian Fiction book that helped you through a trial? Which one?
nope
I can’t say that any CF book helped me through a trial, but it sure is encouraging to be able to read a good CF book.
Yes, it is! I would say that Pilgrims Progress has encouraged me along my Christian walk. I’m glad you came by, Perrianne!
Looks like a good book
Thank you, Una! Hope you check it out! Blessings!
It’s been great being here again, Shannon! Thank you for having me!
I can’t pick out one specific book that helped m3 through a trial but I read many fantastic Christian Fiction books that touch me and encourage me.
I have heard of this book. It looks like a worthwhile read!
Thank you! I hope you’ll read it sometime! One of the things I love about CF is the hope it offers. We need more of it in our world.
I have a winner! Pat Peebles won the drawing for Candace’s book and Una Ireland won the copy of mine and Tina’s title. I appreciate Candace for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.
Pat Peebles already has Candace’s book, so I’m sending her one of mine. I went back to random.org for another winner for Candace’s book. Congrats Perianne Askew, you won the drawing!