Shannon here: Carrie Walker shares her husband’s romantic surprise plus a chance to win an e-book copy of her Romantic Women’s Fiction, Right Before Their Eyes. Comment or answer the question in any post dated Dec 16th – 30th to enter the drawing along with 4 other titles. Deadline: Jan 3rd, 11:59 pm central time. Merry Christmas Eve Eve! Here’s Carrie:
Over the years my husband has surprised me with a handful of “romantic” gestures, but one in particular stands out to me today. In the first ten years of our marriage, we did high school youth ministry together. On numerous occasions we took the youth on pilgrimages or weekend retreats. It was not only a fruitful time of ministry, but also a time my husband and I could enjoy doing ministry together, occasionally “leaving behind” life to venture out in faith. Or even simply . . . get on a plane. There’s something about the anticipation of a trip, it’s almost magical.
About sixteen years into marriage, we had six kids (one of which was only one and a half) and my husband had started a new job. Because of our growing family we had stepped away from youth ministry years prior. I was a stay at home mom, and we were in the beautiful, but sometimes grueling, trenches of parenthood. School. Early mornings. Late, sometimes sleepless, nights. Babies and school-aged kids.
My husband’s new job required him to travel internationally … often. As you can imagine, this was a challenge for me at home with six small children. We had kids in three different schools, and one toddler at home. Plus, our house seemed to object to his travel. LOL. Every time he’d leave, some appliance would break, or our energy company would knock down a fence, or a dog would escape. You know, just to make sure I wasn’t too bored.
When he was packing for one trip, I remember helping him fold laundry and simply mentioning that I didn’t even remember what it felt like to sit in an airport, anticipating a trip. Of course, work trips are nothing like pilgrimages or vacations . . . but there is a certain “leaving the world behind” that still happens. It was only a sentence, not a long conversation, and he departed (and the dishwasher broke haha).
But he remembered that I said that. A few months later he told me that I’d need to pack my bags soon. Of course my initial reactions was a litany of questions. What? Where? How? . . . What about the kids??? Anticipating every one of those questions, he had booked us a long weekend to Miami, Florida—far enough away to have to get on a plane 🙂 He’d already arranged family to stay with the kids and requested the time off work. Every worry had been handled.
We spent a couple months anticipating the beach and dinners out. We flew on a plane for the first time in years and shared a lovely weekend in the sunshine together, but the most memorable part was how it happened . . . from him listening to one simple sentence I said and finding a way to help me remember what it was like to sit in an airport, anticipating a trip.
Reader Question: If someone were going to surprise you, what would be the thing that would make
you smile the most?
Dec Book Bundle #2
A Gift for All Time by Tonya B. Ashley, Jenny Carlisle, Ellen E. Withers, Novella Collection, print
A Texas Holiday Reunion by Shannon Taylor Vannatter, Contemporary Romance, large print
My Journey in Fiction Writing by R.F. Whong, Nonfiction, Newsletter signup download
Right Before Their Eyes by Carrie Walker, Romantic Women’s Fiction, e-book
Across the Lake by Barbara M. Britton, Devotional Short Story Collection, print
About Carrie: Winner of the 2025 Faith Hope and Love Reader’s Choice Award, Carrie Walker lives in Michigan with her husband and seven children. From her ten years serving as a high school youth minister, adventures around the globe, and raising a family, many stories have been knit within her heart.
As an avid reader she pens what she loves to read, contemporary stories that bring hope to a hurting world. Weaving romance among story lines of characters in struggle, she aims to show God working in all situations. When she’s not playing board games with her husband, shuttling kids in the Walker bus or wishing for snow, Carrie can be found at the keyboard bringing those stories to life.
Carrie’s writing has been recognized in many contests. Her debut novel, Emma’s Hero, won the silver medal in the Selah Awards, won the IAN Book of the Year for Christian Fiction, was a double finalist in the International Book Awards. Learn more & connect:
Carrie’s Website Carrie’s Bookbub Carrie’s Goodreads
Carrie’s Instagram Carrie’s Facebook
About the book – Right Before Their Eyes:
Sometimes the love you need most looks different than you imagined.
Clare Martin thought nothing of agreeing to live with her dementia-ridden grandmother when her parents left on mission. Balancing that with her job as a social worker and the expectations of her career-driven boyfriend proved doable—until Grandma started a house fire.
Mason Hughes has loved Clare for years, but the time was never right to tell her and now she’s dating someone else, fixing Mason firmly in the friend zone. He’s working to be a pediatric neurologist, a dream inspired by a special boy with a terminal brain condition, and must choose a medical school. Finances are so tight he’s forced to consider a program across the country, a troubling fact he’s kept secret.
Lucia Roberts, a seventeen-year-old on Clare’s caseload, loses her foster home and is placed in an unwelcoming group home. At every turn she’s met with rejection and becomes desperate for any proof she has value—enough to make choices that could affect the rest of her life.
When Grandma Dottie and Lucia’s paths take a dangerous turn, Clare frantically tries to save them. As their lives knit together, will they find the love that’s right before their eyes?
Can’t wait for the drawing? Worried you won’t win? Interested in Carrie’s other titles? Need extra copies for gifts? Get your copy/copies now!
Right Before Their Eyes Carrie’s Books
Come back Dec 25th for a very special post. Merry Christmas!
Come back Dec 27th for Shannon’s Book Bargains Roundup!
Books have always been such special Christmas gifts so I would love to be surprised with a best-seller!
Merry Christmas!
Connie
I’d most like to be surprised by being gifted a book I really want. Reading fills me with great joy.
A weekend getaway to Carmel!
I have a winner! Diana Hardt won the drawing. I appreciate Carrie for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.