Shannon here: Jennifer Slattery shares how her husband encouraged her to write, plus a chance to win a copy of her latest Contemporary Romance, Hometown Healing. Comment or answer any question dated Sept 10 -13 to enter the drawing. Deadline: Sept 21st, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Jennifer:
Everyone needs someone who will speak life and light into their heart, who will see and then call out the good in them, and walk beside them for every stumbling step. For nearly twenty-five years, my husband has played that role for me. I wouldn’t be published if not for him. Stuck in insecurities and negative thinking, I doubt I would’ve pursued writing at all. But one day, he added fuel to a tiny spark in my heart when he said, “I’ll watch Ashley. You go upstairs and write.”
She was maybe two at the time, still in diapers, and at the age where mobility and curiosity required a constant eye. My days were filled with cleaning up spills, making meals, and dreaming of when I might enter a bathroom completely by myself. Taking the time to brainstorm a story let alone put it to paper? That hadn’t occupied a single thought. At least, not for me.
Apparently, however, the idea had activated numerous of my husband’s neurons. “I always knew you’d be a writer,” he said to me one afternoon, about a year after my first book released. I looked at him, thinking back to the dribble I’d once thought clever and profound, back before I started working with critique partners, attending conferences, and taking classes. I have no record of anything I crafted, back in those early days. Of the dark poetry, implausible storylines, and odd snippets of who knows what else. Every word died with our old, massive yellow IBM, thank goodness.
And yet, though my skills were severely underdeveloped and my writing so sporadic one would’ve thought my muse had multiple personalities, my husband saw something in me and he called that out.
Could his voice, spoken so gently yet consistently, for all those years, have echoed the voice of God? I like to think so. I like to think that’s what God meant when He breathed Genesis 2:18 into existence, saying, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him” (KJV). A helpmate, handcrafted for the man, and I believe divinely created for the woman as well. A person who helps complete the other. Who unites, heart and soul, to another, helping them serve God fully and be all that He created him or her to be.
My husband has been that person, and I long to be the same for him. I want to be someone who sees good in him, who assumes the best, even when he’s at his worst. I want to call out hope and life when he feels as if he’s failed and to give him the support and encouragement to begin again. I want to be that steady whisper says, “You’ve got this,” when he gets up to try again.
In short, I want to do my part to create the type of romance I write about.
Our spouses likely have plenty of critics and complainers. They need more light bearers. We can fill that role, and what a glorious hope-giving role it is!
About Jennifer: Jennifer Slattery is a writer and international speaker who has addressed women’s groups,
church groups, Bible studies, and other writers across the nation. She maintains a devotional blog found at Jennifer Slattery Lives Out Loud and on Crosswalk. She has a passion for helping women discover, embrace, and live out who they are in Christ. As the founder of Wholly Love Ministries, she and her team partner with churches to facilitate events designed to help women rest in their true worth and live with maximum impact. Connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. When not writing, reading, or editing, Jennifer loves going on mall dates with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband. Contact her HERE to book her for your next women’s event.
About the book – Hometown Healing:
She’s home again, but not for long…
Unless this cowboy recaptures her heart
Returning home with a baby in tow, Paige Cordell’s determined her stay is only temporary. But to earn enough money to leave, she needs a job—and her only option is working at her first love’s dinner theater. With attraction once again unfurling between her and Jed Gilbertson, can the man who once broke her heart convince her to stay for good?
Can’t wait for the drawing or worried you won’t win?
Get your copy now! Hometown Healing – Amazon
Question for Readers: Who encourages you and in what way? Who do you encourage and in what way?
Come back Sept 13th for Jennifer’s Romantic Excerpt!
My friend Linda is my encourager.She is always encouraging me to try new things that are outside my comfort zone. I encourage others to be all that God intended them to be.
Hi, Sheila, What a blessing to have a friend like that! ❤️ (Shannon’s like that, to so many people, also. 🙂 )
And so is Jennifer. She’s like the energizer bunny of encouragement.
I hope I encourage my grandchildren!
My husband and my aunt encourage me. I encourage the sick and shut ins at church by doing the card ministry.
family – supportive
Would love to know the story behind the baby and what happens when she returns home.
My husband is my encouragement in all things. He believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself on my way to be becoming a published author.