Inspirational author, Linda Wood Rondeau shares insight into her real life romance plus a chance to win a gift certificate for 1 choice of 5 of her e-book titles or a $5.00 coupon toward a print copy. Comment or answer the question at the end of this post to enter the drawing. Deadline: Nov 5th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Linda:
“It’s a Good Thing I Love You” by Linda Wood Rondeau
Seems like every move we made came at the same time as major life transitions.
We were engaged when my soon to be husband moved me and my children from our apartment to our new home in the next town north of where we lived. Transitions. This was my second marriage, Steve’s first. Not only did he have to adjust to the role of husband, he took on the responsibility for my three children from my previous marriage.
That was when I learned that men deal with moves far differently than women. My method made the chore slow and tedious. I wanted to label every box with its contents and its level of fragility as well as what room the box should be placed when unloading. However, my then fiancé approached problem-solving with spatial reasoning. Rather than what box should go to what room, he wanted to load according to size and dimension. And of course…get the move over with the least amount of fuss and time.
He begrudgingly acquiesced to my plan and with each box loaded said, “It’s a good thing I love you.” Amazingly, our engagement survived the move and the transitions our new family composite would bring.
A few years later my husband took on new employment, requiring another move to a town seventy miles away. More transitions. New community, new church, new schools and for me a new job as well. However, our rented house wasn’t ready as expected and we spent the first few weeks at a co-workers home who took us in. “At least we’re together,” I said. Logistics took a back seat to what was important.
Soon after, we purchased a house and moved again. Still more transitions, new school and new church. But, the kids loved their new community, and soon we became entrenched…stable at last. Until eight years later. My husband came home to announce a new job in the community where we started out. Made sense our parents, who were getting older, lived there and could use our help.
Transitions. God found us a nice house and we closed. However, we couldn’t take posession of the home for two months. Our oldest son had left for college. Steve stayed with his mother and our two younger children stayed with my parents, leaving me to remain in our old home alone.
Love is harder when a family is fragmented.
I thought these few months would be the worst test. “It’s a good thing I love you,” I said. By the time I was able to pack up and move into the new house, I didn’t care what box went where. I just wanted my family back together again.
We stayed in that house for over twenty years, and I thanked God for stability. We experienced a lot of transitions while there…loss of parents, children marrying and moving out of state, acquisition of grandchildren, and my early retirement.
Snow covered car. Brutal winters prompted another move.
Five years ago, health concerns prompted us to make yet another move. This one would test our love more than any other. It would require us to separate for eighteen months until my husband could retire and move to be with me. This time, he was the one left to settle the house matters in the North Country, while I took on the task of finding us a home in Florida. He called every night and we closed each conversation with, “It’s a good thing I love you.”
The New House
The way one moves, I’ve learned, is secondary to those with whom we move. I didn’t care how he came to Florida. I was ecstatic when my husband pulled into our driveway with the last load from New York. I looked forward to our retirement years until a month later when I received the diagnosis of breast cancer. “Welcome to retirement,” I said. To which he responded, “It’s a good thing I love you.”
Moving Day
And now, we are facing yet another transition. As we enter our sunset years, we realize how much easier it would be on our kids if we lived closer to them. My husband spends his afternoons exploring new housing options for us. The years of transitions have taught us, it is not the how. It is that we are together. More transitions. More logistics. And through it all we remind each other, “It’s a good thing I
love you.”
Together again
The family
About Linda:
Winner of the 2012 Selah Award and Carol Award finalist LINDA WOOD RONDEAU writes to offer hope for those with damaged lives and demonstrate our worst past, surrendered to God becomes our best future. After a long career in human services, Linda now resides in Jacksonville, Florida. When not writing, the author enjoys golfing, hiking, and spending time with her best friend in life, her husband of nearly forty years. Watch for her newest novel, Miracle on Maple Street, to be released this fall.
Readers may visit her web site at www.lindarondeau.com where they’ll find her blog, Snark and Sensibility. Email her at lindarondeau@gmail.com or find her on Facebook, Twitter, PInterest, Google Plus and Goodreads.
About the book – Fiddler’s Fling:
Engaged to a wealthy rising political star, a driven social worker returns to her small-town roots.
With her wedding to Robert Ashworth weeks away, Jolene Murdock receives a call from Dwight Etting, her estranged father’s junior partner and her former boyfriend. The business is crumbling and her father is dying.
Compelled to visit in spite of Robert’s objections, Jolene wonders if reconciliation is possible given her father’s hatred of all things Ashworth. And there was Dwight. How could she work side-by-side with him and not reveal her secret sin?
To complicate matters her father wants her to play a duet with him in the upcoming Essex County Fiddlers Fling; however, her fiddle was among the many things she left behind when she abandoned Brookside.
More than a romance.
Set in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains, Fiddlers Fling depicts the struggle of the human spirit to find absolution in good deeds rather than accept the unconditional forgiveness God offers the repentant heart.
Winners choice titles for gift certificate: Fiddler’s Fling, The Other Side of Darkness, A Wonderful Love (formerly known as It Really Is a Wonderful Life), A Miracle on Maple Street (a remake of Joy Comes to Dinsmore Street), or A Father’s Prayer.
Question for Readers: How many times have you had to move?
Come back Oct 31st for Jordyn Redwood!
only three times thank goodness
Eight. But only two that I remember as a child. Three since I married – but within a five mile radius.
I moved once as a child. As an adult I have moved five times. There will be one more in the next few years I pray. As long as things work out for us.
one time
I’ve moved three times. Move 1: From my home to college. Move 2: From college to an apartment with my husband. Move 3: From the apartment to our current home. I don’t like the process of moving, so hopefully we don’t have future moves. Your books sound inspiring. Thanks for having the giveaway!
harnessrose(at)yahoo(dot)com
I’ve moved 4 times. I’m now back in my childhood home living with my elderly mother. Thanks for the giveaway.
Way too many lots of slumlords where I grew up Thanks for the chance to win .
I have a winner! Donna Brookmyer won the drawing. I appreciate Linda for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.