Sometimes it's tough to find the blessings in our lives and in our writing. Today, author Patty Smith Hall shares her experience in "planting seeds" and finding blessings. -- Sandy
Patty: last few weeks have not been the greatest for me. Health
issues of my husband and youngest daughter along with the news that the home we’d
lost in Michigan a few years back was still on our credit record and keeping us
from buying a new home had taken the wind out of my sails. The writing ministry
which I’d had such high hopes for seemed stagnant.
I felt out of touch with God. I mean, I was doing everything He’d
called me to do so why was I ready to give up? Why was I investing so much of
my time and effort into writing and not seeing any fruits of my labor? I was
lower than low.
Then God showed up and showed out, maybe not in the way I’d
expected but my expectations are so small in light of what a big God we serve.
Last Friday night, after a particularly bad week, I was rolling through my
Facebook page when one of the messages in my inbox caught my eye.
“Are you the Patty Hall
who was in Honduras in 1999?”
Years ago, I’d had the privilege of visiting San
Marcos with a group called Opportunity of a Lifetime whose mission was to
cloth, feed, educate and share the Gospel to the families and children of
Honduras. I say it was a privilege because I was going through an equally rough
time then. While I might have gone there on a mission trip, it was the people
of Honduras, through their faith and totally devotion to God, who ministered to
me.
I clicked on the message. It was Noel, a boy I’d
found living under a tree in a small village outside of Tegucigala. His parents
were dead and he had no immediate family to take him in. He was only twelve,
maybe thirteen with no one in this world and no way of supporting himself. One
look at this sweet boy and I knew Danny and I had to help. For the next four
years, we supported him as he went to school in San Marcos. After his
graduation, we lost touch.
Until now.
I friended him immediately and went to his Facebook page. Noel is
happily married now with three little girls of his own, and pastoring a church
in Naples, Florida. He still has that sweet smile that captured my heart all
those years ago. In our conversation, he told me he’d been looking for
me for eight years just so he could thank me for giving him a chance, for
introducing him to God.
For planting a seed.
It hit me then. The books I write, this writing ministry I have,
it’s all about planting seeds. Some, I’ll see grow to
fruition while others may only ripen after I’m gone. That
thought—focusing on the eternal rather than the present—is
what inspires me to write today.
Have you ever felt as though you're beating your head against a post when it comes to your writing? Share a blessing you've received that you didn't expect.
~~~~~
She’s ready to take back her life . . .or what’s
left of it.
After ten lonely years of caring for her grandfather, Kallie
Huffman is ready to restart her career. Taking a job in the laboratory of New
Hope Community Hospital seems like a logic choice until her nursing license is
reinstated. Lab Director
Jefferson Muster is everything Kallie has ever hoped for in a man. But
the prognosis hanging over her head dooms her to a life of solitude.
He’s never needed anyone’s help. .
.until now.
Jefferson Green needs to find out what is killing patients at New Hope Community before
tragedy strikes again. A tremendous loss as a young boy shapes Jeff’s harsh view of personal
relationships. When help comes in the person of Kallie Huffman, the walls Jeff
carefully constructed around his heart start to crumble. But Kallie is hiding
something that could drive them apart forever.
Patty Smith-Hall is a multi-published author with Love Inspired Historical/Heartsong and currently serves as president of the ACFW-Atlanta chapter. She currently lives in North Georgia with her husband of 30+ years, Danny, and finds her greatest job in spending time with family and friends. Her next release, New Hope Sweethearts will be available in July on Amazon.
