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| “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Colossians 4:2 |
I was forcing myself to put words on paper, figuring I could edit them if the words weren’t good, when I got a call from the hospital fifty miles away. It was my husband. He’d been hit by a UFO and broke his neck. Yep, that’s what he said.
I’m sure I blinked a few times. A UFO? Really? And a broken neck? My husband is a big tease, but surely he wouldn’t kid about this… No, no, no…. It turned out it was just a fracture, but serious enough for a neck brace and an unplanned week vacation, and a UFO turned out to be an Unidentified Falling Object. Would he have a job when this was over? He wasn’t worried, but I was. And how would I function with my husband underfoot? That wasn’t an issue though. I loved having him around.
A few days later, I get a call from my oldest son. He’s been asked to leave where he was living and could he come home? Um, no. No. NO. Several panic-filled calls later where he informs me he will be escorted off by the police if he isn’t gone by six p.m. and me giving him all the suggestions I could think of, I hear nothing more. But is it over? Not by a long shot. He showed up at ten p.m. with nothing but the clothes on his back and begged us to let him stay just over the weekend. He’ll be gone Monday. “I promise.”
I reluctantly agree. He hadn’t followed any of the suggestions I gave him during the phone calls. And a week later, he is still here. Not even trying to find someplace. Worse, he’s found all his old friends so any success he had with getting off drugs and alcohol is probably short-lived. Pray with me about this. I can’t go through this again. Or rather, I don’t want to.
I’m getting extremely stressed. Getting stressed-related “illnesses.” Migraines. Shaking hands. Painful skin conditions.
I was mulling over these things this morning during my morning devotions, and I stumbled across a meme that read:
“As you face trouble, remember that Jesus told us to watch and pray,” (based on Luke 21:36).
Hmm. So I looked it up. The actual verse reads:
“Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man,” (Luke 21:36).
As we write, we might be attacked by Satan’s arrows. We might have unexpected problems, some of them huge. We might not know how to act or react. And we can’t see into the future to see the outcome.
But God.
Lord God, help us to be alert this day, watch and pray and serve You however You would have us. Amen.
For more posts by Laura V. Hilton, click here.
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| About the Author |
Award-winning author, Laura Hilton, her husband, Steve, and three of their children make their home in Arkansas. She is a pastor’s wife, a stay-at-home mom, and home-schools. Laura is also a breast cancer survivor. Laura also has two adult children.
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| Laura V. HIlton |
Her publishing credits include three books in the Amish of Seymour series from Whitaker House: Patchwork Dreams, A Harvest of Hearts (winner of the 2012 Clash of the Titles Award in two categories), and Promised to Another. The Amish of Webster County series, Healing Love (finalist for the 2013 Christian Retail Awards). Surrendered Love and Awakened Love followed by her first Christmas novel, A White Christmas in Webster County, as well as a three book Amish series with Whitaker House, The Amish of Jamesport series, The Snow Globe, The Postcard, and The Bird House in September 2015.
See below for information on Laura's latest, The Christmas Admirer. Other credits include Swept Away from Abingdon Press. Laura is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and a professional book reviewer.
Connect with Laura
http://www.amazon.com/Laura-V.-Hilton/e/B004IRSM5Q
visit her blog: http://lighthouse-academy.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Laura_V_Hilton or @Laura_V_Hilton
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Laura-V-Hilton/161478847242512
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/vernetlh/
Firestorm
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| Firestorm by Laura V. Hilton |
Bridget Behr and her family migrate from the bustling Amish community where she grew up in Ohio to the mostly unpopulated Upper Peninsula of Michigan after a stalker breaks into their home. While her father and brother try to find work in the area, the family is forced to reside in a borrowed RV until the house and barn are rebuilt. While Bridget is hoping for a fresh start, she’s afraid to trust anyone—even Gabriel, the overly-friendly Amish man who lives nearby. Bridget thinks he’s a flirt who serial dates and doesn’t even remember the girls’ names.
Due to not enough construction work in his Florida community to keep him out of trouble, Gabriel Lapp has been sent to Michigan to work. His father is desperate for his son to settle down. When the family walks into Gabe’s home in the middle of a thunderstorm and he discovers their circumstances, he offers to help with construction. For Gabe, the beautiful girl he teasingly calls “the recluse” once he discovers she doesn’t attend youth events, confuses him like none other.
As Gabriel and Bridget grow closer, they realize there is more to a person than meets the eye. Just as Bridget is finally settling into her new life, and perhaps finding love, tragedy strikes. Now Bridget and her family must decide if they should move to another Amish community, or dare to fight for the future they’d hoped for in Mackinac County.
