Thursday, September 27, 2018

Inspiring Women by Christina Lorenzen

The older I get, the more I see one thing is guaranteed –everything is subject to change, and nothing is guaranteed

Nothing stays the same. Life is many things, but one thing it isn’t is static. I can only speak for myself, but I know that just as I’m feeling comfortable and sure, something happens, and I find myself knocked off course. As we all must do, I find my strength and pick myself back up. As women, we find ourselves knocked off course more than men, namely because it’s our tendency to care for and nurture those we love. If you want to be an inspired woman, you need to seek out the women who inspire you. And with all that is going on in the world around us, I can think of no better place to look for an inspiring woman than the Bible.

I have always believed that inspiring women inspire other women – to do their best, to be their best and to help others do the same. If you feel despaired with the world around you, you need only pick up your Bible to find examples of women who were courageous, selfless and of unwavering faith. Whenever I am faced with something that seems unsurmountable, that stirs up fear, I turn to a woman in the Bible that continues to inspire me each time I read her story. Ruth.

Ruth suffers a tremendous loss with the death of her husband, Kilion. Her mother-in-law Naomi, in turn, suffers the unspeakable loss of not only her son Kilion, but her other son Mahlon, and her husband Elimelech. Though she urges both her daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, to go back to their parents’ homes, Ruth will not leave Naomi alone. Together Ruth and Naomi journey to her homeland of Judah. Ruth is a moving example of a selfless woman who remains devoted to family. Despite Naomi’s bitterness, going so far as to call herself Mara (Hebrew for bitter), Ruth stays by her mother-in-law’s side in Judah, working in the fields so the two women will have something to eat.

I have read the Book of Ruth countless times. Each time I pull strength from these two women who carry on in the face of adversity and loss. The last time I had read it, I had been struggling with my writing career, unsure of which way to go next. It had been several months since the release of my last book, and I wasn’t feeling inspired to write anything. Until I got a message from a friend and fellow author. Immediately I felt drawn to this author’s proposal to join her and two other authors in a collaboration of four stories based on four women of the Bible. The idea of crafting a contemporary story based on a woman of my choosing sparked my interest. I knew within minutes I would say yes to her proposal. And even faster than that, I knew I would write a story based on the story of another woman I had come to love and admire, Ruth.

In my story from the collection, Faithful Women: Legacies of Grace, Ruth Baker is reeling from multiple losses. She has lost her beloved husband, her job and her home. With her six-year-old daughter Mara, she is unsure of what the future holds. When her grandmother Eleanora asks for her help as she begins the transition from her long-time home to an assisted living facility, Ruth knows she must pull up stakes and take her child to Pebble Shores, her grandmother’s seaside hometown.

As many women have experienced, Ruth is at crossroads in life, unsure of the future. Unwavering in her faith, she never stops praying each day, patiently waiting for God to answer her in His time. That’s something I know I have struggled with, accepting an answer that may not be on my desired timetable. As she travels down memory lane during her visit, trying to accept the sale of her grandmother’s precious house, her heart begins to open. And with an open heart comes the possibility for another chance for love and a whole new beginning, for Ruth, Mara and her grandmother.
It is my hope that when you read Ruth’s Garden, as well as the three other inspiring stories from gifted authors Belle Calhoune, Leah Atwood and Cate Nolan, you will draw strength from Ruth’s struggle for your own struggles. And in the future, when you find yourself feeling faint of heart, may you draw strength from the women of the Bible who continue to inspire us today. I’ll leave you with one of the verses I run through my mind during trying times:
        
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with
wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
– Isaiah 40:31 KJ
 

Ruth's Garden

Ruth: Ruth Baker has lost her husband. Unsure of what the future holds, she clings to her faith and her six-year-old daughter, Mara, when she travels to her grandmother’s beachside home in Pebble Shores.

Eli Hamill has felt the pull to put down roots. After years of buying and selling houses, he’s doing something he’s never done before – living temporarily in the beachside house he bought from an elderly widow. The last thing he’s looking for is an instant family.

Can an old house filled with loving memories and a sweet little girl show two lonely people what the future can hold?
Christina Lorenzen is an Amazon bestselling author of sweet and inspirational small-town romance. She is the author of ten books, her most recent book, The Christmas Coin, released September 2018. She is busy working on her next small-town romance. When she isn’t writing or reading, she can be found walking her dog, talking to her herd of cats and spending time with her grown children and husband.

To find out about Christina’s upcoming release, visit her website at http://christinalorenzen.com. You can subscribe to her quarterly newsletter through her website and automatically be entered to win a $5 Amazon gift card each month, just for being a subscriber.