Airports
Songwriter
John Mayer nailed this one in his song Wheel:
“Airports see it all the time where someone’s last goodbye blends in with
someone’s sigh cause someone’s coming home.” Airports are a parade of human
experience. It’s in the pastor praying over departing missionaries, the
businesswoman stomping toward her gate and the rhythm of her suitcase wheels
rolling behind her on the tile floor, and the soldier’s welcome home kiss with
his wife who is holding their newborn.
Malls
Not quite
as dramatic in emotional depth, but bubbling with frustration, chaos, and teen
angst, a shopping mall is a like a catalog of human features. The faces range
from the overwhelmed mommy who brought the double stroller but neither of her
toddlers will stay in it, to the Botoxed suburbanite dashing from Macy’s to
Banana Republic, to the senior citizens in arch-supporting sneakers power walking
their daily laps.
Churches
A tour of
several church denominations is necessary for the full scope of church people
watching. Every church has its own culture and feel, but I’ve noticed some commonalities
in the sanctuary pre-service. Watch the pastor’s wife, flustered as she wrangles
her four children into the second pew from the front, suddenly straighten her
posture and broaden her smile when the congregants start to arrive. Watch the
early birds who sit in their routine seats, sigh with contentment, and absorb
the peace. Watch the middle-aged man who slips into the room halfway through
the service, perches on the edge of the back pew, and drops his face into his
hands.
~~~~~~
Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, Keely Brooke Keith was a tree-climbing, baseball-loving 80s kid. She grew up in a family who moved often, which fueled her dreams of faraway lands. When she isn’t writing, Keely enjoys teaching home school lessons and playing bass guitar. Keely, her husband, and their daughter live on a hilltop south of Nashville, Tennessee.
Uncharted Journey
Young widow Eva Vestal assumes loneliness is God’s permanent
plan for her life. She keeps busy by raising her son and co-managing the Inn at
Falls Creek with her elderly father, but her heart yearns for more.
Solomon “Solo” Cotter has spent his life working with horses,
but he secretly wants to write a book of the children’s stories his grandfather
told him as a boy. He barters with Eva’s father for a 40-night stay at the inn,
a needed respite from work to get his stories on paper.
Once Eva discovers the barter, she believes Solo is taking
advantage of her father’s failing memory. But when tragedy strikes and Solo
works hard to save the inn, Eva sees his true nature. As her heart stirs with
feelings for Solo, she wrestles with the guilt of loving someone new.
Meanwhile, outside the Land...
Bailey Colburn arrives at the coordinates of the Land on the
autumn equinox and finds nothing but ocean. The sun sets, ending Bailey’s dream
of a safe and simple life with the family she’s never known. Just when she
decides Justin Mercer lied about visiting a hidden land in the South Atlantic
Ocean and meeting Bailey’s distant relatives, the atmosphere around the boat
changes and ushers her into an uncharted world, but her entrance into the Land
comes at a devastating price.
Book Links:
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Uncharted Journey
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