LiteraryScape

Welcome back to another inspirational moment from historical Christian romance novels!

Luke 19: 9-10: Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost.”

As we dive into The Station Keeper’s Surrender by Julia David, we meet Ava. She is our leading lady who strives to be perfect and runs from her mistakes. Does that sound familiar? I think if we are honest with ourselves, we are all like Ava.

We strive to be perfect, to live according to God’s will, yet because we are human, we stumble and fall short of His glory. When this happens our first instinct is to run and hide. Like Ava and Adam and Eve. Yet Jesus seeks you out, even when you are wallowing in your sin and doubt.

I love how Julia reminds her readers, through Ava’s experience, that Jesus’s blood covers all our sins. His love for you and me is far greater than anything we can imagine. Check out this scene from The Station Keeper’s Surrender. This is after Ava has sinned in a way, she never dreamt she would and in turn she’s hurt and pushed away the man she loves.

Laney was at her elbow, giving it a squeeze. “I see your remorse,” she said deliberately. “God is looking for a contrite heart.” Laney waited, and Ava couldn’t meet her eyes. “He forgives all sins, all trespasses. That was the reason He sent His Son. There was a painful price to pay that day on the cross, but God believed you were worth it.”

Ava felt the sentiment rattle inside her, and, with a tremoring hand, she gave her friend a pat on the shoulder.

“Maybe your job, your independence was taken.” Laney hinted. “But there is no prison as harsh as living unforgiven. High expectations on oneself make for a long fall. And I know you, Ava—you’ve done everything by the Southern belle rule book.” Laney chuckled “Is there such a thing?”

“I remember when I first met you, you seemed perfect. Perfect in speech, poise, and beauty. It was like you were made of porcelain. I was a fumbling, nervous ninny goat around you.” Laney puffed a small laugh and held her arm until Ava would look at her. “This reckless night, your fall, is something you never saw yourself capable of?”

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes,” Ava whispered, glancing back at Matthew. “But at least not with a good man, like this.”

“With this mistake, ask God why? Could this be an opportunity to allow the Lord to heal your heart? He didn’t come for the perfect. He came to be living water for the confused and broken. Let Him gather you, forgive you, and hold you close.”

(Julia David, The Station Keeper’s Surrender page 194)

Oh wow. Just let those words soak in, Let Him gather you, forgive you, and hold you close. Nothing. I repeat nothing compares to letting Jesus gather you in His arms, hold you close and forgive you. There are no words to describe the peace and wholeness of knowing Jesus.

Jesus brings you complete healing and the strength to fight the good fight when temptation comes your way. Don’t live another day in your self-made prison of unforgiveness. He is seeking you, knocking on the door of your prison. Open it! Run into His loving arms and live in true freedom.

This inspirational message reminds of For King and Country’s song, Run Wild. I am putting a link to the video in the blog post. I encourage you to just listen and let the words soak in. We were made to run wild, live free, and love strong.

In this episode Tiffanie, Jamie, and Melissa discuss The Messenger’s Mischief by Julia David. This is the first book in her Wells Fargo West series.

Miss Elaine Balderhoff is as sweet and innocent as they come. As the new schoolteacher in Virginia City, she works hard to maintain propriety while showing her students the love of Christ.

Not everyone in town has honorable intentions towards her. In fact, her boss is quite sleezy. Thankfully, she resides at the widow house, and they help keep her safe. Along with her hero Sawyer Roth.

Sawyer is a shot gun rider for Wells Fargo. He isn’t educated like Eliane, but he doesn’t let that stand in the way. Especially when she gets herself into predicaments and he must save her. Check out this scene snippet.

“Only you would hit the only nest in the only tree in miles.” He took her wrist and pulled them to standing. “Watch. . .oh no. . .they’re not happy.” Sawyer pulled her closer to the water’s edge and yanked off his boots.

Laney could not believe her eyes as the swirl of buzzing darkness came closer. How could so many bees come from that hive? “This is your fault!” she grabbed his shirt as they tried to weave opposite the swirl and swarm coming closer.

“In the water now!” Sawyer drug her in, the cold water soaking her moccasins and skirt layers.

“No, Sawyer!” Laney panted, clinging to him. “I can’t swim!”

He pulled her further, the water covering her waist. “You don’t need to swim.” He leaned to the side, and the bees bussed inches from them. “Get under!”

(Julia David, The Messenger’s Mischief, page 128)

This is just one of many mishaps Miss Elaine Balderhoff endures on her way to love. She is character most of us can relate to. Tiffanie, Jamie and I share experience we’ve had that are similar to our damsel in distress, Laney.

If you need a laugh, you’ll not only enjoy this episode, but you will enjoy reading Laney’s adventure in The Messenger’s Mischief by Julia David!

Until next time happy and blessed reading!

Welcome back to another inspirational moment from historical Christian romance novels.

Psalm 78:5-7: He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.

In Julia David’s novel, The Messenger’s Mischief, her leading lady Miss Elaine Balderhoff is a God-fearing teacher. She possesses a sweet innocence that is deeply rooted in her relationship with God. No matter what situation she finds herself in, and she gets into plenty of precarious ones, she is quoting God’s word and speaking life into those around her.

The snippet of a scene below is a word of encouragement she receives from her hero, Sawyer Roth. She shares a painful memory of an event when she was in school and was mistreated by her classmates and teacher. Her experience was vastly different from how she taught and treated her own students.

Laney stopped with heart pounding, looking everywhere but at him. This is what the curious miner’s children would see, the new teacher in a squabble with a man? She straightened her spine and tried to find her composure. “I apologize for all my Bible lessons, Mr. Roth. Please forgive me and allow me to pass.”

“No.” His voice lowered. “I was riled by what those children and that teacher did to you. Then you brought it back to me and that riled me more. And those are both pitiful excuses to be coarse with you." A low growl escaped, and he ran his hand down his face. "I think these children--I'm sayin’ this honest—they’re lucky to have a teacher like you. One who’d never hit ‘em to make them mind, one who’d never humiliate ‘em in front of others. One who cares enough about their souls to show them the truth of the Bible.”

(Julia David, The Messenger’s Mischief, page 84)

As an educator I absolutely love this scene. In my time as a teacher, I have had the joy of nurturing students and sharing Jesus. Our children deserve to the know the truth. There is only one source of truth when it comes to instructing them on how to live their lives, the Bible.

The enemy has misused the concept of separation of church and state to remove God from our schools. The effects of this can be seen in the degradation of our society. I don’t want to focus on the negative, but it is important to point out that removing God from our lives, has led to a society of hurting and lost people.

Do you stop and think about your children’s souls? Don’t you want to give your children the best? Well, the best is Jesus Christ who redeems us and presents us to His father as wholesome, clean, and new. So that, we may have everlasting life in paradise with Him.

Now isn’t that what you want for your kids? It’s time to tell Satan to take hike because our children are children of God. Teach them how to live for God and even if they stray, they will come back to Him who can and will redeem them.

It is our job to teach our children how to live for God and they in turn will teach their children for generations to come. This is the only legacy worth leaving behind. I want to end by re-reading our verse for today.

Psalm 78:5-7: He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.

A chance to sit down and talk with award-winning author Julie Lessman, is always a treat. You can’t walk away without being inspired by her testimony and commitment to serve God. It’s the same kind of inspiration you get when you read her books!

Let's start with your leading ladies and what inspiration did you draw on to create such well-developed ladies that your readers can relate to?

Well, the first one of course is the heroin in Passion Most Pure, the first book. And that is Faith. And the reason that I could draw from that is because Faith is my spiritual self. I mean, everything she does in the book is exactly what I do. In a sense, it was my love letter to God. It was my first book. And I wanted to just infuse my spirituality into that book, which is what I do. In other words, I pray about absolutely everything. I talk to God.

I get mad at him, you know. There's a scene in the middle of the book where she literally turns her back on God. That actually happened to me. I was so angry at him that, in my mind, I just turned around to walk away. And I felt like I walked into a room with three walls. It was like I was cornered. And I remember getting so mad saying, I can never go back to my other life. I can't turn my back on you because I'll be miserable. I'll be ruined. You've ruined me for the world. I mean, I remember that so clearly.

I call myself a CDQ, which is a caffeinated drama queen. And I am, and that's what I did. So, Faith is me. I've got a temper, just like her. That's my spiritual self.

Charity is my carnal self. She is who I was before I became a Christian. I was selfish, I was promiscuous, I was, you know, sibling rivalry. You know, I was so jealous of my sisters. I have nine sisters and three brothers, or I did, many of them are passed on now. I'm number 12 out of 13. But I was just like Charity, and I was like a little vamp. Not that, I mean, I wasn't good looking or anything, but I tried, you know. No, I never believed that, but I was a wild child of the 60s and 70s. So, Charity is me.

So yes, those two characters in particular are drawn from my...alter ego, as you might say, I guess.

Lizzie is my dreamer self. Lizzie is my love for romance. I literally did not write my first book until I was in my mid to late 40s. It might have been 50s even. Yeah, it was 50s. I'm sorry. And I wouldn't do it because I would not allow myself to read romance or write romance because, like the world, a lot of the world looks down on romance. Like, oh. If you read romance, you're not a businesswoman, you're not this, you're not that, you know what I'm saying? And so, I was kind of a little bit of a snob that way too.

And one day I'm sitting in a beauty salon and I'm sure I've told you this story in the past where I was reading a Newsweek cover article that it had a Christian rock concert on the front. It was in 2001, right about the time the Passion of the Christ came up. And remember Hollywood.

Mel Gibson through Hollywood back on its heels because they went, Oh my gosh, there's a Christian market. And so, I was reading this Newsweek article and what it was saying on the inside, it was that Christian music, Christian books and Christian movies was, a multi-billion dollar industry that was not being realized. It was there and nobody was looking at it. And so I went, I'm sitting there reading and I felt like in my spirit, now's the time to finish your book.

I like to think it was the Holy Spirit. It was one of the books that I started when I was age 12, after I read Gone with the Wind. I was so enamored of that book that I immediately sat down like a million other, you know, American girls, I'm sure, and started writing the great American novel, you know? And I didn't have the audacity to think that I could do Civil War like Margaret.

So, I did World War I with an Irish Catholic family. I wrote 300 pages when I was 12. And that book is what was my debut novel some 40 years later. So that's the story on that. So, Lizzie's my dream. To continue with Lizzie, she's a dreamer. She has a nose in a book, romance all the time.

And I finally, when I was sitting there and, I thought, no, I can't write a romance. And it's like God set me free. Like he said, I created you for this. It was such a deep desire of mine to write romance. I mean, because I never had love growing up. So, I wanted that. I wanted to show what kind of love and marriage that God could give you if you let him.

And so, it was like he literally took the shackles off it. I couldn't care less what anybody thought of me writing romance and so I did. So, Lizzie's my dream herself. So those three components are all me.

Marcy, on the other hand...Well, Marcie's a real stabilizer, which is something I did not have growing up. Marcie is the mother I wished I had. My mom died when I was 16. She did not like me.

When I wrote this book, my first book I was 12. My little sister used to beg me to read it to her and I would. And my little sister was my mom's favorite. And so, she said, Julie, she says, let mama read it. So, I gave it to mama to read. And I was so excited. I waited a couple of days and I finally didn't hear anything from mama. She didn't say anything. So, I said, well, mama, I said, you know, what do you think of it so far?

And she said...I'm sorry Julie, but it was so dry. I couldn't get past the first page. That was what my mother said to me That's the kind of relationship I had. When my younger sister Katie, who I loved with a passion, was a baby mama really loved her. And so, if she did something wrong mama blamed me because she thought I was a bad influence. So my mother and I had just no relationship at all. I didn't like her. She didn't like me.

When she died when I was 16, I remember thinking to myself, oh, well, I guess I can get some mileage out of this at school because people feel sorry for me. I mean, that's how cold I was. That's how removed I was from that woman. So, when I became a Christian at, you know, age 23, it's like God changed everything for me. He healed my heart.

And so I…Marcy was in the original book when I was 12, but of course when I was in my 50s, I fleshed her out because I had already been a mother and I knew what type of mother God wanted. What He wanted mothers to be like, a stabilizer, loving, who dealt with her own sins.

Well you know about Marcy's struggle in book three. She deals with her the way God wants us to deal with them. So, Marcy was my heroine I just admire her a lot and that's the kind of mother I wanted to be and that's the kind of mother I wished I had

Can you tell us a little bit about your inspiration behind each of your heroes?

Marcy and Patrick's marriage is based on my husband's mine. There’re the arguments, there's the fighting, but there's the cohesiveness of having God in the middle of our relationship. So, he's like Patrick.

Anyways, my heroes are, from my head of what I love in a man. I want a man to be a man. I believe God made men to be respected and women to be cherished. I mean, it's the whole Garden of Eden thing. I mean, what women want more than anything is to be cherished and loved.

They can say they want respect and respect is good, but deep down in our hearts I believe they want to be cherished and loved. I believe that's priority number one. And for men that's not priority number one. For men it's respect. They want to be respected by the woman they love. If the woman rides roughshod on them, their respect plummets. I really think it's a product of the Garden of Eden.

Adam abdicated his responsibility. He was right next to her when they were tempted. It was his responsibility as her headship to step in and say, no, you're not doing this. And he abdicated it to her and followed her lead. And since that day, women have been trying to lead men in marriages, in relationships and be the head. And that's not the way it was meant to be.

In the bible it says women respect your husbands and husbands cherish your wives. I mean He lays it out pretty clearly and I believe it's cause and effect. I have proved it in my marriage. I'm a real strong-willed person my husband's a real laid-back easy guy. I could have led him around by the nose, well probably not. That's why I love him because he wouldn't.

Let me tell you something, my respect level for him went right to the roof. That's what I mean, cause and effect. And he would tell you this to this day, if he walked in here, he would say, my wife taught me what a marriage is. My wife taught me how to love because I, not because I'm good. Oh Lord, no. All I did was apply biblical precepts to my marriage.

If he did something to make me mad instead of screaming back and yelling at him, trying to get back at him, I just started praying for him. God bless him. God open his eyes to you and help me to be the wife he needs me to be. And then I would serve him. By serve him I mean I wouldn't retaliate in any way. I'd just go on and still do what I would do, fix him dinner and give him a note, a sweet romance note ,no matter what he did. That was the way I would do it.

It was the blueprint for our marriage. And to this day, we have a marriage exactly like Marcy and Patrick's. It's not perfect, but it's absolutely as perfect as you can get on this planet is what I think. And so that's Patrick.

Colin, oh my gosh, Colin is the ultimate bad boy. I am an author who loves bad boys. I think I do because it's part of that aspect of, I want, man who's strong enough to stand up to me. Who is not going to let me lead him around by the nose. And a man who's, I guess, almost kind of world bad. That's a little bit of my carnal self, I guess.

So, every one of my heroes has a strength, whether he's a bad boy, whether he used to be a bad boy and now he's serving God, there's a real self, not self-respect, but they're not going let people push them around.

That's why my heroes have that component. I think that's why you're attracted to them. And I think that's why romance exists.

It puts a foundation of humanity in there. And it gives you an opportunity to explore who they are, where they came from, why they're that way. Did their mother, you know, control the father? And so, they're retaliating because the natural bent of a man that God put in a man is to be the head of the family.

What I liked about Collin, he was emotional enough to relate to women. That's why they liked him. That's why he was a bad boy. He had a sensitivity about him, but the baggage he carried from his past hampered it. And so, it was really fascinating for me to take that Component and bring him along and see what it took to bring him to Christ. I normally don't like real emotional men, sounds weak to some people.

Mitch oh gosh Mitch is one of my favorites I'd have to say Mitch and Luke are my two favorite heroes. I just love him. I can't fully tell you why. I like the totally masculine, gruff type, no nonsense. He's not going take any garbage.

And actually, I had a dad like that. If you tried to give him an excuse, he'd go, cut the excuses. So, you were down to bare bones and you had to be honest. That was a little too gruff for me. But Mitch, he just doesn't pull any punches. He doesn't talk, not a lot of words. It's sparser. I like that. I like that a lot in a man. You know, he's a no-nonsense man whose desire for the woman he loves knows no bounds. That's why I have Mitch and Charity as the sexiest couple. I mean, he's just, can't get enough of her, and she can't get enough of him. And that component is something that I really think we need more in marriages.

Brady is a man who loves God more than anything else, but since no one is perfect, he had to have a dark past. So again, you've got a strong man of God, but we all have clay feet. Christians with clay feet, that's what we are. We're going stumble, we're going fall. And that's the beauty of Christ in our lives because to see a life transformed, I think that's one of the most, richest lessons you can learn and read in a book. So that's why I like to start with bad boys and, you know, lumps of clay and just mold them to get what really God intended them to do.

We have so much more that we discussed with Julie. Be sure to listen to the episode or watch it on Rumble! You won’t want to miss the revelations and exciting news on Julie’s upcoming release on October 1st. In fact you pre-order A Dare and a Prayer here!

You will want start from the beginning, so we’ve each book in the O’Connor family series with links to purchase on Amazon. Have fun falling in love with the O’Connor’s!

Prequel:  A Light in the Window

Book 1: A Passion Most Pure

Book 2: A Passion Redeemed

Book 3: A Passion Denied

Book 4: A Hope Undaunted

Book 5: A Heart Revealed

Book 6: A Love Surrendered

Book 7: A Wing and a Prayer

Book 8: A Hope and a Prayer

Book 9: A Dare and a Prayer

This week's inspirational moment is not coming from a historical Christian romance novel, but rather we are sitting down with Sarah Turnquist and Gregg Bridgeman to talk about what is a biblical marriage.

As you know a biblical marriage is a topic I hold dear and near to my heart. We live in a culture where marriage is not held sacred, and sex is a recreational sport. However, God gives shows us through his word how marriage should be. It is beautiful gift from God, when we follow His precepts.

How would you define a biblical marriage?

Sara R. Turnquist: My husband and I have been married for 15 years and what I would define a biblical marriage as is the way that God defines it. It is two people that are pursuing Him and linking arms together on that journey.

Gregg Bridgeman: That's awesome. So, the thing that impresses me about marriage is God's design for marriage and we first encounter that in Genesis 2 when Adam first sees the woman. So, God puts him into a sleep, and he takes the woman out of man and makes the woman, and he stands up and he sees her and he says the biblical equivalent and I've looked up the Hebrew of hubba hubba.

He says, oh my goodness, this then is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. And for this cause, a man shall leave his parents and cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. And the coolest thing that people overlook about that, is that it is the first example of prophecy in the entire Bible. Because Adam didn't have parents and neither did the woman. But somehow, he knew.

That was God's design for marriage, for them to cleave unto each other and become one flesh. And so, I believe that is biblical marriage. And you know, He designed men in a certain way, and He designed women in a certain way despite this current secular nonsense. And when you fulfill those roles according to His will, you tend to get along really well.

Melissa: I love that. I really, I could not agree more with both of you. God uniquely designed women to fulfill one part and men to fulfill the other. When we link up together, it's amazing. We balance each other out.

What would you say we need to do to have a biblical marriage today?

Gregg Bridgeman: Dr. Emerson Eggerich just wrote a book called Love and Respect and it's kind of important that we understand that. You know, I honestly could do without love, but I could not do without respect. But my wife likewise cannot do without love. So, I don't have to respect her, but I have to love her. And you know, the interesting thing about that is she doesn't even have to deserve it or earn it. It's still incumbent upon me to love her sacrificially just as Christ loved the church. And the converse of that is I don't really have to earn my wife's respect, because it's her duty to respect me no matter what.

And so, there's this cultural idea today that it has to be earned every day. And that just is not correct. If we love our wives, as Christ loved the church, if we respect our husbands, you're going get along.

Then the thing that my wife and I have done over the years is we've also invested in each other's love languages. Mine is gifts and hers is not. Early on I would bring home these gifts. You know you go to a store and see some little doodad and think they’ll love this. By handing this little gift to her I’m saying, I love you. What she's thinking is, why is he bringing garbage into the house. So, I learned that my love language is gifts, and her love language is service. Which took some adjustment for me because I'm very independent. I don't want to have the appearance that I'm not self-sufficient.

But to let her serve me is her love language for me. And so that was challenging for both of us to work that way. But those are just a few things. I think if you read the Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman, you'll get an education if you've never read it. And I would also recommend Love and Respect by the Eggerich.

What are your thoughts on how the home should be with the husband as head of the household?

Sara R. Turnquist: The issue of submission is a biblical one and it, like you're saying, it's very clear the way scripture lays that out. The pastor that did premarital counseling with my husband and I told my husband something that has really changed our perspective on submission. He said that, you know, as Christ loved the church, the man loves his wife. And so, my opinion and my viewpoint are important to be heard. It's valuable.

But if we come to a crossroads where we can't come to an agreement, then that is when I submit. But this pastor said to my husband, he said, the number of times in your marriage, your whole marriage, 50 year marriage, no matter how long it is, that you truly have to ask your wife to submit just because I said so, you should be able to count it on one hand at the end of your marriage, at the end of your life. And just like Greg said, it’s a beautiful picture of how Jesus loves his church and how the church submits to Jesus' authority. When it's working the way God designed it to, it's a beautiful, beautiful thing.

Gregg Bridgeman: I couldn't have said it better. I think in terms of biblical manhood, a lot of that is lost today, especially among Christian churches because as I read scripture, men have three obligations, and they all start with P. You have to provide. You have to protect. It takes courage, selflessness, and sacrifice to protect your wife, your family, your kids. A lot of cowards out there abdicate that. But you also have to be the high priest of your home. You have to be the spiritual leader and very much in tune with what Christ wants. What God wants for you and your family. You're the decision maker. Ultimately the responsibility is yours.

I'll go back to Genesis again. You know, Eve eats the apple. She hands it to Adam with her, the man with her, right? A lot of people would like to pretend that Adam was somewhere else in the garden. He was right there beside her the whole time.

God comes into the garden and what does he say? Eve, come here. You and I have a bone to pick, right? That's not what he says. He says, hey Adam, what's up? Which means if my bride, Hallie, messed up really, really bad and Jesus rang our doorbell the next day, Hallie answers the door. Jesus says, “Hey Hallie, how you doing? It's good to see you. Is Greg home?”

Because it is my responsibility as the spiritual head of my household to cover my family and to protect my family. And that I think is the biggest thing that's lacking in western churches, is men taking responsibility for the spiritual leadership of their home. By responsibility, I mean accountability because one day you're going to have to answer for that.

Melissa: I love that. Our pastor always talks about it's the husband's job to present his wife as a beautiful bride to Christ. And I just love the picture that puts in your mind.

I just want women to know, when you marry a man of God, there's full trust there. Mys husband is never going make a decision that hurts us. I trust him completely. The freedom that I feel knowing that I've given up that struggle to be in control. That it's not my responsibility, it's his. There's just so much freedom in that. So, I hope women can grasp a hold of that today.

Sara R. Turnquist: I definitely feel, for myself, the times that I find myself having to make myself submit is those times when I want to be right. When we're having a difference of opinion and that's the moment where inevitably the spirit will say to me, just hold on. Because I want reconciliation and restoration more than I want to be right. And so, I trust God's design, and I trust the Jesus in my husband, in those moments.

Gregg Bridgeman: Some really bad advice, is to just give in as a guy. Well, honey, whatever you say. The reason that that's bad advice is because your wife is your wife. She's the mother of your children. She deserves respect on many levels and to condescend to her and coddle her like she's a child having a tantrum is not right or loving or what she deserves.

What you need to do is stand your ground and lovingly finish that disagreement. And you know, whenever Hallie and I get to that point where she just doesn't want to speak to me, then I just tighten all the jars in the house and eventually she'll have to come talk to me.

What other advice would you give speaking to people today about marriage?

Sara R. Turnquist: I got this piece of advice from my parents. At the time of course when you're a teenager and you know everything, I was like, oh my goodness, that's so ridiculous. But they said don't ever date someone that you wouldn't marry. And that includes things like being unequally yoked, dating someone who is pursuing something sinful in their life, whether they're a believer or not. And so, I followed that advice because I again respected my parents. Even though I thought it was totally dumb.

But I saw girls around me dating guys just because they were having a good time and then who do you end up marrying? Someone that you date. They end up in love and feeling like, oh, I can change him. So, I would strongly advise girls today, young people today, to prayerfully think about and pray, ask God, what has He designed for you in marriage. What kind of person has He designed for you in marriage?

As you pursue Christ, honor what you feel like He's led you to write down on that list. I did that at one point, and I was really surprised at how God fulfilled the things on my list. I was surprised at some of the things that weren't on the list that I thought for sure would be. But be mindful about who you spend your time with dating. Be wise and pursue what God wants for you because He designed us, and He designed our mate.

Gregg Bridgeman: One of the things that we schooled our kids to do, starting from a very young age was to pray for their future spouse before they met them, because you know God made that person specifically and especially for you in the same way that he made you for that person. So, while you're setting about improving yourself, it's wise to pray for that person and to pray for the wisdom to recognize them when God reveals them to you.

The other thing is after you've been together long enough to know that you're headed for marriage, my really, really strong advice, which is very unpopular, is get married. And the problem with that is that our secular culture keeps saying, wait. Wait till after you graduate college, wait till after you get your career started, wait till you're 35. The problem with that is wait's what broke the bridge down. The issue is that most parents don't support young marriage anymore. They used to. People used to get married in their late teens or early 20s.

This is a recent phenomenon and it's very unhealthy. The advice for men, unfortunately is, go sell your wild oats. Be promiscuous before you get married. That's completely wrong. For women, it's, wait until you're very late into your childbearing years. Which is also bad advice. So, my advice is that parents have a responsibility to support that marriage and the young people need to go ahead and get married.

Melissa: I'd agree because when you do that, it avoids that whole sin of sex outside of marriage too. I love the advice that you gave. Our pastor always says who you marry is the second most important decision of your life. The first is to follow Christ and the second is who you marry.

He also says, you don't settle for anything less than what God wants for you. You just run your race for God, and pretty soon someone's going be running right beside you. At that point, turn and say hello.

Gregg Bridgeman: Absolutely. This phenomenon of waiting forever is very recent. It came along with about the third wave of feminism, because it was absolutely not an unusual circumstance to marry as young as, 16 in the 30s and 40s. These are the folks that, stayed married for 65 years or so. Literally until death does you part. So, I think the waiting is nonsensical, really.

It instills doubt and allows the deceiver to come in and introduce a lot of thoughts that maybe wouldn't be there if you had someone who you were married to.

Melissa: You're talking about the next wave of feminism, and I know that's one of the topics that's being discussed at your Christian Writers Conference, right?

Gregg Bridgeman: Absolutely. The Kentucky Christian Writers Conference is the 27th annual Kentucky Christian Writers Conference. Our venue this year is at the Elizabeth Town Community College, which is there in the heart of the bluegrass. We're doing an awful lot to celebrate marriage. One thing is if you're a writer, but your spouse is not, you can go ahead and bring your spouse.

And then there's entertainment and activities that we do during the meals. So, for meals and incidentals, your spouse can attend all the mealtimes with you and have full access to the facilities, and the prayer room during the conference. We understand that even if your spouse is not a writer as you are, they're certainly your inspiration. That relationship is absolutely critical and important, and so we wanted to not leave them out.

The other thing we're doing, we're having a special session on Thursday, which is an intensive. I have the honor and privilege once more to be teaching that intensive with JP Robinson, who is a pretty cool historical writer. JP and I are going to teach on four pretty controversial topics.

We are talking about the different roles of men and women. We're also going to confront biblical manhood and how to write men well, whether they're bad guys or good guys. We're going to confront the ideology of feminism and race, which is kind of an interesting topic for JP and me to teach, because JP is a lot darker than I am.

Then we want to talk about identity. And identity is a tough one to tackle currently where people think that gender is a social construct. Well, I'm sorry but it's really not. There are men and there are women. And then there's folks that need help. So, we're going to talk about that and hopefully give some tools that they can use to tackle those controversial topics in our culture. We're teaching it in a family-friendly and loving way, and we're giving encouragement on all of those topics.

Our keynote is Diane Mills. Just an amazing, talented, gifted, multi-published author, and inspirational speaker. Very instrumental in founding the Blue Ridge Christian Writers Conference, and many other things. She's just involved in so many things and we are honored to have her.

Sara R. Turnquist: I always think that one of the great things about this conference is the networking that you're able to do in person. I know there was an attempt to replicate it virtually and that worked, you know, ish, but being able to sit across from someone and say, hey, what do you write? Or, hey, I write that too. Or, let me give you this great resource. Or, what did you think of the class? It’s about writing and life too.

Gregg Bridgeman: Our theme is unscrambled, because it seems for the last half decade or so has been pretty scrambled as a culture. We want to make our mark and try to unscramble that.

I can't say enough about the folks that, that volunteer on the committee, that serve on the executive board year after year, and that make it come together.

I also can't say enough about our conference. We have fun and amazing worship. We will have inspiration, fun entertainment, and games during the mealtimes. But, as Sarah said, the networking is really key because writing is kind of a solitary profession. You're all by yourself except for all the voices in your head, right? So, it's good to be next to another human being, or in this case, 60 to 100 human beings that are just like you and know your challenges and know your struggles and feel your pain. Maybe some are more mature than you in their writing journey, maybe some are not. You have the opportunity to find a mentor or be a mentor. You end up making connections and having relationships that just span decades or a lifetime and have so much meaning and can really change lives.

Writing, especially when you write for Christ, when you sit down, and you pray and you open yourself up to the Holy Spirit and every word that comes out on the page is God-inspired. What you're doing in that craft is really emulating Christ because Christ, every time he taught, he taught with little fictional parables. He taught with little stories.

And so, we have this gift of story that we're using as a tool to communicate the gospel. And the truth is, we can put that out into the world, and then we can leave this world, and 50 or 100 years later, that work that you did can touch a life. C.S. Lewis has been dead a lot longer than he lived. But people still read Mere Christianity and the Chronicles of Narnia, Grief Observed, and on and on it goes.

He's still changing lives and he's been dead almost a century. The same could be said of any Christian author. You do this work for God, and you dedicate it to Him and write it for His glory. And 50 years after you're gone from this world, someone could find your work and it could change their life. And then you still get to hear, well done, good and faithful servant, enter now into my glory. And how awesome is that? How amazing is that as a mission in life? We definitely want to nurture that.

Another thing we're doing is opening up to the kids. If you have a kid in your life or five kids in your life or a neighbor kid or a nephew or a kid in your homeschool class. With your paid ticket, you bring your kids, and you pay for only meals. And we are opening up the entire conference to them, ages 10 to 17. They get the whole shebang.

We have a special teen track. They're not obligated to go to that. They can go to the grown-up classes if they feel so led. But we really want to nurture that next generation of Christian authors, too.

You know, Christ said, suffer the little children to come to me and forbid them not. Don't forbid the kids to come to me. To be Christ-like, we want to never forbid the children to come. In fact, nurture them, equip them with skills. You have New York Times bestselling authors, Wall Street Journal bestselling authors, USA Today bestselling authors who are teaching along with agents, and editors. It is a real deal. And it's a great opportunity to find that upcoming talent and to really uplift and encourage them in that way.

Don't let anything be a stumbling block to you. Bring your wife and bring your kids. It's affordable and when you walk out of there, you're going to feel like somebody filled the Grand Canyon with information and then upended it atop you. You're going to just be buried in information.

But as you sift through everything that you learned and gleaned over the weeks and months that follow, I can't even express the value that you're going to find there. It is the biggest little conference in the world.

In this episode Tiffanie and I will be discussing the third and final book in Julie Lessman’s Daughters of Boston series, A Passion Denied. We dig into this shocking romance story and share some funny memories that are like what the O’Connor family experiences.

If you have been reading this series from the beginning, then you know all about Katie Rose and her stubborn ways. She and Cluny, a young boy Brady takes in, really know how to push each other’s buttons. Of course, during one of their battles Katie Rose is caught by Patrick. He’s unaware of how Cluny has provoked her. Check this scene out.

“Wait, aren’t you going to say something nice about me?”

He turned and grinned, the victory in those blue eyes as sure as the cocky tilt of his chin. “Sorry, Katie Rose. Ain’t enough candy in the world.”

Katie blinked. Then cut loose with a kick tin his shin that nearly doubled him at the knees.

“Katie Rose? What the devil are you doing?” Patrick could hardly believe his own eyes. Was the dim lighting of the hall playing tricks, or had he just seen his eleven-year-old daughter haul off and kick Cluny? Sweet heaven, but she was a bully!

(Julie Lessman, A Passion Denied, page 263)

I’m sure we’ve all been Katie’s shoes. Trying to plead our case, but our parents are only going off what they saw or heard. This scene reminded me of a little fight I got into with a boy at Katie’s age. Unfortunately, my mother only heard my reaction to his unkind comment. Needless to say, I took a punishment, that my parents ended up coming back and apologizing for. You’ll have to listen to our podcast episode to hear the whole story.

Izzy and Brady’s first kiss does not go as one might think. In fact, I think Brady’s reaction will surprise you. Check out their first kiss.

“Beth, are we okay?” He ducked his head to search her eyes, then brushed her hair back from her face. A smile shadowed his lips. “Still friends?”

Friends. A deadly only a kiss could cure. Resolve stiffened her spine. “Sure, Brady…friends.”

He smiled and tucked a finger under her chin. “That’s my girl. Now what do you say we pray about some of these things?”

He leaned close with another quick kiss to her brow, and in a desperate beat of her heart, she lunged, uniting her mouth with his. She felt the shock of her action in the jolt of his body, and she gripped him close to deepen the kiss. Waves of warmth shuddered through her at the taste of him, and the essence of peppermint was sweet in her mouth.

“No!” He wrenched back from her hold with disbelief in his eyes.

(Julie Lessman, A Passion Denied, page 62)

When Brady finally feels free enough from his past to pursue Izzy, he takes her fishing. Their experience is quite entertaining and again similar to one of my own. Only I didn’t hook my husband in the pants with the fishhook! You’ll have to listen to the podcast to get the full scoop, but until then enjoy this funny scene.

She bit her lip and tentatively took the rod. “Well, okay, but I’m not sure I’ll be all that good. Let’s see, I hold it like this…then I press this…and then I do this…” In one fierce jerk, she whipped the line high over her head and yanked it back down.

“Whoa, little buddy, the fish are in the lake, not in my trousers,” Brady said with a chuckle. He carefully took the rod from her hands and reached back to disengage the hook from the seat of his pants.

(Julie Lessman, A Passion Denied, page 326)

In the last novel, A Passion Redeemed, Julie blew her readers away with the revelation of Charity’s past and Mitch’s. Believe or not, she throws a shocker out about Brady’s past that will blow her readers away! In fact, Izzy doesn’t handle the news well herself.

“Is it true?” Lizzie shouted. Thoughts of his depravity flashed in her mind, and she felt sick to her stomach.

He turned and walked to the back of the shop.

Lizzie followed, her heart hammering in her chest. “I want to know, Brady. Is it true?”

He kept his back to her and lowered his head, his tension obvious from the muscles straining his shirt.

…Her fury rose and she flew at him from behind pummeling him hard with her fists.

He spun around to fend her off, and Collin restrained her from behind. “Lizzie, stop!”

She wrenched against Collin’s hold, her chest heaving as revulsion rose in her throat like vomit. “It’s true, isn’t it?”

… “Yes.”

(Julie Lessman, A Passion Denied, page 408)

Whew! What an intense scene! You are going to love the up’s and down’s of Izzy and Brady’s love story.

LiteraryScape gives A Passion Redeemed by Julie Lessman 5 out of 3 lassos because we are sure it will have you hooked and hog-tied from beginning to end!

The adventure, mystery, and romance level for A Passion Denied are as follows:

Adventure = Mocha

Mystery = Latte

Romance = Double Latte

Rating Scale: espresso=very little, mocha = medium amount, latte = a lot

Don’t forget to visit Julie Lessman’s website to learn about her amazing giveaway! You could win a character named after you in her next book A Dare and a Prayer, a signed paperback copy, and a $25 Amazon gift card. Click here to learn more!

Welcome back to another inspirational moment from historical Christian romance novels!

You Are Forgiven

1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Julie Lessman packs her novel, A Passion Denied, with words of wisdom and inspirational truth. In this novel you continue to watch the O’Connor family grow as John Brady and Izzy fight for their love.

We also meet a new character, Mary. She joins Izzy and Brady for Bible study. During one conversation she reveals her uncertainty that God could and would forgive all sins.

A hoarse laugh erupted from her throat. “I’m not sure God can forgive everything.”

“He can and he will. You can count on it. The Bible is riddled with sinners he’s forgiven—cheats, murders, prostitutes, you name it.”

(Julie Lessman, A Passion Denied, page 142)

I love this reminder. The Devil works hard to keep us trapped in our sin, shame, and regret. He places labels on us that drag us down under their weight, keeping us from living to our full potential.

God on the other hand gives us labels that free us from our sinful prison. Forgiven, loved, chosen, and child of God are just a few. Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross and freely offers forgiveness to everyone who repents and bows down before Him. It is a glorious feeling when He lifts the weight of our sin, and the labels Satan has given us, off our shoulders!

If you are struggling today to accept the fact that God and will forgive you of all your sins, then please read your Bible! As Julie said it is riddled with real life accounts of sinners like you and me, who God not only forgave, but used to further His kingdom!

True to Julie’s writing style, she has packed many more inspirational messages in her novel. However, this message trumps them all. It is the one message we need to save our souls and secure our place in Heaven.

Pastor Jim Brown likes to call it your exit plan. Where will you go when death claims your earthly body? Do you have an exit plan?

My exit plan is Jesus Christ. Not only do I know where my next breath will be when I breathe my last on earth, but He walks with me every day. I know I am a child of God, and I am secure in His love. With Him I don’t just survive the challenges of life on earth but thrive in them!

My prayer is for you have that same hope in Jesus Christ. If not, then I encourage you to seek Him. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

In this episode Tiffanie and Melissa discuss A Passion Redeemed. This is the second book in Julie Lessman’s Daughters of Boston series. Fall further in love with O’Connor family with this passion packed romance!

We left off with Mitch heading back home to Dublin with a broken heart after giving Faith up to Collin. And who should be waiting for him, scheming ways to make him hers? Charity.

“Don’t underestimate me, grandmother, I won’t lose him. Whatever it takes—” She pivoted slowly, arms stiff and fingers taut as she gripped the wooden box. Her left brow angled dangerously high. “And I do mean ‘whatever’—I will become Mrs. Mitch Dennehy, mark my words.”

(Julie Lessman, A Passion Redeemed, page 135)

The battle for love is fierce as Charity puts herself in dangerous situations to capture Mitch’s eye. Yet she is not the only one battling. Mitch has a desire for Charity that rages and begs to be satisfied. However, her lack of faith causes him to turn to God for the strength to deny himself the one woman he loves with heart and soul.

Drama and shocking events from the past will keep you turning the page as you discover why Charity is the way she is. I can guarantee you will be as devastated as Patrick and Marcy when Charity’s buried memories surface.

Patrick turned and slumped into Marcy’s arms with a violent sob.

Mitch stared for several seconds, a wave of compassion dousing his anger. He finally spoke. “Mr. O’Connor, Charity is desperate for your love. She needs to heal. And only your love and God’s can accomplish that.”

(Julie Lessman, A Passion Redeemed, page 351)

I love how Julie keeps every member of the O’Connor family in each of her books. You end up feeling like one of the family. You will enjoy Collin and Faith, they are still going strong as they eagerly await their wedding day.

“I’m a twenty-five-year-old-red-blooded American male. I love you, Faith, and I want all of you. Now!”

She shivered in his arms, his words and touch sending dangerous goose bumps over her body. “I know, me too, Collin. I thank God every day I’m going to be your wife.” She pulled away to look up at him, her eyes gentle. “But it’s because of what God did for us, bringing us together, that we wait…and wait patiently.” She pushed a strand of chestnut hair away from his forehead. A rush of love filled her as she searched the depths of his clear, gray eyes. “Once we’re man and wife, I’ll be all yours.”

The wicked grin resurfaced. “It could be days before we come up for air…”

(Julie Lessman, A Passion Redeemed, page 169)

LiteraryScape gives A Passion Redeemed by Julie Lessman 5 out of 3 lassos because we are sure it will have you hooked and hog-tied from beginning to end!

The adventure, mystery, and romance level for A Light in the Window are as follows:

Adventure = Mocha

Mystery = Mocha

Romance = Double Latte

Rating Scale: espresso=very little, mocha = medium amount, latte = a lot

Don’t forget to visit Julie Lessman’s website to learn about her amazing giveaway! You could win a character named after you in her next book A Dare and a Prayer, a signed paperback copy, and a $25 Amazon gift card. Click here to learn more!

Welcome back to another inspirational moment from historical Christian romance novels!

Unequally Yoked

2 Corinthians 6: 14 – Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

In Julie Lessman’s book A Passion Redeemed, we watch Mitch struggle with his attraction to Charity. God’s word gives him the strength to follow God’s will for him. I love how the snippet below shows how God’s precepts protect us. In Mitch and Charity’s case it protected both of them. If Mitch had caved and married Charity before she came to know Christ, she may never have truly found God. And they may never have ended up with the amazing marriage they enjoy in the end.

He sat up and opened his eyes, flipping the pages of the Bible at random. He settled on 2 Corinthians, and his eyes widened as he scanned the page. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?

A ghost of a smile flitted across his lips. So much for Bridie’s implication that he pursue Charity O’Connor. “As far as the east is from the west,” so is Charity from her God.

(Julie Lessman, A Passion Redeemed, page 36)

Those who have a relationship with Jesus are not to enter a marriage with someone who is not a believer. I know the world says opposites attract and to some degree this is true, but not in who you marry. When you marry you become one, something that is impossible when you do not share the same belief.

I love these words pastor Jim Brown shared: Who you marry is the second most important decision in your life. The first is to follow Jesus Christ. I cannot sum it up any better than that.

Pray for Those Who Persecute You

Matthew 5:44 – But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

A traumatic event from Mitch’s past is revealed during this novel. As it comes to light you watch him struggle with how to move past it. Julie wrote an incredible scene on how to lean on God through the struggle of forgiving and loving your enemy. The scene below is a conversation between Mitch and God.

“All right God, I’m done. Done keeping you at arms length. Done doing it on my own. I’m ready to give you everything—my life, my hopes, my desires. Help me. Guide me. Show me what to do.”

Forgive.

His jaw tightened and then released. Slowly, he expelled a weighted breath, like fingers being pried away and letting go. “Okay, I’ll try. But not on my own. Help me.”

Pray for him.

The concept was clear, but the application was as foreign as the Greek in which the apostle Matthew had penned it: love your enemies…bless those who curse you…pray for those who persecute you.

Mitch closed his eyes unable to imagine ever uttering a prayer for Rigan. “I can’t.”

Pray.

His fists balled on the edge of the sink. Faith had once told him, when you can’t pray, pray that you can. He opened his eyes to glare upward. “All right…help me to want to pray.”

(Julie Lessman, A Passion Redeemed, page 108)

Have you ever been in Mitch’s position? Forgiving someone who has wronged you is hard and something you cannot do without God. I love how Julie reminds everyone, through this scene, to pray. Prayer and God’s word is the only way you will be able to not only forgive your enemies, but love, bless, and pray for them.

There are so many more inspirational moments in A Passion Redeemed, especially as Charity finds her way to Christ. Julie’s novel will not only entertain you, but you’ll also walk away filled with hope and inspiration!

I wanted to mention that Julie will be running a book giveaway soon! Just be sure to sign-up for her newsletter, at https://julielessman.com or follow her on Facebook. She will be announcing the contest this week!

Best of luck and until next time happy and blessed reading!

            In this episode Tiff and I are discussing Julie Lessman’s book A Passion Most Pure. We get to follow Patrick and Marcy into parenthood as they help their children navigate adult life and love.

            Sibling rivalry is rife in this novel as our leading lady Faith is in a constant battle with her younger sister Charity. Readers will grow a great disdain for Charity as she connives and manipulates to hurt Faith and get her way. Charity purposely pursues the man Faith has been in love with since childhood. However, she doesn’t stop there. When Faith becomes engaged to another man, Charity sets her sights on him too.

Charity honed in on the tremor in Faith’s voice. “Worried?”

“No, why should I be?”

“No reason. It’s just I know you’re very anxious to please God, so if he tries to kiss you, you’ll want to make sure it’s on the forehead like a good girl.”

Faith took a step forward, her fingers curled in a fist. “Why do you do this? Why do you pick on me like you do? You have everything you want. Why attack me?”

Charity smiled easily as she selected her clothes for her date with Collin. “I don’t know, for sport, maybe? You’re just so easy to pick on, I guess.”

(Julie Lessman, A Passion Most Pure, page 181)

            Patrick and Marcy hit some rough patches as they navigate the turmoil of two of their daughters being in love with the same man. A man that neither of them want for a son-in-law, at first. Patrick understands Collin because he was Collin before Marcy got a hold of him. Right down to frequenting Brannigan’s. The same bar Patrick and Sam hung out as young men. However, Patrick is a man of God now and fights for his daughters the best way he can.

“Well, make no mistake about it, Collin. I will fight you every step of the way on this. And I’m very sure you and Charity will do the same. However, my boy, I’m afraid you’re forgetting one very important thing.” Patrick slapped Collin on the shoulder, then buttoned his coat and headed toward the door.

Curiosity apparently got the best of Collin McGuire as he grabbed Patrick by the arm. “And what might that be, Mr. O’Connor?”

The faint smile on Patrick’s lips felt almost peaceful. “Never—and I repeat never—underestimate the power of a father on his knees.” And with that he left, leaving Collin, despite the warmth of the pub, very much out in the cold.

(Julie Lessman, A Passion Most Pure, page 81)

            Per her usual Julie packs, the passion into her novel. However, she lets Patrick and Marcy’s passion shine just as much as Faith and Collin’s. You’ll enjoying seeing their married love star alongside young love. Here’s just a sneak peek of the passion you’ll get when reading this novel.

“Oh, Faith, I love you. I can’t help it, I do.” His words tumbled out in a rush of husky rasps, between hungry kisses roaming the softness of her neck and her face. His hands pressed hard against her back, drawing her to him.

She wrenched herself from his grasp and stumbled from the swing, limbs quivering as she stood. “Collin, we can’t!” she gasped, but the intensity in his face told her he wasn’t listening. He rose and caressed her shoulders with his hands, eyes burning into her until she thought she would faint. He bent to kiss her again. A riptide of heat swelled, causing her to moan as he pulled her back to the swing.

(Julie Lessman, A Passion Most Pure, page 201)

            You will laugh, cry, rage, and sigh as you read A Passion Most Pure. Julie Lessman takes her readers on an amazing journey of faith, love, and sacrifice as the O’Connors navigate life and WWI.

LiteraryScape gives A Passion Most Pure by Julie Lessman 5 out of 3 lassos because we are sure it will have you hooked and hog-tied from beginning to end!

The adventure, mystery, and romance level for A Light in the Window are as follows:

Adventure = Mocha

Mystery = Espresso

Romance = Double Latte

Rating Scale: espresso=very little, mocha = medium amount, latte = a lot