Jennifer Slattery, Women's Fiction/Romance Novel

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WEEKLY BOOK GIVEAWAY

Leave a comment on THIS post through Tuesday, May 23, 2017 to be entered in the DRAWING for a copy of the book below. If you mention in your comment that you’re a follower (see in the left sidebar “Join This Site” and “Follow by Email”), I'll add your name a second time in the drawing. U.S. mailing address required to receive a paper book. I may or may not have read books offered for giveaways. The mention and giveaway of books on my blog does not in any way indicate any manner of my endorsement of said books. Read book giveaway details at Disclaimers. To provide you security, please leave your email address like this: johnATyahooDOTcom. Winner announced in next Thursday's blog post.

RESTORING LOVE

by Jennifer Slattery

Editor and novelist and speaker Jennifer Slattery has

Jennifer Slattery

a passion for helping women discover, embrace, and live out who they are in Christ. As the founder of Wholly Loved Ministries, she and her team put on events at partnering churches designed to help women rest in their true worth and live with maximum impact. She writes Christian living articles for Crosswalk.com, and is the managing and acquisitions editor of Guiding Light Women’s Fiction, an imprint with Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. When not writing, reading, or editing, Jennifer loves going on mall dates with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband. Visit with Jennifer online.

Please enjoy Jennifer’s article below:

When God Revived My Passion For Prayer

At times, my prayer life can resemble a multi-looped roller with me vacillating between faith and fear. It’s not that I don’t believe God has the power to answer prayer. Nor do I think Him callous or unhearing. Rather, I have a tendency to sit rather comfortably in the rational.

About ten years ago, this heavy reliance on rationalism made my prayers feel scripted and dutiful.

Until Katrina hit. We were living in Shreveport, Louisiana at the time, far enough away from the storm to stay safe, yet close enough to see the devastation. But most of our friends had family living in the New Orleans area. Such a thick blanket of gloom overshadowed our city, perhaps the entire state. A trip to the grocery store felt like a funeral procession. The shelves were bare, and men and women walked up and down the aisles with slumped shoulders and hallowed eyes. I wondered which of them had lost a loved one or were anxiously awaiting news.

Two of my friends had aging parents further south. Apprehension abounded as we awaited news, but within short order, our anxiety was alleviated. Both sets of parents lived far enough away from New Orleans to avoid major calamity. We assumed everything was fine and went about our business trying to care for the large influx of hurting, and hungry, people packed in our churches, shelters, hotels and convention centers.

A dear friend and born leader quickly moved to the forefront. She was one of the first to show up at the church each morning, where pews were filled with toiletry, clothing and food items for Katrina victims, and often the last to leave. Her stories of God-moments kept us all energized and reminded us that no matter how dark the storm and no matter how thick the rubble, God was still there, holding His children together.

But then things hit closer to home, and Tina*, the prayer warrior, was in need of prayer. Her father, already in poor-health, quickly took a turn for the worse. I was sitting in a mutual friend’s kitchen when I first heard the news. Tina’s father was bleeding out. Fast. But with the hospitals, and even veterinary clinics, jam-packed with Katrina victims, there was nowhere for him to go.

The situation seemed hopeless. After the phone ended, my friend and I sat speechless, processing it all. With all hope gone, we cried out to God, interceding on our friend and her father’s behalf. I prayed first, and as I began, years worth of “Your will be done” swam through my mind. I started to pray for God’s comfort for Tina and Tina’s family, but then I stopped. A man’s life lay on the line, and asking for comfort just wasn’t good enough.

In desperation for my friend, I poured my heart out to God begging for the miraculous. I’m not sure how long my friend and I prayed. We didn’t watch the clock or search for the right words to say. Our words poured easily, fervently, from united, yet completely broken hearts.

The next day, we learned that the man whom we’d prayed for had stopped bleeding, completely, during the time we were praying.

Unfortunately, he died a few weeks later, although in a much more peaceful environment surrounded by family and friends. And yet, his momentary healing wasn’t in vain because it revived my faith, and my passion for intercessory prayer. True, God is sovereign and He’s going to do what He knows to be best, but He also hears us when we cry out to Him and allows us to catch a faint glimmer of His glory.
________
*Name changed for privacy purposes.


Welcome, Jennifer. Please tell us a little about your novel, Restoring Love. 

Mitch, a contractor and house-flipper, is restoring a beautiful old house in an idyllic Midwestern neighborhood. Angela, a woman filled with regrets and recently transplanted to his area, is anything but idyllic. She's almost his worst nightmare, and she’s also working on restoring something herself. As he struggles to keep his business afloat and she works to overcome mistakes of her past, these two unlikely friends soon discover they have something unexpected in common, a young mom who is fighting to give her children a better life after her husband's incarceration. While both Mitch and Angela are drawn to help this young mother survive, they also find themselves drawn to each other. Will a lifetime of regrets hold them back or unite them and bring redemption along with true love?

Where can readers find you online?
Facebook
Twitter
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Where can readers purchase Restoring Love?
Christian Book Distributors
Barnes and Noble
Amazon

Jennifer, thanks for visiting with my readers and me. Jennifer is offering a paperback copy of Restoring Love to one commenter to this blog post.

Commenters, to enter the book drawing please leave your comment on this post through May 23, 2017 and remember to leave your email address so I can contact you if you’re the winner.


The winner of last Thursday’s blog post for a copy of The Poison We Drink by Carol McClain is MH. I’ll email you. Thanks all for commenting. Watch for more book giveaways.

Till next time … keep on smiling.

My latest book has released - With Good Intentions, a novella. Here is the cover, and you can read more about the book here. You can read the first chapter of the book on my website.