Odd title isn’t it. There is a reason I chose it though – I am sitting at my kitchen table with a coffee in my hand while I think about the commonality of my two books. Both Emma and Liz enjoy a good cup of coffee and have suffered more than should be allowed.

Emma, from “What God Brings Together”, grieves the loss of her husband and her marriage and must find a way to live this life and raise their children without her spouse. He promised her forever and he let his own insecurities get in the way and abandons his family.  (You can call him a coward if you like, but that is for another discussion).  Her grief was in the pain and anger of the loss of a life she dreamed of having. No one died, but she thought her future had. She went through her days just existing and doing what she should. She draws the balance in her life by enjoying a cup of coffee and the Word of God while sitting on her front porch.

As the story moves along, she finally forgives her ex-husband and the result is the gift of the life that was taken from her. God restored her heart and all that had been taken from her.  She still sought after God and trusted Him in her life, even when her world crashed around her and He restored to all that was stolen from her.

Liz, from “Finding Hope in Savannah”, endures the loss of her parents, first love, and a beloved uncle. Then a man whom she thought would protect her and her son haunts her and torments her for a time.

When she lost her parents she was already in the grip of teenage rebellion but their deaths drove a nail in the proverbial coffin and she couldn’t understand why God would allow such a thing. As life continues, she endures events that make her question God more in hopes of some understanding. Eventually, she sees that she wasn’t alone as she thought, but that God was with her all along. He walked her through single motherhood and He protected her from a madman. He used a man from her past to comfort her when her uncle dies and renews a friendship she thought she had lost.

So, why did I pick this kind of thing to write about? Well, this has been my life for the last few years. I have never been divorced, but my husband works in an industry that keeps him from us much of the time. At one point, we were on the verge of calling it quits. But God intervened before it got to that point and we chose to stick it out if for no other reason than our children. We pushed through and we beat the odds. Now, a month from our sixteenth wedding anniversary, we are in the best places of our lives- as parents, as individuals, and as husband and wife.

I have also suffered MANY losses in the last three years. I saw the passing of an entire generation in a two-year span. I also buried grandparents on both sides and a step-mother. I have watched classmates die too soon and an old woman wither away into a shell of a woman and asked God “Why?” Though I have never really received an answer, He has shown me this- “I am still here!”