Mourning into dancing

All week you have read about our “Mourning to dancing moments”, and I hope they have each touched your heart in some way. It is the stories of others that God can use to encourge us to keep moving forward.

Today, I wish I could share one moment, but frankly there isn’t one moment. When I tell people my testemony, they wonder why bitterness isn’t the cup that I drink from or they can’t understand why I would even follow God after all the trauma and loss. My answer is simple – God has Me in His hand and I trust His plans.

See, I learned early in life that as long as we live in a broken world, we will have sadness, brokenness, and trials that bring us to our knees. We are human – faulty and stuborn – and we still have concequences, but God is there to walk with His children though the stuff.

Like David wrote in Pslams 30

1I will exalt you, Lord,

for you lifted me out of the depths

and did not let my enemies gloat over me.

2Lordmy God, I called to you for help,

and you healed me.

3You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead;

you spared me from going down to the pit.

4Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people;

praise his holy name.

5For his anger lasts only a moment,

but his favor lasts a lifetime;

weeping may stay for the night,

but rejoicing comes in the morning.

I will rejoice in the trials becasue I know Who orchestrates my life and I know that I can count on his leading hand.

Sweet Rivals by Kari Trumbo

Fay is about to lose her business…

…to the only guy she’s ever thought might be good for her.

Fay Ravven has spent years building a floral business on Mimosa Island. Too bad a chain florist has moved in right down the street. As her business wanes, she realizes her rival is none other than Corbin Lowel, the very man who swept her heart away at her friend’s wedding.

Corbin knows he’s not good enough for Fay. His friends remind him all the time that, as a florist, he’s not really man enough for anyone. That doesn’t stop him from stepping out of his comfort zone and going to Fay’s store to see if she remembers him. That’s when he discovers that his business is killing hers.

What are rivals to do when they can’t stop thinking about each other? Plan the flowers for someone else’s wedding, of course.

When Corbin and Fay must see each other and work together, will they dive through their pain and reach for the stars? Or will the roses be too prickly for two hurt hearts?

Read the next Sparrow Island novel in the Independence Islands Series featuring five islands, six authors, and a boatload of happily-ever-afters.
The Independence Islands Series: beach reads aren’t just for summer anymore.

The Independence Islands authors have inspiring stories for you. Check them all out and get your entries in!

Kari Trumbo – March 29

Rachel Skatvold – March 30

Tabitha Bouldin – March 31

Carolyn Miller –April 1

Chautona Havig  – April 2

Melissa Wardwell – April 3

Sandy Barela – April 4