Sunday, March 25, 2018

Let Love Bloom: Where She Belongs by Johnnie Alexander


Find Your Way Home
A personal essay by Johnnie Alexander

My 2018 page-a-day calendar features a motivational message accompanied by one of Mary Engelbreit’s playful illustrations. I’m often inspired, amused, or delighted by the day’s design.

But last weekend’s page touched a special place in my heart. Along with Ms. Engelbreit’s adorable characters and a cute little cottage were the words "Find Your Way Home".

I couldn’t help but smile at this sweet token of God’s steadfast love.

You see, I’ve been a bit of a vagabond for the past several months. After living with my sister in the Memphis area for three years, I moved into my own apartment a couple of miles from my daughter’s family in Tampa.

Less than a year later, just a week before Christmas, I moved all my worldly possessions—except what I could fit in my Pontiac Vibe—into storage while I took off on a holiday road trip.

My route took me from Tampa to Memphis to Tulsa to Sierra Vista, Arizona to Tulsa to Clarence, Missouri, then back to Memphis.

When I left my apartment, I didn’t know where my next home would be. But that was okay because I knew that God knew.

Which brings us back to last weekend. By then, my two dogs and I had been hanging out with my sister for a couple of months.

I think of the message on the calendar page, “Find Your Way Home,” as an inside joke between God and me. The plans were already made. On Sunday I packed up my Vibe. And on Monday, I drove to my new home in Oklahoma.

In the opening pages of Where She Belongs, my heroine is trying to find her way home. Shelby is fulfilling her dream of raising her young daughters in the same house that gave her so many cherished childhood memories.

But as the story unfolds, Shelby realizes that home has a deeper meaning than even the most beloved house. She lets love bloom in her heart, and a new dream for her family replaces the old one.

God blesses us with our homes here on earth, but He’s preparing our eternal homes in Heaven.

His Word shows us the way.

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Author Bio:
Best-selling author Johnnie Alexander imagines heart-tugging stories in multiple genres. Her debut novel, Where Treasure Hides, has been translated into Dutch and Norwegian. She also writes contemporary romance and cozy mysteries. 

Since Johnnie also loves to talk about writing, she interviews inspirational authors for Novelists Unwind, co-hosts Writers Chat, a weekly online show, and teaches at writers conferences and on Serious Writer Academy

Johnnie recently moved to Oklahoma with Griff, her happy-go-lucky collie, and Rugby, her raccoon-treeing papillon. 

Connect with Johnnie on her website or her Facebook Author Page.

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Book blurb for Where She Belongs:

Shelby Kincaid is ready to move on from her grief. With high hopes for the future, she longs to purchase her family’s ancestral homestead so she can raise her young daughters in the only place she ever truly belonged. She plans to transform the abandoned house into the perfect home of her memories. But she’ll have her work cut out for her.


AJ Sullivan never wanted the homestead. Inherited as a punishment from his grandfather, it has sat empty for fifteen years and fallen into ruin. He’s glad to finally unload it. But a clean break isn’t possible when he can’t get the young widow Shelby off his mind.

Welcome to Misty Willow, a place that will have as great a hold over the reader as it does over its inhabitants.

~*~
Read a free preview of Where She Belongs on BookGrabbr

Buy Johnnie's book on Amazon or Other Retailers

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Connect with Johnnie:
Website/Blog ~ Facebook Author Page ~ Twitter ~ GoodReads ~ Amazon Author Page  ~ BookBub

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Enter this book giveaway contest for your chance to WIN a copy of this book by filling out the entry form on the Rafflecopter widget below:

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8 comments:

  1. Home is where my family is....that is my hubby and my sons.
    perrianne(DOTaskew(AT)me(DOT)com
    Perrianne

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  2. What a beautiful post, Johnnie! I'm glad you're no longer a vagabond but would really rather you'd settled down in Memphis. :)

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    1. My vagabond feet are bringing me back! See you in May!

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  3. Oh, and I loved Where She Belongs. Shelby finally found home.

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  4. When I was younger, even after I had my Daughters, I called the house I growed up in "home". My first Marriage', We moved around a lot. We had only been married 3 1/2 yrs before My Husband passed away when I was 5 months pregnant with my oldest daughter, so I moved back home. When I married my 2nd husband & had my youngest daughter, we still moved a lot and my husband got very abusive, I left him and started moving to a lot of different places trying to hide from him. It didn't work. So I moved to the only safe place I knew "home". It took along time to get a divorce and to even trust anyone. But when I remarried, I waited & followed God's blessings. We lived in the house He was raised up in. He was there most of his life, with his Grandparents. When he got older his grandma got sick and he was the one that was there to take care of her. The house was to go to my husband. I finally have a place to call home! But my home was old and beyond repair. So we moved into a apartment for disabled people. My Daughter and my grandbabies lives with my Husband and me. I finally realized that it is not what you live in or where you live. It is who your with and if your happy. I don't like being in a apartment because I love being able to have a yard for the grandbabies to play or to sit on the front porch. But I have my family here and that makes it "home sweet home"!


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    1. Dorothy, thank you so much for sharing your story. I'm praying you will someday have a yard for your grandbabies and that front porch, too. Family is what matters most, though, and I'm thankful you're surrounded by yours. God bless you!

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