A Song about God's Love for you!

Summer Stories: Carolina Mercy

Interview with Tom Livingston, character in Carolina Mercy:

Alexis: Lucy’s grandmother described you as a “tall drink of water.” How do you feel about that description?

Tom: Well, I’ve been called worse. (chuckle) In the South, we have lots of descriptions for different kinds of people. At 6’2”, I do tend to tower above most people, especially Lucy. She’s a tiny thing.

Alexis: Describe your relationship with Lucy. How did you meet? Why did you become friends? Did you ever want to become more than friends?

Tom: I figured you’d get around to Lucy. I met Lucy the same summer my best bud, Jared, met his fiancée, Sarah. Apparently, they decided that since we were constantly trying to fix them up with other people, it was their turn. We hit it off instantly. Our first outing, with Sarah and Jared, was to look for furniture for Sarah’s beach house. When we both gravitated toward the massage chairs, I knew she was pretty special. We went out another time, just the two of us, and I just had to kiss her. Yeah, I’d say I wanted to be more than friends. 

Alexis: Why did you and Lucy go eight months without speaking to each other?

Tom: That was a rough time. When Lucy left, I fully intended to keep in touch, especially since her best friend was going to be living here. I started making all kinds of plans. My dad had passed the year before, suddenly, and my mom, Charly, my kid sister, and I were slowly getting back to normal. We went on vacation together, and during that vacation, Mom started having headaches. When we got home and she was diagnosed with a disease that would eventually blind her. I felt like I had to put all my attention on taking care of them, along with my job. How could I ask Lucy to take on not only me, but my family? We’re not well-off, and I guess my pride wouldn’t let me pursue her.

Alexis: Your Mom said that Lucy makes you “stammer like a school boy”. Has your Mom always been so insightful? Clearly, she knows that you like Lucy.

Tom: Oh, Mama doesn’t need sight to know what’s going on. And yes, she’s always been that way. I remember when I met Jared, in high school, at football practice. I came home mad as a stuck pig because this scrawny kid had taken me out in a tackle practice. I told her all about it. She didn’t say much, but she patched me up, fixed me some sweet tea, then told me that I might have just met a friend for life. (chuckle) Turns out, she was right. She usually is. She knew about Lucy long before she met her, and I think she had a feeling she might just be “the one.”

Alexis: Were you nervous about Lucy meeting your Mom? How did that go?

Tom: Since I know my mom, I don’t think I was as nervous as Lucy was. As soon as they met, my mom hugged her and we all laughed when she said, “You’re a little woman, like me.” They’re two peas in a pod, now. Mom, Charly, and Lucy like to gang up on me every chance they get. I fuss, but they see right through me.

Alexis: Why does Lucy “amaze” you? Describe her best qualities.

Tom: How do you describe someone who shows up to work on a roof in a pink toolbelt? She makes me laugh, keeps me grounded, and pulls me out of the muck of overwhelming responsibility, making me trust God more than myself. 

Alexis: What is it about Lucy that makes you want to date and maybe even marry her?

Tom: She pulls me out of myself, if that makes sense, and makes me think I can accomplish anything. 

Alexis: You’ve said that Lucy was “everything” to you but she could never know it. Why not?

Tom: When I met Lucy, I wasn’t thinking about the future, or about our different backgrounds. I just knew she was Sarah’s friend, and a lot of fun. When she left I learned more about her from Sarah, I realized that she was far above me, socio-economically. I couldn’t ask her to take on a small-town detective with a blind mother and a teenage sister. I didn’t want her, or anyone else, to think I needed help. 

Alexis: When your mother was diagnosed with an untreatable illness, you pushed your career dreams aside. What did you want to do for a living before your mother’s illness and what do you want to do now? Explain.

Tom: I guess my career path really changed earlier than Mama’s illness. I graduated from Clemson University and planned to go into the Air Force, then segue into working for the FBI. That was the dream. When it came time to get out of school, money was tight, and I put off entering the Air Force and started working with Jared on flipping houses. I got on with the local sheriff’s department, thinking I could still train for the FBI. When Dad died, I knew I needed to stay closer to home. Then Mom took sick, and I put it behind me. The FBI, or even the South Carolina Bureau, would have me living away from here, and Mom and Charly need me. So, I’m happy to be where I am. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be sheriff someday.

Alexis: Why did you feel that God’s mercy is for everyone except you?

Tom: This is part of my selfish desire to be in control. I was bitter about lots of things. I’ve seen God work in other people’s lives, and I really think I tried to turn off that part of me that would listen to God’s “still, small voice.” I have to say, God’s shown me, through my friend Jared, that sometimes when it seems like God’s not paying attention, he definitely is in control, showing mercy all around you whether you’re paying attention or not.

Alexis: How have your own issues affected your outlook on life?

Tom: Definitely. I was always pretty serious, but able to see the bright side, until Mom’s illness. I got angry. It’s funny how trauma can turn the tables. When I saw Lucy’s grief, and Jared’s traumatic events, I had to be positive, for them. I had to be supportive. Those things have made me a better person.

Alexis: How did Sarah’s wedding—and a hurricane—bring you and Lucy together?

Tom: See this smile on my face? Yeah. The wedding that almost wasn’t, and the hurricane that threw us all for a loop? Those are events that I’ll always hold close. They were terrible, but as with most tragedy, God used them for good. All these events forced Lucy and me to spend more time together, and it made me stop and listen to God. You can’t have a better outcome than that.

Alexis: What do you want readers to remember most about your story?

Tom: God is love. God is mercy. God doesn’t punish us, He leads us. And on another level, God gives us the people around us to draw us to Him. We just have to be willing to listen.

Alexis: Thanks for the interview, Tom! Do you have closing comments?

Tom: Just this – Hold your friends close, and when you find that special person that God has for you, pay attention. My mother would add, “And listen to your mama.”

~*~
Author Bio:

Regina Rudd Merrick began reading romance and thinking of book ideas as early as her teenage years when she attempted a happily-ever-after sequel to “Gone With the Wind.” That love of fiction parlayed into a career as a librarian, and finally to writing full-time. 

She began attending local writing workshops and continued to hone her craft by writing several short and novel-length fan-fiction pieces published online, where she met other authors with a similar love for story, a Christian worldview, and happily-ever-after. 

Married for 30+ years and active in their church in Marion, KY, Regina and her husband have two grown daughters who share her love of music, writing, and the arts.

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Book Blurb for Carolina Mercy:

She’s always gotten everything she’s wanted. He thinks he has to give up everything. 

Her best friend’s wedding is foremost on Lucy Dixon’s radar. Her biggest concern is once again meeting Tom Livingston, who has ignored her since an idyllic date on the boardwalk of Myrtle Beach the previous summer.

At least, it is her biggest concern until tragedy strikes. Where is her loving, merciful God, now?

When Tom Livingston meets Lucy, the attraction is instant. Soon after, his mother is diagnosed with an untreatable illness and his personal life is pushed aside. His work with the sheriff’s department, his family – they are more important. He knows about the love of God, but circumstances make him feel as if God’s mercy is for everyone else, not him.

Can a wedding and a hurricane – blessing and tragedy – bring them together?

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Buy Carolina Mercy on Amazon

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Connect with Regina:
Facebook: https://bit.ly/2u4OHM1
Twitter: https://twitter.com/trmerrick64
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reginamerrick/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/rmerrick/
Website: https://www.reginaruddmerrick.com
Publisher Website: https://mantlerockpublishing.com/

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Devotionals for the Heart: Mercy

Ready for the Mercy
A devotional by Gail Kittleson

“But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit...staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!” — Jude 1:20-21 (MSG)

At one time, I sought in vain for literature that incorporated Scripture and the Twelve Steps. Now, I see it everywhere and often note twelve-step principles in Scripture itself. This teaching focuses on us—we can change only our own lives, not others’!

What a principle to live by, and Jesus taught it so clearly. How could I not have noticed this in my early faith days? 

Here’s one example: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” — Matthew 7:3-5 (NIV)

Obviously, this passage has been there all these years, and I may have even memorized it. How is it that it took so long to understand the connection? Ah, well, no use regretting the past—I see it now. But how to keep this focus? Jude gives us a very specific guideline: Build ourselves up, pray, keep open and ready to embrace the gifts sent our way. In so doing, we turn from old self-defeating thought channels that declare us unworthy, unlovable, incompetent, and doomed to fail.

This inner turning requires practice and effort, but it’s do-able. We form the habit of catching ourselves when our thoughts go astray. In place of negative, self-doubting thoughts, we pour in positive, self-affirming ones. We become the authority in our lives, claiming our personal power to decide the direction of our thoughts and attitudes, regardless of our emotions.

One day, we look ourselves in the mirror and say, “God loved you enough to exchange Jesus, His only Son, for you. And I love you, too.” Then we address ourselves again the next day in the same way, until this attitude grows stronger inside us.

And then we maintain this steady focus one day at a time. Each morning, we start afresh.

My Prayer: Just for today, dear Lord, help me to build myself up in faith, rejecting the inner thoughts that would tear me down and pull me away from your constant love. Keep me right at the center of that unchanging love, my arms open and outstretched, ready for Your mercy.

~*~
Author Bio:

When Gail Kittleson's not steeped in World War II research, drafting scenes, or deep in an edit of her 1940’s novels, she does a limited amount of editing for other authors. 

She also facilitates writing and creativity workshops, both in Iowa and Arizona, where she and her husband like to spend part of the winter in the amazing Ponderosa pine forest under the Mogollon Rim.

Favorites: spending time with grandchildren, walking, reading, meeting new people, and hearing from readers who fall in love with her characters.

A Thought for Thanksgiving Day

A Habit of Praise
A Thanksgiving Day thought from Savanna Kaiser

First of all, I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! I also want to thank Alexis for inviting me to stop by today. I know you’re all probably busy with family festivities, so I’ll keep this short.

I’ve been reading lately the Sermons on the Miracles by Charles Spurgeon. Every book of his I’ve ever read has blessed me in countless ways and this one is no exception.

The recent chapter I read covered the miracle of Jesus where He healed the 10 lepers and only one returned to thank and praise Him. “Where are the nine?” Jesus asked the healed and humbled one at his feet, but the Samaritan man had no answer for him. He was too busy worshiping the true Physician.

I loved the picture of this meager man made whole. His heart overflowed with gratitude and his simple actions left a legacy for all of us to mirror. If only worship – and less of the world – filled more of our hearts.

Spurgeon writes, “The Lord gives us blessings, new every morning, and fresh every evening, great is His faithfulness; and yet we let the years roll round, and seldom observe a day of praise. Sad is it to see God all goodness and man all ingratitude!”

Today is Thanksgiving and it’s a wonderful time to thank the Lord for His many mercies, but too often I’ve been guilty of letting gratitude slip away all too quickly. Jesus deserves so much more.

Spurgeon adds, “Most of us pray more than we praise…Prayer is not so heavenly an exercise as praise: prayer is for a time, but praise is for eternity.”

I’m so thankful Jesus invites us to come to Him at all times. After studying this miracle in Luke 17, I realized just how important it is for me to come to Him, not just in times of need, but in times of praise. I want it to be a habit of my life. He deserves more praise than I could ever give, but I want to chase after it all the same.

Spurgeon continues, “From the healed leper, we see his humility. “This man fell down at Jesus’ feet; he did not feel perfectly in his place until he was lying there. ‘I am nobody, Lord,’ he seemed to say, and therefore he fell on his face… There is no place so honorable as down at the feet of Jesus. Ah, to lie there always, and just love him wholly, and let self die out! Oh, to have Christ standing over you as the one figure overshadowing your life henceforth and for ever! True thankfulness lies low before the Lord. Added to this there was worship. He fell down at Jesus’ feet, glorifying God, and giving thanks unto him. Let us worship our Savior. We shall never cease to adore him who has delivered us from the leprosy of sin.”

That’s what I want my life to be about. Something my Mom and I do to seek this continual spirit of thankfulness is by writing down notes of blessing throughout the year. We get together close to Thanksgiving Day and read our notes aloud. We’re blessed all over again to see the Lord’s hand in every area of our lives. Memories we cherished and moments we forgot are all recorded on sticky notes. Laughter and tears usually follow.

We look forward to this every year. It never ceases to amaze me of the variety and creativity of answered prayers and God’s many surprises. I encourage you today – and every day – to watch for God’s delights and tokens of His grace. Praying He opens our eyes to see more of Jesus at work in our lives. He’s always there, friends. Sovereign and strong.

Allow me to conclude my thoughts with this quote from the great Charles Spurgeon:

“Let us learn from all this to put praise in a high place. 
Let us hold praise-meetings…Let us pay our praise to Christ himself. 
Personal praise to a personal Savior must be our life’s object.”

Wishing you all a life of Thanksgiving!

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Author bio: 

Savanna Kaiser is a freelance writer of over 50 magazine articles, web designer, blogger, and gardener from the Missouri Ozarks. 

She also serves as the president for her local ACFW group. 

When she and her husband aren't chasing their one-year-old daughter around, they love to hike, kayak, and explore Civil War battlefields. 

Connect with Savanna:
Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram