Devotionals for the Heart: A reminder that YOU are NOT Alone

Note to self: You are not alone
A devotional by Melissa Henderson

“Look to the Lord and His strength: seek His face always.”

 ~1 Chronicles 16:11 (NIV)

Sunny days bring sounds of laughter and play outside. Rainy days bring peaceful sounds of raindrops tapping on the roof. Cloudy days often bring sounds of gentle breezes blowing through the trees beckoning times of rest. On any of these days, someone may feel alone. A person can feel alone even while surrounded by a crowd of family or friends or strangers.

As we experience the moments of our lives, we often get caught up in day-to-day activities. Work, house cleaning, laundry to wash, meals to prepare, bills to pay, errands to run and so much more: Meetings, church events, afterschool activities, letters and/or emails to read and a seemingly unending list of “to do’s”.

Being busy does not make us fulfilled. There may be a person you know who shows a big smile and a sweet attitude. They appear to have life in order and all seems to be wonderful. But, do we pause and truly visit with that person? Do we pause and share a smile with a stranger?

Do we assume everyone is “okay” because they don’t share their sadness with others? If everything looks fine on the outside, do we just move on with our lives? Are our days filled with rushing here and there, to fulfill the daily task list?

With many questions to ponder, there are many ways to seek the Lord and His strength. Seek Him always. In the rush of life, seek Him. In the quiet of life, seek Him. When you see a friend or a stranger, offer a smile. Look the person in the eyes and smile. Say hello.

Each one of us has felt alone at times. We are blessed to know we are never truly alone. God is always with us.

During my times of loneliness, depression and anxiety have tried to creep in my thoughts. I am thankful God has given me doctors to help. I am thankful for family, friends and even strangers who share a smile and a “Hello.”

Reading God’s Word (The Holy Bible), sharing time with God and sharing thoughts with others are reminders I am not alone.

Peace and comfort come over me whenever I seek the Lord. The peace and comfort only He can provide. Trying to solve loneliness or sadness on my own doesn’t work for me. Only when I seek Him, the powerful reminder of 1 Chronicles 16:11 shows me that I am never alone.

So even on those days when life is full of activities and time flies by, I will remind myself of His love and comfort. As the title of my devotional today says, “Note to self: You are not alone.”

Amen.

Blessings,

Melissa Henderson

~*~
Author Bio:

Melissa Henderson and her husband Alan live in South Carolina.

Married for over 38 years, they have one son (Mike) who is married to daughter-in-love (Christine) and now are blessed by a precious grandson (Rowan).

Melissa was taught the love of reading and writing at an early age from her parents. She is now working on her first inspirational fiction novel.

Her passions are volunteering, Bible Studies, reading and writing. Connect with Melissa online, https://mimionlife.wordpress.com.

A Guest Post by Christina Lorenzen about Rapunzel and a Lighthouse

Sweet Memories Create a New Twist on Something Old
A guest post by Christina Lorenzen

The sweetest memories I have are the times my grandmother would sit at the foot of my bed and tell me my favorite bedtime story, Rapunzel. My grandmother lived with us for as long as I can remember until she passed away when I was in my early twenties. As a child, my parents would go out for an evening. I would wait for bedtime when my grandmother would ask me what bedtime story I wanted to hear. And each time I would ask to hear Rapunzel. Just as I never tired of hearing her tell it and my grandmother never tired of telling me that fairy tale.

All these years later, when my publisher, Forget Me Not Romances, announced they were putting out a novella collection of fairy tales with a modern spin, I had the pleasure of writing my own version of Rapunzel. The classic tower became a defunct, dilapidated lighthouse and my heroine, Georgie Daniels, is a self-imprisoned longhaired damsel in distress. Raised by her father after her mother dies when she’s barely two years old, Georgie’s father passed away two years ago. Add to that the heartache of her fiancé abandoning her and she has shut out the world, finding security within the walls of the lighthouse cottage.

Writing this novella was such an enjoyable endeavor. I have wanted to write a story with a lighthouse setting for several years. Being able to combine that magical setting with my favorite fairy tale was more play than work. I researched lighthouses and learned quite a bit about them. My heroine Georgie is based on a friend from long ago. The hero, Colby Ford, was a combination of several ‘hero’ type men in my life. I’m proud to say that I have both an Air Force uncle and Navy uncle in my family.

After writing Rapunzel’s Lighthouse, my interest in putting a modern spin on another fairy tale has been sparked. There just might be another military hero in there too. That’s the wonderful thing about storytelling – there are no limits to the possibilities of ideas. Who would have thought that almost fifty years after first hearing my grandmother tell the tale, I would write my very own Rapunzel story? I think she would be pleased.

~*~
Author Bio: 

Christina started writing as a young teen, jotting stories in wire ring composition notebooks. Her first typewriter made it faster to get all those stories out of her head and down on paper. Her love of writing has sustained her through a myriad of jobs that included hairdresser, legal secretary, waitress and door-­to-door saleswoman.

Luckily for her, writing proved to be successful and a lot less walking than going door to door. Snow Globe Reunion, a Christian Christmas romance, is Christina’s third book. She is also the author of A Husband for Danna and its sequel, A Wife for Humphrey.

Christina is a member of Romance Writers of America and American Christian Fiction Writers. When she isn’t writing or reading, she can be found walking her dog, talking to her herd of cats and spending time with her family.

~*~
Book blurb for Rapunzel's Lighthouse: Georgie Daniels rarely leaves the cottage attached to the Salt Cliffs lighthouse, except when necessary for a trip into town for food. For the last two years, since the lighthouse was declared a historic landmark, she’s lived in the cottage out of sight and, she hopes, out of the minds of the town. With the defunct lighthouse in arrears and in disrepair, she knows it’s only a matter of time before the lighthouse will be on the auction block of the town hall’s steps. With long hair that no one has seen before, except in the fabled fairy tale Rapunzel, things were going well until new neighbor Colby Ford shows up on her doorstep.

Colby Ford didn’t intend to retire from the Navy, at least not right now. When he finds himself with an injury that pushes him into an early retirement, the possibility of opening a sailing school in the coastal town of Salt Cliffs is his only hope. Renting the Moore cottage, he needs to find the right location for his school and a place to store the boats. 

While in town, a conversation with a storekeeper makes his curiosity about the lighthouse burn even stronger – what kind of woman lives alone in a defunct lighthouse? 

In need of paint for the cottage porch, he pays Georgie a visit. Feeling like he’s seen her before, that’s when it hits him – Georgie Daniels is a real life Rapunzel. And this Rapunzel wants nothing to do with being neighborly. Until she’s forced to save him during a storm.

Georgie and Colby have both had their share of disappointments and heartache. Just as Georgie is beginning to open up to him, a letter she finds threatens to shut her down again. Can their shared desperate need for a home bring them together?

~*~
Buy Christina's book on Amazon

~*~
Connect with Christina:
Twitter - https://twitter.com/chrisfoxlorenz/
Facebook Author page - https://www.facebook.com/ChristinaLorenzenAuthor/
Website - http://christinalorenzen.com
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/christina_lorenzen/

Safe Havens and Open Hearts, book review of "A Friend in Me"

Safe Havens and Open Hearts 

Review of book A Friend in Me: How to be A Safe Haven for Other Women
Book written by Pamela Havey Lau
Review written by Alexis A. Goring 

Heartbreak, hope, forgiveness and restoration are all part of Pamela Havey Lau’s new book, A Friend in Me: How to be A Safe Haven for Other Women. But the most important thread found through the stories and pearls of wisdom for women shared in Lau’s book is this: the value of women—young and old—connecting with each other and sharing their life experience in a way that provides support, relief and hope for those who have not yet reached certain stages in life.

“The longing for a mentor, for someone who has gone on the journey before you and stops, or at least slows down, and takes the time to walk alongside of you, is a rare thing. I think Pam is that kind of person. She deftly describes the unfortunate chasm that can arise between generations of women and then, slowly, builds a bridge over it. She painfully describes the “groans” on both sides and the hope that awaits when we meet each other on that bridge.” – Nancy Ortberg writes in the Foreword for Friend in Me: How to be A Safe Haven for Other Women.

As the reader journeys through the 198 pages of this book, they not only meander over the metaphorical “bridge” mentioned by Ortberg—they relate to the stories and are encouraged in their life journey. Most importantly, women readers are reminded that they are not alone. Lau proves this fact page-by-page.

On page 193 of A Friend in Me, Lau writes, “Love restores. Love repairs. Love supports. Love encourages. Hebrews 3:13 reminds us to “encourage one another daily.” That call is still for you and me today. Love lies at the center of God’s character, and every time we answer the call to love women well, we become safe havens for them—this is what comforts them, encourages them; this is what makes us happy and sets our hearts free. What are we waiting for?”

It’s a question worth pondering, answering and setting a plan in motion to effect change.

A Friend in Me is a book purposed to bring together women who can offer each other much needed advice on life, support and agape love. Its message is of high importance in today’s society when we’re so connected yet so isolated.

Statistics show that 232 million people use Twitter every month and 1.3 billion people used Facebook last year. Clearly, we are a very “connected” society worldwide. Yet is it possible to be so connected yet feel so all alone?

Women want to connect with other women and seek mentors who have been there, done that and are willing to share the roadmap. Lau’s book is like that roadmap showing how women can not only be a safe place for women in the earlier stages of life but can be teachers and mentors who offer advice, comfort and understanding.

Through her book, Lau explores ways women need to use to initiate relationships with other women and have real conversations about faith, forgiveness, vocation and other matters of the heart and life.

“I’m praying for a movement around the globe for women to find satisfaction, healing and safety in closer relationships with the women God has placed in their lives,” Lau said in a press release.

Now it’s up to the readers led by God to help make Lau’s prayer and hope for women around the world, to come true.

A Friend in Me is most definitely a book to share with all the women in your life. It is beautifully-written and difficult to stop reading until you reach the final page. So if you’re looking to connect with other women and be encouraged through your struggles in life, this is a book for you.

*Litfuse Publicity Group sent a complimentary copy of A Friend in Me: How to be A Safe Haven for Other Women, to Alexis A. Goring, in exchange for an honest review.