Please welcome this week’s guest Renee Blare for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey?
One Step at a Time
2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV) “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
When I became a Christian at eighteen years old, I made a discovery. One that I use many different ways. I learned how to walk by faith.
Now, I’m not talking about walking down the aisle, although I did make that trip; several times. But I’ll tell you about that another time. I found that my aisle walks, my baptisms, and church retreats didn’t see me through the day.
When I was alone, face to face with my own issues, I fell short. The past came back to haunt with a vengeance. Old habits leeched in from their hidden places. Old friends called and soon I wished I was back where I’d started. Despair, turmoil, guilt, and shame beat at my “holy” soul.
During this tumultuous time in my spiritual life, I buried myself in Scripture. I searched for any possible solution to my current dilemma. Why was I confused? Why did I feel so alone? I prayed hard and long. And found answers. God was good.
Roll forward twenty years or so. Much more mature emotionally…spiritually, I believed I could handle most things which headed my way. After all, my walk with Christ had become exactly that, a walk. I claimed the verses of David’s 62nd song as my own and cradled them close to my heart. Every single day, I stepped out in faith. Sometime it was by choice, most days by necessity.
Then one weekend afternoon, I picked up the pen and began to write. Was it in a journal or spreading words of enormous wisdom…leading the masses in new spiritual enlightenment? No. To the amazement of many and the condemnation of some, I wrote a novel. Fiction, yes, but real. After all, isn’t that was life is? Real.
It wasn’t pretty or even publishable. But God taught me and a few others, that minute fact didn’t matter. The journey to publication isn’t about when or how—it’s about why…why should it reach the masses? Why did I even want my story to be published?
I discovered I needed to remember a few things when old habits leeched from their hidden places to poison my way with despair, turmoil, and shame. A little heart-to-heart with the Lord and my nose in His Word aligned my steps back on the straight and narrow.
This journey’s far from over. So I’ll continue to walk with Him each day, by His side, or in His arms, to live and learn. One step at a time and soon, I’ll say…
2 Timothy 4:7 (NKJV) “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
About the Author:
Raised in Louisiana and Wyoming, Renee started writing poetry in junior high school and that, as they say, was that. After having her son, a desire to attend pharmacy school sent her small family to Laramie and she’s been counting pills ever since. While writing’s her first love, well, after the Lord and her husband, she also likes to fish and hunt as well as pick away on her classical guitar.
Nestled against the Black Hills with her husband, crazy old dog and ornery cat, she serves the community of northeastern Wyoming as a pharmacist and pens her Christian stories, keeping them interesting with action and intrigue, of course. She loves to interact with readers and invites you check out her website, blog, and social media.
- Renee Blare|Christian Author Website
- [email protected]
- Tumblr: The Journey
- Amazon Author Page
- Blog: Renee’s Inspirational Moments
- Group Blog: The Diamond Mine of Christian Fiction
BEAST OF STRATTON
EXCERPT, Copyright 2015 © Renee Blare
He’d vanished.
She’d called his friends, the family. She’d even tried her stepmother who’d hung up on her. Well, okay, maybe that wasn’t the brightest idea.
A red rose rolled across her father’s tattered note, caught in the breeze from the open window. Sliding the pane down, she picked up the flower. The words on the page blurred as she buried her nose in the soft petals.
Instead of saying goodbye to his wife in his last letter, he’d simply left explicit instructions not to follow him. Aimee snorted. Like the woman would care. He’d sent it with the rose and an antique necklace. She held the thick chain aloft and peered at the golden key spinning in the light. The jewelry had probably cost a fortune.
And her stepmother was nowhere to be found. Scratch that. According to her, she wanted to be left alone. It didn’t make a difference to Aimee what the letter said and to whom, she’d follow. A small smile worked its way to her lips as she fastened the necklace around her neck.
The zipper stuck on the edge of the suitcase and she gave it a hard jerk. Dragging the bulging bag off the bed, it hit the floor with a thunk. She slid her arms into her jacket and looped her purse over the handle. She dropped the rose, and it landed beside her plane ticket next to her wallet. Before latching her fingers around her bag, she tucked the key under her shirt out of sight. “Stratton Industrial, here I come.”
Available for purchase: Amazon
About the Book:
He appears the beast but she sees his heart.
Architect Aimee Hart, determined to locate her father, infiltrates Miles Stratton’s engineering firm as a secretary. Her presence wrenches the shaggy, wounded man from his penthouse, and the quest begins.
He’s been betrayed by his best friend. Miles would rather hide than help, especially his daughter. But it isnt over. Someone’s trying to destroy Stratton Industrial. A war veteran, he knows how to defend his own, the Beast of Stratton can do it again.
About the Blog:
Renee’s Inspirational Moments: https://reneeblare.wordpress.com/
Tagline: Faith for the Journey
The Life of a Christian Writer…highlighting Christian Fiction through Inspirational Moments, Guestposts, Author Interviews, and Book Reviews.
It was the Worst of Times and Best of Times by Carole Brown (With Giveaway) https://reneeblare.wordpress.com/2015/01/11/faith-for-the-journey-posts/
3 Ways to Share Your Faith
https://reneeblare.wordpress.com/2014/10/04/faith-for-the-journey-posts-6/
Matthew 6:34 (NIV) Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
- I blog to spread the good news of the Lord.
- When I’m not blogging, I’m spending time with my family, writing, or working.
- I have a passion for Christ.
- I want to be remembered for my love for the Lord!
GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
Offering a digital copy or signed paperback copy of Beast of Stratton to one person. To be entered in the giveaway, please answer the following question in the comment form below: How has Renee’s journey touched you? Thanks for stopping by and reading about her and her journey.
How encouraging! Best of luck to Renee in her writing career.