Jamie shook his head and backed away.
“I can’t, Jess. This is too important for blind faith.”
The smile on her lips softened to tender.
“It’s only ‘blind’ to those who don’t believe, Jamie,
but once we lay our will down for God’s,
it’s amazing just how much we can suddenly see.”
–Love at Any Cost by Julie Lessman
Blind Faith. Goodness—is there any other kind?
Not according to Hebrews 11:1, which says: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Not seen. Mmm … well, speaking as a very visual person, that doesn’t always bode so well for me, especially with my books. Oh, I have the “hope” part down pat, I can tell you that. But the “things not seen”? Not so much. Which is why today’s quote from my new novel Love at Any Cost is such a blessing to me, and, I hope—for you too.
You see, like my hero Jamie MacKenna in the clip above, sometimes there are things so important to me that I want to help faith along. For instance, as many of you know, I’m running a Journal Jot contest right now (see info below in the middle of this blog) and one of the components was nominating Love at Any Cost for novel of the month at The Book Club Network, which many of you did—THANK YOU SOOOO VERY MUCH!!
I am happy to say that because of your support, Love at Any Cost is one of twelve nominees for Book of the Month, which is a huge promotional blessing for whichever author wins this contest.
But now comes the “blind faith” part—trusting God for things “hoped for” without “seeing” how that can happen without my help. I am well aware that one of the authors nominated has a huge platform and fan base from which to rally support and, understandably, has been doing so, so I was planning on pulling the big guns too. I had intended to send out e-mails to my almost 6,000 newsletter subscribers to ask them for their vote in this contest, which runs from April 15 through the 30th.
And, goodness, I even toyed with the idea of adding an ADDITIONAL contest to this Journal Jot today where any votes cast for me in this TBCN would be entered into a random drawing for choice of my books, OVER AND ABOVE the Journal Jot contest below where entrants can accrue 5 additional points in that contest for voting for me in the TBCN poll.
But then I decided not to do either. Sigh.
Why? Because I happened to stumble upon Jamie’s sister’s quote above, when Jess tells Jamie that faith is “only ‘blind’ to those who don’t believe, but that once we lay our will down for God’s, it’s amazing just how much we can suddenly see.”
Gulp. Convicted and nailed by my own book. How sad is that?? Because once again I am brought full circle to realize that it’s not about the things I hope for—winning a contest, good reviews, selling books—it’s the things God hopes for me. Drawing closer to Him, drawing my joy from His well instead of the well of approval, and writing for Him and Him alone. As Jess says to her brother Jamie in Love at Any Cost—it is truly amazing just how much we can suddenly “see” when our focus is on God instead of ourselves.
And this girl suddenly “sees” that it’s not about wielding votes … it’s about yielding hopes to a God who knows far better than me the very thing that will make me happy. 🙂
CONTEST!!!
NOTE: But now, since this contest is already in place, I need to advise those of you entered that you do have the opportunity to accrue FIVE ADDITIONAL POINTS by voting for Love at Any Cost in The Book Club Network poll on the right-hand side of the website. Once you vote, just click on the “vote for Julie” item in the Rafflecopter box further down in this post and GOOD LUCK!! Here’s the link:
Book promotion is a tough job, so that’s why I posted this contest asking for your help in promoting Love at Any Cost. The way I see it, this needs to be a win-win situation for both of us, so there are several ways you can help me out, and each will earn you a point in the contest below where prizes will be awarded to the reader friend with the most points as follows:
First-Place Winner (most points accrued):
—Kindle ($69.00 value)
—A character named after you in my next book, Dare to Love Again.
—Choice of any of my books including Love at Any Cost or Dare to Love Again
—Choice of five top CBA books from my library (all new and unused)
SECOND-PLACE WINNER (2nd most points accrued):
—Choice of any of my books including Love at Any Cost or Dare to Love Again
—Choice of two top CBA books from my library (all new and unused)
THIRD-PLACE WINNER (random drawing of points accrued where even one point has the chance to win)
—Choice of any of my books including Love at Any Cost or Dare to Love Again
—Choice of one top CBA books from my library (all new and unused)
SO HOW DO YOU ACCRUE POINTS?
It’s simple! Pick which of the following things you want to do in the Rafflecopter box below, and Rafflecopter will tally it for you and for me!!a Rafflecopter giveaway CONTEST ENDS 4/30 AND WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON JOURNAL JOTS ON FRIDAY, 5/3, SO GOOD LUCK!!
Hugs and Happy Weekend!!
Julie
MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO WIN!!! (Mark your calendars for these giveaways!):
April 11-22, 2013:
Win your choice of my books at a character spotlight on ANDIE TUBB’S BLOG at:
http://www.frommipov.blogspot.com/
April 19-30, 2013:
FIVE GIVEAWAYS of Love at Any Cost at THE BOOK CLUB NETWORK!!!
April 19-30, 2013:Win your choice of my books at an interview on NORA ST. LAURENT’S BLOG at:
May 6-20, 2013:
Win your choice of my books at an interview on JUANITA NOBLE’S BLOG at:
http://juanitanobles.blogspot.com/
