Surprise!

I love a surprise from God! Here’s one of His latest for me.

Look! There’s the cover of Forever Free as a finalist for the Faith, Hope, & Love Reader’s Choice Award for Sweet Romance!

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! To God be the glory!

Talk about surprise. I attended Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference this past week, and a friend from Scrivenings Press said, “Congratulations!” I was dumbfounded. The only thing I could think of that she could be referring to was my help with a storyteller during a performance the previous night.

I scrunched up my face and asked, “What?”

She replied with, “You’re a finalist in the Faith, Hope, & Love Reader Choice Awards.”

Surprise!

I said, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, Linda just posted it on Facebook.” (Linda owns Scrivenings Press, our publisher.)

I had forgotten about this contest so thoroughly that for a good while, I thought the award people might snatch it back with an apologetic, “oops,” when they realized their error.

Slowly, the details of entering the contest came back to me, and I leaned into the surprise of this unexpected gift from God.

I could picture God smiling, waiting for me to hear about His wonderful gift to me. What a blessing! What a good Father Who does more than I can ask or imagine.

The God Who cannot be surprised has surprised me in a most fabulous way.

Thank You, God, for encouraging me, helping me, and loving me!