Hi everyone!

It's September! My fall decor is up. And in Missouri, it actually felt like fall outside this week after a cold front came through Tuesday night. It was wonderful to fall asleep to soft rumbles of thunder and rain and wake up the next morning to sunny skies and cooler temperatures.

There has been a lot going on in my world. One of my favorite new additions is being one of the leaders of sixth-grade girls at my church youth program. I've walked with some of these girls since they were little while I directed children's ministry, and it is so fun seeing them grow into young women. They have so many fun and deep questions that we are diving into together, especially this month while we do a theology-rich dive into the doctrine of sin. We had a great gospel-centered conversation last night as they think through what it looks like to trust Jesus alone for their salvation and let go of the desire to try to earn it on their own. It's a fight for faith I'm fighting right along with them, and I've been reflecting on the lyrics of In Christ Alone all day today:

Up from the grave, He rose again

And as He stands in victory

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me

For I am His and He is mine

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

What a challenging and freeing truth, that I haven't and cannot buy my own salvation, but Jesus purchased it for me. His victory is mine.

In other news, I submitted to teach a class at a writing conference and anxiously await word on whether my class was accepted. It would be a stretching but fun experience, to be sure. I also pushed back my self-made deadline for the devotional pieces that will be a companion to my books, but those are still in process, and I'm looking forward to getting them out to you all. Books are fun on their own, but they can be enriched all the more through discussion with other people who read them, and I think these pieces would be an excellent addition to someone who would want to read my work in a book club or with a friend.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and if you're looking for a new read, check out the one below!

Guest Author Spotlight

The Ashes of Everstone Court by Iris Lim

Regency Christian Romance

A fire takes away the love of his life. It takes everything else he has to find her again.

When the charming Harold Avington finds the woman of his dreams only to lose her to a sudden, fateful fire, the talented artist plunges into irreparable despair. No canvas inspires him; no woman compels him. His family’s best efforts soothe his wounds. But only the mysterious veiled woman he encounters, over a hundred miles from London, reignites his imagination.

Clara Eisel, on the cusp of her triumphant London debut, loses her family, her home, and her claim to beauty overnight. Picking up the pieces of her shattered world, she seeks her purpose in charity and service instead; but her newfound contentment is put to the test when the last man she’s ever expected to see again appears right in front of her, without knowing who she is.

Can Harold find himself again in the shadow of losing Clara? And can an artist whose life is dedicated to beauty ever learn to love a woman whose face he’s never seen?

Book 3 in the Avington-Nottingham series.

Click Here!

But now thus says the Lord,

he who created you, O Jacob,

    he who formed you, O Israel:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

    I have called you by name, you are mine."

Isaiah 43:1