Finding Stefanie
Page 30
Writing this book couldn’t have come at a more difficult time. I’m not sure why, but I always seem to back myself into my schedule, turning around just in time to see it crashing down over me like a wave. If I’m well-balanced, I keep my feet and can ride the wave to shore. However, often the wave knocks me over, and I’m left scraping the ocean bottom, wedging sand in my teeth and gasping for air when I surface.
The spring of 2007 hit me like a tidal wave. I was homeschooling three of my children in fourth, sixth, and ninth grades. I had speaking engagements every weekend for three months, and I was trying to write Stefanie Noble’s story. I thought I might lose my mind.
My husband sensed that I was overwhelmed—perhaps because of the way I mumbled in my sleep—and he came to me with a plan. He would cook supper. Every night. For three months. Maybe some of you have husbands who cook. Mine is a fabulous cook, but I’m the primary chef in the family. And when you’re feeding a family of six, four of whom are men, you have to cook a lot. I could have cried at his feet with relief.
But his generosity didn’t stop there. Not only did he cook—he cleaned, carpooled, fixed my car, and occasionally brought supper up to my office. And he prayed for me.
He was God’s gift of strength to me.
So much of the time, heroes in stories are alpha males, able to leap tall buildings and swim through hurricane waters to save their heroines. However, in today’s world women are strong and often don’t need that kind of hero. Stefanie Noble was one of these. A woman accustomed to working with animals, she knew how to handle herself. But she needed someone who would stand beside her, believe in her, and encourage her. She needed a different kind of hero.
I have a good friend who is one of the strongest women I know. She is beautiful and poised, talented and wise. She’s raising three children, two of my favorite teenagers and a delightful toddler. From the outside, one would never know her challenges—namely, her wonderful toddler has Down syndrome and needs extra eyes on him as he explores his world. And her husband had MS. From her demeanor and smile, people might think her life was easy. I know differently. I also know how much she has loved her husband, and how she appreciated that when he couldn’t be physically strong, he was strong in ways she needed him to be.
Watching my friend in her struggles made me wonder what it would be like to be someone strong—like action hero Lincoln Cash—then have your body betray you. I wondered how he might feel and if he could see God using him to be heroic in a different way.
I love strong heroes, but I love strength of character in a man more. Especially when he surrenders his heart to the One who gives strength. This is the theme I brought to Finding Stefanie.
Lincoln also helps Stefanie see her world and herself through new eyes. As a mother, I remember those early days when I’d look up from my daily routines—helping with homework, doing laundry, cooking supper—and wonder, how did I get here? Last time I looked, I was newly married and about to conquer the world as a super missionary. Did I blink?
I’m sure my friend wonders this also. How did she get here, with so much on her shoulders?
I know that she wouldn’t trade her life for anything. Neither would I. But I know what it feels like to be discontent, believing there is something more. Like when I was living in Siberia, without heat, chasing down roaches. Or when we were homeless for four months and lived in our garage. I have come to believe that contentment is a mind-set, a submission to all God is doing in my life. His call is for me to be obedient to the life He’s given me and to embrace it with a tender heart—no matter what the circumstance. When I do, He has a way of making me see it with new eyes. Life doesn’t always turn out the way we expect. But it can still be good. Very good.
My friend taught me that too. And those are the lessons I wrote into this book.
“Fill my cup, Lord. . . . Come and quench this thirsting of my soul. Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more. Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!”
God can fill your cup with strength, contentment, and wholeness. I pray that today you find Him your hero in every way.
Thank you for journeying with me through the Noble Legacy!
God Bless,
Susan May Warren
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SUSAN MAY WARREN recently returned home after serving for eight years with her husband and four children as missionaries in Khabarovsk, Far East Russia. Now writing full-time as her husband runs a lodge on Lake Superior in northern Minnesota, she and her family enjoy hiking and canoeing and being involved in their local church.
Susan holds a BA in mass communications from the University of Minnesota and is a multipublished author of novellas and novels with Tyndale, including Happily Ever After, the American Christian Romance Writers’ 2003 Book of the Year and a 2003 Christy Award finalist. Other books in the series include Tying the Knot and The Perfect Match, the 2004 American Christian Fiction Writers’ Book of the Year. Flee the Night, Escape to Morning, and Expect the Sunrise comprise her romantic-adventure, search-and-rescue series.
Finding Stefanie is the sequel to Reclaiming Nick and Taming Rafe and the third book in Susan’s new romantic series.
Susan invites you to visit her Web site at www.susanmaywarren.com. She also welcomes letters by e-mail at susan@susanmaywarren.com.