She Asked for a Miracle. God Gave Her a Hurricane.

Hey, y'all! Jennifer Slattery is here today with a word from her main character in her upcoming novel When Dawn Breaks.

Have you ever been living your life, going through the mundane but not really knowing it was mundane, only to have something snap you out of it? Something drastic and permanent?

Catastrophes have a way of making us reevaluate our lives, don’t they? Of causing us to do a 180, abandoning everything we once found important to chase after something we’d never before considered.

At least, that’s what happened to me. For the past two decades, I was chasing after success—a false and depleting, and soon depleted, success. As a realtor, my schedule was crazy, my paycheck unpredictable. The market would soar, and I’d get caught up in the rush, easily pulling 70-hour work weeks.

No matter who I hurt. No matter how many relationships I destroyed. But then I met Christ and started to do things differently. Nothing drastic. I gave up clubbing for ladies Bible studies, and allocated a chunk of my commission checks to the church. I even served on occasion.

But my relationships continued to flounder, most noticeably with my daughter. Delana and I haven’t spoken, really spoken, since she was a teenager, and though I’ve tried again and again to apologize to her and make things right, I’d begun to wonder if perhaps my efforts were too little too late. This sense of defeat, and a strong fear of rejection, kept me from truly fighting for my daughter.

I’m not proud of this, but it’s true.

So I retreated, sending out the appropriate greeting cards, making an occasional phone call, all the while praying for a miracle, anything to help me rebuild a relationship with my daughter.

I prayed for a miracle. God sent a hurricane.

Isn’t that often how it is? It’s like we need a stiff kick in the pants to actually make a true effort. At least I did. Pacing my living room floor, watching as mandatory evacuations scrolled along the bottom of my screen, I felt stuck between a rock and a hard place. Or more accurately, between a hurricane and one of the biggest relational storms I’d ever known.

It was a tough decision. (*wink*) But after a bit of coaxing from my bestie, I headed north to begin the long trek toward what I hoped to be reconciliation.

Let’s just say my daughter was less than thrilled. She did, however, allow me to stay, and while there, while in the middle of my maternal regret, I encountered three precious children who’d been abandoned by their mother, and I began to sense that God wanted me to help them.

Talk about ironic, huh? Here I was, suffering the consequences of neglecting my own child when she needed me most being called to reach out to neglected children.

I’d heard God often brings us back to our points of greatest failure in order to help us fully grab hold of the freedom He offers in Christ.

I’ve also heard He can turn our greatest pain into our most powerful ministry.

I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but for now, I keep stepping. Keep trusting. Keep hoping that He can turn my sorry life into something beautiful. And in the meantime, I’m grateful that I don’t have to go this road alone. Not only do I have Christ, always with me, but He’s brought me a sweet (and handsome!) friend to walk along beside me.

Now there’s a plot twist, huh? To think God might be offering me a second chance of love.

All this after I prayed for a miracle.

If this is how God works out His plans, I’ll take a hurricane any day. 

Jennifer Slattery writes soul-stirring fiction for New Hope Publishers, a publishing house passionate about bringing God’s healing grace and truth to the hopeless. She also writes for Crosswalk.com, Internet Café Devotions, and the group blog, Faith-filled Friends. When not writing, Jennifer loves going on mall dates with her teenage daughter and coffee dates with her handsome railroader husband.

Visit with Jennifer online at JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud. 

When Dawn Breaks:

As the hurricane forces Jacqueline to evacuate, her need for purpose and restitution forces her to head north to her estranged and embittered daughter and into the arms of a handsome new friend. Dealing with his own issues, Jacqueline isn’t sure if he will be the one she can lean on during the difficult days ahead. And then there are the three orphans to consider, especially Gavin. Must she relinquish her chance at having love again in order to be restored?

Read a free, 36-page excerpt HERE.

You can buy a copy HERE.