When Life Reads Like a Novel

Sandra Orchard here. As many of you know, my life and daily routine drastically changed on May 19th of this year when our grandson was in a near-fatal lawn tractor accident.

Almost two years to the day before his accident, I posted a picture of Jed with the caption "Look who's walking. A hero in the making."

He has certainly proven himself a hero to many over the past two-plus months. He doesn't feel sorry for himself and his smile is contagious.

We are so grateful to the tens of thousands of believers worldwide who ceaselessly petitioned the Lord on his behalf. The outpouring of love, prayers and support from readers, fellow writers, fellow believers, and complete strangers was incredibly encouraging.

In another week or so, he will receive a prosthetic for the leg he lost and we will soon celebrate our hero walking once more, alongside his little brother who learned to walk in hospital hallways.  

We are also celebrating the birth of another new grandson--one we must wait many more weeks before we'll be able to hold in our arms, since he was born 12 weeks early at under 2 lbs.

And of course, those little annoying blips in our days such as cracked windshields and leaking wells don't go away, simply because you have more important life or death issues with which to contend.

I probably should feel sorry for my characters and all the trouble I relentlessly heap on them.

But you know what? I don't.

Troubles make us appreciate the many blessings we have. They spur us to hold onto loved ones a little tighter and to cling to the Lord even harder. They make sunsets richer and priorities clearer.

Of course, not everyone gets to enjoy the happy endings they'd hoped for and must carve out new visions for what the future can look like. These experiences have given me a renewed vision for writing stories that inspire readers to respond better to whatever situations they find themselves in and to seek the light at the end of the tunnel.

Consider Joseph. God had a mighty plan for him and used his being sold by his brothers, his being wrongfully accused by his master’s wife and being sent to prison to accomplish his ultimate purposes. 

Your Turn: Share a traumatic event in your life and how you grew from it.

Multi-award-winning author Sandra Orchard leaps off the garden trails of her herbal-researcher-turned-amateur-sleuth (Port Aster Secrets) series, to the museum corridors of her plucky FBI art crime agent Serena Jones, in A Fool and His Monet. When not plotting crimes, Sandra plays make-believe with her grandchildren or hikes with her hubby along the escarpment, near their home in Niagara, Canada.To learn more visit www.sandraorchard.com 

 
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