Blurb for BEYOND I DO:
Will
seeing beyond the present unite them or tear them apart?
Marriage . . . it’s more than a
happily ever after. Eternally more.
Ainsley
Meadows, raised by a hedonist mother, who cycles through jobs and relationships
like wrapping paper on Christmas morning, falls into a predictable and safe
relationship with Richard, a self-absorbed socialite psychiatrist. But as her
wedding nears, a battered woman and her child spark a long-forgotten dream and
ignite a hidden passion. One that threatens to change everything, including her
fiancé. To embrace God’s best and find true love, this security-seeking bride
must follow God with reckless abandon and realize that marriage goes Beyond I
Do.
For your reading pleasure, a peek at Jennifer's opening:
Used by Permission. Beyond I Do: A Novel, by Jennifer Slattery (New Hope Publishers, Birmingham, AL) NewHopeDigital.com.
Ainsley’s stomach churned as she eased
into the Whispering Hills Apartments’ parking lot. Broken beer bottles and
other trash littered the ground. A few tenants had draped sheets across their
windows. Other windows were boarded up. One was busted in, shards of glass held
in place by silver duct tape.
Please
tell me this isn’t where Marie Nelson lives.
Ainsley compared the address Deborah
had given her to the rusted numbers on the complex in front of her. This was
the place. And from the looks of it, the very place Ainsley shouldn’t be, at
least, not alone.
Her phone chimed, making her jump. She
glanced at the screen. Her fiancé’s number flashed. Cutting her engine, she
answered. “Hey, Richard, what’s up?” She shoved her purse and computer case
under the passenger seat.
“Where are you?”
“Doing a favor for Deborah. Why, you need something?” She grabbed her pepper spray from
the glove compartment.
“Who?”
As if she hadn’t talked about the woman
countless times over the years. “Deborah. Eldridge, the one who told me about
Christ.” And kept her from going completely insane or spiraling into rebellion
when Ainsley’s home life fell apart. “Sometimes I wonder if you ever really
listen.”
A pack of muscular and hard-faced men
gathered around a navy pick-up watched her, causing her already queasy stomach
to cramp. There were four of them, two dressed in black with thick chains
draped across their neck. The largest was covered, neck and arms, with tattoos.
She looked away, suddenly acutely aware of her shiny Honda Accord and
department store garb.
Oh,
Lord Jesus, please keep me safe.
“That Deborah. Right.” A keyboard
clicked on the other end of the line. Richard was probably working on final
edits on his book. “Now I remember. So you’re in Smithville?”
“Not exactly. More like…” She scanned
her surroundings again, her gaze lingering on a used diaper decaying on the
ground ten feet away. “More like… the Admiral Boulevard area.”
Richard made a choking noise, as if spewing coffee. “You’re
where? Please tell me you are not
in the crime center of Kansas City.”
**BEYOND I DO is currently available on Amazon Kindle for $2.99.
Have you
ever wondered why some people seem to rise to new challenges while others
appear to do all they can to avoid them? And why is it some press on after
failure, even sustained failure, while others bounce back like little boys on
pogo sticks?
These
are the questions my father asked me during a conversation one day. And now
that I’m grown, now that I’ve seen some of my dreams come to pass, I’ve begun
asking these same questions. Because like my dad, I want my child to succeed
and to find the fulfillment that comes from reaching her full potential. And as
I contemplate this, I’ve come to realize “success”, in whatever field, is made
up of many necessary ingredients: perseverance, diligence, pursuit of
excellence, resilience, dedication . . . confidence.
And a
healthy amount of risk taking.
 |
| Courtesy Google Images |
I
suppose we all have areas of weakness that keep us from living up to our full
potential. Insecurities that hold us back. Bad habits that steal our
productivity. But I can’t help but wonder if at the root, our greatest
hindrance comes from fear.
When the
recession hit and 1.2 million Americans lost their homes, my daughter began
asking about recession proof jobs. She was only twelve, an age when you or I
were still dreaming of being baseball players, actresses, or rock stars.
Luckily,
my husband and I helped her get past this, not by assuring her of tomorrow, for
we all know another recession, or war, or epidemic, could hit at any moment.
(Sounds a bit eerily familiar, doesn’t it?) Nor did encourage her to dream
bigger. Rather, we reminded her of the power of the Dream Giver.
Because
ultimately, God decides who “succeeds” or fails, though His view of success is
much different than ours. But when we adopt His view, everything changes.
We
change. Or more accurately, we surrender ourselves to His change within us. Understanding
and accepting God’s definition of success, in my opinion, encourages the growth
of all those character traits I listed above.
For you see, God’s definition of success is quite simple: obedience.
This
means, every hurdle and setback is actually a chance to shine. To please our
Heavenly Father and to sense Him saying, “Well done, good and faithful
servant.”
When an
obstacle hits, rather than getting frustrated and longing to quit, we’ll turn
our eyes upward as we pray about the best way to overcome.
When
“failures” come, and they will, we open wide our hearts to receive the
instruction only God can give.
When the
journey feels long, arduous, confusing, and uncertain, rather than allowing the
uncertainty to paralyze us we can turn it into an opportunity for spiritual
stretching.
And this
is when something beautiful happens. Once we boil everything down to obedience,
we place ourselves squarely in the Father’s—the dream giver’s—hands.
The only
One able to equip us for that which He created us to do.
This was
what I found, anyway. When I first sensed God calling me to write, I grabbed
hold of that dream with both hands, stressing over every rejection and setback.
But once I made it about obedience, everything changed. I loosened my grip and
focused on being the best writer I could be.
A funny
thing happened. Once I relinquished control, the doors I tried to barrel
through began to open.
And it
stirred my heart to praise, which is the only proper position for a redeemed,
transformed heart.
You can read Jennifer's previous Everyone's Story's post, When God Has Other Plans, here.
Jennifer's Ah-hahs To Tweet:
Author
Jennifer Slattery: do you rise to new challenges or avoid them? (Tweet This)
Jennifer
Slattery on Everyone’s Story: One Word That Challenges Everything. (Tweet This)
Jennifer
Slattery asks: Do you and God define success differently? (Tweet This)
Author's Bio:
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. Her debut novel, Beyond I Do, is currently available in
print and e-book format for under $10! You can find it on the Amazon link
below.
Places to connect with Jennifer:
To read a free 36-page excerpt of Jennifer's BEYOND I DO visit here.
