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It’s Hard to Have Faith on Fridays

{For a long time, I’ve had plans to write a weekly post on faith and what it looks like today. I even set up the category on my site here: Faith on Fridays. I hoped to begin at Advent last year, and then again earlier this year. For a variety of reasons, that didn’t happen. But this morning, I woke up and knew today was the day. 

I am an author, and my site is about that. But I am also a woman of great faith, and not allowing myself to express that in some form is not being true to myself. I don’t force my beliefs on anyone else, and I don’t ask that my readers agree with me. You don’t have to read this weekly post. But I have to write it. I hope you’ll stick with me through it, and perhaps comment and start a dialogue, no matter your background and your own beliefs.}

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Cross on top of american flag symbolizing memorial day in United States

Last night, I was just about to go to sleep, skimming through social media for one last check before bed. I saw the first posts about a shooting in Dallas. This time, it wasn’t police shooting an unarmed black man; it was police who were being shot during a protest. I stayed up, watching CNN until I couldn’t take it anymore. When I went to sleep, they were saying ten had been shot and two were dead. When I woke up this Friday morning, the numbers had changed; twelve shot, five dead.

It’s hard to have faith on Fridays.

Earlier in the week, I had been sickened and frustrated and angry about the two black men who were shot by police officers–one in Baton Rouge, one in Minnesota. I was horrified. This is America. On Monday we celebrated the anniversary of our freedom, of our proclamation that ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL. All men. All women. Black, white, and every other color in between or beyond. Regardless of sexual identity, gender affiliation, religion, lack of religion and cultural background. All men are created equal. We have defended that peculiar notion for over two hundred years, we have bled for it and our soldiers have died for it. Yet we do not live it out. Not by a long shot.

It’s hard to have faith on Fridays.

My faith is rooted deep, from seeds planted in my childhood, carefully cultivated by so many men and women and books who helped shape what I believe and in Whom I believe. I follow Jesus, who tells us that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. I try my best to make my everyday choices reflect that belief. I know that He is still in charge. I know that He is the ultimate victor. I know who wins this war.

But it’s hard to have faith on Fridays.

Several thousand years ago, on a Friday in Jerusalem, a man of peace, a man of love, Son of God, son of man, of His own free will, gave up His life for me and for you (whether you believe it or accept it or not) in a shameful, horrific death on the cross. He’d been the hope of a generation, beloved of His many followers, and within hours, he was dead, laid in a borrowed tomb.

It’s hard to have faith on Fridays.

If that were the end of the story, then what I believe would be futile. If that were the end of the story, then we could look around our nation and our world and have no reason for hope. If that were the end of the story, we should just give up.

But it’s not the end, because on Sunday, that tomb broke open and Jesus rose again, defeating death.

In the face of pain and horror and devastating loss, communities pull together. We support each other. We love despite differences. We embrace strangers. We march for peace. We hold our legislators accountable for making and enforcing laws that will make our nation safer and stronger, a country where ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL and are treated equitably and with dignity.

It’s hard to have faith on Fridays. But we hold on. We believe for a better day and a better way. We walk in His way, offering compassion and grace and love.

This isn’t the end. Love bats last, and there is not a single doubt in my mind about Who wins.

Keep the faith, even on Fridays.

Five From Olivia Hardin

Welcome to Five From Friends Friday!

Each week, I’ll share with you five quick and quirky questions and answers

from some of my favorite author friends.

I think you’ll see some familiar faces in here, too.

Quickies from Olivia Hardin

I met my dear friend Olivia through a writer support group on Facebook, which eventually pared down to eight of us who formed Romantic Edge Books. We discovered we had a great deal in common, including a love of history, a inquisitive spirituality and a wickedly irreverent sense of humor. Because we also realized that both of us had somehow missed on certain cultural phenomenon others in group had experienced, we like to joke that we lived under the same rock. It’s a very funny, safe and educational rock, let me tell you. I’m blessed to have Olivia in my life, both as a friend and as a fellow author. Here are her five quickies. . .

Q: Your sweet dog Bonnie Sue is given the gift of speech for five minutes. What is she most likely to say to you?1268627_404978766268920_880872598_o

A: That little dog is probably the “loving-est” animal I’ve ever seen.  In the mornings when we wake up she cuddles up and nuzzles our necks and whines and moans to us.  I always imagine she’s saying something like: “Good morning, mom.  Good morning, dad.  I love you. I love you.  Promise we’ll always be together.  Promise I’ll always be your baby.   Now can we get up and go outside?   I love you mom and dad.  Can we go outside now?  Do you love me too, mom?  Let’s go, let’s go!  Yes, scratch my ears just like that, daddy.  Its time to get up!  Come on!  Let’s go!”

Q: You win the HGTV Dream Home, which is in Martha’s Vineyard this year. Will you move there or sell it?

A: Uhm… I’m thinking I’d sell it.  I’m a Texas-gal.  I don’t see myself moving anywhere else.  Although, maybe I need a second home… 

Q:The zombie apocalypse is here, and you can only fit 3 books in your backpack (no Kindles). What books will make the cut?

A: Aztec by Gary Jennings, Glory Road by Robert Heinlein, and The Life and Times of the Thundergbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

Q: You’re granted the ability to live in the world of a television show for one day. Which one will you choose?

A: Hmmm… Probably Downton Abbey… that’s my absolute favorite show.  The real question, is would I want to live upstairs or downstairs… decisions, decisions…

Q: Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa) appears at your door and offers to cook you any meal. What’ll be on the menu?

A: Well… I like to try new things, so I probably would let her choose a meal for me… Probably something with chicken or beef (no fish), some kind of a exciting potato or vegetable side and then a dessert that hopefully includes chocolate… oooh… and some sort of exotic beverage too!

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When Olivia Hardin started having movie-like dreams in her teens, she had no choice but to begin putting them to paper. olivia hardin pic b&w.jpgBefore long, the writing bug had bitten her, and she knew she wanted to be a published author. Several rejections plus a little bit of life later, she was temporarily “cured” of the urge to write. That is, until she met a group of talented and fabulous writers who gave her the direction and encouragement she needed to get lost in the words again.

A native Texas girl, Olivia lives in the beautiful Lone Star state with her husband, Danny and their puppy, Bonnie.

Follow Olivia here: Website/Newsletter/Twitter/Facebook/Youtube

 

JUSTICE FOR ALL

Coming March 31st

Kay Rawley has plans. She might be the second child of an earl, but she wants a life away from her father’s estate in New Durma. She wants a life apart from her family’s name. Becoming a lawyer was a bright, shiny object she just couldn’t resist grabbing. Her classes are complete, and all she has to do is pass the bar to get permanent employment at the Dallas law firmPageflex Persona [document: PRS0000035_00016] where she’s been interning for the past year. 

Kay’s been on Audrick Van Buren’s radar since the day she walked into his classroom two years ago. That admiration only grew when she came to work for his firm. But if there’s anything he recognizes, it’s a woman who’s driven–and Kay is definitely one. It’s all he can do to keep his distance and allow her the chance to come into her own. What Van doesn’t know is that someone else is watching Kay, too, and if he doesn’t step between them, that person might not only derail her career but threaten her very life. 

Things aren’t always what they seem, and Kay’s about to learn that the best laid plans are so much better when they go astray. 

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