Progressive Christmas Story Hop

Mark your calendars for December 13-15, 2012! Grand Prize: $100 Amazon Gift Card!
 
Christmas time is for us to remember why we celebrate the season.  It’s the time of year that sometimes gets lost under Santa Claus and presents under the tree, making a Christmas dinner for the family or baking Christmas cookies.  But, we’re supposed to remember that the reason for the season is God. 
We’ve come together for the Christmas season, as Christian authors, to show you the meaning of why we celebrate our Savior’s birth.  

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
 God sent us His Son, so that we may be forgiven and to have everlasting life.  Please join us in the celebration of our Lord and Savior, and celebrate with us our favorite Christmas movies and join us on a progressive Christmas story hop.

Here's how it works:

1.  Go to each blog in the order that is listed below.
2.  Read the first section of the story. Then follow the link to the next section of the story.
3.  At each blog, comment to get entered in both the Grand Prize drawing ($100 Amazon Gift Card) and to be entered in each author's individual drawing. Your comments can be about the story. Or you can tell us your favorite Christmas songs or movies or books. You can also tweet and like us on Facebook to be entered multiple times.

Feel free to browse each author's bookshelf.
Blogs to visit for the Progressive Christmas Story should be visited in the order listed below: 

1.    Gloria Harchar
2.    Emerald Barnes
3.    Bonnie Blythe
4.    Anita Green
5.    Marian Merritt
6.    Rich Bullock
7.    Dawn Turner 

My prize is all three books in the Cascade Brides series; Rock and A Hard Place, Bayward Heart, and Project Love, all available for Kindle or at Smashwords.

Enjoy my part in the Progressive Christmas Story below and leave a comment with your email address! a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Meredith passed the rest of the evening enclosed in a sense of unreality, barely aware of the sweet sounds of the children singing. 

Garth was back. After all this time. Why hadn’t he called her? Come to see her? 

But why would he? After all, he was the one who had decided to end things almost exactly two years ago, right before his last deployment. He didn't want to think about me worrying about him. 
 

At least that’s what he’d said. 

She’d worried about him nonetheless. Prayed for him daily—despite her bewildered, broken heart. 

But the shock at seeing him on the porch—with a gun no less. Wow. That had been so completely unsuspected. He had aged somewhat—at least the look in his eyes. There was a weariness there—and a new wariness. But was it due to action overseas, or the fact that his rejected girlfriend had shown up on his front steps five days before Christmas?

Meredith was relieved when the evening came to an end, when the last child had been picked up from the church lobby by his parents. Her mouth ached from smiling, echoing the state of her heart. She’d plunged into the holiday festivities, hoping to find a balm after the breakup. After all these months, the pain had lessened to a dull ache, but the memories had not let up a whit.

And now that Garth is back in town it will only be that much harder to move on. 

By the time she got home, a headache had formed at the base of her skull. Meredith refrained from turning on the lights right away. For the moment, the darkness soothed her. She closed her eyes and offered up a small prayer. Lord, You knew this moment would come even if I didn’t. Boy, I so didn’t. Help me respond with grace. She bit her lip as moisture stung the back of her eyes. And help me have Your peace. 

Pushing away from the door, Meredith headed to her bedroom and pulled open her nightstand drawer. She had almost packed the picture frames away a hundred times, but so far had been unable to box them up for good. Now was definitely the time. All I need is the whole town talking about how I can’t move on from the hometown hero. 

Despite her intentions, she peeked at the photos in the frames—photos of happier times when she and Garth were making plans for the future. The picture of her standing next to him right after his enlistment made her throat thicken. Only a few years ago. A lifetime.

She wondered what he was really afraid of. War? Death? No doubt he’d seen horrific things from his time overseas. But where so many military men managed quickie weddings prior to deployment, Garth had chosen to break things off suddenly when they’d been going so strong. Had he experienced some morbid premonition about the coming months in Afghanistan? It was something she had wrestled with over and over when he left. And she was no closer to an answer.

Meredith sent up another prayer. Lord, help Garth find peace from what troubles him. Bring people into his life that draw him out and bring him back into a hope and a future. People that can bring healing.

Even if that person can’t be me.