My guest today is a new writing acquaintance T L or Tracy Higley. Here’s Tracy:

“What makes a woman strong? I’ve certainly tried to be a strong woman over the years, but I’ve learned a few things along the way. Self-sufficiency is not the same thing as strength. Control is not strength, either. One of the biggest challenges of my life has been to learn what true strength is, and to discover its source.

I’m a do-er. You know the type. Maybe you are the type! Always busy getting more done, always in control, never needing help. And enjoying the praise when people say “I don’t know how you do it all!” For many years, I believed that these qualities meant that I had strength. I was wrong.

It’s taken some tough years of failing to keep up with the demands, losing control, and questioning my self-worth to teach me that true strength lies in understanding your identity in Christ, and then being able to extend yourself authentically to the people around you, loving them without needing a response, and accepting their love without pushing it away as though it is unneeded. When we are so concerned about how people perceive us, and that they see us as in control, we send a false “I don’t need anyone” message. We think it is strength, but it is really pride. Because we do need others.

In my upcoming release, Guardian of the Flame: a Seven Wonders Novel, it turns out that there is quite a bit of me in my protagonist, Sophia. She’s been self-sufficient for many years, running the Lighthouse of Alexandria even as Julius Caesar and Cleopatra are warring over the future of her country. When Caesar sends his Roman legion to invade her lighthouse, she takes on the centurion in charge and never backs down. In the face of injustice, she protects the innocent and fights for their lives. But Sophia allows her strength to push people away, believing she can handle everything on her own. When the Roman centurion challenges her independence and calls it fear she realizes that she is not as strong as she believed. It will take a work of God for her to open her heart to others, including the Roman who will not let her go.

Look for Guardian of the Flame in October of this year. To pre-order, click here. If you’d like to get an email reminder when the book releases, or read more about the Seven Wonders Novels, click here to visit my website, and click on Books: I hope to hear from you!”–Tracy

And here is the Mexican-style recipe Tracy sent too. Thanks, Tracy!–Lyn