Author Christine Johnson & Quiet Strength
My guest today Author Christine Johnson is one of the newer voices to write for Love Inspired Historicals. She’s offering a giveaway of her latest book. Here’s Christine:
“I’m thrilled to join you here today. Do you know someone with quiet strength? I’m not talking about the boastful or physical kind, but about the sort of strength that often goes unnoticed. It’s sometimes called inner strength, the thing we call upon when the going gets tough.
Mrs. Simmons in my Pearlman series has that quality. She tragically lost her husband years before and, with two children to raise, has to clean houses and take in mending to make ends meet. That kind of fortitude generates the wisdom to see the big picture.
I’ve been blessed with some wonderful role models of quiet strength. One of them was my grandmother. When her husband joined the war effort in WWII, she had to raise four children with few resources. She wasn’t alone. Many wives faced that same struggle…and still do. It can’t be easy. I salute those military spouses that hold together the family while their husband or wife is overseas.
My grandmother’s door and arms were always open. Many boarders drifted in and out of their house through the years. I remember them like colorful pages in a picture book. She always made people feel special. Together with my grandfather she helped impoverished children in Mexico get an education.
But her most courageous battle was with Alzheimer’s disease. It runs in the family, and as the youngest she watched older sisters fall victim to this terrible illness. The prospect of it must have terrified her. You see, she was a prolific letter and journal writer. Her journals from the 1920s have inspired my stories. Alzheimer’s disease steals both the mind and the victim’s dignity. Like her sisters, she could not evade it, and ever so slowly it took away the grandmother I knew. Our visits to the nursing home left me anguished, and many nights I dreamt that my grandmother was her old self again. But those were only dreams. Toward the end, she could no longer speak, but she still sang. The words were garbled and the tune difficult to make out. Hours later, I finally realized that her last song was “Jesus Loves Me.” Even during the ravages of disease, she knew her strength lay with Him.
In my books, Mrs. Simmons faces many trials. Through every one, she abides in quiet, unbreakable strength, for she knows that Jesus is by her side. My grandmother is just one of the Lord’s witnesses in my life. Who in your life has shown quiet strength?
To purchase, click here. Legacy of Love (Love Inspired Historical)
Today I’ll be giving away a copy of my book, Legacy of Love, in which Mrs. Simmons’ restless, imaginative daughter, Anna, aspires to become an Egyptologist and discover lost tombs, like the newly-discovered tomb of King Tutankhamun. With no funds for such an adventure, it’ll take the wisdom of quiet strength to show Anna that sometimes the greatest treasure can be found right at home.”–Christine
Christine, Thanks so much for being my guest and sharing about your grandmother. What a woman. To be entered into the drawing, please answer Christine’s question:
Who in your life has shown quiet strength?
