My guest today is Author Debbie Fuller Thomas who has gotten off to a great start with her writing career. Here’s Debbie:

“Growing up, I always knew my mother was the self-sufficient type. She could wield a hammer as well as sew all our clothes (including my father’s suits) and can or freeze every vegetable in our garden so we could enjoy summer in the midst of winter. If she had a problem with the house, she saw no reason why she should wait until my father got home when she could figure it out on her own. For years, she took the three of us to church without my dad, which I now recognize as a display of uncommon strength which encouraged him to come to the Lord later in life. Although still extremely self-sufficient in her eighties, she now enjoys the leisure of having her kids wield the hammer when necessary. But I never truly realized the extent of her dependence on God for her source of strength until my dad passed away.

My parents enjoyed a loving, stable marriage for more than fifty years, but after a brief battle with a debilitating illness, my dad passed away two weeks before Christmas. The family gathered from their respective corners of the country and spent the week reminiscing and accompanying Mom as she took care of details for the funeral. One by one, we had to return to our homes and jobs and all the unfinished details of the now difficult holiday season. Any holiday is difficult following the loss of a loved one, but Christmas came so soon that it was a struggle to cope.

Although my mother knew that she could make it easier on herself by closing up the house and spending the weeks surrounding Christmas with any one of her three daughters, she refused to leave. She would spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my sister who lived nearby, as they always had, but she would face the season head-on. She said she would have to face it someday, and she may as well get it over with. My mother is a very private person, but it was clear from her opened Bible and her lifetime of faithfulness in worship that God had graced her with uncommon faith.

Unfortunately, it takes Bebe, my heroine, much longer to find the strength to face her issues head-on. But when she does, it’s all due to her growing faith in the God who pursued her in love.”

Debbie Fuller Thomas writes contemporary fiction from a historic Gold Rush town in Northern California. When she’s not working on her next book or planning children’s programs for her community, she enjoys singing with Colla Voce of the Sierras with her husband and spending time catching up with her two adult children. Her debut novel, Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon was a finalist for the 2009 Christy Award and the ACFW Book of the Year, and her latest release is Raising Rain.–Thanks for sharing, Debbie!–Lyn

For more information or to purchase one of her books, go to her website. Or www.novelmatters.blogspot.com Or blog.debbiefullerthomas.com