Today on the Christmas Blog Party, welcome Vickie Phelps, author of Waiting for Joy.
Enjoy the brief excerpt then enter to win a copy of Waiting for Joy.
One of the pleasures of the holiday season is the feeling of joy that comes from being with family and friends during this time. The excitement of celebrating with those you love can keep you humming carols all through December. In the middle of all the shopping, baking, and decorating, that tingle of joy keeps you going.
But what if that special feeling is missing? What if you start the Christmas season without any joy? And to make it worse, obstacles seem to appear out of nowhere that keeps joy just out of reach. That’s what happens to Lauren Grant, the main character in my new Christmas novella, “Waiting for Joy.” Here’s a brief excerpt.
“As she drove toward Bingham General Hospital, Lauren Grant noticed many homes already had wreaths on their doors and holiday scenes in their front yards. Maybe she should have a tree in her apartment this year. It might give her a little more Christmas spirit. She knew it was time to move on with her life. Jack wasn’t coming back. Ever. What was she waiting for?
She parked and walked toward the hospital entrance. Just inside the door, a big sign greeted visitors. “Joy to the World.” She frowned at the sign. That was all well and good for others. But she had lost her joy when Jack died. Everyone sang about it and talked about it, but no one told you how to get it back once it was gone.”
Lauren’s story is not only her mission to find joy in life again, but she has to think about someone else for a change. She’s been struggling in her own little world for five years, thinking only of her family and the past. When she’s forced to consider others and their needs, her life takes a turn for the better.
Our family, (my siblings and their offspring), is starting a new tradition this year. We’re going to use the money we normally spend on gifts for each other and give it to a worthy cause so someone else can experience a little joy. In other words, we’re going to think about someone else for a change, just as Lauren must do in “Waiting for Joy.”
Do you have a special tradition that helps you serve others ahead of yourself during the Christmas season?
“Five years after her husband is killed in Iraq, Lauren Grant is still hanging onto the past. It’s the Christmas season and everyone else is getting into the spirit. Maybe she should have a Christmas tree in her apartment this year. It might give her a little more spirit. It was time to move on with her life. Jack wasn’t coming back. Ever. What was she waiting for?”
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Vickie has been writing since 1988, publishing 175 articles, devotionals and book reviews in more than fifty regional and national publications. Vickie is the author of Psalms for the Common Man and has published five gift books with Barbour Publishing. She also compiled a perpetual calendar, 365 Treasured Moments for Mothers and Daughters through Barbour Publishing. Vickie is coauthor with Jo Huddleston of How to Write for the Christian Marketplace and Simply Christmas. She has published two novels, including Postmark from the Past and Moved, Left No Forwarding Address. Her latest release is a Christmas Novella, Waiting for Joy.
Vickie loves to mentor other writers and in 2009 founded the East Texas Christian Writer’s Group which meets monthly for the purpose of encouraging and instructing writers in their pursuit of publication. When she’s not writing, Vickie loves nothing more than reading a good book or discussing them with other readers. She spent eighteen years working for an independent bookstore, first as a bookseller, then as manager and buyer for the store. She retired from the store in 2012 and writes fulltime from her home in the piney woods of East Texas.
We go to a homeless shelter every year and help serve Christmas dinner . Our kids are grown so the whole family joins in and spends Chtustnas day serving others.
Years ago, I would always have a Christmas dinner for my mother and a couple who were her friends since their younger days. This made her happy and we had a good visit.