Blurb:
Grace Avery’s husband
was her rock, the foundation to her faith and her life. Now a young, grieving
widow, she longs to have his baby, but artificial insemination fails her again
and again. How far will she go to have his baby? She cries out to God, but He
isn’t listening. When the Worship Team Leader asks her to come back and bless
the congregation with her gift of sign language during the Christmas Eve
Program, her stifling grief holds her back. Can sharing her gift be the seed
needed to reap the harvest she so desperately wants? Is God’s grace sufficient?
Is there Christmas Grace?
Author:
Lynn Donovan spends
her days chasing after her muses, trying to get them to settle down and behave
long enough to dictate their words and actions. Thank goodness her muses love Christ
or she’d be in big trouble. The results have produced The Clockwork Dragon, a
collection of nine short stories in which she wrote half (4.5 stories), The
Wishing Well Curse, and Thorns of Betrayal, Rocking Horse Shadows, and
Christmas Grace, Signing Seeds. A speculative fiction called The Abraham
Project is hovering out there somewhere. Lynn enjoys reading and writing
Christian fiction, paranormal, and speculative fiction. But you never know what
her muses will come up with for a story, so you could see a novel under any
given genre. All we can tell you is keep your eyes open, cause these muses are
not sitting still for long! Oops, there they go again…
Excerpt:
CHAPTER ONE
Grace Avery jerked
awake, but she dared not move.
There it was again. A
rattling noise. Was it the house? A howling wind ripped through the eaves and
shook the window frames of their restored Victorian home. Winter was bullying
out autumn.
A shiver scurried down
her back. She tucked her arm under the covers and listened. The rattle that
woke her was rhythmic and repetitive. It wasn’t the wind. It was Chris, and he
sounded worse this morning.
She turned over and
laid her hand on his shoulder. His skin felt cool and clammy to the touch. She
scooted closer to spoon with his fragile frame. Long streamers of dawn’s rays
reached through the gray-blue linen curtains and illuminated a violet hue
across his already pallid skin. She pulled their sheets up over his shoulder
and considered getting him another blanket.
The house creaked and
moaned, the structure’s unique chatter announcing the change in weather.
Before, she enjoyed these sounds, the change in the seasons, but now they only
brought a sensation of concern for Chris. The chemo treatments had depleted his
immune system, and she feared this winter would be rough on him. The
frustrating irony of the cure. The testicular cancer hadn’t killed him, but
these chemo treatments sure had brought him closer to death than she ever
thought possible. If it weren’t for his valiant will to live, she didn’t know—
No. She wouldn’t think
like that. He had something to live for. Something he had been longing for
since they were first married. And she was doing everything possible to make
the dream a reality. No matter how much she hated the fertility procedures, she
went faithfully and did everything Dr. G told her to do. It was just a matter
of time. Deep in her heart, she knew this was what kept Chris fighting death’s
calling. Their one unclaimed victory—a baby.
Was it only a year ago
Chris had appeared to be in robust health? He was Head Engineer of his
department. Zilker Electronics’ stocks were soaring because of the profitable
contracts he had procured. The Board of Directors rewarded him with a
staggering bonus last Christmas. They were living “high on the hog,” as her
mother put it.
It had been four years
since they had begun this trek, trying to conceive. But conception had eluded
them. It was frustrating. Still, they clung to high expectations for positive
results. Well, Chris had high expectations. He was the optimist. She was the
worrier.
She had good reason to
worry. Had she caused her fertility problems? For the first five years of their
marriage, a baby was the last thing she wanted. It had always been Chris who
hinted at starting a family. She was a freelance writer and worked from home.
It would have been an easy transition to have a baby and still work. But, the
thing was—she was happy without a child.
Casual observance of
their friends convinced her. Her fears were valid. Every aspect of their
friends’ lives had become consumed with their children. Yet they seemed
exhausted and miserable. Their marriages suffered and so did their careers.
Her marriage had been
perfect. She and Chris loved each other more every day. She still felt like a
honeymooner. She didn’t want to lose this amazing relationship she had with
him, so she took every precaution, even doubled up on the birth control
methods. No unplanned pregnancy would ruin her marriage or her happy life.
Then one day,
something just…changed. Perhaps it had been her twenty-seventh birthday. Maybe
an internal timer going off, who knows? But that day her heart opened and she
saw the possibility in a whole new way. She no longer focused on her wants. It
was like she had stepped into a room, an ordinary, familiar room, but now the
lighting was so much brighter. She could see everything at once. The light
filled the room like her love for Chris filled her heart. It completely
saturated her being and there was nothing she wanted more than to make him
happy. Instead of wanting to receive gifts from him, she wanted to give one to
him.
