There are no words to encapsulate the pain of watching someone you love dearly fade before your eyes. Like a flower in the field so beautiful one moment but all too quickly the bloom has wilted and the stem is drooping. In my second book in the Shenandoah Valley Brides, Amelia's Heartsong, I had a key hero pass away so that I could intentionally write about grief and how to walk through that valley. Those words come back to haunt me now and bid I live my own advice. I've traveled through grief before losing my dear nephew Tyler, my dad,  my brother-in-law Colin, and a number of good friends, but it never gets easier. My baby sister,...

Day 2 AD A somber lies over the city of Jerusalem. Jesus is dead. The skies open and heaven weeps a thousand tears. The Messiah has been cornered, crushed, crucified. Tortured for our transgressions. A mammoth rock and soldiers that guard the tomb seem to have the final word. The day is dark. Dreary. Disappointing. The disciples huddle in an upper room full of defeat. Their Teacher has departed. The women weep. But WAIT FOR IT! All is as it should be… The quiet is part of the quest for hidden treasure. The sorrow is part of the solace. The tears are part of the triumph. A plan with a purpose slowly unfolds. WAIT FOR IT! God is never aloof, or...