My heart in all I do is to encourage others. When I’m writing, I want to accomplish that by creating fiction with surrender issues readers can learn about and/or relate to so they are inspired to trust Christ with their issues, and find freedom in that.
Match Made in Heaven was the first romance I wrote after becoming a Christian in 1992. It sat for years because I never thought I would pursue publication, and of course, marriage and motherhood took over. Fast forward and last year I was sick with bronchitis and a sinus infection. I didn’t have a lot of energy to create new material, so I went back to Match Made in Heaven and revised it.
The biggest change I made was I added a health issue with the heroine that was the driving catalyst behind why she couldn’t trust God. It’s a diagnosis I’ve had a crash course in with our daughter, congenital hypothyroidism. I know so many people who struggle with thinning hair, exhaustion, weight gain, skin issues, yet I haven’t read any fiction with hypothyroidism.
What I enjoyed about writing Beth’s story was I didn’t come right out in the beginning and announce her diagnosis. Our daughter also has Hashimoto’s and Albrights Hereditary Osteodystrophy, and all of these things are invisible illnesses. We’ve had to advocate hard for our daughter because not every teacher understands she struggles with short term memory. That she tires much faster than her peers. These are factors I incorporated into Beth. It’s stressful because now she’s an adult on her own with a career. She’s afraid she won’t be able to keep up with her work load.
Of course, in Christian romance, we need a hero who mixes it up. Dean’s one of the many grandsons paraded into Beth’s office and she thinks it’s another matchmaking attempt. Dean’s goal is to help his grandfather recover from illness and has been told volunteering would be a great start. Once he gets to know Beth, he wants to encourage her that God cares about her. Of course, he doesn’t know her past or her fears. For our family, we’re strong in faith, yet we struggle. We have questions. We get angry. So it wasn’t hard for Beth to create a barrier between accepting a relationship with Christ and allowing Dean into her life outside of work.
If you or someone in your life has trouble trusting God because of adversity, I really hope you’ll read Match Made in Heaven. And if you know anyone with congenital hypothyroidism, Beth’s story should resonate.
About Match Made in Heaven:
Beth Prescott wants to make a difference with the senior citizens she serves as a volunteer coordinator, but their matchmaking efforts leave her guarded. She’s experienced too much pain to make that leap again.
Dean Kellerman returns to the Finger Lakes area to help his grandfather and heal his own broken heart. He’s recommitted his life to Christ, and doesn’t want any distractions.
When his grandfather needs assistance with a senior program, it places Dean right in Beth’s path. Can these two surrender their pasts to Christ and have faith in each other and their future?
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Match-Made-Heaven-Julie-Arduini-ebook/dp/B07QR29X51
Julie Arduini loves to encourage readers to find freedom in Christ by surrendering the good, the bad, and —maybe one day—the chocolate. She’s the author of the contemporary romance series SURRENDERING TIME, (Entrusted, Entangled, Engaged,) as well as the stand-alone novellas, MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN and RESTORING CHRISTMAS. She also shares her story in the infertility devotional, A WALK IN THE VALLEY. Her other latest release, YOU’RE AMAZING, is a book for girls ages 10-100, written with her teenaged daughter, Hannah, and is book 2 in their SURRENDERING STINKIN’ THINKIN’ series. She blogs every other Wednesday for Christians Read, as well as monthly with Inspy Romance. She resides in Ohio with her husband and two children. Learn more by visiting her at http://juliearduini.com, where she invites readers to opt in to her content full of resources and giveaway opportunities.
Thank you for letting me share my story behind Match Made in Heaven!
My journey to publication started back in 1967 – first book to be published _ MEANT FOR HER_ 2019 – Surrendering to a completely different genre than what I’d been writing – writing in obedience to His direction – led me to seeing the novel published –
GOD HAS A PLAN FOR EACH OF US and Julie knows how that goes! Great article.
FAVE LINES FROM ARTICLE:
For our family, we’re strong in faith, yet we struggle. We have questions. We get angry.
Believe me, I get THAT!