New Year, New Hope

I anticipate some New Year’s more than others. Turning the calendar to 2020 after a difficult 2019 offers new hope and I look forward to fresh opportunities. I pray the Lord will guide my every step and decision in both my writing life as well as my walk with Him.

I told one friend that this past year felt like a year of survival. Between my husband’s stroke, my granddaughter’s cancer and foot amputation, and moving 2,000 miles to be closer to family, there were many moments that made me wonder if I could survive it all.

With the Lord’s help, I did. And God reminds me of all the blessings that occurred in 2019:

• My husband is recovering well from his stroke
• While the doctors were convinced my granddaughter needed chemo, all the tests came back negative for malignancy spreading elsewhere. She is cancer free! Praise the Lord!
• My friend Shannon drove cross country with me to share the driving. Godly friends are a gift.
• God provided for all our needs for the move despite many obstacles. Again, so many friends helped us.
• By our second Sunday here in CA, the Lord led us to an amazing church and Christian friends who wrapped us in loving fellowship.
• In August, on my son’s birthday, his wife gave birth to a precious baby boy. My fifth grandchild. God is so good!
• My granddaughter runs and plays on her prosthetic foot. She has adapted to her new life so beautifully.
• In July, a story I’d submitted to “Chicken Soup for the Soul” was published.
• I signed a contract with Mantle Rock for the publishing of my latest novel, “Scarred Vessels.”

As you can see from my list, the blessings have far outweighed the difficulties. So my word for this year of 2020 will be “Overcome.” Do not be weighed down by the hard stuff. Pray and move forward.

It’s easy to focus on the struggles. As writers, we face the obstacles to publishing regularly.  I encourage you to press onward. Be an overcomer.

Assume there will be trials of many sorts. “In me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NIV)

Notice this verse does not say, “pull yourself up by your boot straps” or “get a grip.” It says, “In me (Jesus) you may have peace.” Trust the day to day to Him. He is our peace, our source of strength. He is our Overcomer.

Carry on.

Elaine Marie Cooper has two historical fiction books that released in 2019: War’s Respite (Prequel novella) and Love’s Kindling. Love’s Kindling is available in both e-book and paperback. They are the first two books in the Dawn of America Series set in Revolutionary War Connecticut. Cooper is the award-winning author of Fields of the Fatherless and Bethany’s Calendar. Her 2016 release (Saratoga Letters) was finalist in Historical Romance in both the Selah Awards and Next Generation Indie Book Awards. She has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul and HomeLife magazine. She also penned the three-book historical series, Deer Run Saga. Her upcoming release, Scarred Vessels,” is about the black soldiers in the American Revolution. Look for it in October 2020. You can visit her website/ blog at www.elainemariecooper.com