Guest Post by Lisa Phillips.
One girl falls in love young, and gets married early.
An older lady, widowed, finds love for a second time.
A gal, single into her forties, finds love what seems like “finally.”
We all have different stories, threads of a tapestry God is weaving in our lives—sometimes dark colors, and sometimes the palest of pink. The thing we all have in common is that God is doing something in each of us, and through us in the lives of the people around us. Even when it seems like He is silent, or inactive, He is working. And it is good.
For Mitch and Anabeth in Finding Love at the Oregon Coast, this was definitely the case. Anabeth is burned out on her life and looking for a change. She doesn’t know where to find it, or even what she’s looking for, but goes to stay with her mom for a few days. Mitch has a broken engagement and his service as a US marine in his past, and he isn’t looking for love until his father gets in a fender bender with a beautiful woman he’s never seen before.
When they meet, it’s certainly attraction at first sight. But then come the hurdles that exist with any relationship, and they have to seek God for the answer to what the future holds. Togetherness, a merging of two very different lives…or walking away.
Those are things we all face, I think. My husband and I met in California, at Bible College. I’m British, and so there came a point we had to decide to move forward with our relationship. That spot where the rubber met the road involved a lot of paperwork. Not super romantic, but life isn’t always hearts and flowers. Perhaps that’s why I enjoy writing that “magic” spark of first love in fiction stories so much. A lot of my books are suspense as well as romance, and it was a pleasure to write my story for this box set as I got to focus on the romance—the back-and-forth banter between the characters.
Now, almost twelve years later, I’m convinced that finding the traction—that point where the practical has to be accomplished—is what keeps the romance smooth. A blend of love and down-to-earth reality that makes every relationship contain both a foundation, and some fun!
Your turn, dear reader: Where did romance meet the practical in your life? How have you kept the fun and the romance alive in your life?
Lisa Phillips. A British ex-pat who grew up an hour outside of London, Lisa attended Calvary Chapel Bible College where she met her husband. He’s from California, but nobody’s perfect. It wasn’t until her Bible College graduation that she figured out she was a writer (someone told her). Since then she’s discovered a penchant for high-stakes stories of mayhem and disaster where you can find made-for-each-other love that always ends in happily ever after.
Lisa can be found in Idaho wearing either flip-flops or cowgirl boots, depending on the season. She leads worship with her husband at their local church. Together they have two children—a sparkly Little Princess and a Mini Daddy—and an all-black Airedale known as The Dark Lord Elevator.
Beverly Cheevers