MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN ~ Julie Arduini ~ Giveaway

Job’s Wife & Me

Job's Wife and Me

A Throwback Thursday post from Julie Arduini

             When I decided to update the first Christian romance novella I wrote, Match Made in Heaven, I wanted to add a surrender issue readers could relate to. The heroine, Beth Prescott, has congenital hypothyroidism, the same endocrine diagnosis our daughter has.

             Through the years, our daughter has not only struggled with weight gain and exhaustion. She’s needed consistent lab works that have always been difficult draws. We also learned with hypothyroidism is Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Then for us, another diagnosis, the rare disorder called Albrights Hereditary Osteodystrophy. In our situation her bones fused and her height maxxed out at 4’9”. There are certain aspects of puberty that are delayed, and there isn’t a lot of information on Albrights patients her age to know what to expect.

             After a while, I was angry. Mad enough I started pointing fingers. At God. Like Job’s wife, I couldn’t see anything in her situation to be thankful about. “His wife said to him, ‘Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!’” (Job 2:9). I looked at our daughter’s friends surpassing her in height and cried hot, hurt tears. If God is such a good Father, why was He allowing this?

             It took time for me to heal and transform from Job’s wife thinking of cursing God and Job, who blessed the name of the Lord even when He gave and took away. The biggest thing I had to do was lament. Thanks to the book No More Faking Fine by Esther Fleece, I realized I had to let my real feelings out. I was mad. I didn’t understand. But I couldn’t stuff it. I let God know everything He knew anyway. Then I let Him have it all. Surrendered the pain and questions and chose to trust Him with her and her health.

             I’ve had to lament quite a bit since then with big stuff, and small irritations. I realized when revising Match Made in Heaven that Beth’s health and her reaction could be something readers could relate to. She grew up noticing she wasn’t exactly like her peers, and she resented it. Her family were barely church goers to begin with, so it was an easy slide to fault God. When Dean Kellerman enters her life, he’s trusting God with every single thing because he knows too well what it’s like to live without Christ in his life. Writing Match Made in Heaven was a blessing and a challenge, and I believe readers will find their own healing and peace with Jesus as they relate to the story.

             Have you ever blamed God, or do you need to? Please leave a comment below and I will randomly choose one USA winner to win a signed softcover copy of Match Made in Heaven.

Match Made in Heaven:

She’s afraid to mess up. He already has.

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?

About Julie:

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 BRILLIANT, is for girls ages 10-100, written with her teenaged daughter, Hannah, and is book 3 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.

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 About the Giveaway:

 As stated above, Julie is giving away a signed copy of Match Made in Heaven to one USA reader of today's post who leaves a comment below, including your name AND contact information. Otherwise we have no way to let you know if you're the winner. Make sense?

This giveaway will run for one week from today, ending on Thursday, August 6, 2020, at MIDNIGHT, Central time.