He is there.

Recently, I learned something surprising. I don't know how many times I have heard the story of the 3 Hebrew Children in the fiery furnace, but Sunday, my pastor told us something new.

He said the only person who saw the fourth man in the fire whose "form ... is like the Son of God," was the king! A person who did not worship the one true God was the one who saw His form, not the children of God who were believers.

I had to see for myself. Surely, Pastor missed it; but no! Chapter 3 of the book of Daniel does not say anyone else saw the Son of God (Jesus) except the villian of the story, Nebuchadnezzer.

You know what this means? A believer may be going through a trial and yet not be able see that God is right there. Maybe we don't feel His presence or hear His voice, either, but that doesn't mean He is not there.

Intellectually, we should know He is there because He has promised "I will never leave you nor forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5 NKJV)

Yet, often during a fiery trial, we feel alone. But we must walk by faith, not by sight. God can be trusted. He never breaks His word.

You are not alone. He is there.

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In my novel, my character Sharon feels alone. The man she loves is dead. Her mother is dead and her father is far away. She would not accept his help even if he had been there. It was just her to raise her daughter and pay her bills. No one to help.

But, even though she didn't realize it, she did have someone. She had a praying neighbor who stood in the gap for her more times than you could count. And God heard those prayers.

And, then, He put a plan into motion.

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This is Day 23 of taking my reader along a journey with me as I birth my book. I hope you consider checking in daily to see my progress.

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Some have asked how they can find all of the Birthing My Book posts. You can follow me on Instagram @ jerralea or visit me on Facebook at Jerralea Winn Miller to find the posts, or see the landing page here to find links to all the posts.  I would be honored if you would like and share the posts that resonate with you.

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I write for believers, but if you are not a believer and would like to know more, visit A Ticket Home. to find the way Home. 

In the meantime, I'm covering you with prayer. I'm radical enough to believe that anyone who visits here at the Journey will be drawn by the Holy Spirit to find out who Jesus is and then accept Him as their Savior. You have your own free will, of course, but why wouldn't you want Him, once you know the truth about Him?

By the way, I hope you visit often to find out more truth!

Sharing at InstaEncouragements Link-Up

Grateful for the Help

Relationships make our lives so much richer and sweeter. Even the most introverted of us need people at some point.

Today, I'd like to give a shout-out to someone who started me out on the book birthing process.

I would like to thank Adrienne Ross, author, speaker, and podcaster, for her part in helping to shape my book. 

I've written before of how I made the switch from writing non-fiction to fiction. Adrienne is the one who offered a free online writing club a few years back and took time out of her busy schedule to mentor a group of aspiring writers for a few months. My confidence in becoming a novelist all started with her. I'm so grateful!

But that's not my only reason to thank her. Later, Adrienne took me on as a client and coached me on writing my manuscript. I learned many things from her and will never forget her kindness during the year we worked together. She  gave me the tools to bring my characters to life and made me feel empowered. Her main piece of advice? Put more of the supernatural into your story! (Also, don't use the word very.)

Thanks, Coach! 

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This is Day 22 of taking my reader along a journey with me as I birth my book. I hope you consider checking in daily to see my progress.

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Some have asked how they can find all of the Birthing My Book posts. You can follow me on Instagram @ jerralea or visit me on Facebook at Jerralea Winn Miller to find the posts, or see the landing page here to find links to all the posts.  I would be honored if you would like and share the posts that resonate with you.

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I write for believers, but if you are not a believer and would like to know more, visit A Ticket Home. to find the way Home.

Ordinary Life: I'm Here For It

 

Love this quote by Laura Ingalls Wilder:

"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet simple things of life which are the real ones after all."

When you think back over your life, it's the daily little happenings that stick in your mind.

For example, I smile thinking of my childhood home and my dad saying, "Pass the rabbit food." (His term for a lettuce salad.)

My heart melts when I remember little things my children did when they were little: Lissa telling her daddy, "I gotta go home and cook," when she wanted to play with her new toy kitchen; Janae saying, "I too," when told "I love you," and Malia declaring, "Ever'thing good happens on a Sattaday."

I absolutely love recalling the grandkids sweet little voices singing happy birthday to MiMi and helping me blow out the candles on the birthday cake. 

I wouldn't take a million dollars for those memories!

In my book, I use Sister Clara's dining room table as the setting for a lot of scenes in my character's lives. There's just something about being at a table, whether having a meal, or sipping hot beverages, that embodies love and comfort. Words of understanding are expressed here. Open bibles and notepads often adorn the table as ideas are discussed. Sometimes both tears and giggles happen here.

Ordinary life happens at the table, and I'm here for it!

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Do you have favorite ordinary memories? We'd love to hear about it!

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This is Day 21 of taking my reader along a journey with me as I birth my book. I hope you consider checking in daily to see my progress.

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I write for believers, but if you are not a believer and would like to know more, visit A Ticket Home. to find the way Home.

Sharing at Five Minute Friday.

Experiencing faith even when there's a problem

Here's a true story of a time when things looked bad.

 It was 2021 and my husband, Jim, was having heart surgery to replace a valve aneurysm. We felt some apprehension because heart surgery is major.

I felt like the Lord had highlighted the last part of Matthew 9:29 for me:

“According to your faith let it be done to you.”

I kept standing on that scripture as I prayed all day. And everything went well. As I drove the 25 miles home that night after seeing him tucked into bed in the ICU unit, I felt good about everything. 

He was in the hospital for 5 days, then was released to go home. We arrived home just before a snowstorm hit on Friday.

We were snug in our home, no need to go anywhere, yet felt like we should have someone come clean out the driveway for us. I am glad we did, because the next day Jim was experiencing problems. I knew I should take him back to the hospital. How thankful I was for the prompting by the Holy Spirit to get that driveway cleared. I was able to get out and take him back to the hospital.

It turned out that Jim was in A-fib. He was given medication for it but instead it just made him sicker. By the next day, he was having tremors and unable to make sense when he tried to talk.

I was scared! What if he never got better? How could I take care of him at home? But then I remembered Matthew 9:29 and told the Lord I had faith for Jim to be healed. 

Doctor decided Jim needed an ablation. It was late evening when they wheeled him to surgery. I stayed in Jim's hospital room staring out the window at the dark. I felt pretty alone, actually. But then my Pastor called and said God had laid us on his heart and he prayed with me. I shared about Matthew 9:29 and we agreed together in prayer that we had the faith for Jim to be healed.

The nurse came in and said surgery was a success and that I might as well drive home because it would be very late by the time Jim was out of recovery.

The next morning, before I was even out of bed, Jim called me. "Come get me," he said. "They are releasing me."

I could hardly believe it, but Jim was back to his old self! He has never had a single problem with his heart since that day.

Faith moves mountains. 

"I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart." Mark 11:23 NLT

Dear reader, pray about everything. And if, after praying, you can believe God for something, you, too, can stand on scripture, and pray the prayer of faith.

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You might ask, "Jerralea, what does this have to do with you birthing your book?" This story of faith encourages me because my characters in my book experience real problems and need a saving faith. How can I write about faith when things look bad if I have never experienced it?

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This is Day 20 of taking my reader along a journey with me as I birth my book. I hope you consider checking in daily to see my progress.

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I write for believers, but if you are not a believer and would like to know more, visit A Ticket Home. to find the way Home.

Sharing at Let's Have Coffee

Can I ask you something?

As I work on learning what readers want, some questions come to mind. It would mean a lot if you could give me some feedback.

• How often do you read a novel? Daily? Weekly? 
• Do you love reading a series? Or would you rather read a stand-alone book?
• What is your favorite series so far?

It's not fair to ask you to do something I haven't done; so here are my answers to those questions.

• I love novels and for big parts of my life, I'd read a full novel at least once a week, often reading on my lunch hour. Nowadays, the schedule is too full to read as much. On my recent vacation, I was able to read 5 full novels in one week. I was excited!
• I love me some series. I get highly invested in book characters and I always want to know more. I'm here for the next book delving into each character's story. That being said, I will read a stand-alone book as well. Shout out to Theo of Golden by Allen Levi. A character like Theo is unforgettable.
• I love two different series that are my favorites and have reread them multiple times: The Father Tim series by Jan Karon, and The Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.

What do you think? I would really appreciate your feedback!

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This is Day 19 of taking my reader along a journey with me as I birth my book. I hope you consider checking in daily to see my progress.

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I write for believers, but if you are not a believer and would like to know more, visit A Ticket Home. to find the way Home.

Sharing at Let's Have Coffee

Knowledge is Never Wasted

One thing my readers may not know about me is that I and my husband were once Amway Distributers. Yes, we once sold soap. No, we did not make any money during those years; but perhaps the lessons we learned were more valuable.

We attended a lot of conferences that included some great teaching that not only applied to the business but to life. The downline distributors that we were involved with believed in motivating their people. So, as young twenty-somethings we learned about organization, positive thinking, reading to always be a learner, dressing for success, and never giving up.

We did wash out of the soap business, but many of those lessons stuck. 

After all, a writer that needs to also work a day job must be organized. Any creative must think positively when outside forces are constantly whispering words of negativity. I've mentioned before that writers need to be readers; and we absolutely must learn to never, ever, give up.

All those books I read and motivational speaches I heard are still in my brain and the knowledge shows up at the most surprising times. Learning is priceless, and knowledge can open doors.

What is something I don't know about you? Inquiring minds want to know!

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This is Day 18 of taking my reader along a journey with me as I birth my book. I hope you consider checking in daily to see my progress.

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I write for believers, but if you are not a believer and would like to know more, visit A Ticket Home. to find the way Home.

Sharing at Let's Have Coffee

Tools for the Job

 Are you a digital  or an analog person?

I'm both! As a wife, mom, MiMi, ministry assistant with 2 churches, and bible study leader, I live by my to-do lists. There are just too many details whirling around inside my brain to rely on memory. I must write it down. In fact, I have 2 to-do lists that live side by side on my desk - one for work and one for everything else.

But, as a writer, my favorite tool is a word document and a portable hard-drive. I carry them around with me wherever I go in case inspiration strikes. Because my handwriting is so atrocious, once it gets cold, I can't read it anymore, so I must type the thoughts that are most important.

Something new I've learned to do is to use Voice Memos App on my smart phone while I'm driving. I have Siri send the Voice Memo to myself. (Does anyone else get mixed up in telling Siri or Alexa what to do?)

It's great to live in 2026! I have the best of both digital and analog worlds.

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This is Day 17 of taking my reader along a journey with me as I birth my book. I hope you consider checking in daily to see my progress.

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I write for believers, but if you are not a believer and would like to know more, visit A Ticket Home. to find the way Home.

Sharing at InstaEncouragements Link-Up

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy