In the latest Suamalie Islands Series book, All An Act, Lulu comes face to face with a part of her past that she thought was no longer an issue. That is, until she runs into André. The deep seeded bitterness she held toward him affected more areas of her life than she would like to admit.
To celebrate her new book, participating authors are writing about an important question from author Melissa Wardwell. She asked us: Was there ever a time that your past mistakes or situations jumped out from no where in the present? How did you handle that moment?
God’s Grace: When the Past and Present Collide
Strangers knocked on my door, asked directions, then skedaddled. Five minutes later they were back handing me a small slip of paper—a message that would fulfill a nineteen year-long dream.
The note was from the daughter I had given up for adoption exactly nineteen years ago that day. As one can imagine, it was an incredible feeling looking into the face of the young woman whom I had seen only once as a newborn baby through the hospital nursery room window.
I was twenty-one, unmarried, and pregnant. Although I desperately wanted to keep my baby, I knew she would need a two-parent family; something I couldn’t provide. Through my county’s social services, I could specify the type of family I wanted to adopt her—college educated and churched.
Now, I wasn’t a Christian at the time, and while my parents didn’t attend or take me to church, they had allowed me to attend various churches and Sunday School classes. Somehow, I thought if I’d been raised by church-going parents, perhaps I wouldn’t have fallen into such sin and be forced to reap the consequences.
Final adoption paperwork revealed a college educated and churched family as I had requested.
Four years later, I became a born-again Christian, married a fine Christian man, and had three wonderful children. Over the years, I had the opportunity to share my story. Often, people asked me if I worried that she may have been raised in a religion which espoused a faith different from historical Christianity. My answer was always the same: “Although I didn’t know what I was asking for at the time, God knew, and I was at peace, that she was with a wonderful Christian family.”
That day, I learned my daughter had been brought up in exactly the kind of religion my friends had asked me about. Exactly the opposite of what I had been convinced of.
Boy, did God and I have a few words. Talk about the past and present colliding. I must admit, I was angry. How could God have allowed this?
It took many months, but finally, in God’s great mercy, the Holy Spirit allowed me to realize I had been at peace over this for nineteen years when I didn’t know the outcome. And yet nothing had changed by my finding out. If I had been at peace then, why shouldn’t I have peace now? Peace that the Lord would someday truly save her.
It was hard at first, and I still don’t fully understand, but I am at peace about God’s plans.
You may be interested to know my daughter and I have built a good relationship over the last thirty-six years. My other children and she have become family. Her husband is family as well.
She knows what we believe; she’s heard the truth. But—and here’s where peace is really tested—she still considers herself part of her childhood religion, although she doesn’t walk the talk. I have come to realize I may not live to see God’s promises fulfilled in her, but through God’s grace, I’m still at peace.
About the Book
Book: All an Act
Author: Melissa Wardwell
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: August 27, 2024
Not all weddings end in marriage. Not all hurting hearts remain broken.
In the year since Something Suamalie started, the dynamic trio Kiana, Lulu, and Meilani have accumulated a glowing reputation at home and abroad for brides and their wedding daydreams. But when a triple-booked weekend forces Lulu to manage the wedding of the Onirique events coordinator by herself, panic sets in. Her lack of confidence and ADHD, not to mention the return of a devilishly handsome man, could easily spell disaster.
When André left the Suamalie Islands to pursue a career in Paris, he never dreamed of returning. The islands hold a treasure chest of memories he wishes to keep locked away, but recent changes in his life force him to face those very things. And a choice for his future that will break more than one heart.
With neither of them able to talk about their feelings, how will Lulu and André be able to set aside their pasts and move on?
Take a trip to the Suamalie Islands where palm trees sway, the sand and sea pulse with life, and the people will steal your heart.
Order your copy here: https://amzn.to/471GnP3
About the Author
Melissa Wardwell resides in Owosso, Michigan with her husband and three teen-aged children.
She doesn’t mind alternating between the world of writing and the reality of being a mother, but she would rather sit with a good book or a good friend and a cup of coffee.
When she isn’t penning works of fiction, she is busy reviewing books for her blog, Back Porch Reads.
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