Sometimes God Has Plans That Turn Your Life Upside Down

I was “that” kid. The annoying one with her whole life planned out. I’d graduate from high school, do a year of missions training, 18 months to three years of mission work at our home church in Rosemond, California, and then off to Harding University where I’d get a degree in education. No doubt in my mind, I wanted to be a teacher. On my (laugh with me now) three months off each summer, I’d write a book. During the school year, I’d edit that book on weekends. You’d find me in a little yellow house, with a huge oak tree (the size of my house) in the front yard, a white picket fence, and a collie. Life would be grand.

I graduated high school a year early. Off I went to missions school in Texas. PLOT TWIST…

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Sometimes God Has Plans That Turn Your Life Upside Down

I went home. Except it wasn’t home. While I’d been gone, my parents had moved 50 miles away from our old home to Ridgecrest, California. A town I’d been to once. At this point in my life, I was in pivot mode. What I didn’t expect was that my pivoting would take this “never gonna get married” and “never gonna have children” gal from on a single woman career trajectory to getting married at eighteen and eventually having nine children.

And here’s the deal. I was so wrong about myself. If I’d ignored God’s nudges in other directions and insisted on my way, I would be a lonely, miserable woman today. Guess what? I love my family. I love my husband. And for a gal who isn’t a huge “kid person,” I LOVE my kids and grandkids. I was so wrong about what I wanted. Oh, and that career? Can’t stand teaching kids or long-term. I like workshops or short-term courses. One-on-one.

Oh… and if I had been rebellious and ignored the Lord’s prompting… my husband and I figured out that no matter what course I’d have taken, we still would have met. That’s pretty cool stuff right there.

So what’s the point of this whole soliloquy on God’s nudges? Glad you asked!

Tabitha Bouldin’s Love Like No Other released this week!

Trying to overcome a past like hers might just help him overcome his.

Alicia Gray wants one thing: to prove her capabilities as a doctor. Maybe then she can escape the feeling that her mother’s abandonment was deserved. She’s never felt worthy and grew up in foster home after foster home, always being told that if she did better, if she was more amenable, she’d find her place. When she came to Suamalie, the last thing she expected to find was a man whose grumpy personality conflicted so piercingly with her sunshine demeanor.

Colin Tremblay was dishonorably discharged from his army medic position and sent home in disgrace after his twin brother stole from his clinic. Back on the islands, he’s bounced from job to job, never finding anything that satisfies him. To make matters worse, his twin niece and nephew convince him to spend his summer overseeing their camp activities while working alongside Little Miss Sunshine herself.

This grumpy versus sunshine romance is sure to send them both scrambling when Colin confronts Alicia’s need to please while she reminds Colin that not every bad day is a reason to run for the hills.

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.