For the next two weeks, we’ll be touring Trish Perry’s latest release, Beach Dreams. As a part of the tour, we’re hosting a little contest and inviting everyone to participate - even if you haven’t signed up to participate in the tour. THE PRIZE? A cute little beach tote, a signed copy of Beach Dreams, a beautiful necklace (read the book to understand why!), and a few other fun beachy surprises.
How has God used a mistake you made - big or small - for his purposes? The example may be serious or funny, complex or simple, and you may or may not have realized he was even using it at the time it occurred. If you have a blog, write a short post of your own and link to it using Mr. Linky. If you don’t have a blog, you can place your answer in the comments. Tell your story, reference that you are participating in this tour, encourage your readers to play along, and link to Trish’s book on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0736924469). All entries must be received by 5pm CST on August 22. Trish will judge the entries and declare her favorite.
To get you started, here is Trish’s answer to the question:
I was deeply into adulthood when I went back to school to earn a degree. Rather than fretting over having waited so long, I focused on the fact that now I knew what I really wanted to be. A psychological therapist. You couldn’t have found a more attentive, diligent student, and I did well. So, when I neared graduation and realized I had developed an overwhelming desire to write fiction, I freaked out just a little. How could I switch gears yet again? Had I just wasted years earning a degree I wasn’t going to actually use? That felt like a huge mistake.
But God knew what He was doing. If you want to do an in-depth study of character goals, motivation, and conflict, you go on out there and earn a degree in Psychology. I may not be too quick in the plotting and scene-setting departments, but my psychological training comes in handy when creating characters and walking with them through life. I think that’s why God led me to get that degree, and now I know I didn’t waste a moment learning what I did.
Have fun! We’re looking forward to your responses.
Posted under Tours
This post was written by admin on August 15, 2008
Hi - I’m part of Trish Perry’s Blog Tour and wanted to share a time in my life when God used a mistake I made in a marvelous way. Years ago I “fell in love” with an RCMP officer, who was wrong for me (and I was wrong for him!) for many, many, reasons. When we broke up I was devastated, as he “dumped” me for someone else he eventually married. However, he was quite chauvinistic and believed women couldn’t be police officers. I decided to try and become an Auxiliary Constable with the Ontario Provincial Police, to see if I liked police work. It all had to do with my ex-boyfriend’s bad attitude. After a year of working as an Auxiliary, I applied to various police forces and ended up as a police officer in Barrie, Ontario. It was a time of great personal growth for me, as I discovered the “real world” that most people never see. It also brought me in to contact with the wonderful woman who became my spiritual “mother” and led me to the Lord. So, because I went out with a guy who was totally wrong for me, and yet was so angry at God for letting it all end in what I felt was personal humiliation, God actually brought me to Him by giving me the career I wanted, and also Himself. I’ve always “thanked” that man for “dumping” me, even though it was one of the most painful experiences I’ve ever gone through. God is great, and can bring wonderful things out of our deepest valley experiences.
My “mistake” is more of an emotional inability, if you will . . . as it was
It was the first time I have seen my mother dance. She clung tightly to my stepfather, her tear-stained face resting on his shoulder. Next to me, my brother wept at the sight, covering his face with his hands. I hesitantly rested my hand on his hunched shoulder, longing to reach out in a big sisterly love but restrained by my own discomfort at seeing his tears. He cried out of a pure, loving joy at the closeness of our family that day. And he cried because he saw the touching beauty of our paralyzed mother being supported by her husband as the emotions of such an intensely significant day overcame her.
My own reaction, however, was decidedly more conflicted. I wanted to see it as beautifully moving; I even wished that I could also be moved to tears, as I had been earlier, as the bride and groom said their vows, and when I spoke in tribute. But I could not. Instead, my eyes were glued to Mom’s feet. My practicality overruled emotion, and I held an internal debate as to whether or not I needed to walk over and straighten Mom’s feet for her. You see, her right ankle had done what it habitually does, weakening so that her foot leaned precariously to one side. What I knew was that this means she had been on her feet for too long, lessening her mobility and her flexibility. Sometimes she cannot feel the foot when it does this. But other times it is painful for her.
So as I watched, all I could do was worry about that foot and wonder if I should disturb the dance floor in order to walk over and readjust her feet.
Sometimes, I guess, the grit of life interferes with what would have been just a pretty picture. Because the harsh reality is that I cannot simply let go of my identity as a duty-driven eldest child. So as much as I longed to just treasure the moment for its beauty, I was powerless to manufacture those emotions. I envied my brother’s youthfully intense emotions, but it would be senseless now for me to waste energy regretting that which I no longer have the innocence to possess.
At the age of nine I grew old. And now, at the age of 28, I still find myself struggling, at times, with the daily realities of a life that is what it is, and not necessarily as it should be.
But you know, I don’t mind that so much. When it comes down to it, who really wants it all to be a bed of roses anyhow? It is only through weathering the storms that we can really savour the joys.
And so yesterday I decided against “fixing” my mother’s foot. I stayed right where I was, feeling what I felt—and marveling at what my brother felt. The moment was what it was . . . and that is exactly what it should have been.
Anna G. Joujans last blog post..line of sight
Yay! I entered. I’ve been wanting to read Beach Dreams. You’ ll understand from my post why we did not go to the beach this year. I hope I can go vicariously with your prize package.
Stephanie Reeds last blog post..I Was a College Drop-Out
How to choose just one…I was a believer when I got married, but my husband wasn’t - and I knew it. Definitely a no-no. But 21 years later, we are still together, he is now a believer, and we have two beautiful teenaged girls!
Yes, there have been - and still are - struggles that we endure that would never have come about if we were equally yoked to begin with. But, hallelujah, the Lord has exchanged beauty for my ashes.
Stacey D.s last blog post..God Loves Me More Than That by Dandi Daley Mackall
I entered the contest, i hope i did everything correct too!I can’t wait to read the book, it sounds so good
just in case i was supposed to leave the answer to the question in this post too:
The only thing that comes to mind at the moment, and I hate to say a mistake….but I did make a mistake, only I got something wonderful out of it. When i was 18 i was a very wild child, I drank too much, partied too much and was too self centered. I never thought of God, i never prayed, unless it was to say that I would never drink again if I made it through that day but of course I did. it was at that time that I met my first “real” “boyfriend” (a kid who was just like me) I am not going to go into the details, but my son is 15 years old. he is definitely not a mistake, but I do believe God had a plan for me all along, because my son saved my life, I am sure of that. If it wasn’t for him, i would have continued on that path, there was not much further down I could have gone, and I would have ended up dead, i am sure of that too. That saying that your kids will be much worse than you ever were? In this case it has not come true. my son is a good kid, a good student, ad I thank God every day that my son does not do the things I did, and I just pray that it stays that way.
trishs last blog post..
I would love to read Beach Dreams!
How God used a mistake I made for his purposes?
When my husband lost his job a year ago, I rushed ahead of God and made our own plans instead of waiting on Him.
I contacted a friend about a job for my husband and set in motion the worst six weeks of our lives.
We took a job out of state–had three days to pack, set the house in order and drive to South Carolina. We lived in an extended stay hotel and missed our home so much. Before this move, I’d hated living in Florida. I wanted to move back to PA or any place but where I lived.
God had to show me how much I really did love my home by using my impatience. When we finally decided we needed to come home, I wanted to kiss the ground as we drove over the border into Florida. Sometimes our own ideas and plans aren’t the best ones for us, but God can use them for good.
terri tiffanys last blog post..Author David Heeren
When I first got saved, I wanted to tell the world about Jesus. I was so on fire that the Singles minister at our church asked me to be a singles bible study leader. Being imature in my faith, I told a girl that told the group that she was angry at God because her sisters husband had an affair and gave her AIDS and now she is pregnant with a baby that would have AIDS as well. I told her “You reap what you sow, AIDS is the consequenses of sin and as his wife she has to share in his reaping”. Needless to say, I really wounded her. God later revealed to me that He had not called me to be a ministry leader I had done it out of pride and the wrong reasons. Sometimes it’s those hard lessons that stick the most. Luckily, that lady came to me and we talked it through and she is still one of my dearest friends after 15 years. God is awesome!