Busy Writing Christian love stories

I've been so busy writing Christian love stories, I haven't had time to blog. SMILE Just sold a Christian love story to Barbour Publishing for the Heartsong Presents line. Working title is The Heart of the Matter, and it's about a couple finding out what's really important in a relationship. It's tagline is:

A man with a prejudice...
A woman with a problem...
A child with the answer.

The pub date is April, 2007.

I enjoy writing and reading Christian love stories. When I think of the words "love stories," I think in a dual manner. Love stories before the couple gets married. And love stories after the couple gets married. Last weekend, two other couples and Milton and I went to Orlando to a state-wide women's retreat. While the women attended the sessions, the men hung out, went out to eat, visited the Bass Pro shop, had devotionals, etc. On the last day, we were getting a sandwich before heading home, and the subject of marriage came up. Oh, I know how. I was telling them a funny the speaker had told us at the retreat. She gave short scenarios of life and then applied a scripture (out of context) to them. They were a hoot. Maybe I can find the list online somewhere.

Of the entire list, two that got glued onto my brain were...
A single woman's scripture...
"Oh, Lord, how long?"
A married woman's scripture...
"Oh, Lord, how long?"

We got to laughing and then talking about marriage in general. I told them of one of my observations: many times, opposites attract. They just do. When we're dating, we adore him or her. But after marriage, suddenly, those things that drew us together now repel us. For example, I know a couple, and this is the way it is with them. She's the life of the party, gregarious, loud. He's quiet and shy. When they were dating, they were like two peas in a pod, like peanut butter and jelly, a perfect fit. Then they got married. They went house hunting. They found a house they loved, but it didn't work out. When they got in the car and left, she starting "ranting." "Why didn't you speak up and say so and so? Why didn't you offer them so and so? Why didn't you...blah, blah, blah?" When I heard this story, I thought, His quietness drew you to him and now you can't stand that about him.

I've observed that that often occurs in marriage. And what sometimes happens is that the couple lets these differences pull them apart. What we need to do is ask the Lord to help us become enamored once again with our mates and to realize that his/her characteristics can blend with our characteristics for a synergy. What is a synergy? I love that word! Webster's says synergism (a fuller meaning that synergy) means "interaction of discrete agencies...such that the total effect is greater than the sum of the individual effects." Simply put, that means that two in marriage are more effective together than the two alone. But there's an even fuller meaning. It means that the two working alone still cannot produce what the two working together can. Think magnitude. Think scope.

In Christian love stories after marriage, this concept helps in working through our differences (meaning here, arguments or disagreements). We need to see the bigger, broader picture.

Well, I need to get back to writing Christian love stories...