It’s sweet summertime, and I am here for all the water fun, popsicles, and pizza and movie nights with my kids (which we actually do all year but seem extra fun in the summer).

It has been two months of celebrating in our house.

Our little man turned 2, and his personality is blossoming! We love it.

Our little lady turned 4, and I LOVE seeing how the Lord is developing her.

We celebrated Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, our first vacation with 5 of us (whew!), and my cousin’s wedding is this weekend.

In the midst of all that, we’ve had family and friends navigating some HARD things. Sometimes our job has been to pray and sometimes our job has been to show up and sit in the tears and the hard with them.

It reminds me of what the apostle Paul encouraged the church to do in Romans 12:15, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” Scripture is so specific and so nuanced at the same time, isn’t it? We know every good gift comes from God (James 1:17), but we also know in this world we will have trouble (John 16:13), but the rest of that verse says we can take heart for Jesus has overcome the world.

The world is broken but Jesus is big. We can mourn with those who mourn because God says this world brings suffering, but we can also celebrate the good and that this world is not our home. What a weird, hard, and beautiful tension to walk in, isn’t it?

That’s a big reason I love Christian fiction. The books I choose to read don’t shy away from the hard, but they always end happy. Some people feel like that isn’t real life, but I disagree. For the believer in Christ, there is always a happy ending. That’s why, no matter what genre I write, my books always end with a happily ever after and hope.

Speaking of hope and things that make me happy, you will also find lots of lake or ocean scenes in my books, often paired with a lovely sunrise or sunset. Kinda like this one from our lake-cation last week. Here’s hoping it will add a little calm and beauty to your day.