Good day, and welcome to Leisure Lane. If you’ve been by my blog before, you may know about my ebooks on Amazon. Today, I’d like to share why I wrote my second novella, The Heart of Annie…The Strength of God, and in doing so, open your hearts to an understanding of love, surrendering, and forgiveness that changes lives for the better.
My great-aunt Annie was my mother’s aunt. She was the eldest sister of my maternal grandmother, and in my eyes, especially as a little girl, the most mysterious of my relatives. I suppose part of that was because I didn’t see her on a regular basis, so a visit to her home with either my grandmother or mother was a treat. Aunt Annie lived on a good parcel of land and had a chicken coop in her backyard, as well as those luscious concord grape vines growing over and around her back door trellis, and she had the most fragrant roses along her large and sloping front yard. To this day, when I smell an aromatic rose, I can’t help but think of her and the warmth and quietness of her yard.
But, I think the thing that made her most mysterious to me was the religious shrine she had in the corner of her dining room. It was very old-worldly and enthralled my spirit and imagination. I believe this shrine and its tokens were reminders to her of her devotion to God that brought Annie through every trial and joy. This shrine was also a reminder to me that there was more to my great-aunt than what was seen on the surface of her family life. This “more” I wouldn’t know about for decades to come.
My mother was not a gossip, so she wasn’t prone to talking about things that didn’t show a family member in a more favorable light. Some things, in her view, were better kept “secret” in the hearts of trusted loved-ones, especially if they were no longer pertinent and not the business of future generations. I’m sure her immediate family members knew some of these things, but they, too, felt their children wouldn’t benefit from the knowledge of certain things. And, I have to agree. After all, the whole point of forgiveness and working out problems is to put them behind and move forward into a more promising life.
When my mom was much older and we were talking on the phone one day, she began to talk about things that had bothered her for a good part of her life. I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced that moment in life, but I have. Things that had troubled you in the past and you thought you had put behind you, or even forgotten, begin to bubble to the surface of the heart and now it’s the moment when you have to make peace with them, even if you’ve never been able to fully understand them all. One of those things was a circumstance in the life of her aunt Annie, and she told the “secret” she had been keeping from us for all these decades. Of course, I was surprised by the information, but more than that I was completely and pleasantly taken by the courage and spiritual fortitude with which Annie had overcome the situation. She had learned to surrender herself to God, and in doing so, had found the strength to conquer her emotions. She had faced something base and created a miracle from it.
The enlightenment of this particular circumstance in my great-aunt’s life filled me with more admiration for her than I had ever had, and I knew I had to write her story. I knew I needed to share that conquering is done in the will of a person – the heart of a person – and not in ones own strength, but in a higher strength that allows us to take what “life” may give and transform it, so that we may live Life more abundantly.
Well, that’s how the inspiration for my second novella came. In the headliner I described this story as “delicious”. I used that word purposely, because I believe that reading this novella about this humble woman is like tasting the good in life, the good in God, and the good in ourselves. I hope you enjoyed the journey. If you’d like to enjoy the whole journey and walk in Annie’s shoes into a remarkable life, click here.
Be inspired, take a second look at your remarkable life, fill your heart with promising things, and…
Until next time, may happy days abound!
Marianne
Author
Leisure Lane 