When I first started my writing journey, I had no idea how many wonderful friends I would make along the way. I guess I had the notion that authors spend their days inside locked up behind their computers typing. (Which we do.) But I failed to take into account how social media could help me get to know so many encouraging people!
Mary Hanks is an author I'm happily getting to know, and I have invited her here on my blog today to tell us a little bit about her novel, Winters Past.
Forgive Him? Are you Crazy? by Mary E Hanks
I’ve heard people say they have no regrets. And I think Wow!! That's amazing. But, it’s hard for
me to imagine a girl reaching the wise-old age of 50 (snicker here, because
that's me) who doesn’t look back and wish she could change at least one thing
in her life.
Like forgiveness. Do you ever
struggle with that? Do old wrongs resurface and you dwell on them, maybe even
get mad all over again?
We know God forgives, and we know we have to forgive.
But, if you're like me, we wrestle with that idea sometimes, especially when it
comes to big hurts. Certain wrongs outweigh all other wrongs in our minds. Take
adultery. That's one of those things at the top of the marriage dos-and-don'ts
list. I mean, forgive him? Are you crazy?
And yet, God, in His love and
mercy, and because of what Jesus did in dying on the cross, forgives
everything. EVERYTHING. He blots out sin like Mr. Clean scrubbing a floor,
spotless white. "I (God) am he who blots out your transgressions…and
remembers your sins no more.” I love the remembered
no more part. The sins are gone! Vaporized. Dissolved into nothingness.
So the real problem germinates in me. Can I
forgive someone else's mistake? Or is it still hanging around me in a
never-to-be-forgotten picture frame? Do I look at it longingly each morning? If
so, I’m not forgiving. And that’s a problem. If God forgives me—and He does—I
must forgive. I can’t hold something
over someone else's head for another day. Even if it's that thing I think is
the worst of all transgressions.
Which brings me to this…if I’m not holding wrongs against anyone,
including myself, why don’t I go ahead and forget it ever happened? Zap. No grudges. No pity parties. Gone.
If I can do this—with God's love
flowing through me—I am truly free. And then, there really are no regrets.
Winter Cowan faces a
forgiveness-dilemma in Winter's Past, a
contemporary Christian novel about redemption and second chances. She thought she
already forgave Ty, her ex-husband, ten years ago. But when he shows up at a
conference where she's speaking, she must face two things—her past and the fact
she hasn't really forgiven him.
Whether or not they can ever
reconcile, whether or not Ty deserves a second chance, Winter knows she must
forgive him. To go on with her life, to pursue God's will, to experience peace,
she must face the past, the hurts, everything. But...can she forgive?
(Verse taken from Isaiah 43:25)
Mary E Hanks loves to write stories about couples
finding their way BACK to love. Winter's
Past is the first book in her 2nd Chance Series. When she's not writing novels, Mary is a
playwright and youth-theater director. She's written nineteen full-stage plays
and directed twenty-four. She finds joy in helping young people share their
talents, and an added bonus is getting to see
her words brought to life onstage.
Mary and Jason have been married for 38 years, raised four children, and live
in the country near Blanchard, Idaho.
Find Winter's Past on
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