***The Scavenger Hunt's all done. Comments are closed. See my newest post for the winners in my drawing, and click over to Stop #25 for the grand prize winners.***
Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you’ve
just discovered the hunt, be sure to start at Stop #1, and collect the clues
through all 25 stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 3 grand
prizes!
·
There is NO RUSH to complete the hunt—you have all
weekend (until Sunday, 10/22 at midnight MST)! So take your time, reading the
unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books.
·
Submit your entry for the grand prizes by
collecting the clue on each author’s scavenger hunt post and submitting your
answer in the Rafflecopter form at
Stop #25. Many authors are offering
additional prizes along the way!
It's my honor to host NY Times bestselling storyteller Jane Kirkpatrick, author of many historical fiction titles including All She Left Behind: Already well-versed in the natural healing properties of herbs and oils,
Jennie Pickett longs to become a doctor. But the Oregon frontier of the
1870s doesn't approve of such innovations as women attending medical
school. To leave grief and guilt behind, as well as support herself and
her challenging young son, Jennie cares for an elderly woman using
skills she's developed on her own. When her patient dies, Jennie
discovers that her heart has become entangled with the woman's widowed
husband, a man many years her senior. Their unlikely romance may lead
her to her ultimate goal--but the road will be winding and the way
forward will not always be clear. Will Jennie find shelter in life's
storms? Will she discover where healing truly lives?
THE SEVEN STORIES THAT HOLD US BACK by Jane Kirkpatrick
Jennie Pickett had her challenges. In order to achieve her dream
to become a physician in frontier Oregon, Jennie had to leave behind seven
emotions that kept getting in her way. They’re the same emotions we have to
deal with if we’re going to pursue our hopes and dreams too. Here they are with a tip on how to transform
those negative emotions into the fuel to move us forward.
Fear - Fear of looking foolish; fear of making a mistake;
fear of failure. But almost any new adventure involves fear which is really
spending too much time in the future. An acronym to remember is that FEAR
stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. Jennie had to remember what fears
she’d had that didn’t materialize and how she’d overcome them. Memory can help
us feel more confident in managing our fears.
Anxiety - Can’t
sleep? Imagining the worst case? Anxiety can help us study for the test, do our
best. But too much impairs us. When anxiety shows up remind yourself of
this. “All I can do is the best I can in
a new situation.” That’s all that’s required of us.
Guilt - There’s the guilt that requires confession and
acceptance of forgiveness and then there’s false guilt that reminds us to make
a personal change. For young Jennie, she did everything she could to meet the
obligations her husband had left her with. When the task seemed overwhelming,
she made a change in her life and in her thinking and that kept the guilt at
bay.
Hurt Feelings - How often do we back away from a task or
dream because someone has made a comment we’ve taken as critical? If we’re
called to move forward, we can’t allow words to hold us back. When I feel hurt,
I remind myself that it means I’m a person who feels deeply and thank goodness.
Anger - Anger is a
secondary emotion. We usually skip over the first feeling which is often grief
or loss. How do we convert such strong feelings? We grieve and we give sorrow
words. Even writing can help us put anger into energy that makes global
changes, working for something larger than ourselves.
Unworthiness - Jennie felt that since she hadn’t healed the
problems in her own family, she was unworthy to pursue her dream to become a
doctor hoping to help heal others. Moses felt unworthy. But none of us is
insignificant. What Jennie came to understand is feeling unworthy is a reminder
to remember the calling, the goal. She had done what she could and each of us
deserves to listen to that inner voice and pursue a life that serves others and
brings us joy.
Perfection - This one touches each of us! Perfection
doesn’t mean “without errors.”
It means
complete. Jennie had to take the risk to enter school, believe in herself, and
trust that she was not alone on her journey. Being perfect couldn’t be the
reason she didn’t try. She knew how to make and complete a commitment and
really, that’s as close to perfection as we can get.
Jane Kirkpatrick is a NY Times bestselling author of 31 books,
most based on the lives of actual historical women. Her novels have won
numerous awards but the biggest reward is having readers who take these
characters into their lives. Jane and her husband of 41 years live in Central
Oregon with two spoiled dogs.
Here’s the Stop #8 Skinny:
Clue to Write Down: hunt
But
wait! Before you go, I’m offering three entrants two free books—a signed paperback copy of my new release Many Sparrows PLUS a copy of the limited edition Many Sparrows: a companion photo book with quotes, featuring excerpts from the novel alongside my landscape photography from the Pacific Northwest. All you have to do to enter is leave me a note with your name and a means of contacting you (if you are one of my winners) in the comment section of this post (only USA addresses eligible for this drawing). Follow me as an author on Facebook and/or on Instagram and I'll throw your name in the Random.org hat more than once!
Drawing will be held October 23
Happy Hunting!
A note on comments: I'm still getting them, even if they aren't loading here on the page after about 200. Email alerts are a beautiful thing. So you all are entered into the drawing, no worries!
