I can’t believe it has been 8 years.

My dad’s been gone that long and yes, time helps, but the grief never ends. It evolves, I think.

How can I feel comforted?

It’s a choice.

When my dad was declining fast from lung cancer and few even knew he was battling, he attended a presentation I was in called Heaven’s Gates and Hell’s Flames. I played a girl in an elevator that crashed. I die, but I go to heaven. My elevator companion did not because she refused a personal relationship with Christ. It was her choice.

After the presentation he wasn’t feeling well and went home. But he gave my mom a message for me.

“Tell Julie I will be going where her (my) character went. I have faith.”

A simple statement, but I knew what he was saying. He made it clear he not only had peace in God, he knew His Son in a personal way. It wasn’t full of fanfare, but his confession and belief was just as real.

And that comforts me.

When his life on earth was down to hours, I was able to speak to him in person. It was the last mutual conversation he had, and I was able to give him a tribute. We were not close when I was growing up, and it was not intentional. We made our peace and enjoyed a good relationship in my married years. To be the last to speak to him and let him know I’d see him again? That his job before I get there was to watch over the baby I miscarried and he nodded?

That comforts me.

When the funeral ended and the crowds stopped coming, it was the same time frame I was supposed to move 300 miles away. Good words were hard to come by because so much hurt to say, write, and hear. It took years to understand, but one of the parting things my mom said to me was she wasn’t worrying about me in all this. She knew I had faith. It took me a long time, but I get it now. I wasn’t devoid of mountain and valley experiences in grief and beyond, but she knew I had an Anchor to cling to that some do not have. She knew I’d be okay.

And that comforts me.

When I see traits in my loved ones–facial expressions, hobbies, mannerisms–that remind me of him–

That comforts me.

What gives you comfort when living through grief?

BTW, I recommend Griefshare.org. I went through a lot of loss and share in a short span of time, and this helped. A lot.

Wish You Were Here

| Beth K. Vogt

Allison Denman is supposed to get married in five days, but everything is all wrong. The huge wedding. The frothy dress. And the groom. Still, kissing the groom’s brother in an unguarded moment is decidedly not the right thing to do. How could she have made such a mistake? It seems Allison’s life is nothing but mistakes at this point. And pulling a “Runaway Bride” complete with stealing, er, borrowing her best friend’s car doesn’t seem to solve her problems. Can Allison find her way out of this mess? Maybe she just needs to stop orchestrating everything. Allison prefers being the one in control, and giving it up is not going to be easy. But to find her way again, she will have to believe that God has a plan for her and find the strength to let Him lead.

I’ve followed Beth’s writing for quite awhile. I’m a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) mom and now mentor mom, and Beth has been encouraging moms in this organization with her work with MOPS. I remember when her non-fiction book about having a baby after 35 came out.

Then I visited Susan May Warren and Rachel Hauck’s My Book Therapy, a cyber team full of helps for fiction writing, and Beth was there. Beth? A fiction writer? I kept an eye on her, wondering how that would work out. I confess, it was part for my own curiosity as most of my writing credits are non-fiction, but my heart has been fiction. If Beth made the jump, could I?

I can tell you this, Beth has made the jump, and it’s a successful leap into fiction with her debut novel, Wish You Were Here. Beth doesn’t dip her toes in the fiction waters, she jumps right in by delivering an unconventional romance. When Allison’s story starts, she’s five days away from her wedding and ends up kissing her soon to be brother-in-law. She runs from her own wedding. How can a story move forward when it looks like Allison is boxed into a corner?

Beth Vogt delivers. She not only writes Allison out of the runaway bride corner that kissed the fiance’s brother, she creates profound characters and deep backstory. I finished Wish You Were Here in one sitting because it was unique and full of heart. Each chapter features a postcard message, and there is bonus material at the end that I really enjoyed. The story if full of memorable characters, my favorites being Meghan and Aunt Nita. Contemporary themes that could give hope to readers are woven into Allison, Seth, Daniel, and Hadleigh’s stories. What I love is if anyone else in their debut novel tried to incorporate so much, it would be convoluted.

I’m curious about Beth’s motivation with Scoti. She gives a quick glimpse into his character, and it threw me, especially as this is a Christian novel. It’s not bad what she hints, but I admit, I’m curious as to why she went there. But it doesn’t take away from the story. Another memorable moment–I LOVED the shout out to Susan May Warren and Rachel Hauck.

For all the readers who struggle with surrendering control and offering forgiveness, Wish You Here isn’t just a good summer read, it’s a must read.

About Beth:

Beth K. Vogt provides her readers with a happily ever after woven through with humor, reality, and God’s lavish grace. She’s a non-fiction author and editor who said she’d never write fiction. She’s the wife of an Air Force physician (now in solo practice) who said she’d never marry a doctor-or anyone in the military. She’s a mom of four who said she’d never have kids. Beth has discovered that God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” She writes contemporary romance because she believes there’s more to happily ever after than the fairy tales tell us. Beth earned a journalism degree from San Jose State University and met her husband Rob when he knocked her down at a karate studio. They’ve been married for 31 years. They have four children, ranging in ages from 28, 25, 23 and – thanks to a funny thing happening on their way to the empty nest-a 10-year-old. The Vogt Team, which now includes a “daughter-in-love” and “son-in-love,” enjoys hiking and camping in Colorado. Read more about Beth at her website:http://bethvogt.com

Link to buy the book:  http://ow.ly/aQTEk

Here are the other bloggers participating in the Wish You Were Here Tour:

http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/13480251

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.