It was October 7, 1967

The festival in Filbert Ridge, Oregon, came early, and many wondered if they had followed the usual tradition of celebrating the hazelnut harvest on the second Saturday of October, perhaps things would have gone in a different direction.

Instead, town history and the lives of its citizens changed forever.

That was the day little Stephen McMillan disappeared.

—The Filbert Ridge Miracle

Patrick McMillan is the pastor of The Lord Is My Shepherd church. When his youngest daughter raises the dead in the church parking lot, everyone shows their true colors; after all, who would want the meanest man in church to rise from the cement? The event brings up the past, the cold case of the pastor’s missing son, Stephen McMillan. The family is back in the headlines again, and everyone has an opinion.

I took nearly two decades to write The Filbert Ridge Miracle because I was raising children of my own. Anyone have runaway children—you know, toddlers who slip outside, never checking in to see where you are, or perhaps wanting to go for a car ride with strangers? The inspiration for The Filbert Ridge Miracle began when my toddler son escaped our home.

We worked at a mini storage and lived on-site. Someone buzzed at 7:30 a.m., and I took a payment so they could enter the gate. During this moment, my son somehow escaped. I had a few moments of sheer panic before a lady from Lamps Plus was carrying him inside my office. He had walked all the way to D building in his bare feet and pajamas.

The other part of the story comes from a lifetime of attending church. I’ve navigated different denominations and discomforts. I was dropped off at church as a child when my parents quit going, and I no longer felt safe. I didn’t like children’s church and had no adult to turn to after suffering through all the things a typical child is supposed to find fun.

All of the church experiences in The Filbert Ridge Miracle are fictional, but no matter where you go, people are people, and they don’t come to church because they are perfect. You might not find more perfection at church than you would at the grocery store. You may expect more from your fellow churchgoers, but it’s probably best not to.

Filbert Ridge is adapted from a small part of Oregon called Gales Creek. My grandparents lived there, and it was my favorite place. I’d hike to the top of the hill where the rows of filbert trees were lined up, and I could climb into them with my radio. They have the yearly strawberry festival in June, which I changed to a filbert festival in October. I took the woods, the creek, and the country store and added a whole downtown for my fictional tale.

Right now it’s filbert season in the Pacific Northwest. The pumpkin is getting all the glory, but don’t forget the hazelnuts and pair them with your favorite chocolate.

Thank you, Julie, for letting me be part of Throwback Thursday!

Future books: I have a cozy mystery scheduled to come out in the summer of 2027 with WordCrafts Press.

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Tamelia Aday loves to write while surrounded by chocolate, coffee, and her two cats. Her debut novel, The Filbert Ridge Miracle, is what she likes to refer to as “Miracle Fiction.” A little bit of the power of God woven into everyday life. Words are her playground and she loves unscrambling them to paint pictures, create landscapes sprinkled with amusing thoughts, and tell a story. Her favorite conversations involve books and writing, and she enjoys connecting with readers.

Tamelia is currently working on her second novel and also her first cozy mystery, which of course involves a cat.

The Pacific Northwest is her home. She is married with three sons, two are adults and the youngest is in high school.

Pull Up a Chair & Settle in with Me!

Happy October!

I can’t believe how quickly 2026 is flying by. Can you believe it’s been a year since my eye surgeries? Some days, I still find myself marveling at the difference. I truly feel like I got my life back. The joy is constant, like a bubble rising to the surface again and again.

I haven’t posted a personal update here in quite a while because this site has largely become a place where I spotlight other authors and their releases. But I don’t want to lose touch with you. After all, this blog was my first surrender, the place where everything began way back in 2007.

Looking back, 2026 has been a year of connection.

Maybe that makes sense now that I can actually see what I’m doing!

I also stepped away from local ministry for a few months, and that pause gave me fresh perspective. In the quiet, I followed God’s lead and listened for where He was guiding me next.

One of the biggest changes has been my newsletter.

If I’m honest, marketing has never been my favorite part of being an author. I never want my name to become synonymous with constantly selling books. At the same time, if readers don’t know about them, how can those stories encourage them? Finding that balance has always been a challenge.

That’s why I’ve become intentional about building relationships through my newsletter. This year, I moved from Mailchimp to MailerLite, refreshed my branding, updated my author tagline, and reimagined how I connect with subscribers each month.

Here’s what I’ve landed on:

I’m Julie Arduini (Are-due-we-knee), and I weave faith, family, and chocolate into stories that feel like home.

My monthly newsletter, Julie’s Here, is designed to feel like time spent with a friend. I want readers to pull up a chair, settle in, and enjoy a visit. Each month features a theme that shapes the entire issue. We’ve cheered at baseball games, spent a day in school, and even embarked on a cuckoo clock quest together.

Creating these themed newsletters has been a joy, and the kind feedback I’ve received has meant so much.

I’d love to extend that invitation to you.

Subscribe to Julie’s Here for free and receive Becoming Hearts, the short-story prequel to my Surrendering Hearts series. You’ll meet the Hart sextuplets as they wrestle with identity, family, faith, and the hope of finding a love like the one their parents share. Each sibling has their own story, but trust me, these books have a lot of Hart.

You can join us here.

I also write a weekly Substack, To Be Honest, where I share authentic thoughts in a world that often encourages the opposite.

It’s been so good catching up with you.

I’d love to hear how you’re doing. Send me a note at juliearduini@icloud.com. Just give your email a subject line that doesn’t look like spam so I don’t accidentally miss it!

Until next time, have an amazing day.

Blessings,
Julie

Julie’s Note: The Gleaner’s Song releases in early 2027. Be sure to follow Paula K. Parker’s social media and book links below to stay connected.

Tidbits from my research for THE GLEANER’S SONG: The Story of Ruth

When I began pondering writing a novel about Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz, I read the Book of Ruth multiple times, writing down questions I had about the story. Then I began researching biblical, archaeological, and cultural experts for answers. At this point, besides the manuscript, I have over 22,000kb of research information on my computer as well as a stack of research books and Bibles. I found many interesting tidbits that answered my questions as well inspired other parts of the novel. Below are a few of these tidbits

Naomi’s Family Tree.

The Bible presents Naomi as the wife of Elimelech, who was related to Boaz. Jewish midrashic traditions supply additional genealogical details about Naomi and her family.

According to these traditions, Naomi’s father was a Nasi/Nahsee, or prince, of a clan within the tribe of Judah. Naomi’s father, Elimelech, Salmon (Boaz’s father), and the unnamed kinsman-redeemer mentioned in Ruth 4 were all brothers, sons of Nahshon son of Amminadab. Nahshon is explicitly named in Ruth 4:20 as an ancestor in the family line that would lead to Boaz, David, and ultimately the Messiah.

If this tradition is correct, Elimelech was not only Naomi’s husband but also her uncle and Boaz’s uncle. While such family relationships may seem unusual to modern readers, marriages between relatives were not uncommon in the ancient Near East.

Because the Book of Ruth does not mention Naomi’s father, some Jewish scholars concluded that he had already died. They further suggested that Naomi may have been her parents’ only surviving child. If so, the inheritance law established in Numbers 27 could have applied to her situation.

In Numbers 27:1-11, the daughters of Zelophehad, Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah, approached Moses because their father had died without leaving any sons. In that culture, this placed them in a precarious position. Without a male heir, their family’s inheritance could be lost.

The sisters appealed for the right to inherit their father’s property so that his name would not disappear from among his people. Moses brought their case before God, and God affirmed their request. He instructed Moses that when a man died without sons, his inheritance should pass to his daughters. If he had no daughters, the inheritance would pass to other relatives according to a specified order.

If Naomi was indeed her father’s sole surviving heir, this may help explain why Elimelech’s family possessed substantial land and wealth in Bethlehem and why the question of inheritance became so important in the Book of Ruth.

While I was reading through these scriptures, I noted that Numbers 27:12-13 read:

(NIV) “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain in the Abarim Range and see the land I have given the Israelites.After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people,”

(KJV)“And the LORD said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel. 13And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people,”

That observation gave me pause. Among the many laws traditionally counted within the 613 commandments of the Mosaic Law, this ruling concerning the inheritance rights of women appears near the close of Moses’ legal ministry.

At the very point where human society might overlook women, widows, and the poor, God’s law steps in to preserve their dignity, inheritance, and future.

This brought new light to Naomi’s story, and later to Ruth’s. God’s concern expressed in the Law was not merely theoretical. It was worked out in the lives of real people through redemption, provision, covenant faithfulness, and the preservation of family inheritance.

The story of Ruth reminds us that God’s laws were never intended simply to regulate society. They were also designed to protect the vulnerable and reveal His character. Through Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz, we see those principles lived out in a deeply personal way.

Paula K. Parker is a Pulitzer Prize nominee, award-winning, best-selling, and internationally acclaimed author, playwright, magazine writer, entertainment writer, devotional writer, curriculum writer, and corporate copywriter. She writes books, articles, plays, reviews, curriculum, and inspirational devotions. Paula lives near Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband Mike, who is also a writer and a professional actor.

Her biblical novel, IF I PERISH; A Queen’s Sacrifice, reached multiple best-selling charts and was nominated for the prestigious Pulitzer Prize and was a Finalist in the 2025 Storytrade Book Awards. Her biblical novel, THE CARPENTER AND HIS BRIDE; The Birth of Hope, also reached multiple best-selling charts and won the Bronze Level in the Inspirations Christian Book Awards. Her biblical Sisters of Lazarus trilogy—BEAUTY UNVEILED, GLORY REVEALED, and GRACE EXTENDED—reached multiple best-selling charts.

Paula K Parker’s Website and Social Media Links

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