By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer

“I talk about these made-up people as if they were real,” I told a friend as we discussed the characters in one of my books. “I know them better than I do most real people.”

“That’s because you know their hearts,” she said. “You created them. That’s how God knows us.”

I’d never thought about it quite like that before, but she was right. That’s how I know Ella Canaday and Cale Hutton – I would recognize them on the street. Ella has a deep heart-wound that overshadows her physical disability. Cale works hard to hide his loneliness. I know they could help each other if they could just get past all the pretense, misconceptions, and self-erected barriers.

But obstacles create growth—if one doesn’t opt for quitting first.

Isn’t that the way it is in “real life?” We run up against conflict and insurmountable odds all the time. We either back down or press on. And that choice makes a difference in who we become.

God knows our odds and obstacles. He knows us more intimately than we could ever imagine. He knows what makes us tick. What makes us laugh, growl, cry – and why. Yet He loves us beyond our highest, most desperate dreams and hopes.

That’s incredible love.

On Thursday, Ella Canaday and Cale Hutton meet the public in A Change of Scenery, Book 4 of the Cañon City Chronicles.

This book churned in my heart and mind for three years, and it carries me back to the early 1900s in Cañon City when pictures and horseless carriages were moving in ways unheard of in the previous century.

I hope you enjoy the story. And I hope even more that in the hearts of these made-up people you see a reflection of the way God works in the real hearts of the people He created and loves.

~

Consider it a sheer gift, friends,
when tests and challenges come at you from all sides.
You know that under pressure,
your faith-life is forced into the open
and shows its true colors.
So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely.
Let it do its work
so you become mature and well-developed,
not deficient in any way.
(James 1:2-4 MSG)

Ella Canaday wanted a change of scenery. She hadn’t planned on a change of heart.

“You can’t undo the past, girl, so there’s no use wastin’ away for it. It’ll cripple you for sure if you spend your heart wishin’ for what you can’t have. Best leave it in the Lord’s hands. They mighty big.” ~A Change of Scenery

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