By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
Thank you for joining me for week three in our “Takeaway” series by authors of the soon-to-release Always a Wedding Planner. So far, we have heard from Toni Shiloh and RL Ashley.
Today, author Leeann Betts joins us to share what she hopes will be the takeaway from her story in the collection, “The Worst-Kept Secret.”
Hiding from God
The theme for The Worst-Kept Secret is that we can’t hide anything from God. He already knows. Yet we spend so much time making excuses, taking unnecessary detours, and simply avoiding the truth. If, instead, we invested our energies in deepening our relationship with God, He would point out those areas that need to change so we could deepen our relationship with Him and enjoy the fullness of His gifts of grace and mercy which He extends to us each day.
My heroine, Cassie, has a secret which she desperately feels she needs to hide for two reasons: she doesn’t want to disappoint her friends and business partners, and she doesn’t want them to ask her to leave the partnership. Another job she can always find; three great friends like Kiki, Ronnie, and Felicity are a treasure of great worth.
The hero, Brady, also has a secret, not one he consciously tries to hide, but which he prefers to keep a secret because of client confidentiality. He’s heard the rumors around town about his reason for coming to Colorado, but the fact is, if he makes known why he really chose a small town near the Rocky Mountain National Park, he could lose his client base. After all, most of the folks who rent limos are out for a night on the town before they head to the Park to ski and booze. And yes, occasionally do drugs. Well, he can’t stop them, and if there is money to be made in renting cars, he’ll do it. He needs to live and keep a roof over his head and office space available if he’s going to help folks who really want to make changes in their lifestyle.
The contrast between Cassie’s conservative lifestyle and what she perceives as Brady’s party-boy life demonstrates the difference between trying to make ourselves righteous in our own works and choosing to live a life that we know isn’t pleasing to God. However, we learn Cassie was wrong about Brady, and in this is the lesson that we shouldn’t listen to rumors. Scripture tells us to go to the person if we have anything against them. Brady also tries so hard to first change Cassie’s opinion of him, and then later to win her back because the applause of others is important to him. He learns through this story that he need please only one: God, which is something we all need to realize too.
My goal is that readers will finish reading this story with a better understanding that God wants to be the center of our entire life, not just our prayer life, our Sunday or church life, or our private thought life. He longs to be included in every decision we make, in how we vote, in how we spend our money, and in how we treat the disadvantaged and disenfranchised in our neighborhoods and the world. We are all weak, broken vessels in dire need of a Savior, and presenting Him—and us—in this light is my heart’s desire.
For nothing is secret that will not be revealed,
nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.
Luke 8:17 NKJV
Business coordinator Cassie Blackthorn is an introvert who hates talking to people. But she has a great sense of what people really want. Brady Millman wears two hats. By day he owns and runs a limousine company, and by night he is an addictions counselor.
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Leeann Betts writes contemporary suspense, while her real-life persona, Donna Schlachter, pens historical suspense. Together she and Donna have published more than 30 novellas and full-length novels. They ghostwrite, edit, facilitate a critique group, teach writing classes, blog regularly for Heroes, Heroines, and History, judge writing contests, and are members of ACFW, Writers on the Rock, SinC, Pikes Peak Writers, Capitol Christian Writers Fellowship, Christian Women Writers, and Christian Authors Network. www.LeeannBetts.com
Connect with Leeann via her website: allbettsareoff.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeeannBettsAuthor
Twitter: Leeann Betts (@LeeannBetts) / Twitter
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