BEYOND "I DO?" Guest Jennifer Slattery

Friend, are you growing cobwebs?
Are you spending so much time praying for clarification you’ve become permanently barricaded in your prayer closet?
In other words, are you living by faith or fear?

It’s easy to view divine opportunities through a human lens, one tinted by our limitations. But I believe God wants us to lay our view aside so that we can see His will and power clearly.

Because when it comes to pursuing our calling, our success is not up to us. It’s not about our abilities or failings, our strengths or weaknesses.
It never has been. Instead, it is about saying yes to a mighty God who longs to shine powerfully through us.

When I first began writing—pursuing it as a career and acknowledging it as a calling,

I felt pretty invincible. I was pumping out a novel every sixth months while sending out numerous articles and guest blog posts. I was prolific in drama and study programs, and as an athlete who regularly trained for running races and sprint triathlons, I was at my peak. In short, I felt ready to embrace any and every opportunity I encountered.

Then I got sick, and everything became harder.  I received my first diagnosis in the fall of 2012 and to be honest, it rocked my world. When I signed my first book-length contract a year later, still fighting to remission, I cried to my husband, "Why now? Why couldn't God have opened this door two years ago when I was strong and full of energy?"

A few days later, listening to prayer music and offering up my heart to God in full surrender, I got my answer. I realized, He needed to take me to a place where my feet failed so I'd realize, it wasn’t about me. It still isn’t, and it never will be.

What a relief that is!

As you listen to the following song, ask God to show you areas and ways you’ve been living as if it—whatever it may be—is dependent on you. Then ask Him to help you surrender that area to Him, allowing Him to take you where your faith is without borders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td3dl87rDjU

 http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=the+ocean+hillsong&FORM=VIRE5#view=detail&mid=8978DD968FC0B56062858978DD968FC0B5606285

Jennifer Slattery writes missional romance novels for New Hope Publishers. Her debut, Beyond I Do, is currently available for pre-order at 26% off!. She also writes Christian Living articles for Crosswalk.com and devotions for her personal blog, JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud; Internet Cafe Devotions; and Takin' it to the Streets', a ministry serving Omaha Metro's working poor and homeless.

When she's not writing, she enjoys reading, hanging out at the mall with her teenage daughter, enjoying her real-life hero husband, or serving in her church or community.

You can find her online at her personal devotional blog, JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud, at InspyRomance.com, Faith-filled Friends, Crosswalk.com, or Internet Cafe' Devotions. You can also connect with her on Facebook.

Beyond I Do:

Marriage . . . it’s more than a happily ever after. Eternally more.

Ainsley Meadow’s encounter with a woman, her child, and their abuser sparks a passion that threatens her engagement. Will seeing beyond the present unite her and her fiance or tear them apart?

Raised by a hedonist mother, who cycles through jobs and relationships like wrapping paper on Christmas morning, falls into a predictable and safe relationship with Richard, a self-absorbed socialite psychiatrist. But as her wedding nears, a battered woman and her child spark a long-forgotten dream and ignites a hidden passion. One that threatens to change everything, including her fiancé.

To embrace God’s best and find true love, this security-seeking bride must follow God with reckless abandon and realize that marriage goes Beyond I Do.