Category: Faith

Interview with author Haley Stewart

1/5/2023

Everyone, please welcome Haley Stewart to our corner of the internet today! Haley is the author of several books; most recently, her adult non-fiction Jane Austen's Genius Guide to Life and her early reader "Sister Seraphina Mysteries," The Pursuit of the Pilfered Cheese and The Curious Christmas Trail. All three were among my favorite books from 2022. I am so excited to host her today so you can all get to know her a little better.

FEH: Hello, Haley! Can you tell us a little bit about your recent books and any new projects you're excited about?

HS: Sure! In the spring, my new book from Ave Maria Press was released: Jane Austen's Genius Guide to Life: On Love, Friendship, and Becoming the Person God Created You to Be. It explores what we can learn from Jane Austen's wonderful novels about cultivating virtue: what virtue (and vice) look like, how we might develop the virtues (and what holds us back), and how the people God places in our lives can help us to become more holy. Austen is such a brilliant novelist but she's also a moral philosopher diving into the big questions of life and what it means to be a good person. And I tell plenty of personal anecdotes along the way about how much she has taught me! The other big project I'm excited about are my new series for young readers, The Sister Seraphina Mysteries.

They're about an order of mouse nuns (the Sisters of Our Lady Star of the Sea) who live in an abbey underneath G.K. Chesterton's house in England. They run a school for village mice and, inspired by Chesterton's Father Brown mysteries, start solving local crimes. In the first book, The Pursuit of the Pilfered Cheese, the sisters (and two eager students) ride their tiny bicycles to London to investigate the theft of the prize cheese meant for the school fundraiser. And in the second book (my favorite of the series), The Curious Christmas Trail, Sister Seraphina and her friends must find Sister Dymphna, one of the senior nuns, who has started wandering off and becoming disoriented. All the excitement takes on Christmas Eve on the night of the Nativity Play and the Christmas feast!

FEH: I loved all your insights in Jane Austen's Genius Guide to Life. Even though I'm a diehard Austenite and have read most of her books multiple times, your focus on virtue and vice made me think about aspects of the stories I'd completely missed. Was this something you naturally made the connection with while reading, or was there a moment that pointed you in that direction?

HS: I've been really interested in Austen as a moral philosopher since taking a wonderful class with Dr. Margaret Watkins my senior year at Baylor University. We read all of Austen's novels through a philosophical lens. Ever since, I've been really interested in what Austen can teach us about vice, virtue, and what it means to live a good life.

FEH: I read that you got the idea for your mouse nuns book in a dream. I think that's every author's, well, dream! What was your process like bringing that from the seed of an idea to a full fledged plot?

HS: I let the idea simmer for several months and then I just decided to try it out. I started out with one character in mind and then a second. Pretty soon I had a full cast of characters! I started writing without knowing how the mystery would unfold or who the villain might be. I just followed my little mice around from scene to scene. I love writing but it's usually a bit of a slog to get through a book project. For these books, the whole process was a joy!

FEH: How does your faith influence your creativity?

HS: This is a hard question to answer because it's hard to imagine any way it doesn't influence my creativity. Everything from the kind of art I want to create to what I think it means to be a creative are all connected to my faith!

FEH: I'm not mean enough to ask you to name your favorite book, but are there particular books that inspired you? If you could write a book that was *like* any book, what would it be?

HS: For fiction I'm always inspired by Madeleine L'Engle. I love the way her books explore complicated ideas of faith, science, and relationships without being preachy. I'm also hopelessly devoted to both Lucy Maud Montgomery and Jane Austen's characters. They are so life-like!

FEH: Okay, and a few super quick questions just for fun! Would you rather live in Narnia, Middle Earth (at peace), or Pemberley?
HS: Oh my, what a difficult choice! It's hard to pass up Middle Earth, but I'm afraid that I'm a Pemberley sort of person.

FEH: Favorite ice cream?
HS:Coffee!

FEH: Favorite Doctor of the Church?
HS: St. Hildegard of Bingen

FEH: Last book you binge read?
HS: Laurus by Eugene Vodolazkin

FEH: Pumpkin spice or apple cider?
HS:Very basic pumpkin spice.

FEH: Thank you so much for the interview, Haley! I loved learning a little bit more about you and your books.

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Interview with Rachel Dodge, author of The Secret Garden Devotional

12/2/2022

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The Secret Garden Devotional JustRead Blog Tour

Welcome to the Blog Tour for The Secret Garden Devotional by Rachel Dodge, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: The Secret Garden Devotional

Author: Rachel Dodge

Publisher: Barbour

Release Date: December 6, 2022

Genre: Devotional

Devotional Inspiration from Mary Lennox's Beautifully Mysterious Secret Garden

The Secret Garden Devotional offers lovely inspiration that explores the themes of faith, family, contentment, wisdom, and joy in the classic Frances Hodgson Burnett novel, cherished by generations of readers.

Each reading corresponds with a chapter from the book and invites you to embrace God’s guiding hand in your life as you are becoming His new creation. With themes of growth, spiritual nourishment, God's love and care, and His transforming power, this beautiful chapter-by-chapter devotional includes original artwork throughout. Each reading includes examples from the novel, scripture, life application, and prayers perfect for groups, book clubs, or personal reflection.

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | IndieBound

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rachel Dodge

Rachel Dodge is the bestselling author of the award-winning Anne of Green Gables Devotional, The Little Women Devotional, and Praying with Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen. Rachel's newest book is The Secret Garden Devotional! Rachel teaches college English classes, gives talks at libraries, teas, and book clubs, and is a writer for the popular Jane Austen's World blog. She is passionate about encouraging and equipping women to grow closer to Jesus through prayer and the study of God's Word. A true kindred spirit at heart, Rachel enjoys books, bonnets, and ball gowns.

Connect with Rachel by visiting racheldodge.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.

TOUR GIVEAWAY

(2) winners will receive a signed copy of The Secret Garden Devotional and a hardcover illustrated copy of The Secret Garden along with a bookmark and stickers.

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight November 30, 2022 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on December 7, 2022. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

Thanks for following along with the blog tour for this book! Rachel kindly agreed to join us for an interview to discuss The Secret Garden Devotional. Welcome, Rachel!

FEH: One of my favorite things about all your devotionals is the way they changed my thinking about the so-called "secular" books I love; each of them now has the opportunity to become an encounter with God. Do you think the authors of these particular books (The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, and Little Women) intended this, or is it something you foster in all the books you read?
RD: I don’t personally think the faith lessons and themes that I focus on in my devotionals were necessarily planned out by these authors, but I do believe each author purposefully wove beautiful lessons in and through their novels. Unlike didactic literature that’s meant to teach young people moral lessons, the lessons in these novels are subtle and natural; it never feels preachy. The stories are relatable and the characters are just like you and me. They have fears and failures, dreams and successes, and loves and losses. Personally, I always see another layer (or two or three) in everything I read, whether the author put it there on purpose or not, so that’s probably why writing devotional books based on classic novels is my favorite thing to do. I love to analyze books and find ways to apply lessons from them to my own life. I believe there’s a link to the Gospel in almost every story, even if the author didn’t put it there on purpose. I love to find that link and share it with others.

FEH: Is there a specific scene or character in The Secret Garden that most speaks to your own faith?
RD: The “robin who showed the way” is so special to me because of how he helps Mary blossom and learn to play and run like a child. He is her first friend! Then he shows her the key to the garden… and finally the door to the garden. I see such a parallel between the robin and the people in my life who showed me the way to knowing Jesus personally and mentored me and encouraged me in my faith. My “robin” was a girl named Joy I met my freshman year in college. She and several other older girls showed me the way to Jesus and I’ll always be thankful. The seeds they sowed and the example they set made all the difference in my life as a young woman, and there has been lasting fruit in my life, in my work, in my marriage, and in my children’s lives because those senior girls taught me the “good way” and showed me how to walk on God’s paths. (Proverbs 22:6; Jeremiah 6:16)

FEH: This question is just for fun! I've been reading lots of Jane Austen lately, and I know you share my love for her stories. If you could give your book to any of her characters, who do you think would need or appreciate it the most? RD: I’m sure Mary Bennet would really enjoy the religious aspect of my books and possibly read them out loud to the family in a very serious, monotonous tone. Everyone listening would yawn and Lydia would probably make a snide remark! But in all seriousness, I think Elinor Dashwood, Fanny Price, and Anne Elliot would enjoy my devotionals. They tend to be interested in personal growth and take their faith seriously.

FEH: As you wrote this devotional in a chapter-by-chapter format, was there any chapter in which you struggled to find a connection to faith? Or was there one in which you wished you didn't have to limit yourself to word count? RD: The chapter when Mary explores the house on a rainy day was a bit hard for me to figure out at first, but I realized as I prayed that the chapter was all about Mary’s loneliness and her desire for companionship and family, which fits perfectly with the Biblical picture of God’s family when we become children of God. I wrote about how we were made for companionship and fellowship, and how there’s a reason we long for closeness with others. Later in the novel, when Mary and Colin explore together, I was able to come back to that topic and talk about how our rainy days in life don’t have to be lonely days when we are part of God’s family in the Body of Christ. I always love to see how God leads me when I can’t figure out the theme of a chapter! He comes up with the best ideas!
As for a chapter where I had lots and lots to say, I probably could have written about the parallels between the key, the door, and the garden and the Good News of Christ for several days. It’s just so neat to think of how we are separated from the “garden” of eternal life with God by our sin (the locked door), but the good news is that the key of faith in Jesus opens that door into the kingdom of God forever. Wow!! Even now, I feel like I could go on and on. It’s a really beautiful concept!

FEH: I heard you say that you never envisioned yourself as a writer. How did you stumble into this vocation?
RD: I’ve always had a passion for writing and have always written—whether it was papers for English class, letters, journal entries, articles, web site and marketing content, Bibles studies, and so forth. I can’t seem to help but write. I’m built for it. Words tend to flow out of me. I feel weird when I don’t write. But as far as being an author, I said I would never try to publish a book. I guess God had other plans!
I did always have a heart for devotional writing and for classic books, but my journey toward being an author is all God’s doing. I asked the Lord to consecrate my writing to be used for His glory about 10 years ago, without even knowing what that might mean or where it would lead. A few years later He opened the door to write devotional books based on my favorite classic novels through a series of really fun God stories.
I of course work really, really hard at writing, but I have seen God do things I could never ever do in my own strength. It’s been a dream come true because I never planned to write these lovely books, but it’s become my favorite thing to do! Only God can truly bring out in us the dearest desires of our hearts—because sometimes we don’t know what they are until He shows us.

FEH: Do you have any other devotionals based on classic books in the works?
RD: To date, I’ve written Praying with Jane, The Anne of Green Gables Devotional, The Little Women Devotional, and now The Secret Garden Devotional. I would love to write more devotional books based on classic books if God wants to open the doors to do more! I have a few projects I’m currently working on that are very dear to my heart.
This spring, I can’t wait to share the audiobook versions of The Anne of Green Gables Devotional, The Little Women Devotional, and The Secret Garden Devotional. I had the great pleasure of narrating them myself, and I hope readers will enjoy hearing me read to them!

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Show off your scars.

10/22/2022

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Today’s post is brought to you by 2019 me, reposted from my old blog. I’ve been thinking a lot about this topic lately, as we all struggle with suffering of one kind or another in our lives right now. I hope this will speak to you and encourage you today!

“Did you hear about Princess Eugenie’s wedding dress?” my sister asked.

“Uh…no?” My family, despite a deep, almost obsessive love for many things British (probably underscored by a passion for good tea and Jane Austen), was never known for following tabloid details of royal family life. Unless this dress happened to be made of hand-woven English tweed, which seemed unlikely (though potentially awesome), I couldn’t quite see why Rose was bringing it up.

“She specifically requested a dress design with a low back. It made me think of you.”
“Oh…kay.”

“Because she wanted her scoliosis scar to be visible. She had the same surgery you did when she was younger, and she said it was important to her that the scar could be seen.”

It’s funny how a few words can trigger such a flood of memories: waking up in the recovery bed afraid I was paralyzed because I couldn’t feel my legs…the smell of powdery wildflower perfume the aide wore as she pushed my wheelchair…the searing pain as I struggled to walk a few steps…the way my friend’s faces paled when they saw me try. Later, the slick, coconut-scented sunscreen I poured onto my back every day in summer so my scar wouldn’t burn….the high-backed swimsuits I wore for years so I wouldn’t have to face so many questions. An 20-inch stripe down your back turns out to be an instant awkward conversation starter.

I remembered a dialogue between 18-year-old me and my new boyfriend. “I can’t believe how perfect you are for me,” he’d said. A twinge of concern went through me. I wasn’t perfect. Heaven knew I had personality flaws enough to keep my confessor busy the rest of my life. But even physically, my body bore marks of an imperfection I could never get away from. “Not really perfect,” I answered Mark. “I’ve got a giant scar down my back where doctors fused my spine and put stainless steel rods down either side.”

Mark’s answer may have changed my life and outlook as much as so few words ever could. “Perfect for me,” he repeated. “And your scar is beautiful.”

“Um…I think a little ‘love is blind’ thing is going on here, Mark.”

“No, I’m serious! Think about it. Even in His glorified body, Christ still bears the mark of His passion. He has wounds in His hands and feet and sides–even in Heaven, he has scars! I wonder if the scars of the things that helped up get to heaven will be allowed to remain on our risen bodies, too.” He lightly touched the back of my neck, where my scar began. My long hair shielded it from view most of the time, but it was impossible to hide altogether. “Maybe,” he continued, “we’ll know our scars are beautiful when we see them for what they are.”

First of all, let’s just clarify, readers, that, yes, of course I knew right then that I was definitely marrying this guy, because who says things like that? Two years later I chose my own wedding dress–not with a deeply plunging back, because I’m way too introverted for that kind of drama, but not high enough to hide my scar completely either. Without that scar, after all, I might not even have been alive to get married–my scoliosis was that severe. A few months after that, pregnant with our first baby, I blessed my surgery and those stainless steel rods for allowing me to bear a child–it even helped to avoid some of the lower back fatigue so many of my pregnant friends experienced since I basically got to walk around with a built-in brace.

Back in 1999, soon after my doctors had told me I would need surgery, a priest friend of ours suggested we pray for a miracle of healing. I considered it…but ultimately turned to God in my overdramatic adolescent piety and said, “Okay, listen. I don’t want to be faithless or anything, but it’s hard for me to picture a miraculous healing being very good for me or anyone. Let’s try this: if you want to bring souls closer to you through a healing, you can heal me. If I can help bring more souls to you by suffering through surgery, we’ll do it that way.” Months later, as I lay flat on my back for days and struggled to keep slowly-melting ice chips down–forget about actual food–I rolled my eyes in the general direction of Heaven and thought, “Actually, God, I take it back. This was a bad idea.”

But it wasn’t. My suffering helped me grow as a person–much more quickly than an adolescence without trials would have allowed me to. My time in the hospital taught me what joy can be found in service, as I was surrounded by children with far more serious conditions than I had, yet whose faces radiated happiness as they served one another. A little girl without legs wheeled herself from one room to another to read stories to children who couldn’t speak. A toddler twisted with scoliosis smiled out sunbeams at her parents as they played with her and took care of her. Without my own scoliosis, I never would have seen any of this. Mark was right: my scar was not an imperfection but a sign of a step toward perfection–the only perfection that really matters. My physical suffering allowed me to step into the refiner’s fire and come out more radiant than I ever could have been without it.

When asked about her dress design, Princess Eugenie said, “I think you can change the way beauty is, and you can show people your scars and I think it’s really special to stand up for that.”

Change beauty? Maybe not. But change how we think of it? Absolutely. Beauty is not flawless skin and perfectly straight shoulders (Princess Eugenie’s, like mine, are noticeably uneven because of scoliosis). Beauty can be complicated. Beauty can be harsh. What is more paradoxically beautiful than the Son of God, bleeding and bruised, gazing at us with love from His cross?

As Pope Benedict said, “Whoever believes in God, in the God who manifested himself, precisely in the altered appearance of Christ crucified as love…knows that beauty is truth and truth beauty; but in the suffering of Christ he also learns that the beauty of truth also embraces offence, pain, and even the dark mystery of death, and that this can only be found in accepting suffering, not ignoring it.”

How many of our scars, both physical and emotional, do we scramble to hide away from the world? Stretch marks…past injustices…surgery scars… Maybe, like Princess Eugenie, we should rather think of a way to display them for what they are: the mile markers on our journey through life, this grand adventure leading us closer to God.
Viewed in that way, they’re not ugly at all. They’re perfect.