I’m excited to welcome Carol James back to the blog. I love Carol’s stories, and I know you will too!

Raised as an Air Force brat, the longest Carol ever lived in one place was a year and a half. Maybe that’s why when she and her husband bought their first home forty-two years ago, they stayed.

Wife, mother, grandmother, and dog-mama, Carol loves writing stories of redemptive romance. When asked the difference between redemptive romance and standard romance, she replied, “A standard romance has two main characters––a hero and a heroine. A redemptive romance adds a third. God.”

Sign up for her quarterly newsletter and receive a free short story:

https://www.carol-james.com/staying-in-touch.html

Her newest release, A Time for Singing, is a story based upon the Secret Drawer Society she stumbled

across as she was visiting Longfellow’s Wayside Inn in Sudbury, MA. The novel released on June 24, 2022: 

 Here’s a picture of Carol at the Wayside Inn!

Carol has a devotional to share with us this week.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5

I sat in church one Sunday, listening as our pastor read this scripture reference. I have no idea how many times in my life I’d read or heard that verse. (At my age, probably hundreds…thousands!) I knew Jesus was the Light of the world. The Lamp that illuminated my path. I knew that in the end, the Light would overcome…defeat…the darkness.

Simple concepts, right? But as with other Biblical ideas, the simplicity carries a depth of meaning. It’s interesting how you can hear or read a Bible verse most of your life, and then there’s that moment when you suddenly see it through a fresh lens, in a way you’ve never experienced it before.

That Sunday, I imagined myself sitting in a dark room holding a candle. Once the candle was lit, light from the tiny flame, despite its size, seeped out into the room, invading the darkness. And the darkness was incapable of overcoming it. 

“The Light shines in the darkness…” And then I remembered…

When I was a child, we lived in Alaska. In the summer, the sun never really set at night. We covered our windows with heavy shades, but sleeping was difficult, because no matter how hard we tried, nothing we did would truly eliminate the light. It found its way in through the smallest opening.

And during the winter, when we had twenty-one hours of dark, we never had to close the shades to keep out the darkness. In fact, the lamplight from our house shone out through the windows, making the drifts of snow sparkle in the winter blackness.

Because light always overcomes darkness. No matter how small or large the amount of light—a candle, a lamp, or the sun. And no matter how great the darkness, it can NEVER overcome the light.

Darkness is deceptive. If you sit in the dark long enough, your eyes begin to adjust and you think you can see things clearly. Maybe not as clearly as in the bright light, but enough to walk across a room. How many times have I gotten up in the middle of the night without turning on the light so I won’t wake my husband? My eyes have adjusted to the darkness, and I think I can see just fine. However, my often-stubbed toes have disproven that theory.

So when spiritual darkness tries to push its way into your life, remember the candle, or the penetrating sun, and rest in the assurance that how great the darkness might seem, it cannot overcome our Light.

And in the idea of the battle between light and darkness, A Time for Singing was born.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

 

 

And now for Carol’s new book, A Time for Singing! 

Charlee Bennett is running from her past. Once deserted by her musician ex-fiancé, she’s vowed to avoid anything that reminds her of the pain of his betrayal.

Chance Jackson is starting over. Hoping to redeem the mistakes of his earlier life, he wants to become the music and worship pastor of the largest church in Crescent Bluff.

Charlee tries to convince herself she should not be attracted to Chance. But then she discovers an old letter hidden in the secret drawer of an antique desk. The pain expressed by its author resonates deep within her.

Can the words of long ago soften Charlee’s heart and help her to discover that there is a time for singing?   

Here’s my review of A Time for Singing:

Carol James has done it again. A Time for Singing is a meaningful, inspirational story. Charlee was hurt and betrayed by a musician and decided music no longer had a place in her life. While she still believes in God, the betrayal has colored her thinking about everything.
Chance is a musician. He’s had a difficult past as well. When he and Charlee meet, we root for him to show Charlee that music can be a blessing. Both characters are so well developed, you believe they are real people with real struggles. I found myself thinking about the story and looking forward to getting back into it every time I took a break. If you like to read romance that will inspire you, you’ll love this book.