God Can Still Work Miracles
Some of the amazing miracles that happened as I felt God guiding me to start a new project--writing a holiday booklet, A Broken Down Holiday.
Episode Discussion Points
The phone call and invitation to participate in a book signing with Richard Paul Evans which started the process.
The idea that popped into my head at the airport of the story I should write.
The strict timeline which seemed impossible to meet.
The miracles and people who helped made the booklet possible
When we trust in God, He will open the right doors for us
Miracles really do happen today
A Little About the Booklet
The booklet, A Broken Down Holiday: One Mother’s Journey to Finding Christmas Again, is based on the true story of my mother-in-law trying to get home for the holidays after she was widowed with a young son (my husband). She was left stranded to spend Christmas Eve in a bathroom stall, where she experienced some true miracles of Christmas.
I interviewed my mother-in-law, Judy Cromar about her story losing her husband Dennis when their son was only 9 months old on my podcast. You can listen to her story here: https://www.tamarakanderson.com/podcasts/judy-cromar-asking-god-the-right-questions
Order A Broken Down Holiday
Learn more about the booklet and order it here: https://www.tamarakanderson.com/broken-down
They make great gifts for family, friends and neighbors for under $5 each
Use the discount code HOPE10 for a 10% discount through December 15, 2021
#tamarakanderson #storiesofhopeinhardtimes #podcast #hope #God #hardtimes #miracles #believe #trustintheLord #Christmasbook #Christmasstory #ABrokenDownHoliday #Bibleverse #Christmas
Transcription
You can find the transcription of today's episode here:
0:02
I am so excited today to share some amazing miracles that have happened in my own life in the last couple of months to bring an amazing project to pass. I think one of the main things I've learned is that God can make even impossible things possible. Stay tuned.
0:25
Welcome to Stories of Hope in Hard Times, the show that explores how people endure and even thrive in difficult times. All with God's help. I'm your host Tamara K Anderson. Join me on a journey to find inspiring stories of hope and wisdom learned in life's hardest moments.
0:50
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Tamara's takeaways on the Stories of Hope in Hard Times podcast. I'm your host, Tamara K. Anderson. And today, I am ready to share with you some miraculous stories and the backstory behind a project I did not think I would be doing this fall. So I want to take you back. We'd had a super long and busy summer.
1:16
My son Nathan didn't go back to school this fall because he graduated out of his program. And so kind of a kick the fall off as my other kids did go back to school, I took Nathan on a quick trip to Disneyland. It's one of his favorite places. And he hadn't been back since COVID had happened. And while I was at Disneyland, I got a text from one of my friends. And she said, Hey, I know you're at Disneyland. But when you get a chance, will you call me? And I thought, Oh, that's interesting.
1:46
So when Nathan I sat down in the shade and took a break, I called her and I said what's up? And she said, Well, Richard Paul Evans, who is one of our mentors, is going to be doing a big book signing mid November and he wants to invite a couple of us who are also launching books to be a part of this book signing. She says, Do you want to be part of that? And I said, Well, yeah. She goes, how's your story coming along for Christmas? And I said, not very well. I just haven't had time to work on it, you know? And she goes, Well, if you want to participate, think it over and decide and let me know.
2:30
And so I hung up. And I thought, well, I don't know what I'm going to do. I'd had a story that I had started earlier this summer, but I just hadn't had time to dive into it. So we finished a couple hours of at Disneyland and we got to the airport, because we were heading home that day.
2:48
And as I was sitting in the airport, thinking about this amazing opportunity, and how much I wanted to do it, but I wasn't sure if I should, especially with my son getting married in December. The thought just popped into my head--This is the story you should write. And I remember sitting there at the airport thinking what? But the inspiration was clear as day and I sat there and I pondered that thought of that story. And I said a quick prayer. And I said, Heavenly Father, is this something you want me to do? I've got a really busy fall. My son's getting married in December. I don't know if this is something I can pull off. Here we are end of September. I don't have very long till November. It's like, five, six weeks. And the thought came. Yeah, you should write it. And I thought oh my goodness.
3:45
So couple of miracles had to happen for this to even happen. I first of all the thought that I got for the inspiration for this story is kind of a family story on my husband's side of the family. When my husband was nine months old, my mother in law was widowed, her husband passed away from non Hodgkins lymphoma. And I actually interviewed her here on this podcast a couple years ago. I will share a link of that interview that I tagged with her in the show notes today.
4:21
But one of the stories that we've heard told over and over and over is the story about her second Christmas after her husband passed away. The first Christmas she didn't want to celebrate at all. She just didn't feel like trying to be around happy people when she was grieving. And so that second Christmas, she decided to go home and visit her family in Oregon. And my husband was just over two years old at the time. And and so the story is of her on that journey home breaking down in the middle of nowhere. And not only did she break down, but she ended up spending Christmas Eve in a bathroom stall. And some of the hard things that happened, people that were supposed to help her that didn't. But some of the miracles that happened along the way. And so that's the story that popped into my head.
5:23
So I remember texting my mother in law at the airport and just kind of throwing it out there--How would you feel if I told this little story? And I was busy, because I was getting ready to do a presentation the following week. So I just didn't have time to act on it. My mother in law and I eventually connected and I shared that I wanted to share the basis of the story, that it didn't have to be 100% accurate--kind of more historical fiction with the truth of pointing people to Christ. And some of the miracles that happened along the way. She gave me her blessing to use the story.
5:59
And at that point, I thought, okay, if this is going to happen, I need to make sure that I have all my ducks in a row. And I contacted my graphic designer, can you whip out a cover? Here's kind of what I'm looking for. I contacted my editor who was just coming back from a two week vacation. I contacted my printer and said, How long would it take you to print a couple 1000 copies of this little booklet? He gave me his timeline. And I just started backtracking. And I realized that I had literally about three days to write the story about three days to get it through the editing process. All the same time having my graphic designer do that. And then I'd have to get it to the printer, which is a unbelievably tight timeline. It's It's crazy. It's impossible is what it is.
6:58
But going on faith. You know, I love the scripture in Proverbs 3:5-6. It says "trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." And I really had to step out on a limb and decide if God really wants me to write this story and get this message of Christ and Christmas out there--About a tender moment in a bathroom stall where a mother rocked her son to sleep, thinking about another baby being rocked to sleep, not only not in a gas station, bathroom stall, but in a cattle stall. If God really wanted that story out there, that he was going to open the way for this to happen.
7:54
And so I literally Monday of that week, I interviewed my mother in law, recorded it, had it transcribed, and began writing it Monday night. Now my husband had to kind of take over the care of the kids for the next couple of days because I kind of hunched into writer mode and I was isolated in my room, writing, printing, drafting, editing, rewriting, rewriting, rewriting. But the miracle is that it went seamlessly from me to my editor back and forth, back and forth with my editor. Came around the band on Monday, we got the final edits in sent it to my graphic designer who did the interior, she mocked up a beautiful cover for it. It's heartfelt, A Broken Down Holiday, One Mother's Journey to Finding Christmas Again. Isn't this a beautiful cover with the mother standing by the car, and the stars in the background. She's holding her son, which is my husband. And it's just a beautiful cover. There's the back of the cover. And it's an amazing story. And so, so many miracles happened.
9:15
I got it to the printer, the printer got it done with a couple of days to spare right before the book signing with Richard Paul Evans, which we had on November 13. And it's just a miracle how every single thing fell into place.
9:32
And I kind of stand back from the project a couple of weeks out of it now and just go wow, that happened. That came together. I will tell you it is not because I did anything. It's because God opened the way. Sometimes we we talk about the stories of people trusting in God and walking a path and miraculous things happening and I will tell you that the story behind, A Broken Down Holiday, is a miracle. Because I couldn't have done that on my own. I know there were angels that are helping me, I know that there were angels there helping my editors and my graphic designers and my printer and miracles happened.
10:18
And I'm thankful to my mother in law for allowing me to share this heartfelt story of lesson she learned in a gas station bathroom stall, as a widow, on her way home to celebrate Christmas. And that even though Christmas Eve, didn't look the same for her as she thought it would, the lesson she drew from that, which I share in the book are some of the lessons that have stayed with her the rest of her life and have changed her life for the better.
10:52
And so I am so thankful for the miracles that happened in my life, that have allowed me to just be an instrument in God's hand and share this sweet story with the world this holiday season.
11:05
I've had so many people read this book and give me some amazing, amazing feedback. And I even had several people read it, one copy of it and come back and buy 10 or 20, or even 30 to give to friends, family and neighbors because it's so beautiful, heartfelt message that you can share for under $5. And gosh, cards, nowaday cost $5. And here, this is an entire story that's meaningful and heartfelt, and points people to Christ, which is the goal of Christmas, right is to help us turn our thoughts to him. And remember that He is there with us in our gas station, bathroom stall moments when we feel alone and abandoned and forgotten, that He sees us there. And He meets us there.
11:57
And so if you are looking for an amazing story to share this holiday season, I invite you to go to TamaraKAndersson.com and go check it out on my website. If you order copies of a broken down holiday, this Christmas season, that I will sign each and every one of them personally. And since you're my amazing podcast listeners, if you use the code, HOPE10 When you check out H O P E than the number 10, you will get a 10% discount. So check it out at tamarakanderson.com.
12:33
And so I'd like to conclude with a testimony that if God wants something to happen, and we're willing to work, that miracles happen even today in 2021. That stories of little booklets coming out, may seem so seamless and smooth. But really, there's a lot of miracles happening in the background.
12:54
So I invite you this holiday season to look for miracles in your own life, they're there. God will open doors for you too. And that if he wants something to happen, it will happen.
13:08
And sometimes the answer is no. And I get that because I've been there too. I've talked about my answer being no on this podcast many times as well when I wanted my son's healed and the answer was no.
13:18
So sometimes the answer is yes. And that's awesome when it is and it's a lot of work. But sometimes the answer is no. And it's learning to trust in Him no matter what. That he will direct our paths. And it's my testimony that he does. Happy holidays.
13:35
My friends, are you looking for a meaningful Christmas gift this year? If so, you need look no further I have a fantastic sweet short story. I am so excited to share with you my new booklet it's called a broken down holiday. This is the story of a widowed young mother trying to travel home for the holidays soon after her husband dies, and being stranded in the middle of nowhere. And some of the hard things that she experiences and some of the miracles that you wouldn't think are miracles that she had happen, that it is based on a true story that happened to my mother in law. It's great for those friends that you're just like, what do I get them something simple. That's under five bucks. It's a great stocking stuffer. So if you want to share this message of hope with your friends or family members, check it out A Broken Down Holiday on TamaraKanderson.com.
14:37
Hey, thanks so much for listening to today's show. If you like what you heard, subscribe so you can get your weekly dose of powerful stories of hope. I know there are many of you out there who are going through a hard time and I hope you found useful things that you can apply to your own life in today's podcast. If you'd like to access the show notes of today's show Please visit my website storiesofhopepodcast.com. There you will find a summary of today's show, the transcript and one of my favorite takeaways. You know, if someone kept coming to mind during today's episode, perhaps that means that you should share this episode with them. Maybe there was a story shared or quote, or a scripture verse that they really, really need to hear. So go ahead and share this podcast. May God bless you, especially if you are struggling with hope to carry on and with the strength to keep going. When things get tough. Remember to walk with Christ and He will help you bear the burden. And above all else, remember, God loves you