I can remember when I was young and working that I dreamed of retirement. Back then, I envisioned a life of ease and comfort. No early mornings, golfing whenever I wanted to, and just taking each day as it comes without a busy schedule.
I could not have been more wrong in my expectations. At the age of sixty-five, four years into retirement, my calendar is often full. However, the difference now is that my busy schedule is filled with the best things in life. Days with our grandchildren are priceless. Tiring sometimes, but full of laughter and memory making. Then there are the volunteer opportunities my wife and I can take part in – working at the food pantry, helping those in need, and just being available when someone needs a hand. I do get to hit the links often and play golf with friends. There is something special about a Tuesday morning tee time with friends that is so much better than the Saturday morning golf of my working years where the course was full and play was slow.
There is one part of my retirement I did not envision, but it has become a major part of my life. Writing books. This week, my second novel in The Haven series, Flight to Freedom was published. It is part of a three-book trilogy that focuses on a subject that many of us can identify with today – staying true to your faith in these troubled times. The world tells us to indulge ourselves, get all you can, and demonize anyone who doesn’t think like us. Jesus tells us to not only love our neighbor, but our enemies as well. He also instructs us not to strive after the things of this world, but to lay up our treasures in heaven. When those two ideologies meet, the result can lead to hate on one or both sides. As Christians, our task is to not fuel the flames of modern-day chaos, but to keep our eyes looking up.
In is my hope that the story of the Harrison family in The Haven series will do just that. Inspire people to focus on Jesus and to do as He did – love and help others. It is typical in Christian fiction today for the characters in a book to be broken, struggling people who sometimes doubt God or focus on their problems rather than their blessing. In The Haven, I have chosen to create aspirational characters – people who persevere and hold fast to their faith despite troubled times. Some will say these characters are not realistic. I disagree. I know many Christians whose foundation is their faith. They take everything to God in prayer and read their Bible everyday to find comfort, wisdom, and solace. They don’t wait to turn to God until something bad happens.
I don’t believe my readers need or want more characters to remind them that we all struggle and fail. Rather, they need and want characters who, using Biblical principles, go through this life always looking up and celebrating their blessings. I hope you will consider getting your copy of The Haven: Flight to Freedom and the first book The Haven: A Light in the Darkness. And I hope they will inspire you like they have for many others.
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