If You're Feeling Upside Down

Today, my beautiful, talented, Gilmore Girls loving, rom-com writing friend, Betsy St. Amant Haddox is guest blogging AND we're giving away a copy of her brand new book, Once Upon a Divorce.
 
As a divorce survivor and single mom, Betsy St. Amant Haddox shares her own raw, unfiltered story of what happens after the fairy tale ends. In her humorous, vulnerable, and authentic way, Betsy recounts how she navigated her ex-husband's abandonment and the seeming silence from heaven that followed. She takes readers through the thorny path of figuring out life as a single mother, healing from loss, and finding God to be faithful through it all. Once Upon a Divorce proves that the end of a marriage isn't the end of the story.

my friend, fellow author, and guest blogger Betsy St. Amant Haddox (now)

Betsy and I ten years ago when we first met at a writer's conference

And now from Betsy....
Whoever says God doesn’t have a sense of humor has clearly never gone through anything difficult. I don’t mean that irreverently. I mean  it literally. Some of the funniest things happened during my darkest season of divorce. And not just laugh-out-loud moments, but irony or things others might chalk up to coincidence that I know are otherwise. 

There are several instances where the humor wasn’t evident until years after the fact. Such as the time my husband had only been moved out for a few months, and I happened to look down while washing my  hair in the shower and saw something that most definitely was not supposed to be sitting on the drain between my feet. 
A scorpion. 
Let’s just say the arachnid didn’t make it, and he probably also went deaf before he kicked the proverbial bucket (RIP). That poor creature represented everything unfair in that season of my life and really got it. 

Or the time when another wildlife creature burrowed up under the  lining of my trailer and died, and Billy the Exterminator’s (remember  that show?) nephew had to come dig it out. (Yes, that experience was  as gross as it sounds.)  Possibly the most ironic was the time when I almost canceled a first date with a nice single dad because I was so fed up with the entire dating process (more on that in the book) but then ended up going anyway  and eventually marrying him. 

It’s amusing how God works. Folks often refer to Christianity as the  upside-down kingdom. Things typically don’t go the way we expect or hope. Jesus talked about how the least will be made great and the  great will be made small. In the upside-down kingdom, leaders serve. Humility is advancement. Sacrifice is honored. Less is more.  And in losing our life, we gain it. 

I don't know where you're feeling upside-down today. Maybe you're not going through a divorce, but you're in a different hard season that feels out of sorts. Shaky. Distorted. Maybe you're dealing with a prodigal child, aging parents, death, grief, financial strain, or some sort of major life transition. Maybe nothing specific has happened, but you wish it would. Maybe you're still single and longing to find a spouse. Maybe you're waiting for that healing, that break through, that promotion or progression that seems like it's never going to arrive. Whatever it is, may I remind you that we can be firmly planted in this upside-down kingdom, on a Rock that never shifts? In this particular kingdom, one that makes little sense to the world, we can thrive. We can have peace and joy not because of our circumstances, but because of the One sovereignly in charge of them all. We can have success, not because of dollars signs and bottom lines but because of focusing on our eternal inheritance that can't be destroyed. (1 Peter 1:3-5) When we cling to the fact that God is writing our story, that this hard chapter isn't the end, that there are so many more pages ahead, we can release our death grip on control. Because He's got a grip on us. 
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Okay, how can you win your FREE copy? Message me one word about how your life is feeling upside down right now. I'll randomly select a winner within a week and Betsy will send you a copy (open only to continental U.S. residents over the age of 18).

In other news...I have a new book releasing February 6! Betsy and I wrote these books during the same time period. I can't tell you how many calls, texts, prayers, and voice memos flew between us as we dove into some painful parts of our stories to reveal God's faithfulness and love. I even interviewed Betsy for my book :). You can pre-order a copy of Holy Care for the Whole Self HERE!

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