I sold my second book fairly quickly but then there was a whole year that I received rejections before I sold my next novel. Mostly I wrote for Silhouette Romance until the summer I gave birth to my first child. Then I sold to not only the Romance line but also the Harlequin Temptation and Harlequin American lines. I wrote four books between my son’s birth and his first birthday. I was pregnant with my second child during half that year! So by the time my daughter arrived, I was tired and feeling burned out. But another phenomenon was taking place.
When I was pregnant the first time, the baby had only a two vessel cord. This can be a normal anomaly. But it can also be a sign of a whole long list of things that could be wrong. So every month, I had a sonogram. As I got closer to my due date, the sonograms increased. When my son was born, the first pediatrician to see him said he was just perfect. I could have kissed the doctor! I was so relieved. But then my son’s regular pediatrician heard a heart murmur. After a few tests, it was determined he had a hole in his heart.
Now, let me just say, taking my newborn to a pediatric cardiologist is one of the scariest things I’ve ever experienced. It’s not like the baby’s nose is crooked. It was serious. My husband and I were clinging to God during this time.
God healed our son’s heart. He didn’t have to have surgery. During that difficult pregnancy and early uncertainty, God really began a work in my life. More like an overhaul. You see, I had put God on the back burner. I was busy. I was writing. My career, my writing had become my idol. And as God began to change my heart, he consequently began to change my writing. Soon I had a really tough decision to make.