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    Unexpected Peace
    Unexpected Peace
    Unexpected Peace
    Ebook64 pages1 hour

    Unexpected Peace

    By Bonnie Startup

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Walking with Christ over thirty-five years now has its advantages; namely, remembering how God has given me His unexpected peace during many hard trials of life. I know many Christian women love to read about the experiences (joys and sorrows) of other Christian women and the victory in Christ theyve had. This is why I wrote about a few of mine, but most of all to give God all the glory due Him for proving Himself faithful time and time again.
    Im an ordinary Christian woman with some extraordinary events to share. I began my walk with Christ at the age of twenty-three. This ongoing relationship has had so many blessings, I wanted to share them with other women who may need reassurance in a personal God who never fails.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateJun 5, 2012
    ISBN9781449752712
    Unexpected Peace
    Author

    Bonnie Startup

    I’ve been married to my husband, Richard, for forty-one years in 2012.  We moved from Nashville, Tennessee, to Mount Juliet, Tennessee, over twenty years ago now and have loved living here ever since.  The Lord’s grace has kept us together despite being polar opposites, especially in the area of personality types.  I’m a definite type A, super talkative, “let’s get it done” woman, and he’s a definite type B, super quiet, “let’s wait awhile” kind of guy!  It’s been surreal, but God is good!

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      Book preview

      Unexpected Peace - Bonnie Startup

      Copyright © 2012 Bonnie (Cooper) Startup

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      All Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copywrite 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      WestBow Press

      A Division of Thomas Nelson

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.westbowpress.com

      1-(866) 928-1240

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

      and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4497-5272-9 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4497-5271-2 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2012908917

      WestBow Press rev. date: 06/01/2012

      Contents

      Prelude

      The Beginning

      The Neighbor

      The Sacrifices

      The Robbers

      The Disappearance

      The Treasure

      The Canoe Incident

      The Angels Watch Care

      The Twice Found Dog

      Prelude

      If I hadn’t planted pansies last fall, I would be staring at dirt and weeds right now. Instead, the multi-colored pansies wave a cheerful hello to me as the gentle spring breeze blows across their lovely petals. How like God to create beauty in barren places, but He needs our labor; a labor of love and faith to be sure, but also patience; patience to wait for the season of reaping. Sowing and reaping always reminds me of walking by faith not by sight (II Corinthians 5:7).

      In the cold, windy, late fall afternoon, I wondered if it would even be worth the effort. I’m here to tell you, "Yes, yes, it was worth all the time and effort spent!" Sitting at my patio table watching all the loveliness of spring being reborn, my heart overflows with love and gratitude to the God of creation.

      Think of all the beauty waiting for us in that glorious city called Heaven. Nothing in this fallen world will even compare. A life spent sowing for God in the barren places of this world will someday cause us to shout, "Yes, yes, it was worth all the time and effort spent," as Jesus places the overcomers crown on our head. Being earthbound, it is hard sometimes to visualize all that God has prepared for those that love Him so we live by faith, seeing the invisible as visible and yet still not being able to comprehend it all.

      Speaking a word of Christ’s love to the old, frail and very wrinkled precious woman of God in the home for the aged is sowing. How she grinned a big, wide toothless smile at just the mention of His lovely name! The precious seventy-year old amputee sitting in a wheelchair scarred by life’s trials and tribulations seemed to be only looking for a kind word, a touch on the shoulder, a smile, a heartfelt prayer for God to help him endure; just someone to take the time, to make the effort. That is also sowing. It might have been just what he needed to keep on keeping on that lonely winter day in the nursing home. I don’t know. Only God knows but doing what He leads us to do is always the right thing to do. To spend our lives giving our time and talents to others brings much glory to our heavenly Father. Give unto others as He has given to you, is our Lord’s loving command. We are the beneficiaries. Joy is our reward.

      I know I will see them both again. I picture one with a smooth, creamy complexion and clear, sparkling eyes again and the other running and jumping as he once did as a young boy. God will recreate them as fresh and new as the mornings dew and what a time of rejoicing we will have then. What grace God has bestowed on us to allow us the privilege of working in His fields.

      His sun is shining down on my face as I write today and how pleasurable it is. Even more pleasurable than this is His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, shining in my soul and illuminating my mind. What joy, what peace, what grace He gives! Walking in the Light of the world—what a wonderful way to live! How very glad and thankful I am to have waited on the Lord for this day. Truly, this is a season of reaping and renewal in my life but winter always precedes spring.

      Let me share with you some of my faith walk stories beginning over thirty-five years ago.

      The Beginning

      (of a life-long relationship)

      Sitting at my little kitchen table one beautiful fall morning, my attention was captured by an old-fashioned gospel preacher by the name of

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