Ruby’s in Florida – Thoughts on Chapter 3

2013/December by Marji Laine

Don’t miss Ruby’s trip to Cocoa Beach in today’s chapter!

If you haven’t read today’s chapter, go check it out on the Write Integrity Press blog.
It’s game time! Join us in A Ruby Christmas Pinterest contest. Find today’s link at Ruby’s special Pinterest board or use this direct link to the Cocoa Beach photo! You know you want to play! The prize of $400 in books goes to the winner!
Enjoy the special devotion by today’s chapter’s author, Fay Lamb and check out her devotional at Phee Paradise’s blog
Check out a letter from Ruby at Dianne Butts’s blog
Co-author Jennifer Fromke hits the beach! Oh, no, just the water, in her blog

Today’s chapter from A Ruby Christmas finds Ruby visiting some old friends who now live in sunny Florida. There she learns about God as our Comforter, the One who will meet with us in our sorrow and bring us joy.

I’m reminded of Psalm 30:5 that expresses how weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning. This is certainly the case with the past tragedy uncovered in Chapter 3. But this chapter offers another gem.

Psalm 63:1 says, “O God Thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longest for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is.”

Matthew 7:7 also says, “Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find: knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

Jonathan Swain isn’t your typical hero. He’s a surfing cowboy. Jonathan also loves the Lord, seeking Him for direction in his life. He likes the wide-open spaces of the pasture and the Atlantic Ocean when he’s seeking God’s will for his life. In A Ruby Christmas when we meet Jonathan he’s a recent college graduate, living in Cocoa Beach, Florida, a long way from two of the loves of his life: Texas and Ruby Buckner.

Despite the great big ocean where he meets God, Jonathan is in a dry and thirsty land because he’s not yet moved forward with his life. Instead, he’s living with grief. We know that we are to seek God’s will in all things, and when our will is in tune with that of God’s, He will give us the desires of our heart (in His time). Do you believe that Jonathan was right in seeking God’s direction with regard to where he would live and whom he would love?

Your Turn: God wants us to bring everything in our lives to Him. He longs for us to seek Him. How could prefacing each prayer with “Your will be done” change your prayer life?

Special thanks to the author of Chapter 3, Fay Lamb, for her insight and inspiration in this article!

Author: Marji Laine

Marji is a recently "graduated" homeschooling mom whose twin girls have blessed her by sticking around the nest for a little longer. She spends her days directing the children’s music program at her church and working with the authors of Write Integrity Press to put out the best possible version of their books. Raised in suburban Dallas, she got her first taste of writing through the stories of brilliant authors of their day, Mignon Eberhart and Phyllis A. Whitney, and through stage experience. After directing and acting in productions for decades, Marji started writing her own scripts. From that early beginning, she delved into creating scintillating suspense with a side of Texas sassy. She invites readers to unravel their inspiration, seeking a deeper knowledge of the Lord’s Great Mystery that invites us all.