Tag: God

Caroline’s Purpose: Believing in God Excerpt

“Connor watched as Caroline ran her fingers through Edison’s forelock. He could see her mouth moving but couldn’t hear anything she was saying. He leaned into the stall door, in awe as the stallion was already as calm as he had been with her the other day. She did have a gift. A gift that she had given up on because of fear. A gift he wanted to help her rediscover.
‘God, help me here. Give me the right words to talk to her.’ he thought to himself.
“Caroline, can I…?” Connor stopped, and cleared his throat.
Caroline looked over her shoulder at him. “Can you ask me something?” She grinned as she teased him.
“Well… yeah. Sorry. Old habits are hard to break.”
She laughed. “No worries. Do you want to come in here? Maybe hand me his grain bucket, see if he’ll eat?”
Connor nodded as he came into the stall. He grabbed the bucket and stepped over to Caroline and Edison. The stallion perked his ears, looking at the bucket with interest.
Caroline took it from Connor and cradled it in her arms. “Hungry, big guy? You can eat.”
Edison put his head down and began chewing on his dinner. Caroline looked up at Connor, her eyes the happiest he had ever seen. “So, what did you want to ask me?”
Connor reached over and patted Edison on the neck. “Remember when we had lunch in the union? You told me you used to believe in God, but you didn’t want to explain it then. Do you think you could now?”
Caroline looked away from him, her eyes falling to Edison’s ears. Connor watched her blink as she bit her lip. He took a step closer to her.
“I’m sorry. You don’t have to.” Connor put his hand on her arm.
She looked up at him again as she felt his touch. “No, it’s okay. It’s pretty simple.”
“Simple?”
“Yeah.” Caroline shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve had to deal with too much pain and loss to keep believing He cares about me or my future.”
“I can understand that. Completely.” Connor swallowed.
“You can?” Caroline wrinkled her forehead as she looked at him.
“Yeah, I can.” He had asked God to give him the right words to say to her so many times over the last few months. And now, he knew what he had to do. He had to tell Caroline about Emily.”

Do you want to read more? Do you need your questions about Caroline, Connor, Emily, and Edison answered? Order Caroline’s Purpose now!
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1611533929/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1615084972&sr=8-1

Your Plan

I loosen my grip,
Lift up my hands,
Let everything slide
Away.

I move each finger,
Maintain my composure,
Make myself take a
Breath.

I stare at my reflection,
Sigh so I can think,
See the pain mixed with
Hope.

I blink back the tears,
Break away from the mirror,
Bring myself to face the
Truth.

My grip will never be,
Tight enough, to hold on,
To anything that isn’t
Your plan.

And even in the moment,
When it hurts, as I question,
I know it’s for the best,
Because

You don’t make mistakes.

Instead of Me

You saw who I was
And died for me anyways
Love was not blind.
But all knowing.

Which makes the gift,
Even harder to understand.

You knew my flaws,
My inner heart, my thoughts,
And still, gave Your life
For mine.

You Who were perfect,
Who never made a mistake,

Silently let them nail You
to a cross, a crown of thorns,
pressed into your brow,
with blood dripping down,

The white and blameless lamb,
Stained crimson red, tarnished,

instead of

me.

Caroline’s Purpose: Pain Excerpt

“A quick glimpse around the batting cages and the dugout showed her she was alone, the first to arrive for practice. The back gate squeaked as she pushed it open and entered the bullpen, the place where she had spent so many hours working on spins and velocity. She shuffled over to the off-white pitching rubber and stared down to home plate. She ran her thumb over the third finger on her right hand and pretended her callous was still there, molded from the seam of the ball burning her skin as it spun away toward the batter.
A blue crate of softballs sat to her left. Caroline turned toward it, thinking about the weight of the ball in her hand. She reached out, feeling the seams with just the tips of her fingers. It was the first time she had touched one since her last game, and it still felt like home.
Without giving it a second thought, she picked up the ball, dropped her backpack to the red clay dirt, and went back to the pitching rubber. She lined up her feet, placing each one with more purpose and exactness than she ever had before. She rolled the ball around in her hand, thinking about the possibility, the chance, that the doctors were wrong.
Just one pitch. One throw, and I can prove them all wrong, she thought to herself. One strike, that’s all I need. Then I can feel the excitement and joy Ryan has. Then I can have a purpose again. Caroline shifted her weight to her left foot, imagining the signal from her catcher. She rocked back, picturing where she wanted the ball to go. She took her stride toward the batter, wound her right arm up and around, and released, snapping the ball off next to her hip. The ball slammed to the ground right in front of her and skidded its way to home plate. Pain shot through her forearm and elbow, taking her breath away. She gripped her arm and went down to her knees, gasping for air…”

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Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Carolines-Purpose-Erica-Zaborac/dp/1611533929/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=erica+zaborac&qid=1612839386&sprefix=erica+zab&sr=8-1


Barnes and Noble: https://m.barnesandnoble.com/w/carolines-purpose-erica-zaborac/1138372131?ean=9781611533927

Worry

The day starts in the east,
And ends in the west.
Light comes in, then leaves,
But so much happens in between.

We make mistakes,
And deal with heartaches,
Fighting fears and failures,
In what seems like every breath.

We question if we’re enough,
Doubting if we’re in the right place,
Worrying about past, and future,
Decisions and destinations.

We forget to see the victories,
Both the little and the big,
Focusing too much on the pain,
On the what if’s, the could have beens,

Missing the moments we’re in,
Speeding by the smiles or laughs,
Jumping over the joy we were
Designed to embrace.

A list has pros and cons,
A picture has lights and shadows,
A movie has a hero and a villain,
A story has conflict and resolution,

And so does life.

But the Writer of it all,
God, the Creator Himself,
Uses every mistake,
Every single heartache,

Just as much as He uses
The victories and the joy.
He sees your pain today,
As the testimony you’ll share

Tomorrow, with the soul who
Needs it most.

So don’t be afraid, little sheep.
Don’t worry about the past-
It’s forgiven. Don’t worry about the
Future- it’s secure.

Take a deep breath, and pray,
Surrendering the time between
The rise in the east, and the
Set in the west, for His glory,

For His purpose.

Caroline’s Purpose: Light Excerpt

“The cold breeze lifted her blond hair, blowing it around her cheeks, the ends sticking to her face because of her tears. Caroline pulled her royal-blue sweatshirt closer to her body, setting the hood over her head, and folding the ends of the sleeves over her hands. She leaned back onto the cold metal of the top rail of the bleachers, crossing her arms over her chest and resting her feet on the seat in front of her.
The crowd was thin, so it had been easy to find a seat alone. That was the story of her life now. Alone.
She wasn’t sure why she was here. But between the bad dreams and the loneliness, she had needed to get out of her house.
All of her finals were done. All of her grades for the semester were set. There was no homework to distract her, and no friends to occupy her time. She had made sure of that when she cut off all communication with anyone who had ever cared about her.
This particular evening, tired of staring at the walls, dreading another night of nightmares, she had gotten in her car and left. She had driven around until she saw the lights sparkling against the night sky. The lights drew her in, and she found herself in the parking lot of the ballpark she had spent endless hours at during her little league and ponytail years.”

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Caroline’s Purpose-Believe

“He understood more about her than she had ever thought someone could. Maybe one day she would be able to tell him the truth, tell him her own story. And maybe one day, he’d be able to help her believe again.”

Do you need more of Caroline and Connor’s story? If so, Caroline’s Purpose is available now!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Carolines-Purpose-Erica-Zaborac/dp/1611533929/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=carolines+purpose&qid=1611415737&sprefix=caroline’s+p&sr=8-3

Caroline’s Purpose-Run

“Connor reached for his auxiliary cord and dug his phone out of his pocket to plug it in. He called up his driving playlist as he prepared for the hour or so drive home. He tapped the shuffle button, and “Run” by Urban Rescue sprang to life in the speakers.

Letting the lyrics fall over him, he put his truck in reverse and left the parking lot. He whispered along as the first verse continued. “Please don’t leave me where I am. Take me back where love began. Though my eyes can’t see the end, I believe You have a plan.”

Connor turned onto the road and headed for the interstate. He let the song work its way into his heart as he drove and pictured Caroline. There was a plan; he just had to wait it out and keep praying for her every step of the way.”

Run is one of my favorite Urban Rescue songs, and I thought it fit well into this part of my book. If you want to know what led up to this moment, Caroline’s Purpose is available now! If you’ve read it, and enjoyed it, I would love for you to leave a review on Amazon!

https://youtu.be/Dzym5wa0Pqc

Hope: Caroline’s Purpose

“And he couldn’t help but let that wonder turn into a sense of hope.”

This is one of my favorite quotes from Caroline’s Purpose. If you want to know who ‘he’ is and what he’s hopeful about, Caroline’s Purpose is available now!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Carolines-Purpose-Erica-Zaborac/dp/1611533929/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=carolines+purpose&qid=1610989692&sprefix=caroline’s+purpo&sr=8-3

Barnes and Noble: https://m.barnesandnoble.com/w/carolines-purpose-erica-zaborac/1138372131?ean=9781611533927