A Warm Welcome to Carol McClain
Carol Shares a devotional and talks about her new book, Borrowed Lives.
The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: …, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees (Isaiah 35:1-3, KJV).
We haven’t had an easy year. At times, the weight of loneliness, illness and grief felt like the plagues God sent on Egypt. For me, being over a thousand miles from my family, I fretted when Covid wracked five them and critically affected my sister. I feared when my son-in-law went to work on a Covid ward. My mother’s isolation in assisted living wrenched all our hearts. My own isolation often sent me into a meltdown over issues I’d never had problems with.
On top of a pandemic, we had political turmoil—riots, protests, brutality.
Society strengthened its ideology in calling good evil and evil good.
The worse part of the issue? Churches closed and some politicians used policies that curtailed religious liberties.
We all experienced the desert this year.
But God is faithful. He may lead us to dead-ends, and we’ll have to shift our dreams. Perhaps our plans for the future are put on hold. Grief may seem never-ending and ready to bury us. Through God’s mercy and grace, the rains will come to our dry places again. If you’ve ever seen the desert after spring rains, you know the beauty blooming there.
God will not forsake you. He will lead you.
I know for a fact, He has transformed my life during this time. And He’s not a respecter of persons.
He created beauty from ashes for Moses, for Isaiah, for Peter. He did it for me. He’ll do it for you.
Thank you, Carol. Tell us about your latest book.
Borrowed Lives deals with loss and its ultimate healing under God’s grace. Unspeakable tragedy hits Meredith Jaynes. When she finds three abandoned girls, she’s determined to see they find a good home where they will be healed. Little do any of the characters know who is healing whom.
What inspired you to write this particular book?
The county I live in has a serious opioid problem. For years I mentored recovering addicts and for a while worked on the board of an agency determined to help addicts stay sober and connected to Jesus.
The tales I heard sobered me. I never understood the magnitude addiction has.
In addition, humans can be incredibly cruel. Our only solution is an intimate connection with Jesus.
In addition to this, my husband said I could have goats, and then he changed his mind. Since we had to be in agreement, I made my protagonist have a boatload of Nubians.
What do you love about this book? And what do you hope readers will tell others about it?
Don’t be thinking, “This book is a downer.” If you’ve ever read any of my works, you’d be aware that everything I write contains humor and a healthy dose of romance.
Not that I’m bragging—my readers have told me this is my best work yet.
Here’s one quote by a reviewer: “You will care about the people in this book. I say “people” rather than “characters” because they are all deeply human. It seems almost wrong to refer to them as anything less. There is so much heart and so much tender humanity in this story.”
Does your faith affect your writing? If so, how?
To me, this question is sort of like “How does your breathing affect your life?” My faith is me. I don’t proselytize. No one would call me an evangelist. When God was handing out the missionary talents, I was in the ladies’ room primping my makeup.
But to know me is to know my faith. I don’t function without it.
About Borrowed Lives
Distraught from recent tragedy, Meredith Jaynes takes pity on a young girl who steals from her. Meredith discovers “Bean” lives in a hovel mothering her two younger sisters. The three appear to have been abandoned. With no other homes available, Social Services will separate the siblings. To keep them together, Meredith agrees to foster them on a temporary basis.
Balancing life as a soap maker raising goats in rural Tennessee proved difficult enough before the siblings came into her care. Without Bean’s help, she’d never be able to nurture these children warped by drugs and neglect—let alone manage her goats that possess the talents of Houdini. Harder still is keeping her eccentric family at bay.
Social worker Parker Snow struggles to overcome the breakup with his fiancée. Burdened by his inability to find stable homes for so many children who need love, he believes placing the abandoned girls with Meredith Jaynes is the right decision. Though his world doesn’t promise tomorrow, he hopes Meredith’s does.
But she knows she’s too broken.
Buy Borrowed Lives on Amazon
Bio: Carol McClain is the award-winning author of four novels dealing with real people facing real problems. She is a consummate encourager, and no matter what your faith might look like, you will find compassion, humor and wisdom in her complexly layered, but ultimately readable work.
Aside from writing, she’s a skilled stained-glass artist, an avid hiker and photographer. She lives in East Tennessee. Her most recent interest are her two baby does Peanut & Buttercup. Like all babies, they love sitting on our laps and. Being bottle fed.
To receive the latest news from Carol McClain, sign up for her newsletter at carolmcclain.com
You can connect with her on:
Instagram and twitter— @carol_mcclain
Comments