Nine years ago, my life changed in a great way. We moved from Northeast Texas to Middle Tennessee. The first Sunday here, my daughter (not quite three) walked into a Sunday School class and made her new best friend. Therefore, the mom of said friend and I needed to do the same. 😉
Sarah Crouch has been a huge blessing in my life. I hated it when she moved to Arkansas a few years ago, but God has kept us close, including using me to be her content editor for her sweet series. She’s here today to tell you more about how it grew and how God used lots of little choices to make a new and better picture. See if you can think of similar things happening in your life.
Have you ever painted yourself into a corner? Not literally, although that would be pretty funny. I’m talking about those little actions that seem insignificant at the time but end up affecting everything that comes after.
I figuratively painted myself into a corner when I was writing my Shady Springs series. Some seemingly small choices I made early on snowballed into pivotal decisions down the road.
New Beginnings in Shady Springs is the fourth (and final) book in the Shady Springs series. The first book, A Summer in Shady Springs started with a kernel of an idea and a dream of becoming an author back in 2011. I’ve been blown away with how much God has blessed my stories when I didn’t fully believe they would ever see the light of day.
When I first began writing, I wanted to tell a story about a young woman named Madeleine coming back to faith through the process of painting a mural. I filled the book with characters I enjoyed in a setting that was near and dear to me—Northwest Arkansas.
Since I didn’t think my first book would ever get published, details about Aunt Clara didn’t seem all that important. I made Aunt Clara two years younger than her sister, gave her a career as a high school science teacher, a love of gardening, and a no-nonsense personality because they fit the story. And I gave her the backstory of having a husband who passed away from cancer because it helped shape Madeleine’s journey.
Years later, those details became the foundation for an entirely new story.
Clara’s job as a science teacher introduced her to Micah Simpson, a struggling teen who recently had to move in with his grandparents. This pushes her closer to Sam Sullivan, the preacher who is also working with the youth group at church.
Her love of gardening grew into starting a community garden with the church teens (also forcing her to work more with Sam, wink wink) and a metaphor for life and growth after loss.
Even her age mattered. It meant that I would be writing a story about more mature characters. Not old, mind you. She’s only about ten years older than I am. But much different than the average main character in a romance novel.
I liked getting to write about mature adults in New Beginnings. Their thoughts and actions are a lot more in line with how I might think or behave (a little more logical, I hope) compared to a 20-something protagonist.
Clara’s journey of love and loss began as a background to serve someone else’s story. And years later, I was able to give Clara her own.
Just like in Clara’s story, I think God knows how the tiny choices we make can lead into big opportunities down the road.
Looking back, it’s easy to see God’s hand in all of it. The little choices I made while writing, the encouragement from friends, the opportunities that opened one at a time—none of it looked especially significant in the moment. But God was weaving those pieces into something much bigger than I could see.
That first story eventually became a manuscript. With help from others (including Amy), plenty of revisions, and God’s faithful timing, it landed on the desk of a real editor in 2019. It was published in 2021 and eventually led to a four-book contract with Scrivenings Press.
Do you have a story like that? I bet you do! We come to God with our hands cupped, asking for Him to bless us. And God heaps blessing upon blessing, more than we ever could have imagined, poured out and overflowing. Sometimes the gifts from God look completely different than what we expected—but we can always count on Him to take care of us.
Have you ever looked back and realized that one small decision—even something that seemed unimportant at the time—ended up changing your life in a big way? I’d love to hear your story in the comments.
New Beginnings in Shady Springs
When the storm passes, can two guarded hearts believe in love again?
After six years of widowhood, high school biology teacher Clara Lewis has settled into a quiet life in Shady Springs, Arkansas, pouring her heart into her students, her church, and her garden. Romance, she tells herself, belongs to another season.
Sam Sullivan understands the safety of a guarded heart. A painful childhood and a broken engagement have convinced him that love is meant for others, not for him. Yet his long-hidden feelings for Clara become harder to ignore as they work together to encourage a withdrawn teen who needs them both.
Then a devastating tornado tears through Shady Springs, drawing Clara and Sam together in the storm’s aftermath as they help rescue the hurting, shelter the displaced, and rebuild the community they love. Amid the wreckage, Clara begins to wonder whether the steady, compassionate man beside her might be part of the new life God is offering.
But opening their hearts means facing old fears, unexpected competition, and the scrutiny of a small town that notices everything.
Perfect for fans of heartwarming Christian romance, this tender small-town story weaves together friendship, faith, grief, and healing as two guarded hearts must decide whether love is worth trusting again.
Start reading today and return to Shady Springs, where faith grows, hearts heal, and hope blooms in God’s perfect timing.
Sarah Anne Crouch lives in Arkansas with her husband, three children, and thousands of books. She spent years teaching, earned a master’s degree in library science, and now happily surrounds herself with even more books as the Acquisitions Assistant at the Brackett Library at Harding University. Sarah writes heartwarming Christian romance filled with faith, hope, and second chances. When she isn’t writing, she’s usually reading, baking cookies, playing the piano, or answering emails from readers.