Monday, September 7, 2020

About the Book

Book: Isobel’s Mission of Courage

Author: Susan K Beatty

Genre: Christian Woman’s Fiction

Release Date: September 8, 2020

God had hardwired mission work into Isobel’s DNA.

So what’s He doing bringing a homeless woman into her life… to help her?

Recovering from surgery and chemotherapy means Isobel has little time or energy to spend on anything or anyone else, but when she sees a homeless woman hanging around her neighborhood, she can’t just ignore the need.

Homeless and ticked off at God, Noolie might just be the last person Isobel would ever imagine helping her, but Isobel needs it. Can she muster the courage to face her needs and allow a woman with nothing to meet them?

Click here to get your copy!

MY REVIEW

Packed in this short book is a powerful message that we all need to be reminded of. Are we doing what God has called us to do? Have we made an idol of our ministry? I loved how the author used a character that was so determined to help people that it became all about her without guidance from God. We can get so wrapped up in helping others or serving in a ministry that we forget to allow God to direct our path.

Isobel is a person I could see as a friend. She was going through chemo yet wanted to still serve the Lord. When she helps Noolie it becomes her mission to save her. I liked how Noolie humbled herself and allowed Isobel to take her in. It wasn’t easy for either woman to accept help which lead to pride.

The story is a timely message to remind us to pray before we step out and to keep ourselves grounded in his Word. I loved this quote from the story, “Besides if we’re not asking for help, are we really working alongside God? Or are we working on our own?

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.

About the Author

“Courage: The intersection of faith and Grit”

Susan K. Beatty is passionate about finding courage through faith and grit, particularly through the trials of breast cancer. Her daughter is a metastatic breast cancer “thriver” and has been an inspiration for her writing. Susan retired from a full-time job in 2017 and is now pursuing a novel-writing career. Her first novel, “Faces of Courage,” is in revision. Susan is the author of “An Introduction to Home Education” (AKA “California Homeschool Manual”), was the assistant director of the SoCal Christian Writers’ Conference and is the president of her local ACFW-OC Chapter. She is a professional writer/journalist. Susan is proof you can begin a fiction writing career after age seventy.

More from Susan

Thank you for joining me on my blog tour! This is my first, so I’m kind of excited.

A few years ago, my dream of writing fiction unexpectedly intersected with my daughter’s breast cancer diagnosis. I started out writing a variety of stories, but my critique team said the one which featured a breast cancer patient was filled with the most strength and passion. The courage it took my daughter to face her diagnosis and treatments sparked a passion in me to write about it. God was apparently leading me to combine the ideas of cancer and courage with my call to write.

In Isobel’s Mission of Courage, Isobel’s courage is challenged not only by her breast cancer, but also by her “mission.” God had hard-wired mission work into her DNA, yet He brings a homeless woman, Noolie, into her life who wants to help her. And Noolie isn’t shy at pointing out Isobel’s spiritual weaknesses.

Isobel’s Mission of Courage is part of a series called Faces of Courage. Each story in the series looks at living with cancer, but there’s always more at stake than the disease, including financial difficulties, loss of property due to the elements, spiritual flaws, an abusive husband, and death of a loved one.

The Lord seems to either have a sense of humor, or more likely, wanted me to write from experience. While writing Isobel’s Mission of Courage, I had to face my own surprising cancer diagnosis and was challenged to draw on my previously untested courage. Having written about cancer and the courage to deal with it prepared me to live it, bringing a deeper knowledge into Isobel’s story.

Even before my own experience, the theme of my writing became, “Courage: The Intersection of Faith and Grit.” Our walk with Him builds hope which develops faith. Whatever He’s asking us to do, the first step begins with faith and is fueled by grit. Whether it’s to face an abusive husband, a financial catastrophe, a pandemic, the loss of a loved one, or cancer.

How does Isobel face her cancer? How does she deal with her own spiritual weaknesses while trying to fulfill her mission in life by helping someone else? I hope you will read Isobel’s Mission of Courage not only to find out, but perhaps to find your own courage at the intersection of faith and grit.

“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.” – Walt Disney