Carrie Fancett Pagels Interviews Kathleen L. Maher

Kathleen L. Maher

Kathy, welcome to Overcoming Through Time – With God’s Help.  We appreciate your willingness to share your testimony of overcoming with our readers. 

Would you tell us about the most difficult thing in your life you have had to overcome, with God’s help?

Thank you for having me, Carrie. I am the adult child of an alcoholic. My father was an immigrant from Estonia after World War II and never healed from the scars of his childhood as a displaced person fleeing war-torn Europe. As you can imagine, his self-destructive and violent behavior brought a lot of turbulence to my family. (Carrie—I’ll be specific if you want me to, if you think your readers can handle it—LOL He was a serial gambler, adulterer, and physically abusive to my mother and my siblings. He abandoned our family when I was three years old) But my mother held a fierce faith in the Lord, and her influence was enough to carry me and my four siblings through chaos and poverty into the hope and good future the Lord had for each of us. 

My mother worked as a clerk in a state prison to provide a roof over our heads, and always inspired in us a love of literature and learning. She gave us stability through church attendance and faithful daily prayer, introducing the Lord’s presence in our lives in her love and selfless care until we found our own relationship with God.

That relationship I found with the Lord has sustained me through many trials in my adult life, including the time my husband lost a job he loved, my son’s diagnosis with autism, and even a brief stint with homelessness. God has turned each of these painful experiences into tremendous blessing. We moved into our very own home within a year of landing in that homeless shelter, which can only be God’s miraculous provision. It is an old farmhouse with room for my gardens, my beloved dogs, and even a writing room—all of my heart’s desires. My son’s diagnosis has shed light on so much in my own life and revealed the amazing diversity with which God made each of us. My husband now has the best job he’s ever had, working with people with disabilities, which he may never have had unless we had gone on this journey. 

I can honestly say that these things really were used by God for our good, as it says in Romans 8:28

What is your favorite bible verse and why?

Another one in the same chapter. Romans 8:18: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” 

To me, it says that God is not only sovereign through our suffering, but also that while we are walking through that suffering, we can know there is glory on the other side. Both for ourselves and for those whose lives we will touch through it.

It’s like that scripture in Hebrews 12:2 where it says of Jesus: “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” 
There is joy and glory on the other side, if we can embrace God’s will and strength through any trial.

What has been the most important thing you hope your readers will get from your blogs and why?

I love to share the hidden treasures of history. Some call it HIStory—the chronicle of God’s merciful dealings with man—and I believe God wants us to herald it, whether in actual historical events or in stories of redemption set in historical settings.

The purpose of Fiction Addiction Fix is to make stories of hope and inspiration available to readers for free through giveaway contests. And my blog History Repeats Itself offers book reviews for select CBA releases, plus some historical tidbits about my local history in upstate New York.

As you researched your manuscripts, did you learn anything that particularly touched your heart?

I am always touched by people of faith who endure hardship with ingenuity and strength. It seems that the Civil war was especially hard on families. Women raised children without their men at home, and that was something I could relate to, since my mother raised her family alone, with God’s help. I was also inspired by the way our divided country turned to God in their darkest hour. A great spiritual awakening took place during the Civil War with tent meetings and revivals, and many found the Light of Life. In so many ways, it is what our country needs now. There are great chasms in our land, like nothing since that time, and our only hope is to be reconciled to the God who promises to heal our land.

In this latest work, do you have any topics that will be useful for bibliotherapy, or therapeutic influence through reading about a disorder or situation?  

I am writing about a wounded Confederate captain who longs to be reunited with his daughters far away. His journey takes him through reconciliation with his own father before he can be the leader his family needs him to be. It deals with the healing power of forgiveness on mind, body and soul, and the reciprocity of grace and respect. As we give it to others, we receive it for ourselves.

Thank you Kathy for agreeing to answer these questions.  Have a blessed day and keep on writing!!

I am so blessed to have been your guest, Carrie. I pray that sharing the things the Lord has brought me through will give your readers strength and courage to believe for the glory God will reveal in them through their trials, too. Praying God’s richest blessing to you and your readers.

Bio: Kathleen L. Maher is the administrator of History Repeats Itself  and of Fiction Addiction Fix. She writes historical romance set in the American Civil War and is a 2012 Genesis Winner for Historical fiction.  Kathy is a member of ACFW, 19^th Century Writers, and co-owner of CROWN fiction marketing and Civil War HIStory.

Glass pen and ink set

Giveaway:  We have a cool glass quill pen and ink set that we are giving away to one person who comments about Kathy's interview and leaves their email address.