Pages

31 August 2014

Niki Turner Interview--When Our Plans Don't Go As We Wish

Author Niki Turner

Niki Turner is the author of Sadie's Gift, one of the eight Christmas Traditions novellas to be released this fall.
Niki, welcome to Overcoming With God.  We appreciate your willingness to share your testimony of overcoming with our readers.  
I'm excited to participate!
Would you tell us about one of the most difficult things in your life you have had to overcome, with God’s help? (transparency appreciated!)
My husband and I planted a church in a small town. We had big dreams about how things were going to go, and they didn't turn out that way. That dichotomy between what we believed God had told us and what we experienced became a battle for faith. Sometimes I doubted so much I wondered if we'd ever really heard God's voice telling us to go. 
We stayed in that little town fourteen years. The church never got past an average attendance of 50, and more often than not less than 20. People were saved, marriages and bodies healed, and lives transformed by the power of God, but it never came close to what I thought we'd been promised, and I struggled with that every day. Was it my lack of faith? A prayer failure? Were we not holy enough? Not good enough? What were we doing wrong? 
It has taken a long time, and a lot of tears and prayer, to realize that just because we think something would be the best for the kingdom of God, or the best thing for us, it's not necessarily God's plan. Faith and trust aren't laid out for us on a map. Having faith in God means trusting Him, no matter what our circumstances look like, and even when we think we know what He would want. 
Disability friendliness: Is this latest release available in audio format or do you have any other works available on audio?  Do your e-books have audio capability? Do you have any in large print?  
I'm looking at options for audio formats. I love audio books, and would hope to include that option if possible. As for large print, I think that's one of the coolest things about e-books... you can change the “view” to suit your needs.
Sadie's Gift by Niki Turner

In this latest work, do you have any topics useful for bibliotherapy, or therapeutic influence through reading about a disorder or situation? 
In Sadie's Gift, the heroine, Sadie, is a nurse at a preventorium in the early 1920s, where children who had been exposed to tuberculosis were housed. Thankfully, that's not a situation most of us will encounter. I do have a work-in-progress about a speech language pathologist working with a child who has traumatic aphasia, but it's not quite finished yet!

Link to purchase on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N73HEV0

Thank you, for agreeing to answer these questions!



Thank you for the opportunity to connect with other believers!

Giveaway: A copy of Niki's new novella!

35 comments:

  1. Hello! Carrie, thank you for hosting me today! Your blog has made me look into ways to independently publish an audiobook. My chiropractor is blind, and he's always looking for new audiobooks, but they can be cost-prohibitive for a lot of folks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We're so happy to have you on, Niki! I'd love to look into audiobooks for my stories, too! If you sign up with Audible.com you can get audiobook downloads pretty reasonably.

      Delete
  2. This book sounds and looks like a fun one to read
    I would love to read this book
    oh.hello.hiya@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congratulations to Niki on her release! It sounds fabulous, and has a beautiful cover, too--can't wait to read it. Thanks for sharing Niki, Carrie!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Susie! Cynthia Hickey did an awesome job with our covers. We are all in awe!

      Delete
  4. When our plans don't go as we wish. A subject we all face in our lives. I look forward to reading Sadies Gift.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Replies
    1. You are welcome.
      Are there going to be any hard cover books??

      Delete
    2. As far as I know there are no plans for real paper copies of any of the novellas in the series.

      Delete
  6. Beautiful cover. Can not wait to read this book!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Lori! Cynthia Hickey (Handcarved Christmas: Christmas Traditions Book 1) designed all our covers. I am in awe!

      Delete
  7. Hi NIKI, awesome to have you on OWG! I've just purchased a copy of your story and am really looking forward to reading it!! :-)
    Thanks so much for sharing your experience. Over the years, I've found that even if we go down a path that may not be in God's will or even that we envision it differently, He will use all situations for His glory and for our growth! And it sure sounds like you guys have touched quite a few lives! Bless you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, thank you Noela, for your kind words! I know we grew up a lot while we were in that season! I hope you enjoy the book!

      Delete
  8. NIKI it's so wonderful to have you on OWG! Thank you so much for sharing with us, I totally agree that sometime life doesn't always work out the way we think it should. My husband had cancer 15 years ago and he was going to stand up in church and thank God he was cancer free for 15 years but the week before Father's Day which would have been his anniversary, we found out he has cancer again. Definitely wasn't what we wanted to happen but I do know that GOD is in control and we must trust Him to know what's best for us.

    Your novella sounds wonderful: I can't wait to read it!! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh goodness, Teresa! I will be praying for you and and your husband. Life doesn't play fair, but God is always just and merciful.
      I hope you like Sadie's Gift!

      Delete
  9. Hi Niki! Thank you for sharing. Your book sounds wonderful and I would love to read it.

    mauback55 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Niki
    God bless u for keeping on.........
    Chris Granville

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Chris! We certainly learned a lot, and that's valuable in and of itself.

      Delete
  11. Niki, reading your post made me sit here and ponder for a while--thinking about all those times in life, when things haven't gone as I thought God would work them out. Many times I've said to God, "How can this be for Your glory?" But He always answers, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways." I have learned to be content with that, even when I don't understand. I will admit it hasn't often been easy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly, Kay! I liken it to an algebraic equation... lots of variables (us, circumstances, other people, etc.) and ONE constant that never changes: God. Trust the constant, and know the variables WILL change.

      Delete
  12. Thank you for sharing. This sounds like a great book.

    ReplyDelete
  13. This sounds like such a wonderful book.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for the wonderful interview/testimony, Niki and Carrie!!

    I think a lot of us have had periods in our life when things didn't work out as we thought they would/should and started to question God's plan for us. Sometimes, it's also hard to know when a plan, for us, is finished and it's time to begin a new one. At times, God uses us only to initiate plans without seeing the fruits of our labors, and at others - wants us there for the "long haul". However, as Noela said - He does use all situations for His glory, even though we may not always know how, and for our growth - always (I'm a living testimony of that).

    I'm thankful that you did see people won for God, lives transformed, and healings, etc. - even though you felt the time spent in that church wasn't as productive as it could have been. Thanks for sharing with us!!

    I look forward to reading "Sadie's Gift", it sounds like an emotional, touching story!! Praise God - TB isn't the health issue it once was. There is a large vacant building in my area that was once called a Sanitarium, but was a hospital used mainly to treat people with TB.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Bonnie! In the time since we left that church we have been blessed to hear back from a number of families who were part of the church for a season under our leadership, and moved away from the town, who have sought us out to say thank you. That means a lot!!! We see so little of what God is doing, most of the time!

      And yes, I'm also thankful TB isn't what it once was, although while researching for this story, I uncovered some startling modern facts. TB still kills more than a million people a year worldwide, and approximately 1/3 of the world's population is thought to be infected with the bacterium, although not all of them will manifest the full disease. Scary stuff.

      I live on the other side of the mountains from Colorado Springs. We had a number of sanitariums here, too, and people who came here to partake of the hot springs in hopes of treating their disease.

      Thank you for commenting! I hope you like Sadie's Gift!

      Delete
  15. Wow, Niki! That is a hard place to be in fourteen years. And with a smile on my face, I don't want to hear it. Okay, now I'm laughing out loud :) Habkkuk 2:3 is a scripture God's given me and confirmed many times. I do have a vision and will never let go - Mama asked me, "How long are you going to believe that?" I told her. "Til I die." :) He moved us 6 yrs ago and I expected revival in 2 weeks! but I still believe it's coming. And what He told you IS TOO! Don't give up! Hold fast to the vision! God bless you and drench you in His favor! Great questions, Carrie - wow, good answers Niki!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Caryl! God is still moving and working in that community, and I know some of the things we prayed for are still coming to pass. And some of the things we prayed for were just us... wanting things to happen. Sometimes it's REALLY hard to tell the difference!

      Delete
  16. I enjoyed reading Niki's interview about overcoming. I'm sure many people in that small town were blessed by that little church and the work of GOD through this couple following what GOD told them to do. I would love to win this Christmas book. Maxie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Maxie! Thanks for coming by and commenting!

      Delete
    2. Thank you, Maxie! I believe you're right! : )

      Delete

Google Analytics