Guest Commentary and Testimony by Lena Nelson Dooley

Lena Nelson Dooley at ACFW Conference with her ribbons.

God is My Fortress and My Strength

While I was writing the last half of Maggie’s Journey, I had a second bout with Atrial Fibrillation. The doctor changed my medication, and it took about six weeks for my body to adjust to the new medications. During that time, I had to depend on the Lord even more for the telling of the story. I’m sure that’s why so many people have been touched by Maggie’s Journey. It even won the 2012 Selah award for historical fiction.

Then I moved on to writing Mary’s Blessing. Toward the end of that book, I had a little heart event, and my husband started having bladder trouble. While we dealt with the health issues, I still had to write the book. I leaned on the Lord even more than I had before. He gave me so much insight into the hearts and minds of the characters. Sometimes, when I went back to edit a chapter, I was amazed at the words.

After James started with the bladder problems, both of my knees started giving me trouble. I’ve had trouble with one of them for several years, but it had been under control. With all the things to deal with for James, I tried to ignore the knees. James had a biopsy and later I had a heart cath. But lots of dear friends prayed for both of us, and we are both just fine with those issues, but I still hadn’t done anything with the knees.

At the same time, I was writing Catherine’s Pursuit. As I leaned even closer to the Lord, He helped me bring the last part of the story of these identical triplets to a very satisfying conclusion.

Now we’ve taken care of the knees with shots in both. Every day they are better. But the best thing is how God has walked with me through all of this, and I’ve learned to walk even closer to Him.