When Rain Falls, Be A True Friend by Tyora Moody
While some of us are still stuffed from holiday meals or running around to catch holiday deals, others are looking back on the year and feel the loss of a loved one even more than usual. There are many memories wrapped around the holiday season that can be painful.
Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family.
– Proverbs 18:24 The Message
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
– Proverbs 18:24 New King James Version
Grief and loss can come in various forms. It may be death, divorce, the loss of a job, a natural disaster, etc. We all grieve differently and it really helps to have someone there just to listen or provide a hug.
In When Rain Falls, Candace lost two best friends. Two years ago it was her husband and now she has lost a friend she has known since junior high school. Both of these people died tragically. Could you blame her for asking the question. “Why does God keep taking away the people I love?” Have you ever asked a similar question to what Candace has asked? The scene below is an excerpt from what I call the “funeral” chapter.
“Like books suddenly without bookends, Candace felt as though she would topple over at any moment. The questions were killing her. Was there something she could have done? Should she have been more vigilant and nosed her way into Pamela’s business? Now she would never know.”
– Excerpt from When Rain Falls
While Candace was struggling with bitterness and trying to cling to her faith, she wasn’t alone. First and foremost, God was right there with her. When Candace was really low, I felt compelled to write God’s word into the scene. His still quiet small voice penetrated her grief and lifted her spirits.
Secondly, God provided Candace with two mother figures. Interestingly enough, not until many edits later, did I realize how much these two women mirrored the older women who were mentors in my life. Beulah Samuels was a high-energetic character who played mother, matchmaker, prayer partner and comic relief. When a scene became really emotional, Beulah’s warmth made me, the writer, smile.
Seventy-six year old Fredricka Roberts brought a bit of humor herself. What she really brought to the story was her wisdom and a faith that had seen it all. Two of the most powerful scenes in When Rain Falls occur in Candace’s salon with Ms. Fredricka in her the salon chair. As a child growing up, I witnessed the extraordinary bond between a cosmetologist and her customer when I hung out in my mother’s beauty salon. It felt so appropriate to bring that bond to the pages of this novel.
NOTE TO MENTORS AND SISTERGIRLFRIENDS: If you are a girlfriend or mentor to someone who has experienced loss recently or this year, take the time to reach out, especially during the holidays.
PRAYER FOR THE BEREAVED: When you are feeling down and experiencing adversity, I pray you turn first and foremost to God. He is the only one that can provide that sweet “peace that surpasses all understanding.” I pray you have mentors or sistergirlfriends (brothers) that can lend a listening ear. Not so much offering you puffed-up empty advice, but a shoulder to lean on “when rain falls “in your life.
When Memories Fade by Tyora Moody
(Victory Gospel Series, Book 2)
http://www.amazon.com/When-Memories-Fade-Victory-Gospel/dp/160162753X
When Rain Falls by Tyora Moody
(Victory Gospel Series, Book 1)
http://www.amazon.com/When-Falls-Victory-Gospel-Series/dp/1601628226
Meet the Author
Tyora Moody is an author and entrepreneur. Tyora has coined her books as Soul-Searching Suspense. She is the author of When Rain Falls, When Memories Fade (April 2013) and Deep Fried Trouble (June 2013). She is a member of Sisters in Crime and American Christian Fiction Writers. In 1999, Tyora started TywebbinCreations.com, her design and marketing company. She helps authors develop an online presence and designs book covers for independent authors. Visit the author online at TyoraMoody.com.
