Share my Matchbox Miracle and Enter to Win a Kindle!

Thanks to everyone who's been entering this contest. Especially with the passing of my aunt, I'm appreciating the positivity and love we're generating.

 

I promised I'd tell the story of my Matchbox Ford Focus miracle, so here it is:

 

A few years ago I was going through a really hard time. I'll spare you the details, but things were confusing. My head felt like it was literally spinning, and I didn't know what to do with myself.

 

And I wasn't writing. Who could write with my personal life in turmoil?

 

I was coming out of an office building, and for some reason I looked down. At my feet was a Matchbox car. "Oh, Casey would like this," I thought. I picked it up for my younger son.

 

I examined it: A Ford Focus. Purple. It said "Focus" across the hood, and the word was scattered all over the side doors. "Focus, focus, focus, focus, focus, focus, focus..."

 

 

This is what the car looks like! Thank you, Google Images!!!

 

I put it back down. "I can't give this to Casey. It was on the ground. Who knows where it came from."

 

I started to walk away. Then it hit me:

 

A Ford Focus.

 

Henry Ford said one of my favorite quotes: "Whether you think you can, or whether you think you can't, you're right."

 

 

Purple.

My favorite color. I surround myself with it.

 

Focus.

Could the word be any clearer?

 

"This is a messsage for me, from God," I said, picking up the car for a second time.

 

I took it with me to a writing retreat a few days later. I focused. And I wrote the book I'd been trying to write for years: Upon Secrecy.

 

 

 

 

It came pouring out in that one week. I had only the first line when I got there: "God, forgive me."

 

I wrote that story in a veritable fever. My head was pounding.  The scene was something out of a movie.

 

When we were leaving, I handed the end of the manuscript to my editor, who'd been reading along as I wrote.  She said, "If it's anything like the rest, it'll be fine."

 

Hearing those words from her was a second miracle, believe me.

 

Focus. So simple. But it took a Matchbox car from God for me to sit down and do it.

 

 

 

Got a story about a miracle? Share it with me, and you could win yourself or someone you love a Kindle.

There are other ways to win:

1. Follow this blog. (There is a space at the bottom of the post to enter your e-mail. I know it's hard to figure out - but I can't figure out how to make it clearer. Sorry!!!)
2. Post this contest in your status on any social media.
3. E-mail your favorite quote on "miracles" to Ldymcbeth@aol.com.
4. Review one of my books (there are four) on your blog, Goodreads or Amazon.
5. I'm open to other creative ideas for entries. Try me!
You will receive one entry for each thing you do. I will select ONE winner out of all the entries on Thursday, December 15.

Share Your Miracle & Win A Kindle!!!

Here’s a story about a miracle:

A few years ago the transmission in my Ford Windstar died in the left lane of the Long Island Expressway in Queens. It was terrifying. I still can’t believe I didn’t get hit by some maniac speeding too fast to stop in time. A police car came and sat behind me,

but once they’d arranged for a tow truck, they left me sitting there, vulnerable and scared.

This has been a frequent theme in my life.

The miracle has nothing to do with that ­– but I figured I’d fill you in on the circumstances leading to the miracle. Call it backstory.

I made it off the LIE and got towed to the car dealer. Then I got a car rental and went home. There was a whole debate about whether the warranty on the transmission would cover the car rental. On the phone, I told the representative from Ford that I hoped one day he would find a job with redemption. (I’ve actually told a few people from Ford that.)

The miracle is coming, I promise...

I got home and did whatever I needed to do with my kids after school. My younger son, Casey, and I took our dog, J.D. (after Salinger,

not Jack Daniels) to the school field to play. Sometime during our frolicking, the rental car keys fell out of my pocket. I realized they were gone when we got back home and I wanted to drive to the store.

“Oh, well, I’ll find them tomorrow,” I said to Casey. “I know they’re on the field.” That was good of me, not to panic. I was proud of myself.

I went back with JD the next morning to find the keys. At first, I was fine. I figured I’d find them eventually. But after about an hour I started to freak. This was a big field.

I looked up at the sky, spread my arms out wide, and demanded, “Are you gonna help me, or what?”

I looked down at the grass. My keys were right there, in front of my feet.

So there you go. Take from this story what you will. I took a lot, the biggest thing being the assurance that I was not alone in this world, and that if I asked for help I would get it.

And what happened with the car rental? Ford agreed to pay for it.

Henry Ford wrote one of my favorite quotes, incidentally:

“Whether you think you can, or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.”

I have another story about a miracle involving a Ford Focus Matchbox car. I’ll tell you next week. I know you can’t wait.

Got a story about a miracle? Share it with me, and you could win yourself or someone you love a Kindle.

There are other ways to win:

1. Follow this blog.
2. Post this contest in your status on any social media.
3. E-mail your favorite quote on "miracles" to Ldymcbeth@aol.com.
4. Review one of my books (there are four) on your blog, Goodreads or Amazon.
5. I'm open to other creative ideas for entries. Try me!
You will receive one entry for each thing you do. I will select ONE winner out of all the entries on Thursday, December 15.