Thread of Faith
by
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Nicole’s shift at the hospital was over at long last! It had been a demanding twelve hours with some very challenging patients. As she climbed into her blue Jeep, she felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. How could she be so tired? She wasn’t registering streets as she drove the five city blocks home; she was on auto-pilot. It was like her car drove itself home. Good thing she didn’t live far! She drove into the basement of her building and the garage door closed behind her. Parking in her slot, she sat there, thinking of her day. Then, with a sigh she climbed out of her car and retrieved her belongings from the back seat. Walking up the stairs to her second-floor condo, one slow step at a time, Nicole wondered how much longer she could go on like this. She found this tiredness suffocating. Unlocking her front door and walking in, she took off her coat and kicked off her shoes. Shadow, her gray, shorthaired, male cat greeted her by pushing against her legs and calling out his brand of cat “hello”. Nicole bent down to pick him up and walked into the living room. As she flopped onto the couch, Shadow jumped out of her arms and onto the armrest. He languidly sauntered to the back of the couch where he sat and began grooming himself. Nicole wondered at this exhaustion. However, this time it was more than just fatigue. She was lonely too. “I miss him, Shadow,” she whispered to her cat, as her lower lip quivered and two big tears pooled in her eyes. Before she could gain control, she was overcome by sobs that seemed to tear through the very fabric of her being. Gradually, the sobs eased to a few shuddering sighs, and Nicole pulled her legs up onto the couch and lay down, emotionally and physically spent. Beside her on the floor was a small mountain of used tissues. She reached for the fleece throw that was at the other end of the sofa and covered herself. Shadow watched her for a few minutes. When he was satisfied that she was going to stay there, he jumped down and curled his body tight against Nicole’s abdomen. Just before falling asleep, she stroked him on the back, so grateful for his comfort and his sensitivity to her when she needed him.
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About the Book
Nicole’s life has been turned upside-down and inside-out following the death of her young husband. Even as she struggles to make sense of her faith in the midst of overpowering grief, greater challenges are suddenly thrown upon her. In light of the distressing decisions she is faced with, she realizes that she needs a deeper relationship with the Lord but is at a loss in how to get there.
Will she be able to rise up out of her pain to make the right choices?
Will the thread of faith that is in her heart help Nicole find the strength to carry her through these difficult times?
Nicole’s challenges and decisions will be an encouragement for readers to reach higher for a closer walk with Jesus.
About the Author
Olive Boettcher was born in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and moved to Montreal as a young child with her family. It was there that she studied and became a registered nurse. Moving to Vancouver at the age of twenty-one, her intention was to work her way back across Canada. It didn’t take long for Olive to find something was missing in her life. As she searched for deeper meaning to life, she was introduced to Jesus Christ who then became her Saviour and Lord. Her Christian walk since then has included writing worship songs and songs from scripture.
Through the years she became unwell and eventually developed Lupus and Fibromyalgia. The debilitating pain which resulted led her to cry out to God to either ‘take her home’ or heal her. A turn of events brought her through an adventure in prayer which eventually brought her complete healing from both diseases. In the process, she has become a leader in her church, both in worship and in ministry.
Olive writes about grief from personal experience, having lived through seventeen years of sickness and the loss of several people whom she loved. Drawing from both her nursing experience and prayer adventure, she writes about characters who are down to earth in their faith-walk. Her writing encourages those who desire a closer walk with God but are not sure how to get there.
Olive currently works full time as a nurse in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. She lives with her husband of thirty-one years, and recently-adopted cats. Their three children, a son and twin daughters, have grown up and are all pursuing careers of their own.