Happy 2025!

 

Happy New Year, Everyone!

I'm sure I'm not the only one who is shocked that we're already on the 5th day of a new year! Where did 2024 go? 

Our family experienced much excitement in 2024, which I'll share in a minute. I also had a new book release, and I signed a contract with Tyndale House Publishers for more books in the future. Truly, God's blessings were abundant, and we look forward to what He has for us in 2025!

As one year comes to a close and a new one begins, I like to chose a word I hope to mediate on in the coming months. The Hebrew word for meditate is "hagah." It means to moan, growl, or mutter as you "chew" on whatever it is you're meditating on. The imagery that comes with hagah is that of a lion enjoying a fresh kill. The beast will "hagah" over the meat, gnawing, purring and moaning, with eyes half-closed in pure enjoyment. 

On December 31, I decided my word for the new year would be CONQUER. I've been reading in the Book of Revelation the past few weeks, and the English Standard Version Bible uses the word "conquer" in place of overcome or victorious used in other versions. In the seven letters to the churches, Jesus says 'to him who conquers,' he will give various wonderful blessings (Rev. 2-3). One definition of conquer is: overcome and take control of (a place or people) by use of military force. I absolutely love that, because we have an enemy in this world who is seeking to destroy us. To destroy our families. The Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:10-18 we need to put on our "armour" every single day in order to take a stand against the enemy's schemes. I am determined to wear my armour every day and be one of those who conquer and defeat the enemy with the help of the Lord.

But on January 2, the very familiar word PRAYER captured my attention in a new way. Our church begins each year with a period of prayer and fasting, and I like to read Isaiah 58 whenever I fast. I began doing this back in 2015, and although I don't fast as regularly as I should -- in Matthew 6:16, Jesus says "when you fast," not IF you fast -- I learn something new nearly every time I read this Old Testament passage titled "True Fasting." This week, however, what I learned wasn't about fasting. It was about prayer. 

Perhaps it's because I've been in the Book of Revelation lately, but on the morning of Jan. 2, I suddenly thought about the golden bowls in heaven mentioned in Revelation 5:8. There, the 24 elders and the 4 living creatures are holding harps and "bowls full of incense, that are the prayers of God's people." That means that when our prayers, spoken with humility and in true surrender to God, leave our mouths or thoughts, they wing their way to heaven where they are collected in golden bowls. They become eternal. 

WOW!!! 

Because of this "wow," I now have a brand new appreciation and reverence for what prayer should be. Like most people, I have times when my prayers are deep and worshipful, while other times it's a few words spoken in haste as I rush through my day. But when we recognize that our prayers are being collected in heavenly bowls and are like incense--a pleasing aroma--to God the Father, that should make us stop and consider the importance and true honor it is to speak directly to the One who sits on His throne in heaven. Our words don't need to be eloquent or memorized, but simply words spoken to our Father from our hearts.

My prayer bowl full of Words from past years.

So, I have two words to mediate on in 2025: Conquer and Prayer. 

Do you choose a word for the new year? 

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And they lived happily ever after...

Our family celebrated two weddings in 2024! Both of our sons were blessed to marry the girl of their dreams. Hubby and I couldn't be happier.

 

Congratulations to Taylor and Erica!

Congratulations to Austin and Kaley!

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BOOK NEWS! 

My latest novel, All We Thought We Knew, released in October 2024 and is available online or in bookstores. Set on a Tennessee horse farm during World War II and the Vietnam War, the story is centered on the Taylor family and everything they face during each war. Visit my website for purchase options.  

She was so sure she knew her family’s story . . . Now she wonders if she was wrong about all of it.

1969. When Mattie Taylor’s twin brother was killed in Vietnam, she lost her best friend and the only person who really understood her. Now, news that her mother is dying sends Mattie back home, despite blaming her father for Mark’s death. Mama’s last wish is that Mattie would read some old letters stored in a trunk, from people Mattie doesn’t even know. Mama insists they hold the answers Mattie is looking for.

1942. Ava Delaney is picking up the pieces of her life following her husband’s death at Pearl Harbor. Living with her mother-in-law on a secluded farm in Tennessee is far different than the life Ava imagined when she married only a few short months ago. Desperate to get out of the house, Ava seeks work at a nearby military base, where she soon discovers the American government is housing Germans who they have classified as enemy aliens. As Ava works to process legal documents for the military, she crosses paths with Gunther Schneider, a German who is helping care for wounded soldiers. Ava questions why a man as gentle and kind as Gunther should be forced to live in the internment camp, and as they become friends, her sense of the injustice grows . . . as do her feelings for him. Faced with the possibility of losing Gunther, Ava must choose whether loving someone deemed the enemy is a risk worth taking, even if it means being ostracized by all those around her.

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My next novel will release 

in September 2025!

I hope to have a Cover & Title Reveal soon! Stay tuned to this blog and to my social media pages!

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IT'S A GIVEAWAY!!

To celebrate a new year, I'm giving away a signed copy of ONE of my four books shown at the top of this Blog! 

To enter, you need to do TWO things: 

1. Leave a comment on this Blog page and tell me what you're most looking forward to in the new year. Be sure to include a way for me to contact you (via social media or email). 

2. Follow me on Instagram: 

https://www.instagram.com/michelleshocklee/ 

OR if you don't have an Instagram account,

Follow me on my Author Facebook page (which is different from my personal Facebook page):

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMichelleShocklee1

Prize winner will be announced January 12, 2025.

USA only, please. 

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May you and yours have a very Happy 2025!

Blessings,

Michelle