The Doubt Beneath the Doubt

Do y’all ever talk yourselves out of something before it’s even happened?

Here’s my confession: I change my mind. A lot. I don’t have a signature hairstyle, a signature way of dressing, or even a decorating style I could call “mine.” I can’t seem to stick to writing one genre. I’ve had over twenty jobs — and no, before you ask, it’s not that I’m flighty or can’t hold one down. I just want to experience everything. Do everything. See what fits.

So, it’s no wonder I second-guess myself as much as I do. When you’re someone who’s still trying on the world, of course you doubt your decisions along the way.

But if I’m honest, my self-doubt goes a lot deeper than that.

The day before I was offered my current job, the one I now call my dream job, I had almost talked myself into turning it down before it was even offered. Not because I wanted to do something else. Hardly. I know the calling on my life is to write and to help other authors do the same, and I knew even then this would be a job I’d want to stay in for the long haul.

What I doubted wasn’t the job. It was me.

I got so deep into that spiral that I uploaded my resume and the job description into ChatGPT and asked it, flat out, if I was even qualified. And in a moment I did not see coming, it told me that one thing it had noticed about me was that I often underestimate myself and undervalue my own abilities.

Ouch.

That kind of doubt doesn’t come from wanting to experience all the things, sweet friend. It comes from somewhere older—from past hurts like verbal abuse, abandonment, and my own failures. It comes from a version of me that learned, a long time ago, not to trust her own worth.

But God.

This week I was reminded that we all carry a past. We all have hurts. We all have memories we’d erase in a heartbeat if we could. But God stepped into that past to bring healing—not to erase the memory, but to break its hold. We may never forget the pain, but He didn’t die on the cross so we’d stay trapped in the bondage of it. He died so we could live... and live abundantly.

Anyone else need this reminder today? Keep your head facing forward, not backward. Keep your eyes on Him—not on the sin, the shame, or the pain of your past.

And if you ever find yourself doubting your worth or your ability, just remember this, sweet friend—Jesus found you worth dying for.

You are loved. You are chosen. You are enough.

Speaking of changing your mind over and over… I’m pretty sure I’ve redesigned these covers at least four times now. And I can’t promise they won’t change again in the future, but hey—it is what it is.

That being said, I’m excited to reveal the titles of the other books in this series, and a PARTIAL view of the covers. I don’t want to give them ALL away right now.

Book 1: In Books & Battlefields (launched earlier this year)

Book 2: In Fairy Tales & Fraud (coming October 2026)

Book 3: In Letters & Landmines (coming Spring 2027)

Novella 1: In Christmas Carols & Courage (coming out with Book 2 in October 2026)

Novella 2: In Rhetoric & Railroads (coming Summer 2027)

…. Lord willing!

The Words & War series is best read in order. So, grab Book 1- In Books & Battlefields now before Book 2 comes out in a few months.

Order Book 1: In Books & Battlefields

I’m so excited to announce that In Fairy Tales & Fraud is now available for pre-order! Be the first to have Book 2 of the Words & War series hit your Kindle at midnight on the morning of October 13!

A runaway widow guarding a secret she’ll die to protect. A steadfast deputy still nursing a broken heart. A society darling who knows exactly what she wants, and the confidence that she’ll get it.

Deputy Nathaniel Steele has finally made peace with losing Isabella Pearson to another man. He’s ready to settle into a quiet life on his own farm outside Montgomery, Alabama—one careful, God-fearing step at a time. Then, on Christmas morning, he finds a desperate young widow and her feverish daughter hiding in his barn, and every careful plan he’s ever made begins to unravel.

Willa Ashwood has walked through the Georgia woods for three weeks with her daughter, Marigold, fleeing dangerous men and a scandalous past. She trusts no one, especially not a lawman, but Nathaniel’s patient kindness offers something she hasn’t felt in years—safety. As their fragile arrangement stretches on, Willa must decide how much of herself she dares to risk with a man who could uncover everything she’s fought to keep hidden.

Bold and brilliant, Sophie Clark doesn’t believe in defeat. When life takes her on a different path than she planned, she aims higher than even she could have ever imagined—only to find herself drawn toward a dangerously charming stranger with an offer, and a smile, she isn’t sure she should trust.

Danger hasn’t finished with Nathaniel. More than one ghost from his past finds him in Montgomery, determined to pick up right where they left off. As fires blaze and threats mount, old secrets and new ones collide in ways that could topple everything Nathaniel has so carefully built.

When the past refuses to stay buried, will Nathaniel find the courage to trust God with a future he never saw coming?

Pre-Order Now