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by BJ Robinson

The Kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. Matthew 13:44

Hidden Treasures

Years ago through a cheap dollar-store Bible I found the hidden treasures in God’s Word, and it changed my life forever. They say out of your deepest wounds your greatest ministry will come. People often wonder why God allows such pain and heartache on earth. I found out through my own that it is to draw us closer to Him, and He sent me His Comforter, the Holy Spirit, and He delivered me.  It all began with a broken heart, a dollar-store Bible, and an unconventional method, but God is in control, and He knows what He is doing.

There was a time in my life when I was broken-hearted and crushed in spirit. When all seemed lost, God delivered me. Hidden Treasures is the story of that deliverance.

This book is based on a true story. Sure I believed in God. I was reared in a First Baptist Church. I attended Bible School as a child. Years ago, I even taught Sunday School. I married my first husband, the father of my children, in a First Baptist Church with a wedding blessed by the preacher who married us.

When I fell, God refused to allow His child to be snatched from His hands. Writing this book is my ministry. They say one is to tell the story of salvation, and I am telling mine through this book. Yes, I was saved many years ago in a First Baptist Church and baptized with water, but I did not have the deep, personal relationship with God then that I now enjoy. Jesus is my best friend. At the worse time in my life, I turned to God and His Word to see me through, and I thank God I did and that He delivered me and comforted me when I felt so lonely, lost, and empty.

He gave me a new beginning. God has his own plans for me. I prayed about the decision that would change my life. Lord knows I was scared, but I stepped out in faith and trust and found hope and courage again. The cover of the book is the setting of my wedding to my present husband. Once again, I was married by a preacher, but this time not in a church building, but outside with God and His creative nature. My first husband has a home in heaven. He was sent as a blessing to me when I was very young, and God used him to deliver me from a bad home situation and show me what a real family and church life was like. He drove a church bus, and I was a Sunday School teacher. I loved the big, family dinners after church at my mother-in-law’s house, and they have been an inspiration for some of my stories. This book is the story of meeting my present husband and our romance. It is also the story of my deliverance in more ways than one.

Introduction to Hidden Treasures 

Many people meet conventionally or traditionally, but my husband and I would’ve never met if not for the Internet and new technology. A little beeping message delivered electronically brought the two of us together. Though we were worlds apart and in different states with over 700 miles between us, technology closed the gap and our love flourished as we messaged each other and developed a long-distance courtship.

I felt he was safe to correspond with since we were so far apart. Ironically, that distance melted, and we grew closer until we ended up engaged.

I have to say that online romances can be dangerous and were even all those years ago. In today’s world, they can be even more, so as my long-distance romance blossomed, he warned me, “There are a lot of weird people out there. Be careful who you talk to.” I urge people to do the same, especially in these days.

He asked if he could call me one Sunday evening, and I said yes. That one little yes led to many more. He phoned exactly when he said he would. The moment I answered the phone and heard his voice, it was as if there was some sort of unexplained connection between the two of us. I loved his voice. It was as though we’d known each other for years, and we couldn’t get enough of talking to one another. Neither of us wanted to hang up and let the other go.

I reminded him that he was calling long distance several times, but he had no concern about the phone bill and told me not to worry, that he was paying for it. We ended up talking to one another all night long, and I do mean all night. He’d phoned early Sunday evening.

During the time we talked a thunderstorm and wind raged. Out went my lights. He told me he was staying on the phone with me until they came back on, and he did. At the end of that phone call, we knew we had really connected in more ways besides a phone and a computer, and we decided to meet in person.

It was a cold, rainy, January night when my husband placed the phone call that would change both of our lives drastically and quickly. A year-and- a-half later, we were married on June 30 in a New-York pond ceremony at his father’s home in Frewsburg, New York. The North and South met over an Internet connection and a phone line and connected, and I married my sweet prince of a husband, a Yankee.

Our life together has been wonderful, and I have no regrets about the chance I took. I knew the moment I heard his voice on the other end of that long-distance phone line that I had met my soul mate. His voice was so soothing. Yet, it thrilled me to the very core.

There was something about his voice and our immediate connection the moment I heard that wonderful voice. Some people believe in destiny. Some believe in fate. I believe in a higher power, God, and that it was all meant to be because things just seemed to fall into place despite the odds against us. A lot more was working besides telephone lines that January night.

A cold, rainy January night brought sunshine and a June wedding, and I moved to the Sunshine State to be with my real-life prince charming. Fairy tales do come true when God is involved. He blesses people and brings them together. He answers prayers, and He delivers. I should know because he delivered me when I earnestly turned to Him in prayer and read a Dollar Store Bible. He sent His comforter to heal me, and He gave me strength and courage to try again and move forward with my life.

Once I wondered where all the fairy tales had gone, but with a higher power blessing you from above, anything is possible. I found fairy tales do exist, after all. Never give up on love. It may be the next message to find its way across your computer screen and beep you into an awakening of the world around you. With God, anything is possible.

Prologue

Sometimes Being Strong Means Letting Go

The young man looked down at his mother. She lay on a hospital bed in the emergency room of the local charity hospital. He didn’t like what he saw one bit. It had been no picnic growing up, watching his mother hide black eyes and bruises.

He remembered the day she finally got tired of hiding them. She looked forward to the Fourth of July. They were planning a camping trip, and she loved the river. She ended up spending this fourth with two black eyes, just as she’d spent Christmas several years earlier. Another holiday. More black eyes. He hated to see holidays come. But this was the day his mother finally stopped hiding behind her sunglasses.

Thoughts raced through his mind as it flashed back through bitter memories and scenes from the past. She didn’t deserve this. No woman deserved this at the hands of any man.

“Mom, I’ll find him and tear him apart for this. He can’t get away with it any longer.” He held his mom’s small hand and tried unsuccessfully to brush the tears from her eyes.

“The Lord is my vengeance, Son. He’s not worth it. God will take care of him in His own good time.”

The youth’s eyes clouded and spilled over with tears. He fought to hold them back. He was a grown man now, and he wasn’t supposed to cry. He had to be strong for his mother’s sake.

He could hardly believe this was the same woman, speaking with such courage, through black eyes, pain, and bruises. Black eyes and all, she still faithfully trusted in the good Lord above to see her through. She read her Bible daily. He knew she prayed to God daily, too. He heard her. Ever since he was small, he’d heard his mother pray. She always believed in the power of prayer. Sometimes it was so hard to understand why the Lord was talking so long to make things better for his mom though.

***

The nurse came into the room and gave his mother a shot. She handed her a prescription. He knew they were getting ready to release her. The hospital had called him to pick her up and bring her home.

He could only hope and pray to God that his mother would come to her senses this time. She just had to be the strong woman she could be. She needed to be strong enough to let that man go and not let him come back into her life. Sometimes, letting go was the hardest thing to do. He knew it’d take a lot of strength and courage on his mother’s part. She needed to put the past behind her once and for all. She needed to live for the future.

Dear, God, he prayed, give her the strength and courage to end it this time. Please let her have some peace on earth and a good life before she dies.

Finding the Courage to Start all Over

Two lonely people meet via computer technology, and the world becomes a much less lonelier place. Though they’re worlds apart, each living in different states, over 700 miles between them, they connect over ICQ and become friends before becoming engaged.

Uh oh, beeped the little yellow message in the ICQ window, and his name appeared online. That’s how it all began, with just one beeping, little yellow message. Spring was an independent woman who had been hurt by the man she’d considered her soul mate. She was afraid to love again, afraid of getting hurt. Each time she gave it all, her heart, the man trampled it until he broke it, and she didn’t want to go through that pain and heartache again. Yet, here she was not being able to get enough of chatting with Bud by sending ICQ messages.

He’d been hurt too when his marriage ended, and he didn’t care to experience that pain and heartache again either. Both had children by previous marriages. Spring’s were all grown and gone, but Bud had a six-year-old daughter. Did Spring dare to love again? Did Bud?

Being states apart wasn’t the only way that they were worlds apart. Did Spring dare to give this romance a fair chance? She had a well-paying job, earned her own way, was her own woman, and was totally independent of any man at the time. Yet, could she dare to be a woman of the age of technology and face the real worlds apart that stood in their way?

These were all questions that ran through her mind constantly, and she seemed to have no answers. After all, her mirror never lied. Would it be possible to find and achieve love and happiness finally, or would it only lead to more pain and heartbreak? She was totally and completely in love, and she knew it with all of her heart. She could only hope and pray that she wouldn’t regret giving her heart away once again.

Bio

B.J. Robinson writes sweet romance, historical romance, short stories, and contemporary romance for the Amazon Kindle. She writes in various genres to provide reader choice. A mother of five and grandmother of thirteen, she hugs her children and grandchildren with prayer and will be blessed to see two more graduate from high school this year. She loves animals and flowers and is also a fur-baby mom to a golden cocker spaniel named Sunflower, a golden retriever named Honi, and a husky named Cherokee. She is hard at work on Hidden Treasures, and it is coming soon! Watch for it. If you would like to check out the selection of her work, please check her Amazon page at http://www.amazon.com/B.-J.-Robinson/e/B007DNJIKU/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1458731934&sr=1-2-ent