Both funny and inspiring, "We Wait You" is a real-life story of hearts transformed after the 1989 Eastern European revolutions. Relive the drama of events that occurred against all belief. http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=23577 loved being in snow again.

But there's a time for every season and now it's time for winter to end. I'll never forget the thrill I felt at this time each year that I lived in Eastern Europe. The winters were so gray and dull and long and cold. But one day about April, I would awake to see the world transformed from gray to a vibrant green, overnight. Oh, and the flowers were glorious. I used to say autumn is my favorite season, but nothing will ever compare to the brilliance of spring as it burst forth on the world in Eastern Europe. Springtime puts Easter in my heart, and I think of Jesus breaking free of His cold, dark tomb in all His transplendent glory. As Spring beckons life back into bare trees and sleeping bulbs, Jesus is restoring the world to its true beauty.

Secretly, I feared that our recent trip back to California was too soon; that we wouldn't feel like we were coming "home" to North Carolina afterward. Our time in California was unpleasantly rainy and chilly, yet another snowstorm greeted us when we arrived at the Charlotte airport. In just two days, though, it had all melted and the temperatures had risen 30 degrees. Now our first flower, the crocus, has bloomed in our yard. Tiny buds have appeared on our pear trees. The birds greet us each morning with beautiful melodies. These first signs of spring (plus the five messages waiting for us on our answering machine) have welcomed us HOME with open arms and renewed our hope that a new season is opening before us. A season of being planted and putting down roots. A season of permanence in a place and with people we can't wait to discover.]]> Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:32:03 PST http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=23577 http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=23500
I'm also thankful that I know better what to expect if I'm fortunate enough to get this opportunity again. The day before the interview, the station called me to confirm my phone number and told me they'd call again 10 minutes before we go on air. The phone didn't ring until one minute beforehand; I was getting a bit nervous. The talk show host said hello and welcome, and I answered back with an enthusiastic greeting, trying to be larger than life as I'd been instructed. We were chit-chatting about Pennsylvania and North Carolina when suddenly he interrupted me and said hello all over again. I realized that was the moment we went live. I'm talking about my parents' hometown of Prospect Park, Pennsylvania while he's introducing me to the listening audience.

My publicist had prepared eight questions and I'd practiced my answers. However, the questions that day were entirely different ones, which is the preogative of the interviewer. That would have been fine except they weren't always the most pertinent to my book. Really, does it matter whether Yugoslavia split into 5 or 6 countries when that's only one sentence in We Wait You? I tried to segue to the matter at hand a few times but should have done that more often. Another guest was squeezed in after me so the interview ended earlier than I expected, before I could give the phone number for people to call in to order copies.

I think I will not try to start a new career in radio broadcasting.]]> Mon, 8 Mar 2010 15:24:29 PST http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=23500 http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=23325 We Wait You. I will be interviewed live on WGRC radio's award-winning talk show on Friday, March 5 at 11:30 AM Eastern time. This is a 30-minute show, called The Matter at Hand, with call-in questions accepted beforehand. The station is located in central Pennsylvania, but anyone can listen live on-line. You could even email questions before the show. The information on how to do that is located on their website at http://www.wgrc.com/content/christian-talk-program

This is my first live radio interview and I'm excited but also a little nervous. Stay tuned to this blog and I'll let you know how it went afterward.]]> Wed, 3 Mar 2010 09:37:02 PST http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=23325 http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=23220
We rejoiced with their stories. A friend woke up at 4:00 the morning of their accident, at the exact time of the crash, feeling compelled to pray for the boys. Some people they’d never met drove past the accident and prayed for whoever was involved. Weeks later, in Spain of all places, these people met a family who shared about an accident in California. Turns out they were all praying for the same boys. The oldest boy came out of his coma first and kept the night shift in stitches. Each night, he spoke entirely in a different language - Swiss German, Spanish, or with a British accent. But he doesn’t know Spanish; he was mimicking lines verbatim from Happy Feet. He has no memory of those linguistic nights. The youngest son caught more of the impact of the crash and was in a coma three weeks longer. His memory ends abruptly two days before the accident. He had to call his friends at college to fill in the missing pieces - what he did those last two days and who took him to the airport the day of the accident.

Their story inspired people all over the world, many of whom they don't know, to pray fervently for them. But God didn't need these prayers to do His job. Prayer is a mystery to me. We're told to pray and that prayer is effective and that God is moved by our prayers. But we don't always get what we pray for. And when we do get the result we want, our prayers didn't do it. God did it. He alone healed these two brothers. I suspect He has something more in store for these two young men. He used their trauma to galvanize His church to demonstrate love and pray fervently and grow in their ability to believe Him for the impossible. And I believe He'll use their story to draw many to His Son.
]]> Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:41:36 PST http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=23220 http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=23157
Steve and I are exhausted, and proud, grandparents this week. We’ve shared everything with the girls: pre-licked orange slices, fistfuls of Cheerios, slobbery kisses, the girls’ colds, and pieces of our hearts. Every time I get down on the floor to play, I think, “What else can I do while I’m down here?” My knees creak and my head throbs from congestion, but I wouldn’t trade this time with these two girls for anything.

]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:32:31 PST http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=23157 http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=22863
He showed me another troublesome spot. "Oh, a 2 goes there." Right again.

Steve thought I was some sort of savant. I never knew I had such a gift. For seven days, I basked in the glory of his admiration.

That ended when we boarded a plane a couple days ago. I tried to work the Sudoku in the flight magazine and after making so many mistakes (in ink) that it became completely unreadable, I realized my gift had disappeared as quickly as it came. It was a fluke. I'm not a Sudoku genius after all.

That really is too bad since I happen to be married to a Rainman type of person. Steve merely has to look at a jumble and his mind sorts it out. On the plane, while I struggled with my Sudoku, he finished a few crosswords, jumbles, and even a Mensa puzzle. Mensa. Now there's no living with him and his enlarged brain.

We read once that these kinds of puzzles help us fight dementia, along with learning a foreign language and ballroom dancing, of all things.  Steve will be well-fortified against senility. Of course, today he can't find his keys. Or his wallet. Or his sunglasses. . . . .]]> Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:30:08 PST http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=22863 http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=22695
Local person: “You take you a right after Boomer Wilson’s store.”

Me: “Where’s that exactly?”

Local:  “Oh, at'll be after the Baptist church."

Me: "Which one?" There are 50 in town.

Local: "You know, out by the barbeque place."

Side note: There are 15 barbeque places, but I do know of one next door to a Baptist church so I don't ask.

Local: "Now don’t you go lookin’ for the name Wilson on the store ‘cause somebody else took it over about 30 year ago. I can’t think of that fella’s name to save my soul.”

Me: "Can you just tell me the name of the street? I’m real good with maps.”

Local: “Don’t know the name. You cain’t miss it though. It’s the road that’ll take you out by Podunkville.”

Side note: Podunkville has a population of 12 and isn’t on any maps.


Like I said, I’m real good with maps. That’s my preferred way of finding places. Trouble is, you have to have an address first. You also need an address if you have a GPS (which we don’t have and are not fans of). Our first time using a GPS was in Colorado last summer. We didn’t have an address, just the name of the town and Panera Bread. The GPS took us to a bread distribution warehouse in a seedy part of town. I kept telling Steve I didn't think a cute cafe would be in that kind of neighborhood.

Thankfully, our friends waited for us. These friends have a great sense of humor. The last time we’d seen them, about three years before, we drove up to their house about 30 minutes after their roof collapsed from the snow. All the neighbors were gathered outside to watch the firemen cordon off the house. Our friends were doubled over, laughing about it.

It helps to have friends like that when you can't find your way.

]]> Sat, 13 Feb 2010 11:27:47 PST http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=22695 http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=22534
These events serve a purpose in distracting us from a winter that feels never-ending. But it's interesting how many of the events are about sports. My hat's off to the athletes. Steve and I live next door to a beautiful park but we haven't been able to even walk in it much due to the snow or, worse yet, the flooding when the snow melts. My exercise these days seems to be confined to watching sports vicariously.

But there's hope. Spring is just around the corner and I can't wait!]]> Tue, 9 Feb 2010 08:00:28 PST http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=22534 http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=22387
The voices of the resistance were heard and they helped usher in a tide of change. Mass sit-ins soon erupted at lunch counters in nearby Charlotte. Within five days, over 1,000 people joined the peaceful demonstration. Two months later, the lunch sit-ins had spread to 54 cities in nine states. Finally, after five months, the first sign of victory came. In July 1960, the first blacks were served lunch at a counter formerly only serving whites.

Five months seems like a long wait for that tuna sandwich and Coke. However, these students had already been waiting five years since Rosa Parks sat on a bus in Alabama in the "whites only" section. And still they were able to affect change and do it peacefully. Amazing.]]> Sat, 6 Feb 2010 17:06:02 PST http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=22387 http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=22114
What I do know is that the point really shouldn't be about global warming. The debate over whether global warming is caused by natural cycles or human beings can obscure the issue. The bottom line is that we need to conserve because, well, why would we want to be wasteful, self-centered users? God gave us all a beautiful world to inhabit, and charged us with the responsibility of keeping it beautiful and making it last.

In the last 100 years or so, since the invention of the horseless carriage, more than half of the known fossil fuel reserves in the world have been depleted. These reserves have been around since the beginning of time, and they will be gone soon (some predict 10-15 years) unless we change our habits.  That should be reason enough for us to want to conserve, but in case it isn't, our reduced energy bills will sweeten the deal.]]> Sun, 31 Jan 2010 11:51:16 PST http://tarynhutchison.authorweblog.com/default.asp?date=new&permid=22114