Cara C. Putman | Remembering to Hope When Life is Hard

Seventy years ago this month, the world celebrated VE day – the end of World War II in Europe. This weekend, we pause to remember Memorial Day. The two events are perfectly tied in my mind. Why? Because I write novels centered on remembering the stories of the Greatest Generation…the generation that fought and won World War II.

75 years ago, the United States was not yet in the war. We were still relying on neutrality to avoid the war. Then on May 26, 1940, the British Army was dealt a devastating blow with the evacuation of the army at Dunkirk. Two days later Belgium surrendered to the Germans. All seemed lost.

Life is often like that, isn’t it?

Something happens and we’re dealt what feels like a mortal blow. Our job is cut. Our car rattles and steams. A loved one is desperately ill.

All seems lost.

That’s why I write inspirational fiction. Because as I’ve walked through life, I’ve experienced ups and downs. The mountaintops have been glorious and the valleys devastating canyons. Yet through it all, I have never walked alone. God has always been by my side, a single prayer away. In the middle of the valleys, I couldn't always talk about it. I didn’t always feel like someone else would understand. But through prayer, my Bible, and fiction – yes, fiction – I was always reminded that I was never truly alone.

How does this tie to Memorial Day and WWII?

That lesson that we are never truly alone is exactly the road many of my heroines walk. In SHADOWED BY GRACE, Rachel Justice believes her only hope is somehow identifying and locating her earthly father in war torn Italy. In reality, God has much more in store for her. Audra Schaeffer believes that all is lost when she searches for her sister in STARS IN THE NIGHT, yet she learns that in the darkest moments God is there. In White Christmas in WHERE TREETOPS GLISTEN, Abigail Turner is convinced that is she opens her heart to love, she will only lose that person. Yet God shows her that’s not truth.

I believe many of us can relate to these fears and beliefs that my heroines have. Yet I believe even more firmly the truth that God will not leave us or forsake us. That He is but a breath away.

And that’s why I write inspirational fiction set during WWII. So we can always remember the Greatest Generation and the truths that their lives and service so vividly illustrate.

Giveaway

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About Cara C. Putman

Cara C. Putman, the award-winning author of 20 books, graduated high school at 16, college at 20, and completed her law degree at 27. FIRST for Women magazine called Shadowed by Grace “captivating” and a “novel with ‘the works.’” It is also a finalist in the Christian Retailing BEST awards and HOLT Medallion. Cara is active at her church and a lecturer on business and employment law to graduate students at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management. Putman also practices law and is a second-generation homeschooling mom. Putman recently received her Master’s in Business Administration at Krannert. She serves on the executive board of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), an organization she has served in various roles since 2007. She lives with her husband and four children in Indiana. You can connect with her online at:

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About SHADOWED BY GRACE

SHADOWED BY GRACE is a dramatic story inspired by the Monuments Men of World War II by acclaimed author Cara C. Putman. Desperate to save her dying mother, Rachel accepts her newspaper’s assignment to travel to Italy to capture images dangerously close to the front lines of WWII. Her real motive – to find the father she never knew -- an artist she hopes can offer the comfort and support both she and her mother need to survive. It’s an unlikely situation for love and faith to flourish, but soon Rachel not only finds herself, but also her long-lost earthly father, and ultimately, the man her Heavenly father created to cherish and provide for her.