Truly, I’m Thankful – Pat Garcia

FOR LO, THE WINTER IS PAST, THE RAIN IS OVER AND GONE By PAT GARCIA @pat_garcia @patgarcia.bsky.social

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I’m going to be honest with you, this year has been the bomb. From sickness to the deaths in family, to writing interruptions, because of the traumatic situations, this 2025 passage was extremely dark and rough. I kept waiting for another shoe to drop, and it always did, and they kept coming in bits and pieces. This threw me into a process of learning how to deal with the tragedies occurring in my life.

The first thing I learned is that you don’t control trauma. There is no way to run from it or to beat it over the head and be victorious over it without having faith in someone who is bigger than yourself. In my case, that someone was and still is God.

Thinking that the tide was over, on the Second Christmas Day, December 26, I received a phone call informing me that my nephew had been killed on Christmas Day. I thought to myself if anyone had told me at the beginning of 2025, I would receive notices of five deaths sprinkled out over 2025, that would pinch me in my heart, I wouldn’t have believed them. But it happened, and I am thankful that I was able to work through it and keep slowly moving forward.

As traumatic as things were in my 2025, I am thankful that gratitude permeates my life. It is now January 1, 2026, and I woke up this morning thankful to see a New Year and no snow in the area where I live. The sun is even showing itself every now and then. 🙂 I’m thankful to have that first cup of coffee, to hear my voice as I sang the first song that rose up in my heart, and to look out of my patio windows and see squirrels climbing in my trees and birds flying low between the green leaves.

Now that I have taken my first steps into 2026, let me say that I hope all my readers and friends crossed into 2026 and are looking forward to a great year.

Getting back to the title of my New Year’s article, One of my favorite passages in the Bible is the title of this blog article:

My Beloved spoke, and said to me,

Rise up, my love, my fair one,

And come away.

For lo, the winter is past,

The rain is over and gone.

(Song of Solomon 2:10-12, NKJV)

Let us hope that this is so in our individual passages in 2026.

Take care.

Shalom shalom

A STRANGE ENCOUNTER CHANGES TWO PEOPLE FOREVER By Pat Garcia @pat_garcia patgarcia.bsky.social @rrbc-0rg.bsky.social #women’sfiction #romancereader #writingjourney #amwriting #contemooraryromance #MFRWBookHooks

Hello, Everyone,

Since I have returned, I have been having problems with my Mac. I hope everything goes well so that I am able to visit all our blogs on Wednesday.

Today, I am presenting another snippet of A STRANGE ENCOUNTER CHANGES TWO PEOPLE FOREVER.

Have a lovely day.

Shalom shalom

Pat Garcia

https://patgarciaauthor.com/?p=9320

TRULY, I AM THANKFUL By Pat Garcia @patgarcia.bsky.social #Women’sFiction #Romancereader @The IWSG #writingjourney @amwriting @rrbc-org.bsky.social @4rwisawriters.bsky.social #Bloghop @pat_garcia

1 / 6

AS I LOOK BACK

I woke up this morning and looked at the frost covering my window to the sky. Yes, it was and still is cold, but I slept in a warm bed. Sleeping in a warm bed is one of the simple things in life that stirs up gratitude in my heart. It helps me realize that I live, breathe, and get everything I need from somebody much bigger than I, as Paul states in Acts, Chapter 17, verse 24, New International Version (NIV).

Over 2024, I sometimes forgot Him. Due to various problems that confronted me, I saw these problems as impossible to solve. My vision had to be corrected so that I could see Him working in my life for my good. He showed me what I didn’t see.

My faith is what keeps me walking out my journey. I trust in God who has given me purpose, even when I sometimes don’t understand what He’s doing. He’s always working all things out for my good.

As I look back over this year, I thank all of you who have read my short stories, especially my latest, THE POWER OF TOUCH. Thank you for your reviews and, most of all, for being readers who appreciate multicultural stories that present the different perspectives of living among the varied cultures we have in the world.

Truly, I am thankful.

Have a safe crossover into 2025, be safe, and rejoice because life is worth living.

Shalom shalom,

Pat Garcia

Truly, I Am Thankful @pat_garcia

This week has started out with surprises. I woke up Monday morning lying in bed, talking to God; my mobile rang. It was my sister and her husband from Tennessee. To say it was nice hearing their voices at 6:45 in the morning is an understatement. Their phone call showered me with love, and I lay there thanking God for my family. As we were talking, my doorbell rang.

Who could be ringing my doorbell at 6:55 in the morning?

I thought I was hearing things. When I ended my call, the doorbell rang again. I jumped out of my bed to run down the stairs to see who it was, and a man was standing before my door with work clothes on.

The first thing I did was to calm down because I was sure he had the wrong house.

When I tipped my door open, I said, “Yes, may I help you?”

“We’ve come to repair the damage in your basement,” he answered.

I didn’t roll my eyes or ask him if he knew what time it was or say I didn’t know they were coming and that no one had notified me. I just told him to wait a minute, and I would go downstairs and let them in.

Then I ran upstairs thinking, “God, you sure know how to surprise me.

This was God’s gift and way of showing me He’s got humor.

So, I quickly dressed and canceled breakfast with a dear friend I treasured very much. I went downstairs to let the men in my basement so they could repair my office.

Some of you know that my office is in my basement. I have been out of it since May 2nd of this year because of the floods we had in my area. I had fallen into deep despair because my office is where I write. The world that I’ve built for the characters I write for is in my office, and I love it.

I will be able to move back into it over the weekend. To say that I am thankful is again an understatement, so I’ll say that God is good, and my heart is filled with gratitude to see a new year. Without God, I am nothing.

Many thanks to all of you who reached out to me on the first day of my new year. All of you are so amazing, and I will do my best as a writer, or whatever else I am called to be, to be true to the One who knows all and is overall and created all and to keep finding God’s life for my will. To God be the glory, Amen.

Shalom shalom

Pat Garcia

TRULY, I AM THANKFUL @pat_garcia @RRBC_ORG @RWISA_RRBC @TheIWSG #Writingjourney #RomanceReader @amwriting @Tweets4RWISA

Cover by Olga Godim

I woke up this morning with expectancy. Usually, I only look at my iPhone to see the messages and emails I receive after eleven, but this morning was particular, and I did. I have taken a small step in my writing and publishing career. My first paperback, THE POWER OF TOUCH, came out as a paperback and is on Amazon Worldwide.

I read the announcement I received from Amazon, telling me it was up, and I wept tears of joy and spoke soft words of thankfulness. No one knows how difficult it was for me to overcome the fears within me except those close to me and the ONE who watches over me night and day.

I am indeed genuinely thankful.

Shalom shalom

Pat Garcia

TRULY, I AM THANKFUL @pat_garcia @RRBC_ORG #amwriting #reading #thankfulness

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1Thessalonians 5:17, English Standard Version

I am in a dilemma at the moment. Things are happening around me that I don’t understand. It could be that I am just coming off of a 30-Day Blogging Challenge with the Rave Reviews Book Club, and I have become sensitive, or I am tired.

It is at times when I have gone beyond my energy supply and I am running on reserved strength that gratitude is not an easy path for me to walk. It means taking my anger, frustration, disappointment, annoyance, or whatever I might be feeling and taking a stroll down memory lane to look at some of the good things I have experienced, like the successful completion of the RRBC 30-Day Blogging Challenge. Or it might be just peering at my garden and noticing that Daniel and Joshua, my cherry trees, have blossomed since yesterday.

I cannot stop the things that bring upheaval into my life. Most of the time, such incidents catch me on my blindside. But I can choose how I react to them. The choice is always mine. I have learned that this is how I reinforce my vision. As one of my favorite mentors, Viktor Frankel, said in Man In Search Of Meaning, at the beginning of his book, “detachment is granted to the outsider, but he is too far removed to make any statements of real value. (Frankel was writing about his time in the concentration camp.) Only the man inside knows. His judgments may not be objective; his evaluations may be out of proportion. This is inevitable. But an attempt must be made to avoid any personal bias.”

Therefore, the strength within me gives me the willpower to detach myself from my emotions and see anything coming at me differently. Thus, as I beheld Daniel and Joshua, my sentiments slowly turned to a deep sense of thankfulness, and my heart was amazed again at God’s faithfulness to me. Truly, I am thankful.

Shalom shalom,

Pat Garcia

Truly, I AM THANKFUL, JANUARY 5,2024, @pat_garcia, #amwriting, #RRBC, @RRBC_ORG, #RRBC_RWISA, #writingcommunity, #writingjourney, @tweets4RWISA

I woke up on this side of life this morning, still walking out my story. This side of life makes me aware that I’m still breathing. Looking out the window built into my roof, I saw rain.

After getting cleaned up and dressed, I gazed out the window again; I saw sunshine. The weather had changed quickly in three-quarters of an hour, and I could perceive this change. I lifted my head toward Heaven and said Thank you!

I was in my right mind. I could think; I wasn’t walking around with a wild look in my eyes. I knew where I was and what I was doing, and I could comprehend and contemplate.

My awareness of my surroundings made me look out of my glassed-in patio doors as I read my Bible, and I smiled and thanked God for His faithfulness to me, one of the sheep of His pasture.

Oh, the joy it brings my heart to say I am in my RIGHT MIND. Yes, and for that, I am truly thankful.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Shalom shalom,

Pat Garcia

TRULY, I’M THANKFUL, October 23, 2023, @pat_garcia @RRBC_ORG #RWISA #RRBC_Community @RRBC_RWISA #WritingCommunity @TheIWSG #RomanceReader #bloggers

I woke up this morning, lay in my bed, and counted the movements of my lungs. I had to smile because, for many, that is foolishness, a waste of time. I call it awareness.

Turned over and left my bed without needing someone to help me, showered, chose what I wanted to wear and dressed, and then went downstairs.

Had what I wanted to eat for breakfast and began planning the tasks I needed to do before they became urgent, and pushed me into a stressful mode that would make my week difficult and me angry.

Yes, my calendar is full. However, a full calendar shows me the necessity of putting God first-–to show gratitude if I want to see any progress in my tasks. Whether cooking, writing, reading a chapter in a good book, listening to good music, or paying attention to what is happening around me and reaching out to help, taking the time to meditate first is necessary for me. It’s my time to look toward Heaven, regardless of whether it is night or day, and to tell God I am truly thankful.

Have a lovely week, and take care.

Shalom shalom

Pat Garcia

TRULY, I’M THANKFUL By Pat Garcia @pat_garcia @RRBC_Org @RRBC_RWISA #WritingCommunity @TheIWSG #RomanceReaders #bloggers

Turned over in bed this morning and noticed the sun had not yet risen. It reminded me that the earth is rotating slowly as it prepares my part of the world for the engulfing winter months ahead. Autumn is here; the more we move out of it, the cooler it gets. The temperature in my bedroom made me aware that winter patiently stood at the door, waiting to enter, and I covered my head and snoozed for fifteen minutes before I got up.

The seasons of the year we humans cannot change, and I’m happy about that. Our man-controlled abusive interference with nature is limited to manipulating the time so that we gain an hour in summer, and the day is longer, but we get that hour back in winter, making the days long, dark, and sometimes dreary.

The environment is a mystery. Its wonders are secrets hidden in the pockets of the Heavens. This morning, I had the opportunity to snooze for fifteen minutes and then the pleasure of seeing the Heavens light up and unfold as the sun rose, and for that, I Am Thankful.

Have a lovely week, everyone!

Shalom shalom

Truly, I’m Thankful @pat_garcia pat_garcia@mastodon.social @RRBC_Org @RRBC_RWISA

Hello, Everyone,

It doesn’t seem like seven years, but it is—many thanks to the administrative team at RRBC and the entire RRBC Organization for your support. It is much appreciated.

Shalom shalom

Pat Garcia

Exit mobile version

%%footer%%