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Eva Marie Everson is an award-winning author and speaker.
Her works include both fiction and nonfiction. For more
information, go to www.EvaMarieEverson.com
Says Eva:
I grew up in a Christian home, raised by Christian parents
and grandparents. I can honestly say I can't imagine my life
without my faith because my faith and my life have walked
hand in hand for so long.
That's not to say I did everything right. I struggled with my
sinful nature just like every other human being. Mostly I was
a "good kid" but I had a dark side as well. When I was
sixteen, by some fluke, I graduated from high school and
headed off to study nursing. A couple of years or so later I
was walking down the left aisle of my hometown church, my
hand linked over my father's arm, toward the man of my
dream's.
He was a preacher's son. Educated and smart. Good looking
and funny. He was also a drug addict and a wife beater, but I
wouldn't know that for another month. Once his dark side
was revealed, my life changed drastically. Within a year, I
became no more than his puppet, a child huddled in a
shadowed corner. Hundreds of miles from my family and
childhood friends.
One afternoon I literally heard a voice tell me I had to get out.
And, by the grace of God, I did. I was so angry with God,
though, and for the next several years I lived as I wanted to
live, always running it seemed, so I would not have to hear
God's voice again.
I married again; my husband gifted me with two adorable
children, ages 8 and 2. Six months after our elopement, I was
invited to a small church's revival. I wanted to go, my
husband--an agnostic--did not. But I was insistent and we
went. That night I rededicated my life to the Lord and my
husband dedicated his life. Our lives would forever be
bound--for better for worse--by His grace and mercy.
I worked as a nurse--off and on--for fifteen years. One
afternoon in May 1992 I came home from work and said, "I
don't feel good." I laid down on the sofa...and that was that.
For the next several months I was poked, proded, stuck, and
examined as I daily became weaker, sicker, and thinner.
Finally, in December, a diagnosis was found and, with
treatment, I was able to begin the healing process.
I'd always been a reader but with children (we had three
total), a husband, a job, a home, a cat and a dog, I hardly
had time anymore. With the illness, time came to me. Friends
delivered books they'd read and loved. With each one
completed, an old love of mine--writing--began to resurface.
As the years of healing ticked by, I added writing to my
reading.
The rest, as they say, is history. I was asked to teach a class
in Old Testament theology, which led to my speaking
ministry, which led to my meeting editors and other writers
and authors. It seems to me now that I came home saying, "I
don't feel good" one day and the next (nearly a decade
later!) I was saying, "Hello, my name is Eva Marie Everson"
to an editor. And the next, signing a contract. And the next,
another...and another and another...until I am where I am
today: a wife, mother, grandmother, author and speaker.
This is God's story, really. Not mine. Because, in the end, it's
really not even my life. I yielded that to Him a long time ago
and have allowed Him to live in me. I was, the Bible says,
created in Him and through Him...so this is His. All of it.
Her works include both fiction and nonfiction. For more
information, go to www.EvaMarieEverson.com
Says Eva:
I grew up in a Christian home, raised by Christian parents
and grandparents. I can honestly say I can't imagine my life
without my faith because my faith and my life have walked
hand in hand for so long.
That's not to say I did everything right. I struggled with my
sinful nature just like every other human being. Mostly I was
a "good kid" but I had a dark side as well. When I was
sixteen, by some fluke, I graduated from high school and
headed off to study nursing. A couple of years or so later I
was walking down the left aisle of my hometown church, my
hand linked over my father's arm, toward the man of my
dream's.
He was a preacher's son. Educated and smart. Good looking
and funny. He was also a drug addict and a wife beater, but I
wouldn't know that for another month. Once his dark side
was revealed, my life changed drastically. Within a year, I
became no more than his puppet, a child huddled in a
shadowed corner. Hundreds of miles from my family and
childhood friends.
One afternoon I literally heard a voice tell me I had to get out.
And, by the grace of God, I did. I was so angry with God,
though, and for the next several years I lived as I wanted to
live, always running it seemed, so I would not have to hear
God's voice again.
I married again; my husband gifted me with two adorable
children, ages 8 and 2. Six months after our elopement, I was
invited to a small church's revival. I wanted to go, my
husband--an agnostic--did not. But I was insistent and we
went. That night I rededicated my life to the Lord and my
husband dedicated his life. Our lives would forever be
bound--for better for worse--by His grace and mercy.
I worked as a nurse--off and on--for fifteen years. One
afternoon in May 1992 I came home from work and said, "I
don't feel good." I laid down on the sofa...and that was that.
For the next several months I was poked, proded, stuck, and
examined as I daily became weaker, sicker, and thinner.
Finally, in December, a diagnosis was found and, with
treatment, I was able to begin the healing process.
I'd always been a reader but with children (we had three
total), a husband, a job, a home, a cat and a dog, I hardly
had time anymore. With the illness, time came to me. Friends
delivered books they'd read and loved. With each one
completed, an old love of mine--writing--began to resurface.
As the years of healing ticked by, I added writing to my
reading.
The rest, as they say, is history. I was asked to teach a class
in Old Testament theology, which led to my speaking
ministry, which led to my meeting editors and other writers
and authors. It seems to me now that I came home saying, "I
don't feel good" one day and the next (nearly a decade
later!) I was saying, "Hello, my name is Eva Marie Everson"
to an editor. And the next, signing a contract. And the next,
another...and another and another...until I am where I am
today: a wife, mother, grandmother, author and speaker.
This is God's story, really. Not mine. Because, in the end, it's
really not even my life. I yielded that to Him a long time ago
and have allowed Him to live in me. I was, the Bible says,
created in Him and through Him...so this is His. All of it.
