Half a dozen years ago when I began to write my memoirs in the form of narrative essays, I'd not realized how my early childhood experiences actually had shaped my eventual life's journey. In writing my story, "Daddy and Raggedy Ann," which appears in this new book about the home front, I became increasingly aware that even fleeting encounters...half an hour at a sick child's bedside, for example...can have everlasting repercussions.
This Veteran's Day I'll be thinking of my father, Albert George Burgess, and how he tap danced his way into my little girl's heart and across the South Pacific during World War II.
This book now is available from Amazon.com.
FIGHTING FEAR: WINNING THE WAR AT HOME
When Your Soldier Leaves for Battle
GREENVILLE, South Carolina – November 11, 2011 – When soldiers go off to war, they leave behind family and friends who are fearful for their safety. Kurt Hartley, Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran and now Baptist minister, says, “I can still remember the anxiety and fear that rushed through our family during my deployment.” Those left behind have their own battles to fight after those gut-wrenching goodbyes, but where do they go for help? Edie Melson’s newest book, Fighting Fear: Winning the War at Home When Your Soldier Leaves for Battle, addresses these concerns. This devotional is not just for military families, but also for anyone who knows a soldier or veteran. “As a combat veteran and now minister,” Hartley says, “I was captivated by the premise of this book.”
Author Edie Melson says, “I remember our son’s first deployment, especially what it was like to say goodbye to my oldest son as he left for Iraq. Throughout the last couple of days, I couldn’t help but wonder, “Was this the last time I’d eat supper with him? The last picture I’d have of him? The last time I’d ever see him smile?”
Melson has collected encouraging stories from people who have sent loved ones off to war, from WWII to the current Afghanistan conflict. They share their stories of how they’ve dealt with the fear. Interspersed are devotions written by Melson that strengthen and enlighten the reader. She begins by sharing what it was like watching her son get ready for his first deployment and compares that to putting on the full armor of God. Cecil Stokes, award winning producer says, “Sometimes I forgot if Melson was talking about the physical war we are fighting or the spiritual one. This book folds between the two effortlessly.” Jeff Strueker, a Black Hawk Down Veteran says, “Melson gives readers a rare glimpse into the raw, intense emotions that military families go through when warriors are away serving our nation.”
Hartley says, “Many days, I prayed that the Spirit would comfort my wife, children, mother, and friends, as I walked ‘through the valley of the shadow of death.’ I was confident in my training, but never found the right truth from God’s Word to comfort those who were praying for me...Until now. Fighting Fear: Winning the War at Home is just the kind of tool that the Spirit can use to comfort those who are batting to stay strong during their own time of adversity.”
Deborah Raney, author of the Hanover Falls novels and A Vow to Cherish, says, “This book...helped me understand the emotions my brother and sister-in-law were experiencing when my Marine nephew left for Iraq. What a great resource this book would have been for all of our extended family.”
As former missionary to Russia and award-winning writer Susan May Warren says, “The essential weapon of faith for the families of soldiers fighting the war at home. Edie Melson writes with the compassion, depth and poignancy to make this devotional a fixture on the bedside stand of anyone whose loved one is deployed. Deeply touching, empowering and healing, it guides readers to the Hand that will hold and strengthen them during this challenging season.”
Fighting Fear: Winning the War at Home will be released by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas on Veterans Day, Friday, November 11, 2011. It will be available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble online, as well as in local books stores.
Edie and her publisher are also excited to announce that a portion of the proceeds from every book sold will be donated to the troops, through Blue Star Mothers of America.
Edie Melson is a prolific writer, publishing over 700 articles in 2010, and the author of the bestselling eBook, Social Marketing for Writers. Her heart to help others define and reach their dreams has connected her with writers all over the country. She’s the co-director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference and Southwest Christian Writers Studio, in addition to serving as a popular faculty member at numerous others.
For more information visit: www.WinningTheWarAtHome.com
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