Midnight Sun, Part 2: More Than Just an Obsession

       So, I teased you last time by saying I’d tell you my favorite part – and here it is! My favorite part… the point in the story that almost made me cry, it gave me such joy… was on page 613. And I quote, “And then I did something I hadn’t done in a century. Curled there in a ball on the floor, motionless with agony… I prayed.”
     I KNOW, that’s probably the most “nerdy Christian” thing I could say ><. Out of all the scrumptious drama that fills this novel, that’s what I love most?! But let me explain why.
       I love Edward. I care about him as a character and I don’t like to see him truly suffer. And coming from someone who at other points in the original books thinks his soul has already been lost, those last two words tell me something we all want to hear from our friends when they are hurting – that he hasn’t entirely given up hope.
         Like so many of us, he prays for the wrong things ><. He prays for what he thinks he needs, not for God to do what He has planned. He can’t comprehend a future filled with happiness, so he prays only for the next best thing. But he prays. Whether or not he truly believes, whether or not he “does it right”… he admits he can’t do this alone. He seeks aid from the only higher power he knows of, the only one capable of answering his prayers. And it was in that moment of admitting his own weakness that I saw a glimmer of hope. If he could believe, if he could trust in a plan that he can’t see or understand… well, that’s the point where God steps in, and miracles occur :-).
         Of course, we all know that everything worked out for him and Bella eventually. But perhaps this explains a little of what we see in New Moon, when Bella gets him to admit that he does hope for something more beyond immortality (i.e., when he whispers, “Carlisle was right,” in the moment that he thinks he’s died), and when he FINALLY realizes that being with Bella is where he’s supposed to be (because being anywhere else nearly gets them both killed). But it was beautiful to see that beginning moment, during his darkest hour, when hope first began.
      I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that. Action and adventure can get old. Even love stories sometimes start to sound the same. But the miracle of hope – the realization that there is something more, that there must be something more, because we are not enough… eventually leading to the realization that it’s not really even about us, we are merely pieces of the puzzle, players on the stage… and the single best thing we can do is to accept what we are given, and trust that all will be as it was meant to be… that’s the kind of story I always love to read. Because that’s the kind of happy ending we can take with us when we finish the book, and apply it to our own lives. And that’s what I’ll be striving to write. Those magic moments, those little wonders, those twists and turns of fate (to paraphrase a song by Rob Thomas); as an author and a reader, that’s what I live for ;-). Look for moments of hope in all my books – I promise you, they’ll be there!
          What do you think?  Share your thoughts in the comments section!
          Until the next time, keep reading!
P.S. – If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends!  Here’s a link:
​www.lynnwallaceauthor.com/blog-on-books-and-writing/midnight-sun-part-2-more-than-just-an-obsession
P.P.S. – Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook/ Twitter/ Instagram, and sign up for my email list!