Friends, the release of my contemporary Christian novel, When the Ice Melts, is only three weeks away!  So, to celebrate, I’m doing something a little different:  today’s blog is based not on an encounter I’ve had in nature, but on an event that takes place within the pages of my book!  I’m joining an excerpt from the story with a reflection on the truth it reveals—and how it impacts our lives.  Read on for this special release!

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Maybe I’m not the same, but it sure is.  

Addisyn stood for a moment at the mouth of the Whistler Village.  The sight that met her eyes was identical to her memories.  For all the difference she noticed, her last visit could have been two days ago, not two years.  

The snowcapped mountains still sparkled in the sun, still ringed the town like a circle of heavenly guardians.  The village was as picture-perfect and inviting as ever, nestled in the heart of the peaks like a priceless jewel.  And overhead still arched the unfathomable crystal of the British Columbia sky. 

Yes, this had been a good destination.  Whistler had always had a special magic for her, but right now, it felt more inviting than ever.  It was her sanctuary, where she could be safe from the ghosts that lurked in her past and the real, live threats in her present.  Like Brian.   

The thought of her tenuous situation doubled her doubts about what had seemed like a great plan.  She’d been resolute as her flight raced sunset across America, but when she first stepped off the airplane in Vancouver, she’d felt a sudden lurch—as though an earthquake had tilted her world.  The two-hour bus ride to Whistler had only given her worries more time to incubate.  

Part of her argued that this wasn’t practical, that nobody just left their entire life and took off to a small town in another country on the other side of the continent.  But the other part of her insisted that it was her only option—her last chance to grab hold of the final vestiges of who she’d been, try to examine the shattered slivers of her life and decide what was salvageable and what was only fit for the garbage.

Stop!  Addisyn shook her head roughly.  She was too tired tonight, too frazzled by all that had been happening to think clearly.  Who said she had to make plans tonight, or tomorrow, or even next week?  She’d just spend some time here, try to feel what her next move should be.  Try to gain a respite from those demons at her heels.  Try to remember who she had been—before the spotlight.

A blast of cooler air snatched her attention back to her current situation.  The shadows had stretched themselves across the valley, and the air was thick with dusk.  She needed a hotel before she was stranded on the streets of a Canadian border town during a frigid night.  

The irony brought a small, twisted smile to her lips.  The week before, she’d been one of America’s finest figure skating stars, leaping for the moon and tolerably certain of reaching it.  She’d spent her days training in professional accommodations and her nights relaxing in one of the poshest townhouses in New York City.  Now, she was a nobody, an abandoned young woman dressed like a tramp, beating the bushes for the cheapest hotel. 

But she was also free.

Fingers clumsy from the cold, she pulled out her smartphone and began searching.  In a few minutes, she found the Gold Aspen Lodge for $46 a night.  That was probably the cheapest she’d find.  She sighed and rubbed her exhausted eyes.  

The Gold Aspen Lodge was surprisingly difficult to locate, but after what felt like miles of wandering and more than a few wrong turns, Addisyn noticed its sign swinging in the breeze.  Within minutes, she was in Room 312.  It was actually much nicer than she’d expected, with a big window overlooking the Village, a thick green carpet on the floor, and a few other plain but solid wood furnishings.  The twin bed was draped with a red plaid quilt that made the room feel almost homelike.  Which was good, because this was home, at least for a while.  

Kicking off her boots, Addisyn flopped back on the bed and stared at an Africa-shaped stain on the ceiling.  In the fire of her rashness, she’d had no reservations, no qualms.  She’d thrown her things—most of them—into the bags she now carried.  She’d left a perfunctory note for Brian on the back of the couch—of course, he wouldn’t be home for another day or two.  Her sense of betrayal and search for escape had swept her along in an unconquerable tide.  She’d bristled with righteous anger until it was too late to change her mind.

Now she was starting to collapse emotionally.  She could feel it.  The exhaustion dragged at her body and spirit as doubts hissed at her.  Was it really wise to just leave like that?  Throw herself into a strange environment?   

Come on, Addisyn.  This was no way to start a new beginning!  Addisyn sat up on the bed, crossing her legs and staring out the window.  Even in the indigo February night, Whistler Mountain was still visible, the snow on its knobby slopes making it look almost otherworldly under a few perfect stars.  Yes, there was no doubt Whistler was a special place—a very special place.  She’d made the right choice.  

Now if only her heart would agree.

Addisyn lay back down and drew her knees to her chest—a position she’d found comforting ever since she was a small child, when she’d curl up like this to shelter her soul while her dad raged downstairs.  She tried to focus on the mountain, tried to buoy her spirits.  For the first time—maybe more so than when she’d held the world in her hands—there truly was nothing holding her back.  She was free—free to do whatever she liked, to take as much time as possible figuring things out, to be gentle and kind to herself.  But somehow the prospect was no longer invigorating—it now sounded frightening, lonely, even exhausting.  

Because the dream that had carried her on its rising crest was over. And without her dream—what was left?

That was what she’d come to Whistler to find out.

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That’s one of the pivotal scenes in my book—when the main character, Addisyn Miles, embarks on a whole new adventure.  And throughout this scene, it’s not hard to see her motivation for doing so.  Things have shattered in her life (more on that in the book!), and her response is a simple strategy—escape.  She’s running away from her failures, convinced that she can leave her problems—and her past—behind.  

As I wrote this scene, it was heartbreakingly familiar to me. And maybe it is to you as well. Sure, our ideal destination may not be a Canadian mountain town, but we all at times have longed to escape.  Surrounded by stress and suffering, anxiety or anger, fear or failure, we can begin to see running away as the only solution.  Even the Psalmist echoed this sentiment:  “Oh, that I had wings as a dove! I would fly away and be at rest” (Psalm 55:6 ESV).

And maybe we don’t catch a flight across the continent, but we can end up running in more subtle ways. We flee to a forbidden relationship, or a soothing substance, or an unhealthy habit.  Perhaps we seek our escape by burying ourselves in work or insulating our heart with achievements or bypassing the bar of expectations.  We might even flee within ourselves, hiding our heart and tucking away our pain.  But no matter how we choose to run, we’ll ultimately come to a realization:  we can’t run far enough.

I don’t want to give away the story by sharing more details about Addisyn’s time in Whistler. But suffice it to say that during her adventures there, she eventually learns that she can’t run—not from her problems, and not from herself.  The broken pieces of her soul that originally caused her pain can’t be repaired by running, and they’ll cling to her no matter where she seeks to hide.  

 And that’s the lesson we’ll learn as well.  We can run for days or years or decades.  We can depart for destinations near and far.  But in the end, we’ll find what Addisyn did: that running only leads us deeper into the thicket of nowhere.  It’s not until we stop and admit that we’re lost that we can ever be truly found. 

I’ve run before, and I’m sure maybe you have too.  And so today, I want to leave you with some reassurance, the Psalmist’s words again: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your Presence?” (Psalm 139:7 NKJV)

A sign in a garden near my home says, “There is no spot where God is not.”  And that’s the greatest comfort we can have today.  God knows where you are, and even more importantly, He knows why you want to escape.  No trouble or tear has evaded His notice. So let’s choose something different today. Instead of running from our problems and becoming more lost, let’s turn to God and finally be found.

Friend, I hope you enjoyed this special release today! It was so much fun sharing from this story, and I can’t wait for you to read Addisyn’s journey for yourself.  When the Ice Melts will be available on Amazon and on my website on June 21!  I’ll be sending out one final excerpt between now and then, so stay tuned!