My Favorite Bible Verses

PLEASE WELCOME

TERRI WANGARD

TO

MY FAVORITE BIBLE VERSE

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:6-7

My fortune cookie read, “You will soon take a cruise to Alaska.”

Wow. Really? Fortune cookies were supposed to tell you to have a great day in some philosophical way.

Months later, I heard a radio announcement on a Christian station about an Alaskan cruise to be led by Chuck Swindoll of Insight for Living. I sent for the brochure, but had already decided to go.

As the date neared, my nerves began to get the better of me. Travel hundreds of miles and spend a week with strangers? Yes, I was familiar with Swindoll, having attended his church in Fullerton, California. Yes, I had gone off to school for a whole school year and survived. Still, butterflies tap danced within me.

I chose a verse to be my call to arms against the jitters.

Do not be anxious. Pray. The peace of God will surround me.

The first of God’s blessings appeared when I arrived at the airport. Among the travelers gathering at my gate were folks from the Fullerton church. Staff members. I marched up to them and asked if they were heading for Alaska. Of course they were. I stuck with them like glue from Ontario (California) to San Francisco to Seattle to Vancouver.

Another young woman was also traveling solo, and we were roommates. Patrice and I enjoyed each other’s company all week.

By the end of the cruise, I was eager to go again. My globe-trotting continued for twenty years. Always, I was plagued with stress. Many times, I recited my mantra from Philippians.

The anxieties are a thorn in my side

that keeps me reaching for my Heavenly Father’s hand.

Have my vacations always gone so well? No. There was an hours-long delay in China that led to a missed flight in Denver. Chaos in the Munich airport the day after a terrorist had been apprehended on a flight. A tumble down stairs at the Sydney Opera House that left me with an achy knee for months.

My international travel days are behind me. Domestic flights offer enough challenges, but through it all, the peace of God reassures me.

ABOUT TERRI WANGARD

Terri Wangard grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, during the Lombardi Glory Years. Her first Girl Scout badge was the Writer. Holder of a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in library science, she is back in Wisconsin after several years in Michigan, Utah, and California. Her WWII research included going for a ride in a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers and serves as the Carol contest coordinator and is secretary of the Wisconsin Southeast ACFW chapter.

Her latest book, Listen For the Chickadees, was published in March by Scrivenings Press. To receive her short story “The Silent Man,” sign up for her newsletter at https://mailchi.mp/1076843c6329/sign-up-for-terris-newsletter or visit

ABOUT LISTEN FOR THE CHICKADEES

December 7, 1941, shatters the illusion that anyone is safe.

Navy nurse Gloria Bloch wakes to the thunder of enemy planes over Pearl Harbor,  certain of only one thing: John Walsh, the boy she has loved since childhood, is far from danger aboard an aircraft carrier. Or so she believes.

When panicked American gunfire brings John down over the harbor, their reunion is brief and breathtaking, forged in chaos neither can escape.

As the Second World War drives the United States into the Pacific conflict, Gloria and John are swept onto separate paths of duty. Gloria serves aboard the hospital ship USS Serenity, tending shattered bodies and wounded souls. John flies combat missions as a Navy fighter pilot and combat photographer, risking everything to document a war that refuses to leave him untouched.

Their paths cross again and again in fleeting moments between air raids and surgeries, courage and fear, longing and loss. With every meeting, the feelings they have buried deepen.

But war demands more than love. It demands sacrifice, tests faith, and steals time without warning.

When separation stretches into silence, Gloria must face the terrifying possibility that hope itself has become another casualty of war.

As war and distance threaten to pull them apart, only the smallest signs remain: a whistle, a painted bird, and a promise worth holding onto.

Listen for the Chickadees is a Christian World War II historical romance set against the backdrop of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy, and the Pacific War. It is a story of steadfast love, quiet faith, and the courage it takes to trust God when tomorrow is uncertain.

Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GLJ34YBT