YOU'RE AMAZING

YOU'RE AMAZING
Friday, February 8, 2019 by JULIE ARDUINI

PLEASE WELCOME

JULIE ARDUINI

FLASH FICTION FRIDAY

EXCERPT FROM YOU’RE AMAZING

A Message for Readers:

This series was inspired by Hannah after a tough transition to junior high. Instead of giving up and becoming bitter, Hannah decided to take the lessons she learned and create a series for girls her age. Julie (Hannah’s mom,) has a passion for mentoring. As she listened to Hannah create characters, Julie realized there was a message in Hannah’s work for women, too.

Each book in the Surrendering Stinkin’ Thinkin’ Series uses the theme of letting go of a lie the characters believed. There will be two key characters in each book. One, a junior high student, and the other, a woman out of school. It’s our desire to see girls of all ages (even grandmas!) read these books and find freedom and hope in them.

Hannah created the storyline, character names and traits, plot points, and conflict. She had the vision for the cover, and directed Julie in the design. Julie wrote out Hannah’s vision and managed the writing and publishing process, staying true to Hannah’s creation. You’re Amazing is a work of fiction, but a message of hope for you.

Dedication

To females of all ages who have been told or who have ever felt they weren’t good enough:

You are amazing!

CHAPTER ONE

Jazmin West

The last of the firetrucks pulls away, and the smell of destroyed dreams fills my lungs. Mom’s hand on my back is the first sensation I’ve had since Miss Elena called with the news.

The dance studio is gone.

Mom reaches for my shoulders and turns me so we’re face to face. “Jazmin, this isn’t the end of your dancing life. This is a terrible setback—nothing more.”

My lip quivers, so I clamp down with my teeth in hopes I can control something, anything. Like my ocean of tears ready to fall.

Miss Elena, Dance Academy founder and my teacher, approaches us. Her usually tight bun is loose, and wavy strands of black hair frame her face. Her brown eyes seem dulled, and not by the smoke. “Sweet Jazmin, it was so kind of you to come and make sure I was okay. There’s nothing we can do here. You should go home.”

“Do the firefighters know what happened?” Mom leaves my side to give my teacher a hug. Miss Elena pauses as a sob escapes and she covers her mouth with her hand for a moment.

Her words are slow to come, probably marked by exhaustion. “Nothing definitive, but the chief mentioned possible faulty wiring.”

I kick at a pebble on the sidewalk before looking to Miss Elena. “What happens now?”

She stretches her hand toward me, cupping my cheek. “We rebuild.”

Three Months Later

Bethany Tuttle jumps in front of me, displaying an exaggerated jazz hands move. “Will you gesture like this at the end of your dance today?” She shuffles beside me and together we walk down Center Street Middle School’s eighth-grade halls.

I roll my eyes. “As if. I don’t know how this new studio will be, but Miss Elena would never allow such a thing.”

Bethany stops in front of Miss Wayson’s class. “What a shame. Doesn’t sound like fun at all. If Hayley and I don’t see you, have fun at the new dance place. Don’t forget we have Linked tomorrow.” She disappears into class and I can hear the teacher, Sabrina Wayson, who is also one of our mentors at our church mentoring ministry.

I sigh, trekking forward to math class two doors down. “Linked. Right. I almost forgot.” Because my focus has been on not freaking out about the different dance location. New teacher. Miss Elena still working on plans to rebuild and encouraging me to move forward instead of waiting.

Mr. Wexell greets me as soon as I enter the room. “Good morning, Jazmin. Do you mind changing the calendar to September? I forgot to do it with the long weekend.”

I nod, flipping the page over. I hate change.

Julie Arduini loves to encourage readers to find freedom in Christ by surrendering the good, the bad, and ---maybe one day---the chocolate. She’s the author of the contemporary romance series SURRENDERING TIME, (Entrusted, Entangled, Engaged.) She also shares her story in the infertility devotional, A WALK IN THE VALLEY. Her latest release, YOU’RE AMAZING, is a book for girls ages 10-100, written with her teenaged daughter, Hannah, and is book 2 in their SURRENDERING STINKIN’ THINKIN’ series. She blogs every other Wednesday for, as well as monthly. She resides in Ohio with her husband and two children. Learn more by visiting her at one of the links below, where she invites readers to subscribe to her monthly newsletter full of resources and giveaway opportunities.

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