. . . putting the fun back into writing!

By guest blogger Ja’Nese Dixon

I was raised in Oklahoma. Snow came every winter like clockwork and it was a normal part of my childhood. My children have lived in Texas their entire lives. Snow is nearly foreign to them. However, one year about five or six years ago snow fell in Austin. My daughter had to be around three or so, but she remember that day as if it was yesterday.

My husband would always tease her, saying “Kierra, you don’t really remember that day, you were too young.”

She stood her ground. “I remember, I really do,” she would say.

“How?” My husband would challenge.

Kierra would stop and tap her index finger on her chin. She would begin to tell us about how we carried her outside. And we took our fingers and drew on the car. Making sketches in the snow. She remembered trying to pick it up and taste it and my chiding her. Telling her it was “nasty, nasty”, in her best mommy voice.

She remembered!

We’d talked about that day before, but not with such detail.

This past winter she decided she wanted to see it snow again. I sat her down on the couch and looked her square in the eyes and I told her calmly, “now remember, we live in Houston and snow is not a regular occurrence.”

She responded with confidence, “I know momma, but don’t you think it would be nice to see snow again,” her face full of hope.

“Sure,” I said. I left it alone; however, I didn’t want to see her disappointed.

Kierra began to pray and claiming it. She shared with us all that she knew it would snow. I would nod, in a noncommittal manner. Less than a month later, I stood in my living room watching my kids and husband run around our backyard in a snowball fight. It snowed, in Houston!

As the flakes began to fall, her eyes danced like a million stars. She could not contain herself. She was fidgety and restless until I said, “all right, all right, you can go play in the snow.”

I watched as they bundled up, because it was cold. The put on two pairs of pants, a t-shirt, and a sweatshirt. They put on gloves and a hat. They even put on goggles, for god knows what.

I watched my family play in snow and it made me think about faith. And the ability to believe what others fail to believe or even conceive. My baby taught me that unlikely things happen every day. We can chose to believe or miss an opportunity to give thanks that we are not in control and He is.

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JA’NESE DIXON writes fiction novels for readers yearning to escape and disappear into a good book. Ja’Nese’s debut novel, Black Diamond, was released in June 2010. She resides in Houston, Texas, with her husband and their two children. For more information visit www.janesedixon.com.

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Black Diamond by Ja’Nese Dixon Virtual Book Tour is organized by Nia Promotions, a marketing company that assists authors and publishers with using web-marketing strategy to market and promote books on the internet. Follow Ja’Nese’s tour at http://www.niapromotions.com/events/black-diamond-janese-dixon.