This afternoon I put up 8 quarts of spaghetti sauce, 3 quarts of pumpkin puree and put 3 quarts of shredded zucchini into the freezer. There's a cheesy zucchini bake in one oven and caesar chicken thighs in the other. The dishes have all been washed and put away. 

This morning my mom and I picked the remaining tomatoes -- about 5 pounds -- the spaghetti squash, and more than a dozen pumpkins. Then we pulled up all the plants and cleaned out the garden. After that, we rearranged the Junk Creek room. 

Somewhere in there Scott and I closed up the tent trailer and winterized all the camping gear. 

I'm not telling you this so that you'll be impressed or call me Super Woman. I assure you I am not she. I tell you this because it means I'm feeling normal again.


Just a few weeks ago, I could barely drag myself out of bed. I could hardly face the day. Anxiety. Headaches. Exhaustion. Malaise. Racing heart. Crying for no reason. A trip to the clinic for ridiculously high blood pressure. Adrenal fatigue had gotten the best of me. 


But, God is good. He is faithful. He gives us abundantly, exceedingly more than we can imagine. He is healer. 


A few months ago, stuck in that well-known chair, I dreamed of all the things I would do when my abilities were restored. I imagined all the fun I'd have with my kids when I could walk again without pain. And for a few weeks, those dreams were reality. I thought my journey through "the valley of the shadow of death" had come to an end and I was once again on the mountain top. 

I was wrong. My journey took me deeper into that lonely valley of pain. That valley where you think, "Surely, this is the end. There is no coming out of this darkness." 


I'd thought my broken leg was the struggle. I had no idea it was the preparation. God used that injury to teach me to trust my limits, to seek rest, and to look for Him. The darkest days were still ahead. I had no idea. 

Is my journey through the valley over? I have no idea. I may have simply found a meadow of flowers in which to romp for a time. I could walk through a cavernous darkness again before I emerge on the other side. Or the shadows of this trial could be behind me forever. I don't know and I'm not sure it matters. Because He's with me. Even when I don't realize it. Even in the darkest of dark. And even today in the bright light of restoration. He is here. Today we are dancing together. Tomorrow I may be in His arms, unable to walk another step. But it's for His glory and my good. Lead on, Lord. I will follow. 

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.Ephesians 3:20

I have long been a fan of Tosca Lee's books. It all started when a dear friend sent Lee's "Havah" to me. I devoured the story of Eve quicker than Eve ate the forbidden fruit. I gorged myself on every detail, digesting this well-known story, washing it down with new insight. If you read my review yesterday of Lee's newest book, "Legend of Sheba: Rise of a Queen," you know that it did not disappoint. Not in the slightest. 

One thing that I love about Lee--besides that she and I both attended Oxford though at different times-- is that she not only weaves historical fact and biblical truth into her stories but she also provides formidable research at the back of each book. That recounting of facts and revealing of research is nearly as delicious as the tale itself.

Here's what she says about her research and the tale of Sheba:

• You are known for your meticulous research. How did researching Legend of Sheba differ from your other books?
  
  

After a year and a half of hard research for Iscariot, I thought research for Sheba would be much easier. Not so! It is much harder to fill in the historical record of 1000 years earlier than the time of Christ due to the dearth of archaeological progress in history-rich and troubled Yemen, natural phenomena such as the encroaching sands of the desert, and a lack of historical records recording any queen in the Southern Arabian region.

• What do we actually know about the Queen of Sheba?
  
  

We know something about the Sabaean (the Israelite Sheba = ancient Arabian Saba) people: that they had a capital in Marib, a sovereign “federator” who united the kingdoms of Saba, an elegant and evolving script, a sophisticated dam near the capital that turned Marib’s dusty fields into oases, and that there is great evidence of Sabaean settlement in the area of Ethiopia near what would become Aksum. We know the Sabaeans of the 10th Century BC worshipped the moon god, Almaqah, though experts do not agree whether this was a male or female deity. We know that in terms of the ancient world, they were quite rich due in large part to their cultivation of frankincense in the southeastern region, and that they had an extensive and evolving trade network that extended as far north as Damascus, as far east as India, and as far west across the Red Sea as Ethiopia and the continent beyond.

• What do we actually know about King Solomon—I understand that the academic opinion varies quite a lot from the biblical account.
  
  

Again, we know more about the region, people, language, culture and ethnic history of the Israelites than anything, archaeologically-speaking, of the king himself. It would be such a help if something were unearthed from the City of David or the Temple Mount that could be linked to Solomon’s temple or directly to Solomon himself! There was an item—a small ivory pomegranate that was once thought to top the scepter of a priest of this time period, with an inscription indicating so… but this was later ruled to be a forgery, though the carved pomegranate did date to the correct (early to mid-900s BC) time period. I say more about this question in the Author’s Notes of Legend of Sheba.

• The queen is a very minor character in the scope of the biblical narrative, but you assert that her famous visit to King Solomon is vitally important in the scope of Old Testament history. Why?
  
  

For two reasons. If the story of the United Monarchy (the kingdom of David and his son/successor, Solomon) is not true, then the bedrock of three major world religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) collapses into fiction, and the claim of Jews to the land of Israel with it. Perhaps the authors of 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles knew that, because they took the opportunity to basically say, “Hey, this queen from the ends of the earth, that famous Queen of Sheba, came and brought tribute to our king, and blessed him and our god and said ‘All that I heard was true, and I never even heard the half of it!’” This is fascinating. It begs the question: what was it that was so great about this female sovereign—in a time when the world was ruled by men—and a pagan, no less… what was it about her that was so outstanding that her endorsement of Solomon, his riches, wisdom, and god, held so much weight as to be included in the Old Testament narrative? Who was this woman who matched wits with the wisest man in the world—whose throne was so secure that she could leave it and make the 1400 mile journey of half a year to visit this king… before making the long trek back? Well, this must be a woman worth knowing something about.

• I understand you created a special bonus for your readers with Legend of Sheba. Can you tell us more about that?
  
  

Ismeni—a free eBook short story prequel to The Legend of Sheba—will be available August 26. This is the story of Sheba’s mother, and sheds some light on the man who would become the queen of Sheba’s right-hand councilor. It’s about 34 pages long, and also includes a preview of the Prologue and first chapter of The Legend of Sheba.

About Tosca Lee

“One of the most gifted novelists writing today.”
—Steven James, best-selling author.

Tosca Lee is the award-winning, New York Times best-selling author of Iscariot; Demon: A Memoir; Havah: The Story of Eve, and the Books of Mortals series with New York Times best-seller Ted Dekker (Forbidden, Mortal and Sovereign). Her highly anticipated seventh novel, The Legend of Sheba, releases September 9, 2014.

Tosca received her B.A. in English and International Relations from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts with studies at Oxford University. She is a lifelong world adventure traveler and makes her home in the Midwest. To learn more about Tosca, visit www.toscalee.com.