A Place to Belong: Josephine’s Story – A Shumard Oak Bend Companion Christmas Novella - Discerning God's Best Series Book 5.5

By Heidi Gray McGill

Description:

Some fresh starts begin in silence… others begin with a baby’s cry.
Josephine Blake has run out of places to hide. Pregnant and burdened by secrets, she flees the whispers of Philadelphia, clinging to the hope that her former boardinghouse roommate in Shumard Oak Bend will take her in. When a weathered but kind-hearted miner offers her a ride west, she dares to believe she might finally outrun her shame.
But hope comes at a price… and Josephine isn’t sure she can afford it.
Jeremiah Remington lost everything in the war—his family, his home, even one arm. Now a quiet fixture in the growing town, he avoids entanglements, content to live on the edges of community. But when Josephine arrives with wary eyes, an iron will, and a child on the way, Jeremiah is drawn to something he thought he’d given up for good—a second chance at family.
As Christmas nears and the town orphanage opens its doors, Josephine is offered a new beginning—not just for herself, but for her daughter. But when the past threatens to unravel it all, she must decide: keep running… or stay and fight for the place—and the man—God may have prepared for her.
A marriage of convenience. A scandalous past. A baby who changes everything. And the kind of love only a Savior can give.
If your heart longs for stories of quiet redemption, fierce hope, and homes built one act of grace at a time, A Place to Belong will welcome you in. Fans of Misty M. Beller, Liz Tolsma, Karen Witemeyer, and Jody Hedlund will feel right at home in this heartfelt Christmas novella.
A Place to Belong is a standalone Christmas companion novella in the Discerning God’s Best series, following Written on My Heart (Book 5).
She came to Shumard Oak Bend to escape her past. He never expected a future. But one quiet act of kindness might give them both a place to belong.

Book Takeaway:

No one is beyond the reach of God’s grace. This story reminds readers that belonging isn’t something you achieve, it’s a gift freely given by a loving Father. Through Josephine’s and Jeremiah’s imperfect lives, readers can see that God often uses brokenness as the very soil where healing and restoration take root. My hope is that readers close the book with renewed confidence that their worth and identity are secure in Christ alone.

Why the author wrote this book:

I wrote A Place to Belong because I wanted to give a voice to those who feel disqualified by their past. Josephine’s story came to me as a whisper. What if the person who seems least deserving of grace is the one God chooses to redeem in the most beautiful way? Her journey mirrors the heart of the gospel. We can’t outrun God’s love or earn His acceptance. Like Josephine, each of us longs for belonging, and God meets that longing through His mercy.