Julie Lessman is a new author who has garnered much writing acclaim, including ten Romance Writers of America awards. She resides in Missouri with her husband and their golden retriever, and has two grown children and a daughter-in-law. She is the author of The Daughters of Boston series, which includes A Passion Most Pure, A Passion Redeemed, and A Passion Denied. You can contact Julie through her Web site at www.julielessman.com.

Okay, yeah, big surprise—I’m writing about “passion”! Why, you ask, other than the fact that I’m a hormonal Baby Boomer? Well, because it’s important—in my relationship with God, with my family and friends, and in my writing.

Okay, I’ll admit it—there are times when my passion for my husband may wane a bit. Especially over his inability to sink a dirty T-shirt in the hamper when the man can swoosh a basketball through a hoop with his eyes closed. I mean, come on! What’s that all about?

But two areas where I unequivocally do not waver in my quest for passion: God and my writing. And, quite frankly, as a Christian fiction writer, that’s the way it should be because nothing is better than the mergence of passion for God with passion for our craft. Kind of like hot fudge glazing vanilla-bean ice cream—God’s anointing makes our writing all the sweeter, all the more “moan good.”

Now, I wish I could claim the distinction of being the one who first pressed the limits of passion in Christian romance, but that honor belongs to God. Have you ever read Song of Solomon? Yikes! Keep a fan handy. That is one passionate account—of God’s love for Israel, His love for the Church, and I believe in its pulse-pounding sensuality, a metaphor of just how crazy He is about each of us. Which got me to thinking. Why is passion so all-fire important to Him?

Good question. And one He makes no bones about in His Word. You see, I have this weird habit of writing favorite Scriptures (or ones that apply to current problems of mine) on index cards and carrying them around or tucking them into my Bible and using

them as bookmarks. And you know what I realized just the other day? Most of my index cards talk about passion and fervor for God! Check it out:

• They sought God EAGERLY, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side. 2 Chronicles 15:15 (NIV)
• And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe he exists and that he rewards those who EARNESTLY seek him. Hebrews ll:6 (NIV)

• For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are FULLY COMMITTED to him. 2 Chronicles 16:9 (NIV)
• The effectual FERVENT prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16 (KJV)

Eagerly. Earnestly. Fully committed. Fervent. Passion in all its glory. And it’s important to God, so it should be important to me. In my relationship with Him . . . and in my writing.

So what does that mean? Well, for me, it means that before my fingers even shadow the keyboard, they need to shadow the pages of my Bible. And before one single, solitary e-mail is answered, I need to answer my God when He asks, “Do you love me? Will you spend time with me?” And it means that before I lose myself in writing a love scene that will make me swoon, I need to first swoon over the Love of my life because without “passion” for Him, my passion is flat. So I pray—daily—for passion and fervor for God. I truly believe that then—and only then—will my passion flow—for my stories, my characters, and the moral dilemmas they find themselves in. Because true passion in anything—especially Christian fiction—comes first and foremost from passion for Him.