When the Hart Speaks: Whimsy and Wisdom from the Little House on the Alley

"God, I know you are writing my story, but it’s not supposed to be this way. Could you have mistaken me for someone else?”

Have you ever questioned if God has forgotten about you? Have you told God that life is unfair?

If you’ve experienced unexpected disappointments in your life, you’re not alone. Local newspaper columnist Janet Hart Leonard knows what betrayal, discouragement, and grief feel like. But she’s also seen how God has written a beautiful story of redemption filled with divine appointments and comforting truths.

In When the Hart Speaks: Whimsy and Wisdom from the Little House on the Alley, Janet shares her moving story of pain, redemption, and how she found God—not in the fifth pew of the church—but in the mud and mire of hurt, rejection, and disappointments.

If you’re struggling through life, Janet invites you into her own journey of faith. Through her inspirational stories, you can learn how to find hope when life looks nothing like you planned.

When the Hart Speaks is a memoir for those who need:

• Inspiration when you feel like you are the only one
• Hope when life hurts
• Joy in the midst of grief
• Assurance that God is working through the unexpected
• Comfort that God is writing a better story for your life

Through personal stories and encouraging life lessons, you’ll discover that faith isn't found in the good times, but in the struggles. It’s found when life is unfair and nothing makes sense. When the Hart Speaks helps us discover that in our darkest hours, that’s when faith emerges stronger.

Discover how God can create a beautiful purpose and plan out of your heartache and give you more than you ever thought possible. You’ll rest in the peace and comfort that “God writes a much better story than we ever could, if only we trust Him with our pen.”

Janet Hart Leonard is truly a hometown girl, having lived on the same street in Old Town Noblesville her entire life. When she is not writing, she is hanging out with her Kitchen Aid Mixer in her kitchen or taking long walks or meandering through her favorite downtown shops where everyone knows her name. She doesn't know a stranger and often returns home with the name of a new friend she met at the coffee shop or antique store.Janet and her husband Chuck live in a 116-year-old little house on the alley just three blocks from the house where she grew up. She loves baking chocolate cream pies, with mile-high meringue, and cooking all kinds of comfort food for their family. They have a blended family of three sons and a daughter along with their spouses and a total of ten grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren (so far). Every weeknight at 7:30 they will be found watching Jeopardy.Every few weeks they escape to Chuck's home in Tampa where Janet nestles into her writing nook on the lanai while Chuck plays golf at the course where his son, Jeff, is the golf pro. As an award-winning writer, Janet continues to write a weekly column for her hometown newspaper, The Hamilton County Reporter. Her brave editors allow her to voice her opinion and share her thoughts on the front page of the newspaper every Sunday morning. Some fun things you may want to know about Janet...She was a church organist for over fifteen years. She can name that hymn in five notes. She sang in a Gospel trio, The Three of His, for over thirty years. Janet had a ventriloquist dummy when she was a child. Janet is addicted to mulch, so her husband has several yards delivered, every Spring, for her flower gardens. She loves mowing the yard with different designs in the summer. Janet is terrified of clowns and roller coasters and bees. Janet dreads going to yoga but loves how she feels when she leaves the class. Janet and God have an agreement. She will allow God to hold her pen and do her best to not take it from Him. On the occasion when she does grab it away from God, she will exchange it for a pencil. God is the only one allowed to use a pen to write her story. He continues to do so.