Saturday, December 31, 2011

Celebrate: 100 Book Reviews!!!

Top Books of 2011
I did it!! I have reviewed 100 books (and have read around 105 or so...)
So it is time for my countdowns....
I couldn’t do a top 10 list for fiction books because there were too many that I liked.
So, I am giving you a top 20...
These are in no particular order.
13 Little Blue Envelopes, Blue Envelope books by Maureen Johnson
Here is my list of my top 15 Non-Fiction books
Finally, my 10 favorite authors I have read this year:
Robin Jones Gunn
C.J Darlington
Alison Strobel
Sandra D. Bricker
Maureen Lang
Elizabeth Camden
Mary DeMuth
Susan Meissner
Jennifer Rogers Spinola
Camy Tang

The DIY Bride: An Affair to Remember: 40 Fantastic Projects to Celebrate Your Unique Wedding Style by Khris Cochran

This book covers a few theme weddings: Sun and San, Fairy Tale, Exotic Destination, Winter Wonderland, A Touch of Country, Bright Lights/Big City, Into the Garden, and the new modern. Each theme has five projects to help enhance your special day. In the beginning of the book are all the explanations of all the tools you need to do all the projects as well as giving some trouble shooting tips if one has a problem with anything when doing a project.
The ideas range from alternatives for ring bearer’s pillow, invitations, centerpieces, boutonnieres, favors, table numbers for the reception, and more. All the ideas are very creative and fairly simple to do.
Even though I don’t have plans to get married soon, there were several ideas I want to remember when it comes to my own wedding. Flip through the whole book and take a look at all the ideas. Just because the ideas might not be for your particular theme, they can be adapted for just about any theme.
I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.
I received the galleys of the book free from Net Galley for the purpose of this review.

Protection For Hire by Camy Tang





If you have read Camy Tang’s Sushi Series, you know she is known to write “romance with a kick of wasabi.” Her new book, Protection For Hire, takes things to a whole new level! Tessa Lancaster was part of the yakuza, the Japanese mafia, with her Uncle Teruo as the leader. She willingly goes to prison for a crime she didn’t commit, in order to protect her family. While in jail, she finds God and becomes a Christian. Her time after jail is spent trying to live out her new life in Christ. But trying to create a new normal is hard. Who wants to hire ex-yakuza? However, Tessa does find a way to use her skills. She becomes a bodyguard for a wealthy socialite, Elizabeth St. Amant and her three year old son after Elizabeth’s abusive husband is after Elizabeth. Tessa’s uncle doesn’t understand why Tessa won’t return to the yakuza after her salvation. Also Elizabeth’s lawyer, Charles Britton, has to work with Tessa, but Tessa doesn’t know that Charles was at her trial and influenced the judge to give Tessa even more time in jail. Both Tessa and Charles learn what it means to be made new in Christ and to live in that new life.
I received this book from Zondervan for the purpose of this review.

Weddings & Wasabi by Camy Tang

The Sushi Series, book 4
In the 4th Sushi series book, the final cousin, Jennifer Lim, is highlighted. She has just graduated from culinary school and is expected to join the family business run by her control freak aunt. However, Jennifer wants to start her own catering business. In trying to do that, she is on the hunt for a wine merchant when she finds more than she was looking for. With the guts to stand up for herself in front of her ex-boyfriend and her own family, Jennifer story gets even better.
Camy Tang has hit a home run with this short novella to complete her Sushi Series! (Though I secretly hope she writes some more books about this crazy family!)
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars!

Learning by Karen Kingsbury

Bailey Flanigan Series #1
In the second Bailey Flanigan book, Bailey is in NYC performing with the ensemble for the musical Hairspray, while Cody is coaching a thriving football team from a small school. Yet both of them long to share their dreams with each other, no matter where they are in life, and who else is around them. This creates an interesting conflict when both Bailey and Cody are cultivating friendships with other people.
While I liked following Bailey’s and Cody’s individual stories, as the chapters flipped between the two characters, I found their conflict even more interesting. Both Bailey and Cody try to ignore their feelings for each other, but as they try to fill their lives with things in order to not miss the other, the ache gets even bigger. I enjoyed this book, but would not rate it as one of Kingsbury’s best books.

Leaving by Karen Kingsbury

Bailey Flanigan Series #1
Leaving is the first book in Karen Kingsbury’s Bailey Flanigan series. Bailey’s dreams of signing and dancing on Broadway are about to come true when she wins an audition for the musical Hairspray and has to move to NYC. Meanwhile, Cody takes a coaching job at a small high school near the jail where is mother is so he can be closer to her. Both Bailey and Cody experience the loneliness of being in a new town while being homesick for their family and friends back home.
This was a good start to Bailey’s story that has been a long time in coming. Though I think the series as a whole gets too drawn out, this book was enjoyable.
I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Thicker Than Blood by C.J. Darlington

Christy Williams is trying to get her life back together and make a new start as an antique book buyer, but when a stolen first edition book is found in her possession, she is framed for a crime she did not commit. When Christy is seemingly alone in the world, she turns to the only family she has left, her estranged sister Mary. After their parents’ untimely deaths, Christy abandoned Mary, but now she needs her again. Will Mary open the door for Christy so they both can find peace and healing, or will Mary put up an even bigger wall between them?


I read Thicker Than Blood after reading Darlington's second book, Bound By Guilt, in which Christy is a minor character. So I knew much of the story before even cracking the first page, but the journey was still very much worth the read. Darlington is definitely going to be on my top list of authors!

This Fine Life by Eva Marie Everson

Mariette Puttnam seems to have it all. It is 1959 and she has just graduated from boarding school. When she returned to her privileged life, she isn’t sure what to do. She considers college, marriage, and a job. But nothing seems to be right until she finds an unlikely answer that takes her on a unique journey that she never expected to be on.


This was an enjoyable read. I kept wanting to turn the page to find out what twists and turns Mariette's journey would take her on.

Tailor Made Bride by Karen Witemeyer

A new dressmaker has moved to Coventry, Texas and J.T. Tucker thinks that Hannah is the most shallow person that he has ever met. He thinks her ideas about tailoring clothes for women is more about fashion than godliness. Yet when Hannah steps in to help J.T.’s sister catch her beau, J.T. sees Hannah’s heart. Will this drive an even greater wedge between J.T. and Hannah or will they be able to bridge the gap that has come between them?

The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser

The Swan House Series #1
Set in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement, The Swan House finds Mary Swan Middleton part of a city wide tragedy when her mother and many others are killed in a plane crash. While each person has a different way of dealing with grief, the family’s maid shows Mary that the best way to deal with one’s own grief is to help others less fortunate. It is through this that Mary meets Carl, a young black teenager, who helps Mary through her grief, and through a challenge that she is given. Their time together teaches Mary more than she could ever have learned on her own, and more than she ever imagined.

Making Waves by Lorna Seilstad

Lake Manawa Summers Series
Set just before the turn of the 20th century, Making Waves was a great summer read. Marguerite Westing and her family spends the summer at Lake Manawa, and Marguerite isn't just happy, she is thrilled! It is a chance for her to escape her stodgy suitor, Roger Gordon. Marguerite believes that being at the lake will provide an escape while her suitor has to work in town. But while Roger keeps finding ways to interrupt Marguerite’s fun at the lake. At the lake, Marguerite has discovered her new loves, sailing, and her sailing instructor, Trip Andrews. However, life isn’t all fun when her father’s own problems threaten to ruin the family. Will Marguerite be able to save her family and follow her true love?

Stuck In The Middle By Virginia Smith

Joan Sanderson feels like she is stuck in the middle. She is the middle daughter whose life seems to be going no where. Her older sister is married and ready to start a family, while her younger sister is off following her dreams. All the while, Joan lives at home with her mother, cares for her grandmother, and works in a furniture store. She lives a fairly boring life, that is, until a doctor moves in next door. While Joan’s younger sister is flirting with the new doctor, Joan’s goal is to get a date with him. Will Joan be able to fund her way out of the rut that she was in?
This is the first book in the Sister-to-Sister series.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

12 Pearls of Christmas: Day 12



Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!

Merry Christmas from all of us at Pearl Girls™! We hope you enjoyed these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from the authors who were so kind to donate their time and talents! If you missed a few posts, I hope you'll be able go back through and read them on this blog over the next few days. If you'd like to keep up with Pearl Girls and our new book project, Mother of Pearl, coming this spring, just click this link and sign up for our newsletter (lower left sidebar).

Also, just a reminder that today is the last day for the pearl necklace and earrings giveaway! Enter now by filling out this {form}. The winner will on 1/1 at the Pearl Girls blog.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

***

Jesus -- The Reason For the Season
By: Rachel Hauck

Through the narrow scope of 2000 years, Mary, the mother of Jesus, appears to be one lucky woman. Chosen by God to give birth to His son, the Savior of the world? All right, Mary, way to go.

“Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you,” Gabriel said.

How many of us would like a declaration like that? Highly favored. The Lord is with you. But Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

The angel told her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Mary’s seems confident and resolved when she responds, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.”

She’d just been told the Holy Spirit will come upon her, that God’s power will overshadow her, that she’d become with child even though she wasn’t married, and she said, “I’m the Lord’s servant. Let your words be true.”

I find this amazing! A young woman. Ancient Bethlehem. Unwed mother. They stoned women for such things in her day. But Mary believed in God. And submitted to His will. He gave her the Holy Spirit – the same Holy Spirit given to us. If He gave her confidence, He will give us confidence. Even though, like Mary, our situation seems impossible.

Listen to Mary’s song later on in the first chapter of Luke.

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me Holy is his name…”

Conceiving a child out of wedlock, by Divine intervention. Not a girl’s every day existence. Yet she had a Yes in her heart to God. She rejoiced. She boldly said, “Generations will remember me!”

How we struggle to trust God with our children. Our finances. Our emotional well-being. We worry. We fret. And wonder why we have no peace.

Christmas is the season where words like joy, peace and love are bantered around like Christmas candy. Let’s not take them as just words, but as truth. Let’s be like Mary and embrace God’s favor on our lives. Boldly declare "He’s done great things for me!”

Out of the grit of our own souls, we can reach His heart, and feel Him reaching for ours. No matter the pain of our past, present or future, God is there for us. He is able. Best of all, He is willing. “My soul glorifies the Lord this Christmas!”


***

Rachel Hauck is an award winning, best selling author who believes God has done great things for her. She lives in Central Florida with her husband and ornery pets. Her next release is Love Lifted Me with multi-platinum country artist Sara Evans, January 2012. Then in April, look for The Wedding Dress. www.rachelhauck.com.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Life’s A Beach by Claire Cook


Life's a Beach is from the bestselling author of Must Love Dogs. It is the story of two sisters who live vastly different lives. Ginger Walsh is 41, single, and living in the apartment over her parents garage, busy babysitting her sister's kids. Ginger's goal is to be a sea glass artist. Yet her sister, Geri is attached to her black berry, and too focused on her upcoming 50th birthday.  Ginger agrees to go with Geri's son when he auditions for a walk-on part in a movie that is being filmed in town. 
I found this to be a fun summer read about life, relationships, and traveling an unexpected path. While it's not a five start book, it definitely was a good read.

The Oak Leaves Series by Maureen Lang

The Oak Leaves
by Maureen Lang
The Oak Leaves Series, Book 1
Talie Ingram has found an old journal among her father’s belongings, which belonged to her great-great-great grandmother, Cosima Escott. Cosima lived in Regency England while Talie lives in contemporary Chicago. While Talie reads Cosima’s journal, she finds that she and Cosima are more alike than she could have ever thought. Talie learns that her family was considered to have a curse that offspring were considered to be feebleminded. What Talie discovered was this genetic disorder that affected her family over 100 years prior still affected their family today. Talie hides the journal until she realizes the same disease has affected her own son.
On Sparrow Hill
by Maureen Lang
The Oak Leaves Series, Book 2
The Oak Leaves Series continues with On Sparrow Hill, in which Victorian England intersects with contemporary England. Rebecca Seabrooke is the commercial manager for Quentin Hollinworth family’s manor. Hollinworth is the great-great-great grandson of Cosima Escott from the first book. Rebecca’s family has worked for Quentin’s family for generations. But Rebecca had a crush on Quentin when they were children. Rebecca has come across letters that Cosima’s sister-in-law, Berrie, wrote Cosima. When Talia’s sister Dana contacts the Hollinsworth’s family and shares Cosima’s journal, Rebecca finds the letters from Berrie and shares them with Dana. Dana is in the UK with her husband who is there on business. While she is there, she wants to learn more about Berrie and the school that she started for children, and why it only lasted a year.
Will Rebecca and Quentin be able to navigate their relationship while still running the manor? Will Dana be able to find the answers she is looking for, especially when they begin to affect her own family?

12 Pearls of Christmas: Day 11



Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!

Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.

AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.


***

The Panhandler's Breath
By Robin Dance

He slipped in sideways between the closing elevator doors, as if he were late to a meeting; he pressed the "5" without looking. Instead of suit and tie, though, baggy pants and faded navy hung on his tall, slim frame...and his stealth entry stiffened the hairs on the back of my neck.

I had noticed him a few seconds earlier, just after we had parted a sea of clamorous teens. He was smiling, grandfatherly, standing maybe 30 feet away where the electric shuttle picks up.

I had no idea he had been watching us, studying us, predator patiently awaiting his next prey.

The four of us were sealed in a four- by six-foot metal tomb. Tomb--that thought really scampered across my mind. I wondered if he had a knife in his pocket. I wanted to protect my son. Fight or flight pumped adrenaline but there was no where to run.

Extreme and ridiculous, these thoughts - and more - flashed through my mind. The Stranger began speaking.

"Yessir, I see you're a family man with your wife and your son here..." and he nodded in my and my son’s direction.

"...you see I'm homeless and all I've got..." and on queue, he reached into his left pocket and pulled out two old pennies blackened with age. Two cents to his name?! It was all too contrived, too practiced, and I didn't believe a word he was saying.

It was then I smelled it ~ the small space lent itself to that ~ and I doubted my doubt.

His breath.

It wasn't the scent of alcohol. His eyes weren't red, his voice didn't waver; his wizened face matched his graying hair.

His breath was morning's, zoo breath, the pet name I'd given to the scent inhaled when kissing my children awake when they were little.

He needed to brush his teeth. I wondered how long it had been since he brushed his teeth.

The elevator door opened and I handed him my leftover pizza as my son and I brushed past him. My husband handed him a bill and the Stranger thanked and God blessed him.

The elevator door closed behind us. Conflicted, I was relieved.

We got in the car and blurted first reaction--

"I didn't believe a word he said."

"That made me nervous."

"I wonder if he'll really eat the pizza."

In the quiet, we were left to our own thoughts, contemplating the right thing to do. At the end of the day, this is what I decided: It doesn't matter whether or not his story is true; for an old man to resort to begging, he has to be desperate. The money my husband gave him will never be missed. It was a reminder we've been entrusted with much and given much. Materially, yes, but more so spiritually. Loved, chosen, forgiven, redeemed, graced, lavished--every spiritual blessing. E v e r y.

There's a part of me that wishes I would have been brave enough to ask the man his story, made sure he knew he was loved...and bought him a tooth brush.

Later, it occurred to me he could have been an angel. Doesn’t that mean generosity, kindness and hospitality is always the right response? Then it's not about you or the stranger or the circumstance, it's about a simple, God-glorifying response.

Had we entertained an angel unaware? We'll never know.

But it wouldn't be the first time the Breath of Heaven smelled like a zoo.


***

In a decades-old, scandalous affair with her husband, Robin also confesses mad crushes on her three teens. As Southern as sugar-shocked tea, she’s a recovering people pleaser who advocates talking to strangers. A memoirist, Compassion International Blogger, and Maker-upper of words, Robin writes for her own site, PENSIEVE, and also for (in)courage by DaySpring (a subsidiary of Hallmark) and Simple Mom. She loves to get to know readers through their blog comments and on Twitter and Pinterest. www.pensieve.me

Friday, December 23, 2011

12 Pearls of Christmas: Day 10



Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!

Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.

AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.


***

Inside Out Christmas
by Debora M. Coty

My veterinarian friend, Dr. Katie, tells the story about the December when a woman brought a very sick black lab into her clinic. The dog was only ten months old, so she was really just a big puppy, but she’d been vomiting incessantly and her worried owner didn’t know what was wrong.

“Why don’t you go on home?” Dr. Katie told the owner. “I’ll need to run tests for about four hours. We’ll give you a call when we’re finished.”

Dr. Katie’s assistant took x-rays and hung them on the light panel for Dr. Katie to examine. Hmm. Something looked a little peculiar. Dr. Katie called her assistant over.

“Is it just me, or does that look like a … a camel to you?” she asked incredulously.

“Matter of fact, it does,” replied the astute assistant. “And look, there’s an angel here, a shepherd there, and down there in the colon, it’s Baby Jesus!”

At that moment the phone rang. It was the dog’s distraught owner. “I can’t believe this! I just got home and glanced at the coffee table where I put my manger scene yesterday. There’s nothing there but an empty stable!”

As I thought about this quite literal technique for internalizing the true meaning of Christmas, it occurred to me that sometimes I have the opposite problem. With all the bustling busyness, my inner joy in celebration of my savior’s birth never really makes it to the outside.

Oh, I have plenty of glittery, festive evidences of the holiday in decorations, baking galore, and gifts under my tree. But those things are for show. They’re merely the pretty wrappings, not the gift itself.

Can people really see the core-deep joy that radiates within me when I think of the true gift that Papa God sent the world in his son, Jesus? Is my immeasurable gratitude for eternal life evident as I dash through this hectic season?

I’m afraid all too often, the answer is no.

I’m just too preoccupied to allow my outside to reflect my inside so that nonbelievers recognize that I rejoice because of the hope that is within me. My joy is obscured by the mounds of clutter. Gratefulness is sucked out of my soul by the vacuum called urgency.

“But let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God’s presence. Let them be filled with joy” (Psalm 68:3, NLT).

This verse has become my prayer this Christmas season – that I would make the time to give priority to rejoicing, being glad in God’s presence, and letting my inner joy show for those who may be silently desperate to know the giver of true joy.

Yep, there’s a better way to internalize the gift of Christmas than the black lab technique. We can lodge the Little Lord Jesus in our hearts rather than our colons.


***

Debora M. Coty is a humorist, inspirational speaker, and award-winning author of twelve books, including Too Blessed to be Stressed, and coming in March, More Beauty, Less Beast: Transforming Your Inner Ogre. Debora would love to swap Christmas hugs with you at www.DeboraCoty.com.




Thursday, December 22, 2011

12 Pearls of Christmas: Day 9



Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!

Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.

AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.


***

Simple or Sparkle?
by Tracey Eyster

It’s a simple ornament made of thin cheap metal and it looks quite out of place on our CHRISTmas tree. But each year I lovingly and safely nestle it amongst its expensive and sparkly peers, without a care as to how unglamorous it appears.

Many of our CHRISTmas ornaments have a story and an uncanny way of welling up emotion in me, but this certain one causes an intense stir.

You see the ornament is engraved with the name of my grandmother, Sara, and was given to me by my mother, who ordered it from Hospice, after Grandmama’s death. Yes, the months leading up to her death carry memories of a frail and failing grandmama, but that ornament carries my thoughts to sweet CHRISTmas memories of the past.

CHRISTmas Eve dinners in her home, laughing, singing, gathering and celebrating a year filled with blessings as we remembered the birth of our Savior. CHRISTmas mornings, she was always there participating with glee, in our raucous CHRISTmas happiness. Her gifts were always bank envelopes gently tucked into the pine needles of our CHRISTmas tree, fresh cut from the property she grew up on.

All memories of my Grandmama make my heart swell. You see she was my Jesus with skin on. She lived her life full of joy, serving others and approached life selflessly with an attitude of, “What can I do for you?”

Just months before she left us, even as the Alzheimer’s was robbing her mind she shared her love of Jesus with a sweet little old lady friend, who came to know the Lord – a divine appointment.  The very next day that little old lady silently slipped away to meet in person the One Sara introduced her to just the day before.

At the time I wept, realizing that regardless of our own frailties and failings, God can still use those of us who are willing to do His work and are well practiced at hearing His voice...no matter our lack of sparkle in comparison to others.

A simple life lived for Him, a simple ornament in memory of Sara...a simple truth for you to ponder.


***

Tracey Eyster wife, mom, relationship gatherer and Creator/Editor of FamilyLife’s MomLife Today is a media savvy mom making a difference where moms are, on-line. Through speaking, writing and video interviews Tracey is passionate about encouraging, equipping and advising moms on every facet of momlife. Her first book, Be The Mom will be released August 2012. You can connect with Tracey at www.momlifetoday.com, her personal site www.traceyster.com or www.twitter/momblog.com.


Wednesday, December 21, 2011

12 Pearls of Christmas: Day 8




Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!

Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.

AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.


***

Enjoy the Ride!
Susan May Warren

We sit poised on the top of a cliff, a near drop off before us, that falls to a rushing river. In the middle, a bridge of snow and ice hints at our destination. My husband guns the snowmobile engine. “Ready?”

Ready? For a face plant into a tree, maybe reconstructive surgery? To feel my stomach ripped from my body as we plummet down the mountain? Let’s do it!

We live on five acres of woods in northern Minnesota that butts up to a national forest. Hence, our backyard is about a hundred thousand acres. Aside from harboring deer, lynx, fox, cougar and bear, it also makes excellent snowmobile terrain. And not long ago, Mrs. Claus gave her Santa a snowmobile for two.

I love snowmobiling. Flying over the snow, catching air over drifts. I love to drive, to be at the helm of the beast as I weave around trees and over hill and dale, my husband sitting behind me. I also love riding behind my husband as he drives, feeling those powerful arms as he’s muscling the snowmobile into the wilds. We follow unknown trails, driven by a Magellan spirit, hoping that we have enough gas to get us back to civilization. I love hanging on, simply trusting him, knowing that wherever he’s taking me, he’s going first.

But there are times, when I see where he’s taking me, and I just have to bury my head in his back. Like straight down a cliff.

However, my heart cheers, despite the terror as we gun it down the hill, over the river, up the opposite side. And, if we hadn’t let ourselves go, we would have never discovered the beauty of a winter river, a hidden jewel buried deep in the forest. Nor the exhilaration of facing the challenge together.

Further on, we find an enchanted forest of towering white pine. Catch a view of Lake Superior, discover an old cabin in the woods.

It occurs to me that snowmobiling is much like my spiritual life. Occasionally, I drive, and it’s me setting our course, weaving through the trees, getting us hopelessly lost. But when God takes the “wheel” and I hang on, trusting Him for the speed and destination, I see the scenery. I trust him to keep me safe. I trust him to bring me home, where there is an eternal supply of hot chocolate.

As Christmas season becomes more hectic, what if I let God drive?  Maybe everything doesn’t have to be perfect, and maybe I don’t have to control every tradition, every holiday nuance. What if I just held on for the ride?

I’ll bet I’ll still get there, and I might even enjoy the scenery along the way.

How have you let go, and “enjoyed” the scenery of this hectic, exhilarating Christmas season?

Merry Christmas!


***

Susan May Warren is the RITA award-winning author of thirty novels with Tyndale, Barbour, Steeple Hill and Summerside Press.  A four-time Christy award finalist, a two-time RITA Finalist, she’s also a multi-winner of the Inspirational Readers Choice award, and the ACFW Carol Award.  A seasoned women’s events speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook: From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!.  She is also the founder of www.MyBookTherapy.com, a story-crafting service that helps authors discover their voice.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

12 Pearls of Christmas: Day 7



Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!

Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.

AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.


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Family Traditions: A Glimpse into Christmas Future
by Tricia Goyer

Have you ever thought about family traditions? As I helped my 1-year-old place ornaments on the Christmas tree this year I imagined her doing the same thing with her children—and maybe even grandchildren—one day. Traditions are beliefs and customs handed down through generations. By sharing meaningful moments with your kids you're sending yourself into the future. How amazing is that?

Sharing family traditions cause us to slow down from the busy, adult world for a while. We ignore the laundry to set out the nativity set with our kids. We set aside time in our schedules to drive around and look at Christmas lights.

Holiday traditions aren't only fun, they also help strength family bonds. Through traditions kids trust in the security of family unit. They think, “This is our family and this is what I do.” Of course, the most important thing to share isn't just what we do ... but why. Why do we put out a nativity? To remind us the real meaning of the season—Jesus coming to earth. What do the Christmas lights represent displayed on homes and on trees? They represent the Light of the World, Jesus.

Using traditions to bond our families and share our faith isn't new. I love these two Scriptures that talk about that very thing.

Exodus 12:25 says, “When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony.”

Psalm 78:4 says, “We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.”

What are you're traditions? Here are a few of ours:
Baking a Birthday cake for Jesus
Buying a new ornament every year for each child
Acting out the Christmas story (with props!)
Praying together before opening presents

What are your traditions? Write a list and appreciate them in a new way this year. Then ask, “If I could add one new tradition this holiday season, what would it be?” I'd love to hear what you choose! It also makes me smile to think of your children's grandchildren doing the same.


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Tricia Goyer is a CBA best-selling author and the winner of two American Christian Fiction Writers’ Book of the Year Awards (Night Song and Dawn of a Thousand Nights). She co-wrote 3:16 Teen Edition with Max Lucado and contributed to the Women of Faith Study Bible. Also a noted marriage and parenting writer, she lives with her husband and children in Arkansas. www.triciagoyer.com

Monday, December 19, 2011

12 Pearls of Christmas: Day 6



Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas!

Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom" from some of today's most beloved writer's (Tricia Goyer, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Sibella Giorello and more)! Please follow the series through Christmas day as each contributor shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year.

AND just for fun ... there's also a giveaway! Fill out this simple {form} and enter for a chance to win a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set ($450 value). Contest runs 12/14 - 12/25 and the winner will on 1/1. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents. You may enter once per day.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls products (all GREAT gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.


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Let The Baby Grow Up This Christmas
By Shellie Tomlinson

When I was a little girl, Christmas seemed to take forever to make its way back to our little house on the end of a dirt road called Bull Run in northeast Louisiana. We kids started counting down the days before the leaves ever began turning. Sure, the adults said it came once a year but I wasn't so sure. Once Santa Claus left our humble abode it seemed like light years before he found his way back to the Delta.

That was a child's perspective. I imagine it hasn't changed all that much for today's kids. On the other hand, I'm operating under a completely different time frame these days. It seems like it was just yesterday when I pulled the boxes down from the attic and began pulling out the nativity scene, the miniature lights, and the keepsake ornaments. And now, just that fast-- Christmas Day is right around the corner. Soon the tree will be striped naked and the piled up presents will all be distributed. After a few more day it'll be hard to remember who got what from whom, and once again, I'll start packing all the decorations away for another year.

I was thinking about how bare and cold the house always looks after the holidays when I realized that, sadly, this  scene would play itself out in many hearts as well. A lot of people will have had expectations that weren't filled and many of those same souls will be left with hurts that don't seem to heal. Unless this year is remarkably different from past seasons, my bet is, the New Year will bring magazines full of articles on combating depression and the talk shows will have experts on offering ways to fill the long days ahead and cure the winter blues.

I'm no expert, dear readers, but I'd like to offer you a suggestion that will go far beyond the creature comforts of a nice warm bath or a delicious bowl of hot soup. Your heart doesn't have to be bare and naked after the holidays. Do you want to know the real secret? It's simple, really. Don't pack up Christ with Christmas! As beautiful and special as the Christmas story is, it's only a part of heaven's miracle. The Christ child grew into a man and the man became a Savior.

This year, may we be determined to let the babe from Bethlehem live on in our hearts. If we'll allow Him to become the Messiah He was born to be, the joy of Christmas can be ours all year long.


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Shellie Rushing Tomlinson is an author, speaker, and radio host from Louisiana. Her latest release Sue Ellen's Girl Ain't Fat, She Just Weighs Heavy was endorsed by Jeff Foxworthy as "laugh out loud funny!" You can find Shellie's weekly southern features, podcasts, video chats and more at http://www.allthingssouthern.com/ Make sure to get by the blog  and read about the Super Christmas Giveaway Shellie is hosting for her readers and secure your chance to win a Mort Kunstler print valued between $700 and $1400. www.allthingssouthern.com