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And the winners are....
All Jingled Out goes to Laura from Laura's Musings
Come my Little Angel to Cindi Hoppes
Christkindl's Gift to Laura from Shirley Q
Angel of Bastogne to Laura K
and
Hearts Evergreen to Audra Marie
check back next week for the "favorite books of 2007" giveaway!
Congratulations!
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Celebrating the true meaning of the Christmas season, GRPR is proud to introduce to you the twelve days of Christmas. Twelve inspired devotional thoughts written by some of the best and brightest authors in the Christian industry. On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me....
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 God's Gift of Love by Kathleen Y'Barbo Love. It seems as though everyone these days is either in desperate avoidance of it, in the heart wrenching process of losing it, or in the giddy throes of finding it. Some have given up on it while others believe they will know it when they see it. All of us hope when it’s our turn, the love we get - and give - will be unconditional. But can flawed humans really offer unconditional love? Oh, we try. If you’re a parent you know the depth of love you felt the first moment you saw that precious baby of yours. Then there’s the feelings you carried up the aisle to join your beloved at the altar. Or perhaps love to you is counted by the nights spent at a parent’s bedside. The thread of love winds through each of these, and yet it is the rare parent, spouse, or child who would admit to having loved perfectly. We are human and sadly flawed, even when we act with the best of intentions. There is only one unconditional love that never fails. Only one love that never turns a blind eye, says the wrong thing, or procrastinates rather than acts. The love of the Father, our Heavenly Father, is perfect in every way. Not only is His love unconditional, but He also loves us in spite of who we are and not for what we are. How wonderful to know that the God of the universe loves us. Not just love in the way we see it, the stars-in-our-eyes crazy-about-my-baby love, but a depth of feeling exponentially more than anything our flawed but well intentioned hearts could imagine. So today, when you’re reminded of that tiny baby, Jesus Christ the Creator-made-flesh, think of the love it took to accomplish this holy miracle of unconditional love. To put on the fingers and toes of an infant and come to us as Savior was the beginning of a love story that has no end. Kathleen Y’Barbo Kathleen Y'Barbo is the author of Beloved Castaway and countless other books. For more information visit www.kathleenybarbo.com. |
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Celebrating the true meaning of the Christmas season, GRPR is proud to introduce to you the twelve days of Christmas. Twelve inspired devotional thoughts written by some of the best and brightest authors in the Christian industry. On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me.... The Gift of An Uncluttered Christmas |
 God's Gift of An Uncluttered Christmas by Cyndy Salzmann It was enough to curl my toes. And a quick glance at the other mother’s in the audience told me I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. So what horrendous experience caused such a reaction from a room full of moms? A violent or sexually explicit movie? A challenge from Doctor Phil to “get real” and ‘fess up about our parenting faux pas? Or a pan of the audience spotlighting a really bad hair day? Actually, the event that caused such a panic among this audience of mothers occurred during the Christmas program at my daughter’s school. Things started innocently enough when the girls marched out onto the stage swinging colorful shopping bags. Of course, they were adorable and the apples of their mothers’ eyes. The trouble began when the girls opened their mouths and sang… Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Scurry! Scurry! Scurry! Worry! Worry! Worry! Christmastime is here! As I said, it was enough to curl my toes. Just the thought of all that hurrying, scurrying and worrying to prepare for Christmas gave me a full-blown a hot flash. No wonder depression peaks during the holidays. Faced with all that stress , I wouldn’t want to get out of bed either. Once my hot flash ceded, I began to realize that this is just where Satan wants us – dreading the celebration of the most precious gifts to mankind – the birth of Jesus Christ. And frankly, it made my blood boil – almost bringing on another hot flash. I decided right then that he wasn’t going to get away with it. We have a choice on how much hurrying, scurrying and worrying we do. And this year I hope you’ll make a commitment to join me in uncluttering your Christmas by jumping off the treadmill and keeping your eyes on the true reason for the season. BTW- I have a tip sheet with practical ideas and advice to help you to simplify your holidays and focus on Jesus’ birth. Just contact me at [email protected] and I’ll email you a copy. Cyndy Salzmann is the author of Crime & Clutter, book two in the highly acclaimed Friday Afternoon Mystery series published by Howard Books. As America’s Clutter Coach, Cyndy is a popular national speaker and radio personality. Cyndy, her husband and three children, live in Omaha, Nebraska. For more information visit http://www.cyndysalzmann.com/ |
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I got CARDED by Jenny at Ausjenny
Ronie Kendig altered this CARDED meme to include a Spiritual Wish list so we can know how to pray for each other, both spiritually and physically. Isn’t that a great idea?
THE RULES:
1. Each player starts with 5 gifts that they would want for Christmas.
2. People who are "CARDED" need to write their own Blog about their 5 things & post these rules.
3. At the end of your Blog, you need to choose 5 people to get "CARDED" and list their names.
4. Don't forget to leave them a COMMENT telling them they're "CARDED", and to read your Blog.
My Materialistic Gift/Wish List:
1. The "world's softest blanket" from Bath and Body Works
2. Lindor chocolates
3. A gift card for Christianbook.com
4. Bubble bath stuff
5. A guitar and lessons
My Spiritual Gift/Wish List:
1. Discipline to maintain a prayer journal and Bible reading time.
2. Priorities clear to spend time with my husband and girls and exercise too
3. Wisdom to know what my next focus should be for what to do for my "job" now.
4. To stop worrying so much and trust God more.
5. To put less focus on what other people think of me.
The people I have carded:
Deborah from Books, Movies, and Chinese Food
Laura from http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com/
Jen from So Many Books...
Cee Cee from Book Splurge
and NeedaNap2
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Celebrating the true meaning of the Christmas season, GRPR is proud to introduce to you the twelve days of Christmas. Twelve inspired devotional thoughts written by some of the best and brightest authors in the Christian industry.
On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me....
The Gift of Memories |
 God's Gift of Memories by Marlo Schalesky
Memory is a powerful thing. We hear a song from our high school days and we’re transported to sweaty school dances and blasting the radio in our first car. The smell of brownies baking takes us back to pigtails and ponies. We drive by the house we lived in as a kid and remember the swingset in the backyard and how that rotten kid from next door blew spitwads through the hole in the fence.
Ever gotten sick on a type of food? You’ll never want to have that again. And don’t even think about naming your child after that whiny little brat that sat behind you in the fourth grade, even if your spouse loves that name.
Memory. It’s why we treasure photos, display mementos, keep in touch with people from our past. It’s why God set up festivals for the ancient Israelites and told them to erect memorials at significant places in their history.
Memory. It’s why the sight of a stuffed stocking takes me back to those early mornings in my childhood when my brother and I would wake up before dawn, run to the fireplace, get our stockings, and race back to my parents’s bed. Mom was always ready. Dad pretended to complain. And together, with lots of giggling and the thrill of anticipation, we’d pull out the gifts from our stockings one by one. Simple things, boring really. Candy. A toothbrush. Some silly plastic toy. Things that would be used up or forgotten in just a few short weeks. And yet, opening stockings is my favorite Christmas memory from childhood.
Why? I think it’s because good memories are not necessarily made from the “big stuff.” Rather, they’re fashioned out of warmth and happiness and times together. They’re woven with laughter, colored with simple, plain joy. They come from times when you experience love.
So, this year, I’m thinking about the memories I’m making now, for my kids, and for myself. I don’t want those memories to be ones of a Mom who’s running around with too much to do and too little time to do it. I don’t want them to be of hustle, bustle, shopping, wrapping, cooking, cards, and gifts thrown under the tree. I don’t even want them to be of the cool stable-and-horse set that my girls will unwrap on Christmas morning. Or the cheap kid’s guitar for my oldest (age 7), or the new “ooo-ahh” (stuffed gorilla) for one of my 2-year-old twins.
Because the toys will break, get old, get lost, or they’ll outgrow them. But they won’t outgrow the happy memories of family times together. The memories of decorating Christmas cookies with laughter and joking – those won’t get old. The times we make a gingerbread house together, or sit down and watch the Grinch – those won’t break. The simple things make the best memories. Times when we’re together as a family, having fun, enjoying the traditions we’re building together.
So, that’s my goal this Christmas, to weave memories of peace, love, togetherness, because that’s the best gift I can think of to celebrate Jesus’ birth -- Memories that bring a smile to the face of children . . . and to the face of the King.
For more about the power of memories in our lives, check out Marlo's next novel, Beyond the Night, releasing in May. A woman in a hospital bed, a man sitting beside her, and between them, a memory that can set her free. Find out more at: http://www.marloschalesky.com/ |
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Celebrating the true meaning of the Christmas season, GRPR is proud to introduce to you the twelve days of Christmas. Twelve inspired devotional thoughts written by some of the best and brightest authors in the Christian industry.
On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me....
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God's Gift of Dreams and Story by Melody Carlson
A dream doesn’t always seem like a gift from God, but sometimes I’ll experience one so vivid and amazing that I can’t help but think God is at work. I remember a dream that woke me in the middle of the night about ten years ago. I was so moved that I felt compelled to write it down. In my dream I saw a sweet angel who was distraught that Jesus was about to leave heaven to be born as a baby on earth. So she volunteered to give up being an angel and God transformed her into a magnificent star to light the night sky for the Big Event. I won’t tell the entire dream, but simply let it be said that the ending surprised everyone—including me. The story became a children’s Christmas book called The Greatest Gift (which is currently out of print). But as a result of that dream, I began to pay even more attention to my dreams. Sometimes I think that God simply uses them to show me things about my own life and sometimes my dreams wind up in my books.
Melody Carlson is the author of Ready to Wed, (Guideposts Books 2007). This story also involves a dream! For more information visit www.melodycarlson.com |
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This Drawing is now closed. Thank you for entering!
My really big week of Christmas Giveaways is over and the winners have been drawn, BUT I do have some extra books to give away on the understanding that I won't be mailing them before Christmas. :)
So, to enter this drawing, please post a comment before midnight on December 26 and I'll draw names (one name for each book) then. Please let me know if there is a book that you don't wish to be entered for. Thanks for entering!
Here are the books:
Hearts Evergreen by Robin Lee Hatcher
A warm, emotional Christmas reunion romance from Robin Lee Hatcher, A CLOUD MOUNTAIN CHRISTMAS features a woman burned by love trying to start her life anew, who gets a second chance at love when she meets an old college friend on a business trip at an Idaho mountain inn.Kathryn Springer's novella, A MATCH MADE FOR CHRISTMAS, follows a group of mischievous young matchmakers who band together to prove to the hero and heroine that Christmas really is the season for love.
Description:
The Christkindl's Gift by Kathleen Morgan
When Anna Hannack's father-in-law brings home a wounded stranger only days before Christmas, Anna's not happy. Christian charity moves the Hannack family to help the injured man, but the young widow Anna keeps her distance. The tragedies of life have shattered her trust, and she's determined not to let another stranger threaten her family. Could it be, though, that this rugged Scotsman is actually the gift Anna's young children have asked of the Christ child this Christmas?
The Angel of Bastogne by Gilbert Morris
In the tradition of It's a Wonderful Life and John Grisham's Skipping Christmas…
Newspaper reporter Ben Raines is a full-fledged cynic trying to bypass what he feels is the least wonderful time of the year-Christmas. But his plan to escape on a dream vacation overseas is foiled when the boss assigns him to write the annual front-page holiday story.
With a humbug twist, Ben chooses to investigate a World War II legend involving his own father that will expose the fallacies of religion and everything related to December 25th.
Willy Raines fought in the Battle of the Bulge at Bastogne during Christmas 1944 and-to Ben's embarrassment-believes a real angel saved the lives of every man in the 101st Airborne unit.
Some angel that was. Life was never easy for Willy after the war, and he was far from heroic in his son's eyes. Ben sets out to find other veterans who witnessed the angel of Bastogne, sure to return empty-handed. Instead, he comes home with a heart that is overflowi
Come my Little Angel by Diane Nobel
In a mining town in the backwoods of the High Sierras, Daisy James prays for a miracle.This 10-year-old girl is concerned because people in her town are hurting. And the one who seems to be hurting the most is her own mother, who lost a baby a year earlier. Daisy is filled with sorrow inside because her mother, who used to sing and laugh and talk about God, no longer does any of those things. Now she spends her days silent and resigned. So the little girl decides what her town needs is a church, to touch their hearts and spirits, to remind them that God is there, and that His angels are watching over them all. Daisy dreams up a play entitled Come, My Little Angel, and recruits her classmates to play the roles and her beloved music teacher to provide the music. Despite the obstacles working against her, Daisy perseveres, even when her own faith is shaken, until she finds herself face to face with a miracle -straight from the hand of a God who longs to restore us to joy and singing. And when, at the end of the book, you see what God does for this little girl - and for the mother she loves so deeply - you come away knowing nothing - not one single thing - is impossible with God.
AND
All Jingled Out by Pamela Dowd and Christine Lynxwiler
Authors Christine Lynxwiler and Pamela Dowd deliver two witty, contemporary tales of motherhood and the trappings of "the perfect holiday." Penny Lassiter’s comfortable Christmas traditions are upset by her husband’s off-the-wall plan to reconnect with his family through a cross-country RV trip. Will Christmas on the road lead to peace and goodwill—or mere holiday mayhem? In the second story, Maggie Mackenzie confronts her own people-pleasing tendencies as she tries and fails and tries again to simplify her Christmas preparations. Can these two mothers survive the season without the pomp and circumstance?
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Here are the winners from this giveaway:
Amanda--Snow Angel by Jamie Carie
Susan--Finding Father Christmas by Robin Jones Gunn
Danielle--Christmas Shoes by Donna Van Liere
Shannon--Forever Christmas by Christine Lynxwiler
Stormi--Jamaican Me Crazy by Debbie DeGiovannia
Stacey--@ Home for the Holidays by Meredith Efken
Melissa from IN--The Red Gloves Collection by Karen Kingsbury
Hannah--The Judge Who Stole Christmas by Randy Singer
Cindi Hoppes--Unwrapping Christmas by Lori Copeland
and NeepaNap2--The Melody Carlson books
I will try to contact you all via email if I have your email addresses from your comments. If you don't hear from me that way, please email me with your address info. CONGRATS!
Thanks for the wonderful responses! I had a lot of fun with this. In January I will do a "favorite books of 2007" giveaway week. Check back for that!
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This drawing is now closed. Thank you for entering.
I'm in a Christmas gift-giving mood and will be giving away a different Christmas book everyday for the week of December 13-19! Be sure to check the rules below. And good luck!
LAST DAY! The drawing will be at 6pm (Central time) TODAY! So this is your last chance to sign up for all these giveaways!
Today's giveaway: The Christmas Bus, The Gift of Christmas Present, and An Irish Christmas by Melody Carlson, one of my favorite authors!
Here's the rules.
1. For each book drawing you wish to enter, post a comment on that day's post.
2. If you have a blog, please consider posting a like back to this giveaway. And put your blog link in your comment. Thanks.'
3. Answer today's Christmas question in your post.
Did you believe in Santa as a child? If you have children, do they believe? (In my house I have a daughter who was absolutely terrified of Santa and the thought of him coming in to our house freaked her out, so we ended up telling her that he wasn't really coming in our house and that mommy and daddy actually put the presents in the stockings. My parents were kind of anti-Santa when I was young because they wanted me to focus on the birth of Jesus instead. So I never watched any of the Christmas specials like "Rudolph" because there was a Santa in them. With our girls we kind of joke about Santa and they watch some of the movies and stuff, but they know that Jesus' birth is the reason we celebrate.
4. Check back next week to see who won! I will draw for all the books TONIGHT and mail them as soon as I get everyone's addresses.
About today's books (did I mention I love Melody Carlson's books?)
A trilogy of Melody Carlson Christmas books:
The Christmas Bus
Description:
It's nearly Jesus' birthday---and Christmas Valley, Oregon, is in an uproar. The pastor's wife, Edith, has offered shelter to a bankrupt couple with a baby on the way . . . and they've parked their hippie bus right in front of the lovely Victorian parsonage! Can the spirit of Christmas prevail with this eyesore spoiling the Norman Rockwell scenery?
Second book: An Irish Christmas
Description:
For Colleen, life is spinning out of control. She just lost her husband, and her relationship with her young adult son Jamie is crumbling. Should she confess to him the secret that has been haunting her for twenty years? Jamie has a few secrets of his own. When he announces his plans to join the military, Colleen decides its time for the two of them to take a trip togetherto Ireland. The truth they discover there could fulfill both their dreams in a way neither ever thought possible. An Irish Christmas is a captivating story of love, deception, and secret passions, from popular and prolific author Melody Carlson.
And finally, The Gift of Christmas Present
Description:
Christine grew up in an open, honest home---so she's unprepared when her mother's death is followed by a second shock: the news that she was adopted as an infant. Setting out to find her birth mother, she discovers a troubled biological family tree. Can she make peace with the past---and embrace the future?
Be sure to sign up right away as the drawing will close at 6 pm today for all these books!
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Celebrating the true meaning of the Christmas season, GRPR is proud to introduce to you the twelve days of Christmas. Twelve inspired devotional thoughts written by some of the best and brightest authors in the Christian industry. On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me....
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 God's Gift of Unexpected Blessings by Angela Hunt The arrival of our daughter from South Korea wasn’t exactly unexpected—we’d spent years longing for her, and then months praying for that little baby’s safe arrival in our arms. And as I look back over the experience, I can’t help thinking of Mary, who must have had such mixed feelings when she held the infant Jesus in her arms. Great joy, for the promised child had arrived. Great responsibility for the fragile life in her care. And great dread for the difficulties and sorrows that would arise. As a young mother, I knew there would be tough times, and I haven’t been disappointed. But through bad times and good, through loving moments and less-than-loving moments, I can see the hand of God’s sovereignty molding me, my husband, and my children into the people he intends us to be. Christmas shines brightest in the eyes of children. But it resonates most deeply in the hearts of those who love them. Angela Hunt Angela Hunt is the author of Doesn't She Look Natural? (Tyndale Publishers). For more information visit www.angelahuntbooks.com |
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