Favourite Christmas Books...

...and why they're loved!  Last week I ran an offer on the Woman Alive Facebook Group.  For the chance to 'win' one of three books, two of which were the Revell titles A Simple Christmas Wish and The Unfinished Gift, I asked members of the group to tell me which were their favourite Christmas stories, and why.  I have always been a bit of a fan of Christmas stories, so I was interested to know whether other readers are, too. 

The responses resulted in quite a list of favourites for Christmas! Some very familiar, others less so.  Here are the books mentioned:

The Advent Calendar by Steven Croft - this one was mentioned twice!  The first nominee is still reading it, enjoying it very much, intrigued and touched and asking questions, the second nominee enjoyed it so much she passed it on to a friend.

Bah, Humbug! by Heather Horrocks - loved for 'happy endings'!

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - great and memorable characters, tension, love, a moral, the wonderful happy ending and great catchphrases like 'God bless us everyone'

A Christmas Collection by Patricia St John - the stories are very moving, even though they are dated, the nominee can read them again and again as it is still the same 'Lord Jesus'

The Christmas Mouse by Stephanie Jeffs (I think this is the right one!) - it tells the story from the perspective of a little mouse who gets transported into the stable.  The nominee of this one says "Both my daughter and son sit transfixed while we read it, and it comes out year after year."

City of Bells by Elizabeth Goudge - wounded ex-soldier Jocelyn is in the cathedral for the Christmas service with his grandparents and cousins, and is struck that 'if these... whom he held to be his superiors, were believers, then their belief was  more likely to be true than his own unbelief."

A Cup of Christmas Tea - makes the reader teary every time she reads it! 

The Fourth King: The Story of the Other Wise Man by Ted Sieger - oozes love and mercy and kindness...

Heading Home by Naomi Reed - not strictly a Christmas book, but with a title that says it all

The Nutcracker - the nominee of this story used to love it as a child, and was also transfixed by the ballet.  She says "It is wonderful to see how my daughter's imagination has come alive with the story too."

The Secret of the Fourth Candle by Patricia St John - the nominator of this remembers reading the story to her son.  The second author to be mentioned twice.

Twelve Days of Christmas by Trisha Ashley - light, a good escape at a busy time of year, and it makes the reader laugh!

The Unfinished Gift by Dan Walsh - this one touched the reader for very personal reasons which I won't post on-line.  I know you'll understand.

The Bible was also mentioned!

My own favourites include the Anne Perry Christmas novellas, the latest of which is A Christmas Hope. 

For sheer fun and laugh-aloud enjoyment, one I dig out every year because it is such a gem is The Twelve Days of Christmas, by John Julius Norwich, Illustrated brilliantly Quentin Blake.  It is one of the funniest Christmas books ever.  If you haven't read it, it will change your view of the Christmas carol of the same name!

Finally, the one Christmas book which I've given copies away of because it is so fantastic, is Christmas Jars by Jason Wright.  Simply wonderful Christmas reading!

If you like Christmas stories, there must be something among that little collection to whet your appetite!

Happy Christmas!

Great Need? Great God!

Corrie Ten Boom's book The Hiding Place is one of the most influential books I've ever read. If you haven't read it, I urge you to do so. It is utterly compelling, and will transform your thoughts on forgiveness.

Yet as well as The Hiding Place Corrie wrote several other books, one of which was a collection of short devotionals for each day of the year.

You know a book is saying something of value when it stands the test of time.  Each New Day was originally published thirty-six years ago.  It has been reprinted more than a dozen times since. 

Corrie wrote of it, "A person is either a missionary or a mission field.  Sometimes I wrote for Christians who know that they are called to be a light of the World.  On other days God gave me a message about what it means to come to him...  I know that the Lord gave me these words.  They are from him who loves you and who spoke through me to you."

Here is the entry for 9 October (the date on which I prepared this post):

There are great lessons to learn concerning faith and the nature of character of faith when you read in the Bible about the disciples.  I am grateful for the record of every mistake they ever made and for every blunder they committed.  I see myself in them.  The Bible speaks the truth and shows and pictures every human frailty.

And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O men of little faith?"  Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

Matthew 8: 26 RSV

Lord, thank you that you do not ask a great faith, but faith in a great God.

Encouragement for Your Heart. For When You're 'Just Not Feeling It'

Are you struggling with finding the motivation to chase your dreams? I know that I've been there.  When even the things I love to do, and want to do more of - my own 'God-sized dreams', seem to take more energy, perseverance and ability than I have.  But sometimes it's when we least want to do something that we just have to do it anyway. 

Holley Gerth looks at this very issue in her latest book.  I usually mention the title here (and I will, further down), but at the top of this post, I'm going to mention the sub-title instead: 40 Days of Encouragement for Your Heart.  Does your heart need a little encouraging today?  If so, read on for some helpful words from Holley.

When You're Just Not Feeling It

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galations 6:9

She sends me an email.
Or walks up to me at a conference.
Maybe whispers it across the table at lunch.
It starts with something like, "I know I'm called to write or speak or cook or do spreadsheets" - her voice gets lower here - "but what about the days when I'm just not feeling it?"
I nod.  Because I know.  Oh, how I know.

What I don't know is how our culture has convinced us that any other skill is okay to practise, but if it's spiritual or art or both, then you have to feel it every time.

As I'm writing this, the Olympics are still fresh on our minds.  I'm picturing an interviewer asking an athlete, "How often do you practise?" And the reply being, "When I feel like it."
We don't ever hear that from athletes at that level.

As Aristotle said,"We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."
What do you do when you don't feel it? You do it anyway.

***

There is no such thing as a God-sized dream that doesn't have seasons that are just plain ol' hard, unglamourous work. 
(Emphasis added by the blog poster!)

When we persevere through those times, we honour God, because that is when we're dying to ourselves.  We're saying, "I will obey even when all my flesh wants to do is sit in the corner and eat a cookie."  When you choose to be disciplined in the pursuit of your dream, even when you don't want to, you do a lot to destroy the work of the enemy.  And even though it doesn't feel like it, your faith is probably even stronger than when you have all the warm, fuzzy emotions that we like a lot better.

So keep going, friend.
You're doing better than you know.
You're growing more than you realise.
You're making a difference even if you can't see it.
And someday soon, you will.

Extracted from Day 16's reading in Opening the Door to Your God-Sized Dream.
ISBN: 9780800722807
Price: £8.99
Available through your local Christian bookshop, or any other bricks and mortar or online bookshop.

For more short and thought provoking reading, Holley's blog is well worth spending a little time browsing, as are her books You're Already Amazing, and You're Made for a God-Sized Dream.

Spring Snippets From Page 99!

Last year, Quench posted a couple of blog posts promoting new and forthcoming titles by using extracts from page 99 of each book.  I've seen this kind of idea in shops before.  Chicken House have done it/are doing it very effectively on at least some of their books by saying 'read page....' on the back.  I have bought at least one of their books as a result.  So I thought I'd take a look at some of our May and June titles, and give you some tasters from page 99 of each.  (Thank you, Quench Bookshop, Reading, for the idea!)

(Details of each book including extracts can be found at the foot of the post.)


Just before the doors started to close, they made it onto the elevator we'd just exited.  I made eye contact with the man in the front of the elevator, and there was a sense of recognition.  We both looked away before the doors slid shut.
    Time had stopped for us, but the clock had just started for these men who were on a lifesaving mission.  I looked at the aide who was with us, and I could see the horror on his face.  I knew immediately who they were, and it was a sight we were never supposed to see.
    The transplant team had come to collect Taylor's organs.


A long stretch upward brought us to a mountaintop several hours later.  From there we could see our destination thirty miles away, a city lying in a long valley ringed with mountains.  I-15 runs through Cedar City, and in the distance I could see the bridge I would cross over the interstate.
    Little yellow sunflowers along the roadside brightened the journey.  These little buttons of golden joy were also useful in determining wind direction, bending before the winds sweeping through the mountains.  Along the last five miles to Cedar City, the pretty flowers bowed low in my direction as a strong headwind tried to blow me back to Nevada.


"I guess you'd probably like the wood chopped a little bit bigger than that."  He forced a grin and nudged with his food one of the chips he'd managed to take off.
  She nodded.  "Yes.  A bit bigger would be helpful."
  Only then did he chance a glance at her.  She seemed to be fighting back a smile.
  "Go ahead.  Laugh." His grin widened.  "I deserve it.  I can admit - I'm a complete imbecile."
  Her smile broke free.  And even though she didn't laugh, he could see the hint of laughter dancing in her eyes.
  He had the feeling she wasn't used to smiling, much less laughing.
  "I suppose after my performance today, you'd like to hand me back over to the duke?"
"Maybe I will." As soon as her return jest was out, she ducked her head, almost as if she feared his response.
  Couldn't she see how much he enjoyed bantering with her?  "If you must return me to the duke," he persisted, "then at least persuade him not to put me back in the dungeon."
  Her gaze jerked up, and her smile faded.  "You were in a dungeon?"
  "Yes.  And only hours away from losing my head."


"I can't tell you everything," Mom answered, "You have to feel your way along on this a little bit at a time.  But I can tell you this.  The Fallen One is the ancient adversary, the serpent who seduced Adam and Eve in the Garden.  The morning star cast out of heaven.  He goes by many names - some call him Satan, others call him the devil, still others call him Beelzebub or Lucifer or the Prince of Darkness. But whatever you call him, he is the tempter and the accuser of humanity.  Like a shooting star he was flung from heaven, and since that day the angels refuse to even whisper his name.  Any evil comes from him.  He's behind it all, even the accident.
   "Look at me," she continued, putting my face in her hands and turning my head towards hers.  "That's on him, not you, do you hear me?  Somewhere you got the idea that it was  your fault.  It wasn't.  Sometimes bad things happen.  You need to believe that, Sky."
  It was a moment between a mother and a son that needed to take place.  Lord knows, I wanted to believe her, I needed to believe her, but somehow I just couldn't.  Things you've held onto for so long are hard to let go of, even if they're wrong.


As with most things, worry can have both a positive and a negative side to it.  When, for example, our concerns focus on circumstances within our control and prompt us to take action to prevent something bad happening, worry can lead to productivity.  Most of the time, though, we waste our energy worrying about things that are entirely out of our control or even our influence.
    Just as with anger, anxiety can trigger our fight-or-flight response.  Chronic worry damages our body.  Studies have linked it with suppression of the immune system, digestive disorders, muscle tension, short-term memory loss, premature coronary artery disease, and heart attacks.
    And consider this: 85 percent of the things we worry about never happen.  In addition, worrying about what might be supplants our trust in God.  In essence, it moves us further from, instead of closer to, Jesus.


Taylor's Gift, PB, £8.99

Biking Across America, PB, £8.99

A Noble Groom, PB, £8.99

The Gate, PB, £8.99

Tempted, Tested, True, PB, £8.99

All titles also available in digital editions.

Taylor's Gift. Life After Loss.

March 14, 2010 started quite literally ‘on a high’ for the Storch family.  Parents Todd and Tara with Taylor (13), Ryan (11) and Peyton (9) were enjoying a family skiing trip in Colorado.  No-one would ever have expected the day to end with Taylor being flown to hospital by air ambulance.

It was the very first day of the holiday and Todd, Taylor and Ryan set off on their run down the mountain while Tara and Peyton waited in the village below.  At first, all went well, but then Taylor got into trouble.  She shot towards the trees bordering the run, hit one head on, and then bounced into another.  Despite wearing all the right protective gear, she was unconscious when Todd and Ryan reached her.  Ryan rushed to call the ski patrol while Todd stayed with his daughter.  And all in a moment, the joy and brightness fled out of the day.

At 12.15pm the following day doctors told her grieving parents that Taylor had died, and asked a question which would change countless lives: ‘would you be willing to donate Taylor’s organs?’

Donate Taylor’s organs? Who thinks about such things? It doesn’t even cross parents’ minds that their child might die in a skiing accident – let alone whether or not they should donate their child’s organs.  But now, in Taylor’s hospital room, the unwanted question stood at attention before them.  Todd and Tara didn’t say anything out loud, but they both knew what the other was thinking.
What would Taylor do?

* * * * *

Taylor was outgoing, vivacious, and caring.  She described her teenaged self in a poem written for a school project just a week prior to her accident:

I Am

I am outgoing and friendly.
I wonder how long is forever.
I hear support from my family whenever I need it.
I see myself helping people in every way I can.
I want to be on the Ellen DeGeneres show.

I am outgoing and friendly.
I pretend I can do anything I want to.
I feel touched by the generosity of my sister.
I touch people’s lives.
I worry about failing.
I cry at the thought of losing a member of my family.

I am outgoing and friendly.
I understand how to make people feel happy.
I say with pride that I am a Christian.
I dream about becoming a teacher.
I try to make every day like my last.
I hope to become successful in life.
I am outgoing and friendly.

'Would you be willing to donate Taylor's organs?'
 

Taylor had a kind heart and loved to help others.  Her parents knew without a doubt that she would want this.  Much later, they would say it was her life, not her death which led to the decision.  So they agreed to the organ donation, then held each other and wept.  Knowing that her organs would help others was the only thing which allowed them to make any sense of their loss.

In fact, Taylor’s gifts helped 5 people.

Her heart saved the life of a young mother. 
Her kidneys and pancreas transformed the life of two men who had been on dialysis for eight and two years respectively.
Her cornea helped a young woman see better and eradicated her severe headaches and eye pain.
Her liver went to an unnamed recipient.

* * * * *

Grief is not linear. Each person grieves differently, and so it was and is for the Storch family, including of course Ryan and Peyton. Tara’s grief was paralysing and physical.  Todd needed things to do.  He quickly found that very few people are registered as organ donors.  He and Tara established the Taylor’s Gift Foundation to promote organ donor awareness.  Although based in the USA, the Foundation links to organ donation sites and movements around the world, including the National Donor Database, Live Life then Give Life, the Donor Family Network and Transplant Sport (all UK based).  As a direct result of its work, many people have signed up to donor registers worldwide.

Taylor’s story is one which can touch us all.  She was a much loved daughter, part of an  'ordinary' family living an ‘ordinary' life, going along from day to day as we mostly do, until a chain of events altered their family structure forever.  Although the Storch family lives in the USA, the grief of losing a family member is universal.

 

The Storch Family

 

Taylor's parents plumbed the depths of grief which any parent losing a child faces, and they acknowledge that it could have torn their marriage and family apart. 

A wise couple who had themselves experienced loss counselled them to allow each other to grieve in their own way and emphasised the importance of not doing anything that would drive a wedge into their relationship.  Todd learned to accept Tara’s need to sleep away the days, and Tara learned to let Todd work, or meet up with friends.  They didn’t have to like it, but they had to respect it.  Todd calls it the best advice they’d ever been given, and says it saved their marriage.

In just three years since that bright spring day in Colorado Taylor’s story is known internationally, and her legacy is significant.  She left the world a better place, not only for her organ recipients, and their friends and families, but also those who have received organs because donors signed up after  hearing her story.

In Todd’s words, ‘We were given the privilege of organ donation.  It wasn’t just a decision, it was a privilege.’

By registering to be an organ donor you have the privilege of one day saving someone’s life.  It costs you nothing, and it’s the greatest gift you could ever give. 
If you’re in the UK, please sign up HERE.

For more information on the Taylor’s Gift Foundation site.

Taylor’s Gift (International Paperback edition) is out in the UK in May.
For book information, sample chapter and video, click here.
You can pre-order the book via your local Christian bookshop, or any other bricks and mortar or online bookshop.

 

Why Biblical Fiction?

Mesu Andrews' latest Biblical fiction title, Love in a Broken Vessel, is the third book she has written set in Bible times. 

Love Amid the Ashes, her first, is based on the story of Job, not necessarily the first subject who might spring to mind for a novel.  Her second, Love's Sacred Song, followed a year later and tells the story of the young King Solomon, and Arielah, a young girl promised to him as a 'treaty bride'.

Love in a Broken Vessel revisits a several-times-retold story: That of Hosea and Gomer.  When marrying Hosea becomes her only means of escape from a life of abuse, Gomer does what she’s good at - she survives. Can Hosea’s love for God and God’s love for Israel restore Gomer’s broken spirit?
Here is a sample chapter.

Mesu likes writing books based on Old Testament stories and characters, and says they're the result of her own struggles to understand biblical figures.  She looks for stories which she has found difficult or confusing, and works through them until she becomes 'settled in my own spirit with what I believe those stories say'.  She researches the historical backgrounds and Biblical records carefully to create stories which are believable, and yet which remain true to the Bible narrative.  Mesu herself says that her stories are "history, yes, and spiritual insight, yes, but it's all because I think it is necessary for a Christian to understand the Old Testament for them to understand the New Testament."

Her readers clearly appreciate this focus and level of attention to detail:

"Set at the time when Solomon ascended to the throne, I found this book extremely interesting. From a religious point of view, it definitely made me want to explore Ecclesiastes a bit more. ...I loved the personal tale that was told of at least one wife offered to him, by a desperate father who was actually bartering for the freedom of his beloved daughter. ...I enjoyed the sense of place that the author brought to this novel."
Alice Collins, A GoodBookStall review (UK) - for the full review see here. On Love's Sacred Song.
 
"Mesu, thank you for your books! As manager of a Christian book store here in the UK, it's taken quite some time for the local people to take to American Christian fiction, and your books break that hesitancy! Great plots (of course), characters, and deep spirituality, emotions, thoughts and creativity. I can always sell what I believe in, and these books DO sell, with customers coming for more. Personally though I just love your well-written, richly descriptive and attention-grabbing books. You give insight into what's a well-known and skimmed-over Bible story and bring them to real life. MORE, please, Mesu!”
 
“Andrews’s research shines through on every page as she delves deeply into the cultural, historical, and biblical records to create this fascinating and multilayered tale.”
CBA Retailers + Resources on Love Amid the Ashes
 
“Andrews weaves a beautiful tale and takes readers to an ancient Jerusalem rich with history and customs and a culture that struggles to follow the one true God. This novel is well researched and well told.”-RT Book Reviews, 4½ stars, on Love’s Sacred Song

Biblical fiction is a small category, but it is a strong one with enthusiastic readers.  Personally, when I read a novel about the time of the crucifixion, it resulted in my thinking completely differently about what it would probably have been like for Jesus' followers in the days between his death and his resurrection.  We often skim straight from one to the other, so I'd never really thought much about the bit in the middle.  That one book made a difference to how I read the Bible. 

Mesu's books do the same.

All three of Mesu's books are available in the UK through all Christian bookshops, and online, in both print and ebook form.

Nowhere But Up - UK Facebook Page Goes Live!

Hello to all those who're waiting to see what will happen with our countdown to Nowhere But Up! The first piece of news is that our UK specific Facebook page is now live! We will be posting information, pictures, competitions and anything we think is interesting.

We need your input! So please post & please do circulate information about the page, or from the page!  We want lots of chat here in the UK about the book... (please!)

Just one point. We know that some less helpful or over-enthusiastic posts are sometimes left on FB, so we are announcing right up front that we reserve the right to remove any snarky, snipy, unrelated, un-nerving, nasty, inappropriate, 'troll-ish', or just too downright weird comments if we feel it necessary to do so. :)

Every day, every hour, every minute of our lives we have the opportunity to either say "yes" to God or "yes" to ourselves.  That's why Jesus emphasized something I don't hear much about at churches these days - denying  yourself: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23).  I think he found it necessary to say that because, while most of us want to do what God wants, we also want to do what we want.  And that's where the problems begin.

* * * * *

Over the years I've read lots of books about following Jesus.  Typically, they tend to make me feel guilty because I'm either not rejoicing enough or witnessing enough or going to church enough or tithing enough or praying enough.

Or they make following Jesus sound like a piece of cake: that life will just keep getting easier and easier as I get holier and holier and put into practice the Five Time-Tested Tips and Seven Life-Changing Principles that the author has based his current book, seminar series, website, or DVD curriculum on.

But I find very few books that lay out the paradoxical truth of the matter - (1) following Jesus isn't always easy, practical, fun or popular because temptation hounds us every step of the way, every day of our lives, (2) through it all, God's grace and forgiveness are powerfully available and instantly accessible to everyone, everywhere, all the time.  We live in the middle of a deep and rich paradox.  Grace and truth, pain and healing woven through our world, through time itself.

The greatest saints of the ages have discovered something most of us haven't.  Not only are they familiar with their own shortcomings and sins, they're also aware of the outlandish grace of God.  By being mindful of both their fallen nature and Jesus's risen love, they're able to live on the escarpment of evil without constantly toppling over the side.

Steven James, Flirting With the Forbidden

There are No Unimportant People

You were created on purpose, for a purpose.  Sometimes it's tough to accept that fact, especially in a world with such a flimsy view of what success and importance looks like. 

In You're Born an Original (Don't Die a Copy) John Mason helps you to recognise that God has given you unique qualities and encourages you to be brave enough to use them.  Here's a snippet to whet your appetite:

* * * * *

You’re not insignificant. Never view your life as if Jesus did nothing for you. Make the most of yourself; that’s exactly how God made you. Evan a small star shines in the darkness from millions of miles away. The first and worst of all frauds is to limit oneself.

Too many people never begin what God wants them to do because they are waiting to sing like Sandi Patti, preach like Billy Graham, or write like Max Lucado. God knew what He was doing when He put you together. Use what talents you possess…the woods would be silent if the only birds singing were those that sang the best.

“All history is a record of the power of minorities, and of minorities of one” (Ralph Waldo Emerson). If you deliberately plan to be less than you’re capable of being, you’ll be frustrated for the rest of your life.

View others in this same light. Each person is valuable and precious. Each person knows something you don’t. Learn from them. We’re all created for achievement and given the seeds for greatness, but each in our own way. What is greatness? What is achievement? Doing what God wants you to do and being where He wants you to be. There are no unimportant people.  (Bold highlighting mine. Anne)

Christians are new creations, not resurfaced sinners. With God’s help, you can be one of His few successes, not one of His thousands of disappointments. Don’t ever forget that God calls you a friend (see John 15:13). What an incredible statement that is! He also says you’re “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14).

God made you special for a purpose. He has an assignment for you that no one else can do as well as you can. Out of billions of applicant for the job, you’re the most qualified. You have the right combination of what it takes. God has given each person the measure of faith to do what He’s called them to do. Every person is gifted.

You are never who you ought to be until you are doing what you ought to be doing. God holds us responsible not only for what we have, but for what we could have; not only for who we are, but for who we might be. People are responsible to God for becoming what God has made possible for them to become.

Your life makes a difference. Although we’re all different, no mixture is insignificant. On judgement day, God won’t ask me why I wasn't Joshua, Billy Graham, or Pat Robertson…but why I wasn’t John Mason. Jerry Van Dyke said it best: “The best rose bush is not the one with the fewest thorns, but that which bears the finest roses”

You’re the best person to do what God has called you to do.

Price: £8.99
UK Publication Date: December 2011

A family. A farm. A heart. All in need of repair.

Suzanne Woods Fisher’s book The Keeper tells the story of a young Amish girl struggling to keep her family’s farm going after her father develops heart problems. Dreaming of her wedding to her fiancé Paul, she is devastated and angry when he calls off the wedding – for the second time. And she’s sure she knows whose fault it is that Paul has got cold feet.

I loved this book. It’s full of interesting (and sometimes infuriating!) characters, who are all really well evolved people. This isn’t a book which has a few central roles, with the rest of the ‘cast’ merely cameos. It tells an involving and entertaining story with energy and a good side dose of fun. I especially liked the character of Fern, and enjoyed wondering about the significance of ‘the man with the panama hat’. M.K. and Menno were both super characters too. By this you can see that the book is more than simply ‘Julia’s love story’, and for me this makes it a much more interesting read.

I read a lot of books, but not all that many of them keep me reading far too late into the night. This one did.

Highly recommended – I’m looking forward to the next already.

Price: £8.99
UK Publication Date: February 2012
Video trailer

Letting Go of Your 'Try Hard' Life

Do you feel rushed, tired, and under pressure? Are you so used to feeling like that that you barely notice? Do you feel that no matter what you do, it’s not enough?

Last week I took a break. I went away to Norfolk and stayed in a cottage right out in the country. It was quiet. The skies were big and uninterrupted with buildings, masts and wires. I enjoyed being out in the wind and the sun. I had time to read. I sat and watched the world go by. I took lots of photographs. My soul was soothed. I could just ‘be’.

Many Christian women live their lives behind a mask of ‘being ok’. Already battling society's false expectations of how a woman should look, dress and live, for many, faith simply produces another set of false expectations.

Emily Freeman was a classic Christian ‘good girl’. Cheerful, self-reliant and strong on the outside, she was irrationally angry on the inside when other people believed her facade and didn’t realise the struggles she was going through beneath her bubbly veneer. In Grace for the Good Girl Emily writes: “as day fades to dusk, you begin to feel the familiar fog of anxiety, the weight and pressure of holding it all together, of longing left unmet, of unexplained emptiness even in the midst of great blessing and perceived success.

Sometimes in quiet stillness, I felt an aching that wouldn’t go away, a longing to taste and see, to live authentically free.”

Is there something you are hiding from? If you answer this question honestly, it will reveal what it is you fear. Maybe you are hiding from remembering your past, from facing regret, from what may happen in your future. Maybe you don’t want to be known because you fear people might find out you are stupid or wrong or that you don’t know so much after all. Maybe you are hiding from your dreams because to face them would mean admitting they are there. And to admit that they are there would mean you aren’t living them after all.

Is there something you are hiding behind? When I answer this question, I discover those places where I put my trust. A hiding place is a place where we feel safe, emphasis on feel. I think it is a safe place to hide from the things I fear, so that is why I stay there. Maybe you hide behind your sweet personality, because to be anything other than nice would be offensive or bad or wrong. Maybe you hide behind your list of rules because you think following them is the way to be accepted by God. I hid behind all of these masks and other ones, too.

It is important to know the answers to these questions because only in identifying the lies that trigger certain reactions will we be able to receive the truth we need to replace them. For a long time, I believed I was searching for God and thought I had found him, this God who is order and control, distant and passive. I knew he so loved the world, but I didn’t know his love for me. As I gazed off into the foggy distance, hoping for a glimpse of the outline of his presence, I missed the One who stood beside me, casting his shadow over me as he showered me with his love. While I thought I was searching for him, he graciously, miraculously, and intentionally found me.

There is someone you want to be, and she isn’t a hiding, mask-wearing, fear-filled woman."

Grace for the Good Girl Sample chapter
Price: £8.99
ISBN: 9780800719845
Published by: Revell (Distributed by Lion Hudson)
Available through any good bookshop or online

Bill Coleman and a Quilt

Pray for a good harvest but continue to hoe.
Amish Proverb

Bill Coleman ran his own photography studio for thirty years, before a friend took him to visit a remote Amish village.

That journey changed his life.

At the age of fifty, he closed his studio and began photographing the Amish. Now eighty-five, he continues to photograph the same village as often as he can. His work is acclaimed and exhibited around the world. Yet his interaction with the Amish people and their values and ways has altered his own values in ways he believes are for the better.

You can read his story in Amish Values for Your Family: What We Can Learn from the Simple Life. And yes, an Amish quilt does get a mention!

In this engaging book you can learn from the Amish about prioritising what is truly important, simplifying decision making, safeguarding time together, letting go and slowing down.

You can read a sample chapter here.

By the way, if you enjoy Christmas novellas, as I do, you are likely to spot a link between this story and the forthcoming A Lancaster County Christmas, due for UK release in October.

A review of this is coming soon, but if you would like a sneaky peek, click on the link for a sample chapter. The sample chapter doesn't give away the connection, so you'll have to read the whole book to find out what it is!


If you'd like to see some of Bill Coleman's photos (they're well worth a look), you can find them here.

Amish Values for Your Family
Price: £7.99
ISBN: 9780800719968
Published by: Revell (Distributed by Lion Hudson)
Available through any good bookshop or online

Finding God in Ordinary Things

There will always be a tree that isn't mine. But I'd be a fool to miss the forest that is, longing for it.

Do you ever think about the 'Holy' when looking at the 'everyday' things of life? If you do, you'll love The Sacred Ordinary . If you've never thought about such things before, this book may change your way of thinking.

Within its pages are 112 meditations covering all sorts of things - from old chandeliers to hymns and junk drawers. Wonderful, eclectic, and thought-provoking.

Here's the piece on other peoples' trees:

I have a wish list, even though it isn't written down anywhere. I'll bet you do too. I don't know what's on your list, but I can quickly cite some of the bigger, recurring items on mine: A buttercream, VW Beetle with a black rag top. A good, godly husband and a family of my own. A horse... and a place to put it that doesn't violate municipal deed restrictions. And anything hanging in my closet with a size 8 tag that I could comfortably wear. (NOTE FROM THE BLOG POSTER: Size 8 US is size 10 UK - don't panic, ladies!)

I saw the car on my list this week. I even parked next to it so that I could peek inside. And I've imagined that I glimpsed my husband more than once - although not recently. I finger the size 8's (10s!) in stores from time to time, but even at my leanest - given the bone structure I inherited on my father's side of the family - it's not likely to happen. Each time I see something on my wish list, I feel my heart go out. There's an insistent little voice that says, "I still want that. Why hasn't God allowed me to have it?"

It's far, far too easy to consider the account of man's fall in the book of Genesis and imagine (go ahead and laugh) that if I’d been Eve, things might have happened differently. But let’s face it: we all want the tree that isn't ours. Any tree that isn't ours.

There's no doubt in my mind that Eden was lush... beautiful... fragrant. I'm sure it was a treat for the senses and a deeply satisfying place to call home. But confronted with the one thing that was off-limits to her, Eve's satisfaction with Paradise wilted. Told that there was one tree that wasn't hers, she could think of little else. She wanted little else. All the goodness of the garden lost its shine when she remembered that single tree.

And most days, I'm no different.

But what if I saw those other 'trees' as cues to offer thanks for all that is mine? What if every “Beetle sighting” was my cue to thank God for safe, reliable transportation – or that my car actually started up this morning when I got in and turned the key. What if dinner with married friends or a trip to Baby Gap for a shower gift reminded me to thank him that I’m not unhappily married and that there are children all around me who need extra love? What if a drive to the country in April didn’t make me sigh deeply for the horse I don’t have but made me grateful for the cute, apartment-sized dog draped over the back of my city-girl sofa? And what if a glance at a well-clad, gaunt mannequin remind me that I’m clothed in righteousness and made me glad? Wouldn’t that be a healthier approach?

There will always be a tree that isn’t mine. But I’d be a fool to miss the forest that is, longing for it.

Four Christy Awards for Baker Publishing Group

Winner: Suspense. The Bishop by Steven James.

"In the fourth Patrick Bowers thriller—after The Pawn (2007), The Rook (2008), and The Knight (2009)—the FBI criminologist is called to the scene of a gruesome murder. At a primate research facility, a woman was attacked by two chimpanzees, but this was no accident: someone had tied the victim, a congressman’s daughter, to a tree and set the animals on her. Patrick, who’s faced his share of twisted killers, might be encountering his most clever foe. This is a fine thriller, featuring a strong, compassionate protagonist and a couple of pretty scary villains (imagine if Bonnie and Clyde were serial killers, and if they were completely mad). James, an accomplished writer who seems equally at home writing hard-edged thrillers and books about spirituality for adults and younger readers, clearly knows how to spin a yarn; and—despite its thematic similarities to the television series Criminal Minds—this novel is fresh and exciting."David Pitt, Booklist Reviewer.

For more information and a sample chapter click here.

Winner: Historical Romance. The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen.

Mariah Aubrey lives in hiding in the gatehouse of a distant relative's estate. Supporting herself and her servant by writing novels in secret, her life becomes even more complicated when Captain Matthew Bryant leases the estate...

"Christy and RITA nominee Klassen creates a wonderful cast of engaging characters while neatly stirring in a generous dash of mystery and danger into the plot of her latest, charmingly romantic inspirational romance." John Charles, Booklist

For more information and a sample chapter click here.

Winner: First Novel. Heartless by Anne Elisabeth Stengl.

"Heartless is a great Christian fantasy tale, which is suitable for children and adults. It is very easy to read but hard to put down, I read it myself and now my younger nephews are fighting over it so I have had to purchase another! A great gift that will have you waiting for the next instalment! I am very impressed by Anne Elisabeth Stengl." Alex Pickering Eden.co.uk

For more information and a sample chapter click here.

Winner: Historical. While We're Far Apart

"For anyone who can remember the Second World War, this stirs up memories of how it used to be. Although set in America, the heartache felt by the children in this story was repeated in many countries, not least in the UK. Esther and her young brother had lost their mother and now it seemed they were going to lose their father too. Eddie has announced one Sunday afternoon that he has enlisted in the army. No argument, he has already signed up. Will their grandmother look after the children? No! What then? Penny, a young woman who has long loved Eddie from afar – next door actually, but it could have been a million miles – offers to help. Penny moves into the children’s home – which they resent - and over time the three of them get to know their elderly Jewish widower neighbour who is blaming God for taking his wife and always seeking news of his son and family in Hungary amidst all the news of what the Nazis are doing to the Jews in Europe. There are many other threads to this novel, and some surprising twists and turns that make for an excellent read that I can highly recommend." Mary Bartholomew, The Good Book Stall.

For more information and a sample chapter click here.

Sneak Previews from Revell!

You've seen a couple of 'on the horizon' titles from Bethany. Now it's Revell's turn! Biblical fiction has been gaining momentum, and we have two new stories coming from Revell early next year.

Jill Eileen Smith is the author of the Wives of King David series, the latest of which is Bathsheba. Now she turns her attention to some more strong women - the wives of the patriarchs, beginning with Sarai, Abram's wife.

Sarai, the last child of her aged father, is beautiful, spoiled, and used to getting her own way. When she marries Abram she promises to give him a son and heir. But as the years go by without the promised and longed for child, Sarai becomes desperate...

Jill Eileen Smith once again brings to life a key biblical character, with great commitment to the accuracy of the historical data.

"I thought I might find you here."
Abram's voice and his touch on her shoulder made her turn into his comforting embrace. "What's wrong, dear one?"
Sarai released a troubled sigh and leaned back to better see his face. "Milcah."
He nodded, but at his quizzical look, she knew he did not understand.
"She is flaunting her swollen belly, and I have no patience for her criticisms."
"Ahh," he said, pulling her close again. "Milcah is jealous of your beauty, dear wife. She has nothing else to flaunt." He patted her back, but the action did not soothe.
"I would rather have a child than beauty." The words were a mere breath against his chest, but when his hands stilled, she knew he'd heard.
"And I would rather have you just as you are." He held her at arm's length, his gaze searching. "Do not trouble yourself or deny joy to others. You have nothing to fear."
She looked into his handsome face and cupped his bearded cheek with her hand. He still carried the vigor of one much younger, and she rested in his strength as he held her. "But I do fear, dear husband. I fear I have failed to give you what you most deserve."
"I deserve nothing. What I possess is only a gift. Adonai will give what he will." He tipped her chin to look into his face. "Trust me in this, Sarai."

Mesu Andrews is the author of Love Amid the Ashes, a novel about the life of Job. Now she turns her attention to one of the Old Testament's best-loved kings: Solomon. In Love's Sacred Song, Mesu expertly weaves the words of the Song of Solomon into a touching story of the power of love.

Standing in the massive shadow of his famous father, young King Solomon wavers between fear and bravado, wisdom and folly. In the uncertain world of alliances and treachery, Solomon longs for peace and a love that is true and pure.
A shepherdess in the northern city of Shunem, Arielah remembers the first time she laid eyes on Solomon in Jerusalem when she was just seven years old. Her destiny is to be a 'treaty bride' to help unite the kingdom.
But can a shepherdess live as part of Solomon's harem? Can Solomon set aside his distractions to give himself fully to one woman? Or will duty, deception and daily routine divide his heart?

Which Personality Type Are You?

Personality Plus at Work will help you succeed at work – no matter who you have to work with! Do you know which personality type you are?

The Four Personalities according to Hippocrates (ca. 400 BC):

The Popular Personality: Sanguine Fun, outgoing, optimistic… but disorganized and too chatty.

The Powerful Personality: Choleric Goal-orientated, born leader, confident … but bossy and insensitive

The Perfect Personality: Melancholy Deep, thoughtful, organized … but negative and often depressed

The Peaceful Personality: Phlegmatic Pleasant, easy-going, adaptable … but indecisive and unmotivated.

To find out which personality type you are, try our abridged version of the test from Personality Plus. Place an X in front of the word (or words) on each line that most often applies to you.

Strengths: 1. ___Adventurous ___Adaptable ___Animated ___Analytical 2. ___Persistent ___Playful ___Persuasive ___Peaceful 3. ___Submissive ___Self-sacrificing ___Sociable ___Strong-willed 4. ___Considerate ___Controlled ___Competitive ___Convincing 5. ___Refreshing ___Respectful ___Reserved ___Resourceful

Weaknesses: 6. ___Blank ___Bashful ___Brassy ___ Bossy 7. ___Undisciplined ___Unsympathetic ___Unenthusiastic ___Unforgiving 8. ___ Reticent ___Resentful ___Resistant ___Repetitious 9. ___Fussy ___Fearful ___Forgetful ___Frank 10. ___Impatient ___Insecure ___Indecisive ___Interrupts

Now score your answers on this scoring sheet: 1. (PC) Adventurous (PP) Adaptable (PS) Animated (PM) Analytical 2. (PM) Persistent (PS) Playful (PC) Persuasive (PP) Peaceful 3. (PP) Submissive (PM) Self-sacrificing (PS) Sociable (PC) Strong-willed 4. (PM) Considerate (PP) Controlled (PC) Competitive (PS) Convincing 5. (PS) Refreshing (PM) Respectful (PP) Reserved (PC) Resourceful 6. (PP) Blank (PM) Bashful (PS) Brassy (PC) Bossy 7. (PS) Undisciplined (PC) Unsympathetic (PP) Unenthusiastic (PM) Unforgiving 8. (PP) Reticent (PM) Resentful (PC) Resistant (PS) Repetitious 9. (PM) Fussy (PP) Fearful (PS) Forgetful (PC) Frank 10. (PC) Impatient (PM) Insecure (PP) Indecisive (PS) Interrupts

Work out which personality type you have most matches with: PS Popular Sanguine PC Powerful Choleric PM Perfect Melancholy PP Peaceful Phlegmatic

To find out more about Personality Plus at work please visit our website.

The Bishop

Suspense Magazine has just named The Bishop one of its Books of the Year for 2010.

Take a look at this excerpt from The Bishop to find out why!

For your chance to win a free copy of The Bishop, scroll down to the bottom of the excerpt.

* * * *

Craig opened the screen door and rapped on the wooden one. “Mr Styles.” He made sure he called loud enough so that anyone in the house would be able to hear. “Sir, open the door. It’s the police.”
“Is that him?” the man inside the house shouted. “That the guy you’ve been –“
“Stop it!” Her voice was shrill, frantic, filled with fear. “Get away from me!”
Craig shouted, louder this time. “Mr. Styles, open the door!”
The man: “Put that down, you-“
Craig Walker unsnapped the leather holster holding his weapon and gave one final warning. “Open the door or we’re coming in!”
The man: “Gimme that thing.”
“Stop!”
And then.
A shotgun blast.
Splitting open the night.
Craig yelled for Trevor to cover the back of the house, cover it now! But then the words were mist and memory and he was only aware of the doorknob in one hand and the familiar feel of his Glock in the other as he threw open the door and swung his gun in front of him.
Stepped inside.
No overhead light, one lamp in the corner. A smouldering fireplace. A plaid couch, a green recliner.
And a woman on the other side of the room, trembling, shaking. A Stoeger 12-guage over-under shotgun in her hands.
Craig levelled his weapon at her. “Put down the gun!”
A man was lying on the floor six feet from her, his chest soaked with blood, his feet twitching sporadically. He coughed and then tried to speak, but the words were garbled and moist and Craig knew what that meant.
“Ma’am! Put down the shotgun!” Craig had never drawn on a woman before and felt his hands shake slightly.
She wore a pink housecoat. Her face was smeared with tears. She did not lower the gun.
“He was gonna kill me.” They were frantic, breathless words. “I know he was this time – he said he was gonna kill me.”
The man on the floor sputtered something unintelligible and then stopped making sounds altogether.
Where’s Trevor!
“Put it on the floor, Mrs. Styles. Slowly. Do it now.”
At last, staring at the man she’d shot, she began to lower the shotgun. He hit me. He was gonna kill me.”
“Okay,” Craig said, “now set down the gun.”
She bent over , a shiver running through her. “This wasn’t the first time.” She let the gun slip from her hands. It dropped with an uneven thud onto the brown, threadbare carpet. “He liked to hit me. He said he was gonna kill me this time. I know…” Her words seemed to come from someplace far away. Shock. Already washing through her.
“Ma’am, you need to step away from the gun.”
“The gun went off.” She stood slowly. “ I didn’t want to hurt him, but it just went off.” She took two unsteady steps backward.
“Is there anyone else in the house?”
She shook her head.
As she backed up, Craig, weapon still drawn, carefully approached the gunshot victim to see if the man still had a pulse.
But as he bent down, the woman shrieked and he glanced at her for a fraction of a second, only that much – a tiny instant- but that was all it took.
By the time he’d looked back at the body, the man had rolled toward the shotgun, snatched it from the floor, and aimed it at his chest.
And fired.
The impact of the bird shot sent Craig reeling, tumbling against the couch. He tried to raise his hand to fire his own weapon, but his arm wouldn’t obey. The room dimmed, and for one thin moment he was aware of all of his dreams and memories, running together, merging, collecting, descending into one final regret for all the things that he would leave forever undone.
And then, all of his thoughts folded in on themselves, dropping into a deep and final oblivion, and Officer Craig Walker crumpled motionless and dead onto the tattered carpet beside the plaid sofa in Philip and Jeanne Styles’s living room.

****

To celebrate the success of the The Bishop, we have three free copies to giveaway. The first three people who send us the titles of two other books in the Bowers Files series with their postal address to bpg@lionhudson.com will receive a copy of The Bishop. If you need a clue, click here