Category Archives: giveaways
Four Letter Words (and a giveaway!)
What used to be expected and assumed is now questioned, criticized and even mocked. We live in a post-modern world, one that questions everything, but never accepts concrete answers. The problem is that many Christians still approach life as if everyone agrees with us. Or at least that they would if they were simply informed. This is a dangerous place to be. When faced with relativism, circular reasoning and theories presented as facts, many believers choose to question their faith before questioning the opposition. Why? Because they are not equipped.
Four Letter Words, by Dr. Bill Giovannetti, seeks to equip readers (specifically upper high school and college-aged believers) with the logic behind our faith and the prevalent holes in modern thinking. While I don’t agree with everything he wrote, the book offers an excellent starting point for contemporary apologetics. Read the rest of this entry
The Shadow of Your Smile (and a giveaway!)
Susan May Warren is the contemporary author I recommend most and most freely. Every one one of her books not only entertains, but also inspires me to investigate myself. My husband teases me about underlining text in novels. I do! But it’s because I learn something about God and something about myself in every single one of her books. I don’t want to forget those lessons. She is a tremendous writer, a beautiful tool used by God.
Her latest book, The Shadow of Your Smile, is another in the Deep Haven series. (I believe this is the fifth.) As always, she features new characters far enough removed from the last that you feel still the cozy familiarity of a series, but without redundancy or direct tie-ins. Each book can stand on its own. This series can be read out of order.
About the book:
After twenty-five years of marriage, Noelle and Eli Hueston are contemplating divorce. They’ve been through a lot together, but instead of growing closer, they’ve gone separate ways. They both have secrets. When an accident erases part of Noelle’s memory, she wakes without any memory of Eli, their children, or the tragedy that has ripped their family apart. In fact, she believes she’s still a college co-ed, incredulous that this is her body, her husband, her life. Why did nothing turn out like she dreamed? As she tries to regain her memory and slowly steps into her role as a wife and mother, Eli helps her readjust to daily life with sometimes-funny, sometimes-heartwarming results. But can she fall in love again with a man she can’t remember? Read the rest of this entry
Author Susan May Warren Guest Blogger: Enjoy the Ride!
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.
A Christmas of Kindness — Guest Blogger Suzanne Woods Fisher
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.
A Christmas of Kindness
By Suzanne Woods Fisher
“You can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving.” Amish proverb
I do it every year.
I plan for a simpler, less stressful Christmas season and, every year, by Christmas Eve I’m exhausted! After our delicious and very-time-consuming-to-make traditional Swedish meal to honor my husband’s relatives (think: Vikings), it’s time to head to church. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but the last few Christmas Eve’s, I have sent my husband and kids head off without me. The pull to spend an hour of quiet in the house feels as strong as a magnet.
It’s odd. My children are young adults now. Wouldn’t you think that Christmas would be simpler? Instead, it’s just the opposite. Jugging schedules to share the grandbaby with the in-laws, trying to include our elderly parents at the best time of day for them, dancing carefully around recently divorced family members whose children are impacted by the shards of broken relationships.
The thing is: you can simplify your to-do list, but you can’t really simplify people. We are just a complicated bunch.
Here’s where I borrow a lesson about simplicity from the Amish. It’s easy to get distracted with the buggies and the bonnets and the beards, but there’s so much more to learn from these gentle people if you’re willing to look a little deeper.
Yes, they live with less “stuff” and that does make for a simpler, less cluttered life. But it’s the reason behind it that is so compelling to me: they seek to create margin in their life. Not just empty space, but space that is available to nourish family, community, and faith. Their Christmas is far less elaborate than yours or mine, but what they do fill it with is oh so right.
Christmas comes quietly on an Amish farmhouse. There is no outward sign of the holiday as we know it: no bright decorations, no big tree in the living room corner. A few modest gifts are waiting for children at their breakfast place settings, covered by a dishtowel. Waiting first for Dad to read the story of Christ’s birth from the book of Luke. Waiting until after a special breakfast has been enjoyed. Waiting until Mom and Dad give the signal that the time has come for gifts.
Later, if Christmas doesn’t fall on a Sunday, extended family and friends will gather for another big meal. If time and weather permits, the late afternoon will be filled with ice skating or sledding. And more food! Always, always an abundance of good food. Faith, family, and community. That is the focus of an Amish Christmas.
And it’s also how the story begins for A Lancaster County Christmas, as a young family prepares for Christmas. A winter storm blows a non-Amish couple, Jaime and C.J. Fitzpatrick, off-course and into the Riehl farmhouse. An unlikely and tentative friendship develops, until the one thing Mattie and Sol hold most dear disappears and then. Ah, but you’ll just have to read the story to find out what happens next. Without giving anything away, I will say that I want to create a Mattie-inspired margin this Christmas season. Mattie knew inconveniences and interruptions that come in the form of people (big ones and little ones!) are ordained by God. And blessed by God.
Creating margin probably means that I won’t get Christmas cards out until the end of January, and my house won’t be uber-decorated. After all, something has to give. But it will mean I make time for a leisurely visit with my dad at his Alzheimer’s facility. And time to volunteer in the church nursery for a holiday-crowded event. And time to invite a new neighbor over for coffee. Hopefully, it will mean that my energy won’t get diverted by a frantic, self-imposed agenda. Only by God’s agenda – the essence of true simplicity.
And that includes taking time to worship Christ’s coming at the Christmas Eve service. You can hold me accountable! This year, I will be there.
Suzanne Woods Fisher is the bestselling author of The Choice, The Waiting, The Search, and The Keeper, as well as nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace. Her interest in the Anabaptist cultures can be directly traced to her grandfather, W. D. Benedict, who was raised in the Old Order German Baptist Brethren Church in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Suzanne is a Christy Award nominee and is the host of an internet radio show called Amish Wisdom and her work has appeared in many magazines. She lives in California. www.suzannewoodsfisher.com.
What’s up, buttercup?
I seem to have fallen into a pattern of blogging lots on the weeks that I have Bible study and then blogging not at all on the weeks I don’t. It’s not intentional. It’s just the rhythm found this fall. This is a Bible study week, so you may hear lots from me over the next few days. Here are a few quick notices.
Zaties: We’ve been busy this month! In addition to our recycled book purses, we’re now making some very fun stuff with the pages, including Christmas ornaments and wreaths. (I also have some fun votive holders, coasters and other groovy stuff that hasn’t made it into the Shop yet!) With the holidays quickly approaching, we’ve been invited to a couple local craft shows. You can check us out at the HCA Holiday Shopping Extravaganza on November 15th or at the Military Bridge and Shop-a-thon on November 17th. Contact me for directions and details.
Oh, AND this week Book Nook is hosting a giveaway in which you can win a Martha Stewart Cookbook Purse or a $50 gift card to our shop! Get all the details HERE.
Java with the Judges: We are on Week 4 of six in our workbooks. That translates to chapters 10-12 in the book of Judges. I hope you’ll engage in the discussion on Thursday!
We’ve already covered Caleb, Acsah, Othniel, Barak, Deborah, Jael, Gideon and his sons. There were a few other judges and characters thrown in between, but those are the main players we’ve discussed to date. On Wednesday night (at my home) and Thursday morning (here on the blog) we’ll talk about Jephthah, and then after Thanksgiving, we’ll dive into the lives of Samson and Delilah. Fun – right? I’m lovin’ it.
This week a few of you emailed me to give resignations from the study. I am very happy to announce that I am not accepting resignations at this time. That may sound ridiculous or even arrogant. It’s not meant that way. You see, Bible study isn’t a job and you’re not required to be here or take part. I don’t believe in “closing” small groups and I don’t believe in banishing anyone who can’t make it or keep up. I can’t keep you from quitting, but you should know that I don’t care if you’ve fallen behind or if you haven’t done any of your homework. I don’t care if you never show up to our group. You are still welcome and I’m keeping your seat open for you.
My goal with this study is not to pile homework or stress upon you. My goal is not to fill you with knowledge or seemingly irrelevant details about the Bible. It’s not about attendance or intelligence. I care very little about any of that. Rather, my purpose is simply to help you know God and to make you thirst for His Word. That’s it. There are no gold stars and no diplomas. Just a welcoming seat and an encouragement to know your Maker.
Other News: The kids have started their Christmas lists. Zach wants every possible toy related to Cars 2 and a trip to Africa. Ellie has asked for a pet fish, the entire American Girl catalog, and $8000. She believes that if she has $8000, she’ll be rich, set for life.
That’s it for today. So, what’s up with you?
Baby, It’s Cold Outside! (a giveaway!)
It’s not really cold here. Yet. But I’ve been feeling all wintery anyway.
With Zach having PT three hours a week and regular orthopedic appoints, with Ellie having piano and the odd necessity for me to arrive at the school an hour before pick-up just so I can get a decent parking spot, well, all of these factors have joined forces to give me lots and lots of waiting time — a.k.a. reading time.
One of the books I recently finished was Susan May Warren’s Baby, It’s Cold Outside. This novel tells of five near-strangers trapped in a storm house during a Christmas blizzard. It may have been seventy degrees outside, but you can bet I, vicariously trapped in the story, grabbed my fuzzy socks, made hot chocolate and asked my husband to start up the fire. (In case you’re wondering, he refused to fuel my fantasies.)
Speaking of fire, have you seen Amazon’s new Fire? Being the ebook convert and Kindle evangelist that I am, I watched the live podcast of its release and, of course, my husband ordered one that same day. So cool! I’m still waiting for it to arrive so I can steal it from Rick’s sweet hands.
As part of this book’s release, the author is hosting a giveaway — including a new Fire! Oh, and of course a free copy of this heart-warming book.
Here are the details:
Warm up to Christmas early this year with Susan May Warren’s Baby, It’s Cold Outside! To celebrate the release of her new Christmas book with Summerside Press, she and the publisher are giving away a Kindle Fire and hosting an early Christmas Party on Facebook!
Read what the reviewers are saying here.
One festive winner will receive:
- A brand new Kindle Fire
- Baby, It’s Cold Outside by Susan May Warren
Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. Giveaway ends on 10/26!
But, wait there’s more! Join Susan May Warren on 10/27 for merriment and a few early Christmas presents at her Baby, It’s Cold Outside Christmas party! Grab your Christmas sweaters, socks and pj’s and join Susan and a few friends for a fireside chat about her recent books (Heiress & Baby, It’s Cold Outside), holiday traditions, favorite Christmas recipes, a trivia contest and more! Invite your friends and don’t miss the fun!
RSVP here and we’ll see you on October 27th at 5 PM PST / 8 PM EST!
A New Book and a Giveaway from Susan May Warren
Susan May Warren is one of my very favorite authors. I have read more than ten of her books in the past two years. I love her spunky contemporary characters and am thrilled to see this same strength applied to her latest historical drama, Heiress.
About the book: A richly complex historical romance, Heiress is the first in Susan’s three book Daughters of Fortune series.
The beautiful and wealthy heiress daughters of August Price can buy everything their hearts desire. But what if their desire is to be loved, without an enormous price tag attached? When one sister betrays another for the sake of love, will she find happiness? And what happens when the other sets out across the still untamed frontier to find it—will she discover she’s left it behind in the glamorous world of the New York gilded society? What price will each woman pay for being an heiress?
Set in the opulent world of the Gilded Age, two women discover that being an heiress just might cost them everything they love.
Find out what the reviewers are saying here.
About the author: Susan May Warren is an award-winning, best-selling author of over twenty-five novels, many of which have won the Inspirational Readers Choice Award, the ACFW Book of the Year award, the Rita Award, and have been Christy finalists. After serving as a missionary for eight years in Russia, Susan and her husband returned home to a small town on Minnesota’s beautiful Lake Superior shore where their family is active in their local church. She’s also busy cheering on her two sons in football, and her daughter in local theater productions (and desperately missing her college-age son!) Read the rest of this entry
A Kindle Giveaway and a Great New Book
My husband tells me I’ve become a Kindle evangelist. It’s not that Kindles are the bees knees, necessarily. I mean, it’s not the device that I adore. It’s the ease with which I can enjoy what I truly adore: reading. I love my Kindle, but only because I really, really love books.
Debora Coty’s release party delights me. She’s giving away a Kindle AND a great book! Details for the giveaway are below. Let me tell you about the book first.
Too Blessed to Be Stressed
You want Debora Coty’s book because:
- It’s cute!
Okay, so “cute” isn’t a #1 reason to buy a book, but it does make a difference. The small size and colorful pages make me want to pick it up and fill my mind and heart with the great insights held within. - It’s packed with biblically-sound advice, loads of Scripture and fun quotes from all sorts of people.
- Short, manageable chapters.
Always less than five pages. You can read a chapter while cooking dinner or waiting in line at the store. Back to the “cute” point, this book fits nicely in any purse.
- Practical tips from someone who knows.
Think your life is nuts? Check out this author’s bio: speaker, author, piano teacher, orthopedic occupational therapist, writing instructor, tennis enthusiast, wife, mother and pet owner. Yup. She understands stress. Better: she shares in this book how we can deal with it in healthy, God-honoring ways. - It’s very, very funny.
Funny doesn’t seem to wrap it up. Witty seems too lofty.
Just read it. I loved it.
Read what other reviewers are saying here.
Too Blessed to be Stressed is a fun-filled read overflowing with insights and practical tips. Perfectly delicious for living happily ever after!
-Rhonda Rhea, best-selling author of Whatsoever Things Are Lovely
Debora has created a “Too Blessed” prize package worth over $150! One grand prize winner will receive:
* A brand new Latest Generation KINDLE with Wi-Fi and Pearl Screen
* Too Blessed to Be Stressed by Debora Coty (for KINDLE)
To enter just click one of the icons below. Hurry! The giveaway ends August 25th. Winner will be announced on the evening of the 18th during Debora’s De-Stress Facebook Party! Debora will be hosting a “life-preserver” chat (it’s okay if you haven’t read the book – who knows, you might WIN a copy!), testing trivia skills, swapping funny stories, handing out some decom-stress tips, and giving away tons of great stuff! (Chocolate, books, and more!) Hope to see you there. Bring your friends and join the fun on August 25th at 5:00 PM PST (6 PM MDT, 7 PM CDT, & 8 PM EDT).
Also – be sure to check out Debora’s series of Stress-Buster videos at her website: www.deboracoty.com. She’s also hosting a photo caption contest on her blog for a chance to win a copy of Too Blessed to Be Stressed.
And the winner is …
The winner of a free copy of The Life Ready Woman is MEGAN at lucky #7!
Megan, email me your snail mail address (tanyasue(at)gmail(dot)com) and I’ll get your book right out to you.
To the rest of you, please don’t forget that this book is just part of the Life Ready Giveaway. You can still enter to win a Weekend to Remember Getaway with your husband, sponsored by FamilyLife. Click here to learn more.
Also, you can still enter “The Me Project” giveaway for a chance to win that deluxe Starbucks gift basket. Visit this post for full details.
THANKS, everyone, for participating!
Giveaway Reminder!
Tomorrow I will draw the winner for the free copy of The Life Ready Woman. If you want to enter, be sure to leave a comment on that post (Click Here) TODAY.
You have until Wednesday to leave a comment for The Me Project (Click Here) and the Starbucks Deluxe Gift Basket! I will choose one random name from the comments left on that post to submit to the author’s website for the grand drawing next week.
A special “Thank You!” to Litfuse Publicity Group and Kathy Carlton Willis Communications, FamilyLife Ministries, MomLife, the authors and publishers for making these giveaways possible!
