My Peace I Give to You

I’m thinking about packing. What books do I take? Will I get all my clothes into my car?

Can I get everything switched over on the Carol Awards to my new address?

Photo Credit
Pretty much felt like this little clamper/pincher/staple puller
was headed right for my head the other night...

Millions of little tiny nothing tasks are racing through my brain, including but not limited to, paying my car insurance, getting reimbursed for the shopping I did for my current job, to answering the hundreds of emails that are stacking up between the two accounts I manage.

Can I just sit in the corner and cry now? I’m near to overwhelmed and feel the constriction of my lungs about to send me into hyperventilation.

A friend once told me that “I liked to be in control”. I admit it. I scoffed at him, on the inside of course, but me? Need to be in control? Surely you jest. I’m just fine with doing what I need to do when I need to do it. Control is the last thing I want. I’d rather see someone else hold the reins.

Yeah. I obviously don’t know myself that well and someone who had talked with me only twice, pegged me. That was a little hard to swallow, not going to lie.

But I realized last night as I was stressed about finishing all these little tasks and getting everything on my to-do list done, I had lost the excitement, the anticipation that was roaring around the corner and headed my way. I was worried about who would be taking over my two jobs that I’m leaving behind and would they do a good job? Would things fall through the cracks? Maybe I should just keep the one that I can do long distance to make sure everything goes right.

Now how in-control is that? That I can’t leave, knowing God is going to be taking care of everything that I’m leaving behind. I’m just me. A simple human being and yet I think I can do it better than God? I think that I’ve got this in control better than He does?

Well sit me down in my seat and tell me I need an intervention. So I stopped. I didn’t want to stop, after all, I had tons of things that I needed to finish and accomplish before bed time, not to mention exercising, finishing that review book and on and on the list goes…But I stopped anyway. And realized, if God’s hand is on this isn’t He going to give me the grace and the time to finish everything that I think is so important?

And if I don’t get that time, maybe I need to rethink my priorities…and focus more on the One who gave them to me to begin with. I don’t like feeling overwhelmed. I don’t like worrying that something isn’t getting done. But the hard solid truth? God’s got this. So why spend the time worrying when His peace He wants to give to me?

Can't-Put-It-Down Read! Distortion by Terri Blackstock ~ Review

From beginning chapter to last page, I was glued to the pages of my Kindle as I rapidly flipped through the book to find out what was going to happen next, in this action-packed, adrenaline-filled novel.

           

I couldn’t help but feel immediate empathy for our heroine when her husband is gunned down in the middle of the U-Haul parking lot. All seems to be great and honest about this man and I wasn’t sure where the tension was going to be picked up. Oh ye, of little faith. There was plenty of tension just in listing off this upstanding doctor’s sins-one by one or alphabetical?

            From drug trafficking to illegitimate children to recurrence of an old and familiar villain, the reader doesn’t have much chance to take a deep breath while reading, making it difficult to put down at any given point. One of the faster books I’ve read so far this year.

            Tension is well maintained throughout the book without feeling tired or overdone, as I had expected. Something new is always turning up and enough character points of view to keep things interesting as well. The book does not have the perfect and tidy little ending one would expect, so it’s waiting on the next book in the series for me. Hopefully it won’t be a long one!

            This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley through Litfuse for my copy to review. 

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More about the novel...

Juliet Cole's life has been dismantled by the murder of her husband. She doesn't know who---or what---to trust when everything she has believed to be true about her marriage has been a lie.

A husband's lies can have deadly consequences.

When Juliet Cole's husband of fifteen years is murdered before her eyes, she thinks it was a random shooting. Devastated and traumatized, she answers hours of questioning, then returns home to break the tragic news to her boys. But a threatening voicemail takes this from a random shooting to a planned, deliberate attack.

Juliet realizes that she and her children are in danger too, unless she meets the killers' demands. But as she and her sisters untangle the clues, her husband's dark secrets come to light. The more she learns, the more of her life is dismantled. Was her husband an innocent victim or a hardened criminal?

Pre-order a copy for just $4.99 on Kindle, Nook, iTunes, or the eBook version on CBD until March 10th.

*~*CONTEST INFO*~*

Don't miss Terri Blackstock's latest release in the Moonlighters series, Distortion.

The book releases March 11th, and Terri will be kicking off the release with a fun Facebook Distortion party and giving away a Kindle Fire HDX. PLUS readers can pre-order the ebook for just $4.99 between now and 3/11 everywhere ebooks are sold.

One winner will receive:

• A brand new Kindle Fire HDX
• Distortion and Truth Stained Lies by Terri Blackstock

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on March 11th. Winner will be announced at the Distortion Facebook Party on March 11th. Connect with Terri for a "suspenseful" book launch party with prizes, a book chat, and more.

Don't miss a moment of the fun; RSVP today by clicking JOIN on the event page. Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 11th!

Giveaway! Healer of Carthage by Lynne Gentry!

Welcome to Writing for Christ Lynne Gentry, it is great to have you here! So you’re a writer? What made you decide to start creating characters and story world?

I grew up on a Kansas dairy farm. Our cows didn’t travel. So neither did we.

I longed for adventure. I wanted to visit exotic places and meet famous people. Imaginary trips became my escape from rural isolation.

In an instant, my mind could magically transform a tree house into a medieval castle, hay bales into a pioneer fort, or a dank root cellar into a time portal that could transport me into the ancient civilizations of the Bible.
In my make-believe world, I was bold, brave, and beautiful. The heroes were handsome and romantic. Humanity’s fate hung in the balance. Good always triumphed over evil. And in the end, I left the past in far better shape than I found it.

What is the one title that has significantly impacted your life?

The Bible. My first recollection is of the year I was cast as the angel who announced the birth of the baby Jesus at our church’s annual Christmas service. I loved standing on a box behind the manger watching the story of God becoming flesh unfold. The power of that unbelievable moment in time changed my life.

If you could get a do-over when it came to learning this whole thing called writing, what would you go back and tell yourself?

Writing is a solitary sport. But learning the craft requires a village. For two years after I decided to start writing novels, I wrote alone. But that resulted in 400 pages that will probably never see the light of day. I learned so much about the craft and the business from joining some writer organizations. I think ACFW is a great way to jumpstart those much needed skills.

5 preference questions:

Homemade or take-out? Homemade, but I never turn my nose up at take-out.

Email or snailmail? Love getting a real letter in the mail, but can’t remember the last real letter I wrote.

Online shopping or Black Friday deals? I try to avoid shopping. But I love a good deal.

Books or movies? Tough one. Since I’m stage trained I love stage and screen, but I know the best stories often originate from books and love curling up with one and letting the movie play in my head.

Note-taker or memorization? Rely heavily on notes.

               

Yes, I’m asking you to play favorites…which of your books is your favorite, published or unpublished? And if this is your debut novel, has your favorite been published yet?

I’ve written several musicals and several books in several different genres, but I have to say I love HEALER OF CARTHAGE and am very proud of the research and work that went into this story.

Places for readers to learn more about you?

Website: http://lynnegentry.com/

Facebook: Author Lynne Gentry https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Lynne-Gentry/215337565176144

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lynne_Gentry

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/lynnegentry7/

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imh1AwR698Y

Simon & Schuster: http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Lynne-Gentry/412732530

Thank you for being with us today!

Thank you, Casey. If readers are interested they can watch the video for Healer of Carthage here.

Readers, enter to win Lynne's book here!

Please leave an email address! If I draw your name and there is no email, you will not win.

For extra entries:

~Be a follower

~Be a subscriber

Contest is only open in the U.S. and void where prohibited. Chances of winning are based on the number of entries and winner is draw from a non-biased third party- Random.org. I am not responsible for any lost or damaged items for said prize.

Thanks for coming by to enter! Contest ends on March 14th

Attn Readers! If you're struggling to leave a comment on my blog, please email your comment entries (in ONE email) and I will submit it for you. But PLEASE only do this after you've failed to leave a comment. My email is: caseym.writer(@)gmail.com 

Flawed and Imperfect ~ A Month of Love and Marriage with Final Guest Dineen Miller!

With the month of February around us those who are single look toward loving and marriage and those you who are already married just look at us singles and smile, while shaking your heads. ;-) I didn't want to just focus on love, but also on marriage the joys and trials and the wisdom that can be shared from those before us. I know I think a lot about falling in love, but not a lot about what happens afterwards. What wisdom can be shared with those like me? I've asked Dineen Miller, Carol Award winner, author of both fiction and non fiction and happily married wife and mother, to be my fourth and final guest this month in a month long series. Dineen has one of those hearts that blesses everyone it comes in touch with--including mine and I'm excited to share her post with you today. Leave a comment below to enter to win your choice of any of the (released and yet to be released) in the A Year of Weddings Novellas collection.

Last year my oldest daughter married the man of her dreams and whom I believe God handpicked for her. Even as they dated and became engaged, I could already see God in the middle of their relationship. As someone who is spiritually mismatched (my husband doesn’t share my faith) and as a mom who prayed for years for her daughters’ future spouses, this was a true testimony of God’s faithfulness.

Yet even what we call ideal circumstances, I so wanted my daughter to understand a few things that I didn’t as a young bride. As the wedding plans progressed, I found some opportunities to share my heart with her. This is what I told her:

1.      Don’t worry about everything being perfect. So often those details we let tie us up in

One of Dineen's non fiction titles
for the spiritually mis-matched marriage

knots wind up holding no value at all. We can get so caught up in the “doing” that we miss “being” in the moments. And those moments can be so precious and full of love. They are what we hold close to our hearts and remember years down the road.

2.      Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Sometimes the best results come from either learning how to do something wrong first, like ruining a meal. (Next time you know not to leave the temperature set on high for an hour or a doubling the amount of salt the recipe calls for does not make it tastier!) And sometimes “happy mistakes,” as I call them, wind up giving you a better outcome than you originally hoped. It’s all about giving grace and lots of it. The Bible is all about God’s relationship with His people and His love for them. Guess what? Marriage is all about relationship and love for each other. Give lots of grace.

3.      Don’t be a control freak. I realized years down the road that my desire to be perfect

Click to learn more about
Dineen's second non fiction title

(see number one) and not make mistakes (see number 2) had cheated my husband out of some great hands-on experiences, like cleaning a bathroom, doing laundry, and changing diapers. Feel free to laugh, but the thing is, when we are shooting for perfection, we set the bar so high that our spouse may not want to even try to reach for such unrealistic expectations, which only opens the door for misunderstandings. Maybe he really does want to help out but is too afraid he won’t do it the way you want it. And in the long run, who remembers how well you folded the laundry or kept the house dust free? 

Maybe these aren’t areas that would tie you in knots on the proverbial clothesline. The most important “skill” in marriage is open and honest communication without hidden agendas and reading between the lines. Learn from each other and most importantly, enjoy each other. Nothing is ever perfect and thank goodness it doesn't have to be. Our greatest example of love is Jesus—how He loved people right where they were, flaws and all. Love each other that way, and you’ll have a marriage that will turn into a life long journey full of love and surprises.

Love getting to know this beautiful lady,
inside and out!

Dineen Miller is passionate about God’s Word and truth. She’s been featured on the Moody Radio Network, Focus on the Family, Dr. James Dobson’s FamilyTalk and FamilyLife Today. Dineen lives in the Bay Area with her family and is the coauthor of the award winning book, Winning Him Without Words and Not Alone: Trusting God to Raise Godly Kids in a Spiritually Mismatched Home. She is also the author of the ACFW Carol Award winning book, The Soul Saver. Visit Dineen online at SpirituallyUnequalMarriage.com.

Delightful Romance ~ The Dream Dress by Janice Thompson ~ Review

Every little girl dreams of what her wedding dress is going to look like on that special day and “The Dream Dress” has taken every little girl’s dream and made it come true in the course of this fun-loving novel, a spin-off of the “Weddings by Bella” series.

            I’m a personal lover of wedding days and all things wedding paraphernalia. What girl isn’t, right? Throw in a sweet hero with a heart for our heroine and you’ve got a recipe for a great story. Gabi is not without her share of problems, however and I thought her struggles with losing her father, trusting God and starting a brand new business from the ground up were realistic, with a stitch of humor and fun thrown in as well.

          

  Of course, our favorite wedding planner, Bella makes a guest appearance or two along with cameos from some of the beloved characters from earlier in the series. The scenes from the wedding dress shop were amongst my favorites, though they caused Gabi the most angst. But I do admit, the moment she stands up for herself, I wanted to cheer!

          

  A sweeter or more heart pulsing romance couldn’t be found for Jordan is one heart-stopping hero. One any girl would want to win the heart of. A true delight from beginning to end, I’d have Gabi design my wedding dress in a heartbeat!

        

   This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers for my copy to review. 

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More about the novel....

A seamstress at a swanky bridal boutique, Gabi Delgado dreams of doing more than ripping out seams

and fitting dresses to doe-eyed brides. She wants to see her own dress designs gracing the young women of Texas. When Jordan Spencer, the editor of Texas Bride magazine visits the shop to do a feature, Gabi is devastated to lose her job in his very influential presence. Convinced she'll never get her dreams off the ground now, Gabi needs lots of encouragement--especially from her friend Bella Neeley--to take a chance and start her business. And as she gets to know Jordan, she discovers that she may have to take a chance on love as well. Could it be that she'll have to design her own wedding dress soon?

Where Courage Calls by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan ~ Review

            

This novel picks up years down the road from one of my favorite collections: When Calls the Heart. I read these little mass market paperback books enough times to wear out my parent’s copies until I finally got my own where they hold a coveted place on my book shelves.

          

  But I’m afraid I didn’t love “Where Courage Calls” as much as I felt I should and as much as I wanted to. There wasn’t any surprise to the characters, nothing was really left to my imagination to wonder and explore as everything was simply laid out in front of me. Much of the story simply moved forward without a great deal of action and instead much internal processing.

            I wouldn’t say I completely disliked the book or didn’t have anything about it that made me want to stop reading it. I liked how Elizabeth took on the town and brought a sense of grace and upstanding to their schools, while also being changed from the person she was when she got there. And there is certainly room for further stories in the series. But I’m afraid that this title didn’t garner enough interest in the characters to read further.

            I don’t write this review to discourage other readers, because the story is sweet and means well. It just hasn’t been my favorite of tales so far this year.

            This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers through Litfuse for my copy to review.

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More about the novel....

After years of schooling, Beth Thatcher has graduated and is determined to become a teacher. But when

she's assigned the position no one else wants--in the tiny mining town of Coal Valley, located in the rugged foothills of western Canada--she worries she doesn't have the courage to accept.

Inspired by the diary of her aunt Elizabeth, who went west to teach school several years earlier, as well as her father's encouragement, Beth eventually decides to put her trust in God and leave behind all she's ever known.

But the conditions in Coal Valley are even worse than she'd feared. A recent mining accident has left the town grieving and at the mercy of the mining company. The children have very little prior education, and many of the locals don't even speak

English. In addition, Beth's heart is torn between two young men--both Mounties, one a lifelong friend and the other a kind, quiet man who comes to her aid more than once.

Despite the unexpected challenges, Beth is determined to make a difference in the rustic frontier town. But when her sister visits from the East, reminding her of all the luxuries she's had to give up, will Beth decide to return to her privileged life as soon as the school year is over?

*~*CONTEST INFO*~*

Janette Oke's newest book, Where Courage Calls (co-written with her daughter, Laurel Oke Logan), is receiving rave reviews. It is the companion story to Hallmark Channel's TV series When Calls the Heart, set in the Canadian west.

Janette and Laurel are celebrating with an iPad Mini giveaway and a Facebook author chat party on March 4th.

One winner will receive:

• iPad Mini
• Where Courage Calls by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan
• When Calls the Heart DVD

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on March 4th. Winner will be announced at the Where Courage Calls Facebook Party on March 4th. Connect with Janette and Laurel for an evening of book chat, trivia, laughter, and more!

So grab your copy of Where Courage Calls and join Janette and Laurel on the evening of March 4th for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the book, don't let that stop you from coming!)

Don't miss a moment of the fun; RSVP today by clicking JOIN on the event page. Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 4th!

Giveaway! Love Gone Wild by Amy Matayo!

Welcome to Writing for Christ Amy Matayo, it is great to have you here! So you’re a writer? What made you decide to start creating characters and story world?

I started writing as a little girl—songs, poems, sayings I carved into my bedroom door (my parents were super-happy about that). All of it was bad, but I kept at it. In seventh grade, I wrote a short story in my English class that my teacher loved. She submitted it to a writing contest for kids. It didn’t win, but her encouragement and enthusiasm gave me a strong desire to keep writing.

I worked for DaySpring Cards as a writer/editor for seven years, then freelanced for catalogs and magazines. After thinking about it for years, I finally decided to try my life-long dream of becoming an author. I wrote my first full-length novel in 2009. I’m currently working on my seventh manuscript.

What is the one title that has significantly impacted your life?

Two books:  One, Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers and two, The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

If you could get a do-over when it came to learning this whole thing called writing, what would you go back and tell yourself?

To start earlier like I wanted to. Kids, family, mortgages, and jobs were my excuses for years—valid excuses, but excuses still. There’s never a convenient time to go for your dreams. You just have to figure out a way to reach for them while living life—even if life is busy and even if you only have a few minutes each day to work on them. In my case, that was writing. It still is.

5 preference questions:

Homemade or take-out?

Homemade...if someone else makes it.

Email or snailmail?

email

Online shopping or Black Friday deals?

Black Friday. I like to watch people fight over cheap stuff.

Books or movies?

Books

Note-taker or memorization?

Total note taker, and then I lose the notes and can’t remember anything I wrote down. Without fail.

               

Yes, I’m asking you to play favorites…which of your books is your favorite, published or unpublished? And if this is your debut novel, has your favorite been published yet?

My favorite is a New Adult book called Sway. It’s unpublished but will be released on Oct 1.

Places for readers to learn more about you?

www.amymatayo.com

www.facebook.com/amy.matayo

@amymatayo (twitter)

Thank you for being with us today! 

Readers, enter to win Amy's book here!

Please leave an email address! If I draw your name and there is no email, you will not win.

For extra entries:

~Be a follower

~Be a subscriber

Contest is only open in the U.S. and void where prohibited. Chances of winning are based on the number of entries and winner is draw from a non-biased third party- Random.org. I am not responsible for any lost or damaged items for said prize.

Thanks for coming by to enter! Contest ends on March 7th

Attn Readers! If you're struggling to leave a comment on my blog, please email your comment entries (in ONE email) and I will submit it for you. But PLEASE only do this after you've failed to leave a comment. My email is: caseym.writer(@)gmail.com