Peering Through Life's Window

  A Warm Welcome to Karen Malley Karen will give away an eBook of Recipes and Redemption .  To enter to win leave a comment and email address below and join the Rafflecopter Contest. She also offers a free prequel to the Chester County Couples series. If you’d like to learn about some of the characters when they were younger, check out Lilacs and Love Letters ! See below for details. Also below - check out her free short story offer. Hi Gail, thanks so much for having me on the blog today. It’s my pleasure.  I’m happy to share with you a Bible verse and a recipe, and tell you about my newest book! A Bible verse which plays prominently in my latest book is 2 Corinthians 5:17.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! I like this verse because it reminds us that no matter what we were or what we did before we met Jesus, we have a fresh start once we turn our lives over to Him. It’s so freeing to be a new creation...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY        It all started in the Third Century when Roman Emperor Claudius demanded young men not marry because it distracted them from their duties as Roman soldiers. A priest, Saint Valentine, secretly married soldiers to their young brides. Then the Emperor demanded Christians deny their religion and worship pagan gods, but Saint Valentine refused, was arrested and condemned to die. While he waited for his execution, his jailer asked him to pray for his blind daughter. After she  miraculously regained her sight, the jailer and many others were converted to Christianity and were baptized. Before Saint Valentine was executed on February 14, 269 AD, he wrote a note to the jailer’s daughter and signed it “from your Valentine.” * Mercifully, priests and ministers don’t have to pay such a price today for marrying those in love, or praying for those in need, nor do we have to pay for loving or showing kindness to someone. Today’s a good day to spre...

Merry Christmas!  Luke 2: 11-12, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths lying in a manger.” The greatest love the world has ever known started in a humble stable in Bethlehem when Jesus was born.  Later He suffered and died to conquer death for us. Knowing what he endured, it’s difficult to comprehend the depth of unconditional love He has for us. Before He was crucified, he preached a Gospel telling us to love one another.     Today with wars popping up and hate rhetoric we might wonder if we’ve run out of love, if we’ve abandoned it, or if we’ve forgotten where to find it. We can’t manufacture it. We can’t buy or demand it because we can’t dictate what’s in a person’s heart.  It must be given and received. It was given on Christmas in Bethlehem and again on the cross when Jesus died for our sins. We only need to accept it. Once we do, it lives inside us and spills over to ot...

  A Warm Welcome to Jodie Wolfe Jodie will give away an eBook of Taming Julia , the first book in her Burton Brides Series. (U.S. residents only). To enter to win leave a comment below and join the Rafflecopter contest.   Hi Jodie, first, tell us a little about yourself. My husband and I have been married for almost thirty-six years. We have two sons and six grandchildren. We live in PA, between two mountains.   Were you an avid reader as a child? If so, what did you read? Oh yes! Not only did I read a lot, but my mom also read to me and my brothers. I remember books like Encyclopedia Brown, Trixie Beldon, Little House on the Prairie, Nancy Drew, and lots of Snoopy/Peanuts books. :)   Why do you write? Because it’s something I feel God has called me to do. Tell us about your latest book. Enoch Valentine has given up finding peace for his past mistakes. He throws everything he has into being the new part-time deputy in Burrton Springs, Kansas while mai...

A Warm Welcome to Regina Andrews Regina gives away an eBook of Christmas in Vermont. To enter to win leave a comment below and enter the Rafflecopter contest. About Christmas in Vermont Faith and trust are sometimes difficult to master, but can a sparkling Christmas in Vermont change all that? Returning home to Holly Berry Village and beginning her career as an Estate gemologist, puts Christal Birchwood completely in her comfort zone. But when she meets the new town physician, Cole Townsend, the barriers she has created around herself quickly begin to shatter and fall. Will she trust her faith enough to carry her into a sparkling, new beginning? And will Cole be able to trust his heart to love again? Christmas in Vermont Summary  After studying for two years in Switzerland, certified gemologist Christal Birchwood arrives back home in Holly Berry Village just in time for Christmas. The world of Estate and vintage jewelry suits her well. It is exact and precise, and there are no unk...

 Love Much As we’ve grown more distanced from each other, many of us still strive to help others. We’re doing it more and more through charities, online giving, and programs in our churches, but we’re all so busy surviving with almost no extra time, we often gloss over the little things, the simple gestures and kindnesses that bind human to human.  When we’re overburdened ourselves with life’s demands growing more difficult each day, we’re often mentally marking things off of our list, so it doesn’t occur to us to smile at each other.  Sometimes we’re having such a hard time keeping up with the day’s demands, listening to another person whose heart is troubled doesn’t occur to us, but it can mean so much.  If we’re pre-occupied, we can overlook that spur of the moment need that jumps out at us from nowhere.  These are little things, but they’re often important to the person who needs a bit of help. One day in a crowded restaurant where people place their orders ...

A Warm Welcome to Donna Schlachter  Donna will give away an eBook of Merry Little Mysteries. Leave a comment and email address below and enter the Rafflecopter contest for a chance to win. Receive a free eBook for a newsletter sign up. See below. Romance, History and Mystery  If you enjoy a little romance, a little history, and a little mystery, you’re going to love “A Mistletoe Mystery” in the Merry Little Mysteries anthology. A half dozen authors have banded together to bring you a collection of contemporary and historical mysteries, all clean and sweet, that are sure to tickle your funny bone all the way down to your toes in your stockings. About A Mistletoe Mystery in Merry Little Mysteries A Mistletoe Mystery, is set in Boulder Colorado in 1883, and it opens with Holly and Ivy Christmas discovering that somebody has seeded their champion spruce trees with dwarf mistletoe, a parasitic plant every bit as destructive as the ordinary kind , but not as pretty. They follow t...

  A Warm Welcome to Mildred Colvin Mildred has added chapters to her popular book, Mama's Bible . Use the Smashwords coupon code, UR45L, good until October 14th, to receive a free e-Book and be sure to share the code with friends and family.  Hi Mildred, tell us about the time Jesus intervened in you and your husband's life. The Day God Sent a Road I needed to get to the doctor. We were young and had no fear of icy roads. After several years of hoping for a child, the doctor confirmed I was expecting. My husband and I moved through the next few weeks in a sort of daze, not sure if we could believe our dreams were finally coming true. Then problems developed, and we feared I was losing the baby. The doctor was a specialist in a larger city about seventy-five miles away, but when I called with my concerns, he asked me to come to his office. Determined to do whatever it took to save our child, we started out although snow and ice covered the ground and dotted the roads. Clo...

  A Warm Welcome to Clare Revell Clare shares her favorite Bible Verse and a favorite recipe. She will give away an e-Book PDF copy of  The House that Jack Built . See the Rafflcopter contest below to enter to win. Bible Verse Nourish the Soul 1 Peter: 5:7 - Cast all your cares upon Him for He careth for you.   A Yummy Recipe from Great Britain A great way to use leftover meat from the Sunday Roast, or when you fancy something different.   Savoury Crumble Ingredients   1lb diced meat - either cooked fresh or cut up leftovers 2oz butter 5oz flour 2oz grated cheese 1pint white sauce  Place meat into a large oven proof dish and top with the white sauce (see below). Rub butter into flour and add cheese and pinch of salt. Sprinkle crumble over meat/sauce. Bake in oven gas 6/200C/400F for 35 mins until top is golden brown. Serve with boiled spuds, veg and more white sauce. White sauce: Mix a pint of milk and 2tablespoon cornflour  About The House That J...

  A Warm Welcome to Barbara Britton Barbara will give away an e-Book or print copy (U.S. residents only) of Defending David.  Enter the Rafflecopter contest below to for a chance to win the book. Barbara shares a personal post about the meaning of Easter. Seeing The World through The “Jesus Lens” By Barbara M. Britton If you had told me in grade school that I would be a multi-published author of Biblical Fiction and that I would stand before bleachers full of students telling Bible stories and sharing the love of Jesus, I would have squinted at you and asked, “Who’s Jesus and what’s a Bible?” I grew up in a loving family, but at Christmas it was all about the presents, and at Easter it was all about the chocolate. But, I had questions that a new doll or a cream egg couldn’t fill.  Death frightened me like it does many children. Dying didn’t make sense to me. I loved my family, and they were unique and fun and caring, so the purpose of their being was to poof die. That was...

  A Warm Welcome to Jennifer Slattery Jennifer will give away a print copy (U.S. residents only) of Her Small Town Refuge . To enter the Raffllecopter contest to win Jennifer's book leave a comment and an email address below.  The Messy but Beautiful Call to Love Most of want to be the type of person who notices those standing on the fringe, welcomes them close, and creates safe places where they can experience Christ. At least in theory. In practice, however, many of us discover how challenging and at times uncomfortable and convicting it can be to build relationships with those from hard places and an abundance of rough edges.  Life gets messy when we invite others in; when we reach out to the wounded. Simple and seemingly benign conversation can unexpectedly grow tense, our actions, at times, misaligned, and our best intentions viewed with skepticism if not contempt. And this hurts, not just from the sting of rejection. I’m convinced our greatest discomfort stems from ...

  We all have it, and we can give it to others for free? What is it? It’s a smile. There are so many different kinds of smiles. There’s the flirty smile that says, “Hey, I really like you.” There’s the friendly smile, and the one that’s reserved for babies that says, “Oh, isn’t he or she just the cutest thing?” There are even half-hearted smiles that seem to say, “I’m obligated to speak to you,” and of course, sheepish smiles that say, “Yeah, I did it.” But one day I received a smile from an unlikely source.  Since I have a back problem, I’m restricted to walking on a flat surface, so most of the time I join the mall walkers. Even on days when I’m not rushed or tired, getting the exercise seems a chore. Sometimes it's a challenge to avoid bumping into folks who stop suddenly to gaze at a window display or those in groups who take the entire aisle. And, that’s not to mention hurrying to get out of the way of the train the kids ride around the mall.  As I made my way throug...