Thanksgiving Rewind (and Giveaway Winner)

Today as we bask in the afterglow of turkey and pumpkin pie, I pray that you and yours had a Happy Thanksgiving!

While many braved Black Friday sales, I hunkered down at home and enjoyed family, food, and fellowship. I didn’t miss the cool, rainy weather or the mad dash between stores that boasted “once in a lifetime bargains,” but if you were one of the hearty souls who endured and survived, I salute you! I thought about you with each goodie bite as Bing crooned “White Christmas” as only Bing can do. I wondered if you were feeling the love as much as I.

I know a great find can certainly lend itself to moments of unparalleled giddiness, so please share what you scored. I’d love to know! 🙂

Here in our little niche, we’re now knee-deep in Thanksgiving “rewind” and we’re making new memories, too.

We’ve indulged our inner child and tapped into all things Christmas. For our family, that means decorating the Christmas tree and adding festive touches to our home.

Soon, we’ll bake our traditional Christmas cookies and candies, watch holiday movie classics, and attend special Christmas services—the same things we do every year, but things we’ve come to treasure as we prepare our hearts for the Christmas season.

Too, we understand that as much as we anticipate and adore all the holiday revelry, at the center of our celebrating is Jesus.

Without the birth of our Savior, there would be no holiday “magic.” Festivities would be all sparkle and twinkling lights, but meaningless without the one true light. (Click-to-Tweet)

This Christmas season, in particular, I’m more conscious of that than ever.

In a few short weeks, I’ll reach a professional milestone that wouldn’t be possible without supernatural favor. I wouldn’t be able to share the stories of my heart if not for the greatest story ever written.

God’s timing is impeccable.

On those days we wonder if it’s still so, I think therein lies the mystery.

I believe God lights our path and directs us in countless ways—ways, perhaps, unknown to us at the time, but ways that are clearly meant to grow us. It’s part of our faith journey. (Click-to-Tweet)

When we pause and reflect, weeks—sometimes years—later, we see the orchestration of certain events through new eyes. What once seemed difficult and pointless, now it makes better sense. While we marked time, God banked moments—moments with a higher purpose in mind.

As the release of Her Hope Discovered (book one of my Welcome to Ruby series ) approaches, it’s those moments that leave me awestruck. Moments, it seemed, that couldn’t possibly shape my future, but did.

That’s the crazy-wonderful way God works.

The same God who spoke this world into existence crafted the series of my heart into something worthy and powerful. (Click-to-Tweet)

Watching this lifelong dream unfold is nothing short of a Christmas miracle.

Who would have thought that a little tale of life and love in the Missouri Ozarks would final in the 2016 ACFW Genesis contest and later become my début novel, kicked off at the start of a new year? Certainly, not me.

Of course, I’d hoped, but over the years, that hope took a backseat to the realities of publishing shifts and market downturn.

I’m so grateful I clung to the little seed of hope I still had and that I didn’t give up when quitting seemed the “smart” thing to do.

As I said in a recent Instagram post, often, faith makes no sense in the here and now, yet with complete abandon, we lean into Perfection—the answer that penetrates our version of finite.

Illogical faith. Beautiful truth.  Small words, big impact.

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 * The winner of last week’s $15.00 Starbucks gift card is PAULA S. Congratulations, Paula! Please touch base soon so I can mail you your gift. 

 * The winner(s) of Mountain Brook Ink’s Kindle Fire (grand prize) and Amazon gift cards will be announced by MBI so stay tuned! 

 

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SHARING IS CARING

 

Writing doesn’t always make sense. Why we still do it, in spite of our inner voice that whispers “quit.”

(Click-to-Tweet)

 

Question

How did you celebrate this Thanksgiving season?

How do you prepare your heart for Christmas?

Can you think of a time where having faith in something didn’t make sense?

What did you learn?

 

Original Image Credit: Alfred Schrock / Unsplash

 

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Don’t miss my December newsletter with fun and exciting updates about Her Hope Discovered.  Join my newsletter family today and follow along on my weekly blogs. Remember…when you subscribe, you will receive a confirmation e-mail that you’ll need to respond to in order to make sure that, yes, you really do want to hear from me. Your subscription isn’t activated until you confirm.

Pre-order Her Hope Discovered today and it will be auto-delivered to your e-reader January 1, 2019! The HHD print version will be available around December 15th (at a much higher price) if you’d like the best of both worlds!

Stay tuned for fun things ahead in December, including a blog celebration (with prizes)! As always, if you’d like to join my Facebook group, we’d love to welcome you aboard!

 

Much Love and Many Blessings.