The Greatest Gift

This message was in a publication of Focus on the Family from my church.

It's called "The Greatest Gift" by Rachael Carman, and I thought it was a lovely message for Christmas, so I'm posting it here:

"When I was a kid, Christmas was my favorite time of the year for all the wrong reasons. I loved making my wish list. My conversations with friends centered on the gifts we'd receive. And I had an arsenal of manipulative tactics ready to use on my parents. I do not remember a skimpy Christmas.

We had the stuff but not the Savior; we had the tree but not the manager; we had the lights but not the star. We had Christmas without Christ. And although we always had many presents and full stockings, the holiday was empty. His presence was missing.

I wish I could say it was easy for me to transition from a lifetime of wanting stuff to wanting Him. I grew accustomed to getting; I enjoyed being selfish. I did not realize how ugly it was--until my kids started getting old enough to respond to marketing.

This season isn't about extraordinary gifts but about celebrating Christ's birth. It's not about exhausted nights or expensive parties but about His extravagant love. It's not about rushing around but about resting in Him. With his focus, I can celebrate the greatest gift of all time, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God."

Merry Christmas.



See you after the New Year!

A Christmas Eve Party!

MOOD STATUS: "Happy". I have a sore throat that has been nagging me for a few days, but still excited for Christmas!

Guess what? Not only is it Christmas Eve, but there is a Holiday Party going on at The Romance Author Hotspot!

Tons of great authors to meet, prizes, and even a chance to win your very own Kindle!

I'm up for an interview as well and will be giving away an eBook copy of my romantic comedy THE ROLE OF A LIFETIME to some lucky commenter HERE.

You can stop by from today to the 26th.

Drawings for the prizes will be December 27th.

Good luck and Merry Christmas!

The 12 Days of Ebooks (last day!)

It's the LAST day of The 12 Days of Ebooks!

What better way to end these 12 days than with an announcement of a party where you can win free ebooks and even your very own Kindle!

Check it out!

The 12 Days of Ebooks (day 11)

Well, tomorrow is the last day of the 12 Days of Ebooks where we will let you in on a special Holiday Bash going on--lots of eBooks to win and even a Kindle!

But today, we have author Katriena Knights who is blogging about her obsession with (and murdering) ereaders.

Check it out!

The 12 Days of Ebooks with Diane Craver

Gifts left to buy: ZERO
Gifts left to wrap: ZERO.
(It was too easy and now I feel like I'm forgetting something)

Another day another eBook...

Today, we're spotlighting author Diane Craver. (PS. She's great!)

Check it out!

The 12 Days of Ebooks with Maria Zannini

Just a few days left of The 12 Days of Ebooks!

Today, author Maria Zannini is blogging on HOW TO WRAP AN EBOOK.

Stop by and check it out! (She's so clever!)

The 12 Days of Ebooks--NOOK talk

MOOD STATUS: "Tired". Christmas party last night and didn't get home until midnight. (Hence the late post) :)

More eBook talk I'm afraid. LOL

Today, my critique partner and writer, Penny Dune, is blogging about her recent NOOK experience.

Stop by if you get a chance.

The 12 Days of Ebooks- Joanne Rock

Gifts left to buy: 2
Gifts left to wrap: 2

Happy Saturday! Harlequin author Joanne Rock is at the PC Blog today, talking about what she thinks about eBooks.

Stop by and check it out!

The Growth of Digital

IN THE NEWS: Special Delivery? Mailman Arrives at Wis. Office Wearing Only a Smile. Read more HERE.

Hi, all! I'm over at the PC blog today talking about the "Growth of Digital".

Stop by if you get the chance!

The 12 Days of Ebooks w/ Jaci Burton

The 12 Days of Ebooks continues! Today, author Jaci Burton is hosting a Christmas ebook giveaway!

Stop by and check it out here!

The 12 Days of Ebooks day 4

MOOD STATUS: "disappointed'. Didn't win cookie swap. Came in SECOND. It was down to the two of us in a tie, so they asked a woman who came late to the party to judge between the two of us and I lost. Pooh. The good thing was I brought home some fantastic cookies!

It's another day of The 12 Days of Ebooks.

Come join me in hearing the reason WHY author M.J. Fredrick loves ebooks!

The 12 Days of Ebooks day 3

IN THE NEWS:Inmate gets salami-free meals for Festivus faith. Read more HERE.

More of the 12 Days of ebooks HERE!

Come hear author Elizabeth Lane's story of why she and her agent decided to go the ebook way.

The 12 Days of Ebooks day 2

MOOD STATUS: "Productive". Eleven dozen cookies are baked for the cookie swap tomorrow!
CHRISTMAS GIFTS LEFT TO BUY: 3


Hi, all!

I'm over at The Passionate Critter blog today talking about...ebooks.

Who would have guessed? LOL

Come on over and see what the very first ebook that christened my ereader was and get that author's take on HER ereader.

Good stuff! :)

The 12 days of Ebooks

Hi, all!

In honor of so many people getting NOOKS, Kindles, and IPads for Christmas, my writers' forum is doing a series of posts (for the next 12 Days) on ereaders and epublishing as well highlighting a few ebook recommendations--just in time for Christmas downloading!

Are you hoping for an ereader this Christmas but are still not sure which one you want?

Do you have one currently but need some ebook suggestions?

Are you still wondering what an ebook is?

If you answered yes to any one of these questions, then you need to come join us for the fun and discussion!

Where is The 12 Days of Ebooks being hosted?

Well, right HERE at the Passionate Critters blog!

Stop by today and see Lucy Monroe's Youtube video on "Why Ebooks".

Image by Cool Text: Free Graphics Generator

O' Christmas Tree

IN THE NEWS: German police find pot plant adorned as Xmas tree. Read more HERE.

GIFTS TO BUY: Still 5 (but going shopping again today)

So the Christmas tree went up the other day. <-- This is it in all its splendor. It's actually late for us in getting the Christmas tree up. I like it up and decorated as soon as humanly possible after Thanksgiving.

I'm one of those people who move right into the next holiday. But I don't like my holidays to cross over. For example:No turkey talk until after Halloween. And of course, no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving.
Let's keep our holidays straight, people. :)

But anyhew, back to the Christmas tree... It's fake, yes. Allergies and my vacuuming obsession keep us from getting a real one. But one of the little traditions we do (for our fake tree) is buy an ornament from wherever we've visited that year. We didn't really take any major vacations this year but we did got to Boston to take the kiddo to a Red Sox game
<----
Thus the ornament of Fenway Park here.

-->this little gem is from our trip to Atlantis in the Bahamas a few years ago.

<--

Disney

-->this one I just threw in because the kiddo made it out of an old CD and I thought it was neat. :)

That's it for me this Friday. I'm off to shop in about an hour and then will stop by the rest of your blogs to catch-up later.

PS. Erin Kern was sweet enough to want to interview me today. So stop on by if you get a chance. No giveaway. Just random pointless info about myself. :)

How about you?

Is your tree up yet? Real or fake? Do you collect ornaments or have any special traditions with them?

'Tis the Season for a Book Giveaway

MOOD STATUS: "Groovy" (Despite a bad night of sleep) Got the Christmas decorations up already and will decorating the tree tonight!

Hey, all! I'm not here today. I'm at Rula Sinara's blog A Writer's Rush.

She was kind of enough to want to interview me and since it's the holidays and all, I'll be doing a little book giveway to some lucky commenter. You have until Wed. Dec 8th to comment.
I'll be giving away a copy of Georgie on His Mind or The Role of a Lifetime (winner's choice)
Stop by and say hello!



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Oh, and fellow bloggie buddy, Shannon McMahon hosts an Anonymous Critique every week on her blog. If you want to participate, you can provide feedback in the comments section or you can submit a tidbit of your writing to shan.mcm @ gmail.com and she’ll post your work there for honest, constructive feedback.
Check it out! http://shannonmcm.com/

Bring It On!

IN THE NEWS: Iowa inmates may make toilet paper to save money. Read more HERE.
Christmas Gifts left to buy: 5 (hubby added one on me) Grrr...


'Tis the season and all that, so...BRING ON THE COOKIES ALREADY!

I confess I'm a foodie, so naturally I bake/make about 7 different kinds of Christmas cookies every year. Yes, love the Christmas cookies. In fact, you might even say I'm a bit of a cookie snob. This is how picky I am:

Two years ago I was invited to a "cookie swap". I baked my little heart out for it, making I forget how many dozens of this very one type of very intricate pecan cookie that is by no means a pleasure to bake. But I did it, figuring everybody was probably putting in the same effort so we all could take home some really nice cookies.

Well. WRONGO. One woman ended up buying cookies and bringing them to the swap. Another woman bought the Pillsbury "plop and drop" dough and baked them. I was stunned. Seriously. (And had to throw out almost all of them because they were inedible) They must of have been inedible because even my non picky hubby wouldn't touch them.

Needless to say, when I got invited last year to the same swap, I did not go. Well, all the women there felt bad about the previous year and were looking to make it up to me. (And I'm sure they were looking for my cookies too) LOL

This year, my friend running the cookie swap has decided to step it up a bit and charge $20 a woman. She's going to get an impartial judge and whoever has the best cookie wins the pot.

Well, I won't lie.
I WANT TO WIN THAT COOKIE CONTEST.
But then on the invite I noticed that my friend wrote that I would be coming and bringing my famous pecan cookies.

Um, helllllllo?
Now I can't show up at her party with that cookie! It's like walking into a poker game showing everybody your full house! Sheesh! But don't worry. I have a backup cookie. I just need to test it out again this weekend.

I don't know. Maybe I'm over thinking this. I mean, it's only a cookie swap. Yeah, just a cookie swap...

A cookie swap where I could walk away with $200!!


I'll be sure to give you the lowdown of what happens. (The swap is Dec 14)

What cookie would you bring to a cookie swap like that?
What's your favorite Christmas cookie?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also, this Monday, Dec 6th I'm going to be at Rula Sinara's blog: A Writer's Rush, talking about...myself. LOL

And because Christmas is fast approaching, I'll be doing a little book giveaway to some lucky commenter (winner's choice).

So come on over then!