Wear Joy

Welcome to the 12 Pearls of Christmas! Enjoy these Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom"! Please follow along through Christmas day as Melody Carlson, Lauraine Snelling, Rachel Hauck, Tricia Goyer, Maureen Lang, and more share their heartfelt stories of how God has touched their life during this most wonderful time of the year.

AND BEST OF ALL ... there's also a giveaway!!!! Fill out the quick form at the link located at the bottom of this post to be entered to win a PEARL NECKLACE, BRACELET AND EARRINGS! You may enter once a day. The winner will be announced on New Year's Day at the Pearl Girls Blog! Pearls - a tangible reminder of God's grace to us all.

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Wear Joy
by Rachel Hauck

Thanksgiving day in central Florida broke warm and sunny under a blue sky. The thin fall breeze beckoned me. Taking my bike out, I rode the neighborhood feeling so grateful for all my blessings.

Joy bubbled up in my spirit. I’d been feeling it for a day, these waves of joy, but as I rode my bike and talked to God, the waves strengthened and splashed my heart the entire ride.

I’d laugh. Then tear up. And laugh again. As one who’s battled and won the war on anxiety and fear attacks, the onslaught of joy was welcomed, and actually sparked a new prayer in my heart. I’ve endured attacks of panic, time for attacks of joy.

The journey of joy began earlier in the year while writing a book coincidentally named, “Dining with Joy.”

Sitting at my table one day, revelation hit me. “The joy of the Lord is my strength.” Nehemiah 8:10. The more I meditated on it, the more I wanted His joy. I don’t want my strength. I want His.

Not long after, I went to Nashville for a girl’s weekend. One of my friends handed me a coffee cup inscribed with “The joy of the Lord is my strength.”

Ever just know? God is calling.

During the holiday season, I turn 50. Yep, the big 5-0. Can’t stop it, I might as well embrace it.

Fifty is often associated with jubilee, a time of restoration, and healing, even release from debt and slavery. It’s a time of returning to property, and inheritance.

A time of rest.

A time of JOY!

This past week, a friend gifted me with a beautiful Christmas ornament. Inscribed on it? You guessed it.

JOY!

To me, the world doesn’t look very joyful. There are social and economic woas. But God is speaking and offering joy.

As you go into this holiday season, ask God for a pearl of joy. Like pearls, crafted through abrasion, God’s true joy is often formed in us during difficult seasons.

Here’s the thing, His strength isn’t doled out based on our goodness, our success or failure, or the fact the holiday season is hard or sad for you. He is ready, willing and able to overcome all your weaknesses, fears and anxiety, sadness with the power of His very own joy.

His joy. Your strength.

I’ve been walking into rooms, houses, outdoors, raising my arms and shouting, “Joy!” People look at me funny, but I want to spread the joy of the Lord. To spread the very essence of His strength.

How about you? Can you find the pearl of joy in your life, in the essence of God’s heart toward you?

Wear joy this season.

 ~~~

About Rachel: RITA-finalist Rachel Hauck lives in Florida with her husband, Tony. She is the author of Dining with Joy; Sweet Caroline; Love Starts with Elle; and The Sweet By and By, co-authored with Sara Evans. For more information please visit http://www.rachelhauck.com/.

Oh, and be sure to enter Rachel's Dining With Joy NOOK eReader giveaway!

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A three strand pearl necklace will be given away on New Year's Day. All you need to do to have a chance of winning is {FILL OUT THIS QUICK ENTRY FORM}. The winner will be announced on the Pearl Girls Blog (http://margaretmcsweeney.blogspot.com/) on New Years Day!

12 Pearls of Christmas Series and contest sponsored by Pearl Girls®. For more information, please visit http://www.pearlgirls.info/

Pearls of Patience

Hello - I'm thrilled to announce the 2nd Annual 12 Pearls of Christmas! We've lined up several authors to share their Christmas "Pearls of Wisdom"! Please follow along beginning today (Monday the 13th) through Christmas day as Melody Carlson, Lauraine Snelling,  Rachel Hauck, Tricia Goyer, Maureen Lang, and more share their heartfelt stories of how God has touched their life during this most wonderful time of the year.



We are also providing this series as free content for your own blogs (as 12 html posts) - if you'd like to share the 12 Pearls of Christmas with your blog readers email (amy@litfusegroup.com) and she'll send you the content.



AND BEST OF ALL ... there's also a giveaway!!!! Fill out the quick form at the link located at the bottom of this post or any of the following 12 Pearls of Christmas posts (on any of the participating posts) to be entered to win a PEARL NECKLACE, BRACELET AND EARRINGS! You may enter once a day. The winner will be announced on New Year's Day! Pearls - a tangible reminder of God's grace to us all.

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Pearls of Patience

by Margaret Mcsweeney



As I write by the light of my Christmas tree on a late winter’s night, I reflect upon the poignancy and purpose of this season.  The tiny white lights look like strands of pearls draped gracefully (perhaps haphazardly is a more honest description) across the evergreen boughs.  Tomorrow I will hang the ornaments and at last place the angel atop the tree



Angels carry a special meaning this Christmas.  My brother, Randy passed away on December 2nd from a heart attack at age 53.  He was feeding a stray cat on his side porch.  Randy was always like St. Francis of Asissi – animals would find him, sensing a kind soul.  And my brother was a gentle and patient soul.  He loved to fish.  He tried to teach me, but I immediately lost interest when I realized worms were involved. And I could never sit still on the banks of a river and just wait.  However, Randy could do that.  He could wait, and waiting is a true gift.  He put into practice the Scriptures.  “Wait upon the Lord.”  “Be still and know that He is God.”  Patience doesn’t have to be passive.  Wait is still an action verb.  Part of the waiting process for fishing is seeking.  Elaine (Randy’s wife of 31 years) told me that Randy said he could see the fish deep beneath the waters.  He actively waited for the right time to catch them.



During Randy’s last fishing trip on earth – just a week before his death, he felt an urgency to take a picture of the clouds with his cell phone.  When he returned home, he showed the picture to Elaine.  They realized that a face of an angel was looking at Randy from the sky – perhaps waiting for God’s timing to bring Randy home to heaven.  In my heart I like to think that this “angel in the sky” was part of the heavenly host that appeared to the shepherds over two thousand years ago.  A Christmas Angel.



The Christmas Angels brought tidings of great joy that Jesus, our Lord and Savior was born.  And because of that incredible gift from God that these angels announced, we all have the promise of eternity. Let us actively wait for His return by sharing our faith, offering hope and acting with love in everything we do.



May each of you be blessed this Christmas as you celebrate the purposeful promises of the Season: Faith, hope and love.   And may the 12 Pearls of Christmas be a blessing to you, too.

 ~~~

About Margaret: Margaret McSweeney lives with her husband, David and two teenage daughters in the Chicago suburbs. After earning a master's degree in international business from the University of South Carolina, Margaret moved to New York City to work at a large bank where she met David. Charity and community involvement are very important to Margaret. She is the founder and director of Pearl Girls. For more information please visit http://www.pearlgirls.info/. Margaret is fast at work on several fiction manuscripts and her book Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace was written to help fund the Pearl Girl Charities. Connect with Margaret on Facebook or Twitter.

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A three strand pearl necklace will be given away on New Year's Day. All you need to do to have a chance of winning is {FILL OUT THIS QUICK ENTRY FORM}. The winner will be announced on the Pearl Girls Blog (http://margaretmcsweeney.blogspot.com/) on New Years Day!



12 Pearls of Christmas Series and contest sponsored by Pearl Girls®. For more information, please visit www.pearlgirls.info

Did She Know?

Here's a sneak peak post of the 12 Pearls of Christmas series that I'll be hosting at my blog for the next few weeks! Please follow along through Christmas day as each post shares heartfelt stories of how God has touched a life during this most wonderful time of the year. AND BEST OF ALL ... there's also a giveaway!!!! Fill out the quick form at the link located at the bottom of this post to be entered to win a PEARL NECKLACE, BRACELET AND EARRINGS!  Pearls - a tangible reminder of God's grace to us all.

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Did She Know?
by Anna Joujan

Mary, did you know . . . that your baby boy is Heaven’s perfect Lamb?  And the sleeping child you’re holding is the great I AM

I am in the middle of a revival of my used-to-be-annual project of a Christmas card sketch.  For several years, with a few years missed, I have done a sketch of some image of Mary the Mother of Jesus, something that came to my mind without complete awareness of why that particular picture was needing to be put to paper.  It was originally a simple pencil sketch that, once completed, I would have printed out into a set of cards that would go out to all my friends and family.  Along with the sketch, however, I have always had a verse that came to mind to signify the meaning of the drawing in my mind.  And so I have had images such as “Be it unto me according to your word,” as well as a more enigmatic one that went with “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me . . .”  But each one was important for that year of my life.  And so I would spend the necessary costs in order to produce and mail in relatively large scales, for my general penny-pinching tendencies.

This year I did not expect to produce a card.  The fact of my life lately as a boarding school librarian/teacher in Zambia, Africa, has made such projects feel rather far-removed from the realm of possibility.
And yet, I have had an image in my head for several months now.  I started to put it to paper, and I abandoned it for a bit, figuring it was a bit frivolous with all the practical work I had to do.  But then I picked it up again, and it is now nearing the stage of completion, hopefully to be completed with printing and mailing once I arrive in the U.S. for a holiday visit with family.

What I realized is that, frivolous though it may seem, it is actually quite important.  For women [especially Western women of faith], the holidays carry with them great amounts of expectation and stresses.  So much so that we often get swallowed up with the hectic pace and forget to soak in the meaning.  What is important for each of us, I believe, is to “pick and choose.”  We must resist the pressure to do what doesn’t not bring meaning for us.  And we must cling to those traditions and activities that promote an aura of true, Christ-centered celebration for ourselves and for our loved ones.

So this year, Lord willing, I will be sending out my cards—and enjoying every bit of it; and in case you wondered, Mary did you know . . .?  will be the theme

 ~~~

About Anna:  Anna G. Joujan was born in South Dakota, as a Canadian citizen, and was raised in Zambia, the child of missionary teachers.  Since her family’s move to the U.S., Anna spent her childhood and early adulthood traveling throughout the world thanks to various educational and work opportunities . . . France, China, Peru, and Jamaica being some of the stops in her journeys. Her undergraduate degree in French Literature led to a Masters in Information Sciences, and to work as a college and high school librarian, and a cross country coach. She has also returned to Zambia multiple times to teach for individual families and for local schools. All the while continuing pursuing her passions of writing, artwork, photography . . . and card-production.  You can find her online at http://annajouj.wordpress.com/

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A three strand pearl necklace will be given away on New Year's Day. All you need to do to have a chance of winning is {FILL OUT THIS QUICK ENTRY FORM}. One entry per person, per day. The winner will be announced on the Pearl Girls Blog (http://margaretmcsweeney.blogspot.com/) on New Years Day!

12 Pearls of Christmas Series and contest sponsored by Pearl Girls®. For more information, please visit http://www.pearlgirls.info/

Radical - David Platt

Have you ever questioned your faith? I mean really questioned it? This book is all about questioning the LEVEL of your faith. David Platt shares biblical stories, real life stories and hypothetical situations in a way that will have you doing some deep thinking before you finish the very first chapter.


There is almost too much to say about this book to put into one book review! I feel like I should really do a book report on it.

From secret churches in Asia to the homeless in America, David challenges each of us to truly live biblically. This book will really get your gears turning as the author gently reminds you of the problems that all of Gods children are facing on this planet. The global crisis of lack of information and lack of basic necessities is a real problem that we are all aware of.

Could you leave your suburban home to minister to the poor in an inner city? How about hopping on a jet plane to teach the gospel at the risk of your own life? I mistakenly thought this would be another book on limited “radical living.” Things like volunteering in your community and providing help for your neighbors but boy was I wrong! Of course we need to be doing these things as well but we have to stop turning a blind eye to the suffering that is taking place everywhere!

I literally found myself carrying this book around in my pocketbook and reading it while waiting to pick up my children, waiting in the doctors office and in various places around the house. It’s a page turner with a conscience! You will not look at the world around you the same again.

My son started our evening meal prayer tonight by praying for the entire world because I had read a few paragraphs of the last chapter to him while sitting in the doctors office today.

*This book was provided by the Blogging for Books program for review purposes

Interview with the Author - Kandy Siahaya

Today I would like to welcome Kandy Siahaya [author of Making Light of Being Heavy] to Thouartjules! In case you missed it, read my review before you continue.

Kandy Siahaya was raised in a small town in Maine where she graduated from high school in 1984. She worked her way up from her first job as CSW to Manager of Kentucky Fried Chicken and ended up in Brunswick, Maine. When she decided to leave the fried chicken business at age 22, she packed up her little Chevy Chevette and moved to Florida, where she worked as a waitress and had a great time as a single girl in her 20’s. Reality hit when she was 25 years old and she went back to Maine and received her Associate’s Degree at Beal College and promptly moved back to Florida and started a career in medical transcription. In 1995 at age 29, she moved to Miami, Florida, and continued with transcription starting her own business. In 2002, Kandy left Florida and moved back to Maine with her 5-year-old son and continued medical transcription but had an unexpected decline in work which left her with a lot of time on her hands. This is when she decided to write the book, something she had been thinking about for a few years but never had the time because she was always so busy with her business. It was meant to be a quick and funny read, something to brighten the outlook of many that really do not see the light through their own tunnel vision. It was also intended to be insightful for those that could never possibly relate to this specific subject. Kandy has succeeded in doing just that with Making Light of Being Heavy.



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Kandy, thank you for taking the time to share more about yourself!Tell us about your book Making Light of Being Heavy.


1. What inspired you to write this book?
Making Light of Being Heavy was inspired by my daily life as a fat chick. Specifically, one summer day a friend and I were in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, with our kids just walking along the sidewalk when this real cute guy driving a pedicab (a ride that is driven by a person on a bike) pulls along side us waiting for a light. I looked over at him and asked him what the weight limit was on that ride. Now both my friend and I topped out at over 300 pounds each so you can imagine what this 160 pound guy must be thinking! He looked at us as though he was trying to come up with a "safe" figure and said "500 pounds." I jokingly laughed with my friend and said that we wouldn't be getting a ride on that anytime soon! As we were walking away, my friend joked and said how cool it would be to write a book about the funny side of being fat...Making Light of Being Heavy.

2. Is there any significance to your cover art?
My goal with the cover was to show that the book was going to be lighthearted and off the cuff; hence the hippo with the tutu on the light end of the scale and the feather on the heavy end.

3. What advice would you give to the aspiring writers out there?
 Stick with it even though you will get many, many rejections. Perseverance is the key.

4. Are you still running your medical transcription business and selling real estate?
I put my real estate license inactive for right now but transcription is my full-time business.

5. Of course I have to ask... How is your weight now? Have you reached your goal?
I have lost over 50 pounds this year and I am going for another 50, doing it 10 pounds at a time :)

6. What is next for you? Do you have another book planned? What are you currently working on? With any extra time I am focusing mostly on promoting this book to really get it out there because I honestly believe it could benefit a lot of people.

7. What one piece of advice would you give a fellow fat person who is thinking of picking up your book?
Don't let all the negativity surrounding your weight get to you - read Making Light of Being Heavy and it may help to redirect your way of thinking by giving you a new perspective...and a good laugh :)

8. What one piece of advice would you give a skinny person who is thinking of picking up your book?
 This book is not just for fat chicks, it can also be very insightful for all you skinny chicks and it may just help to clarify a few misconceptions about us fat chicks, plus it is a downright funny read!

9. Where can readers find your book?
 http://www.makinglightofbeingheavy.com/

10. Random fact about you that nobody would guess...
I love to enter cooking contests.

11. Final words?
Thank you for the interview and taking the time to review Making Light of Being Heavy. It is good to hear you enjoyed and appreciated my perspective

Making Light of Being Heavy - Kandy Siahaya

Making Light of Being Heavy


By Kandy Siahaya



Making Light of Being Heavy is exactly that. It is a lighthearted look at being “fat!” Kandy grew up in a small town in Maine and according to her recollection has been overweight for most of her life. Through these years she has learned a lot about what that means.



Kandy speaks openly and frankly about her weight and covers topics like insults and the problems overweight people face with basic public situations such as restrooms, seatbelts and even restaurant booths.



You will take a journey from Abs Diet to Weight Watchers as Kandy walks through common diet plans and dissects each of them according to their assets and defects. Of course everyone is different so what works for one doesn’t necessarily work for another.



Next comes the fun part! Just who’s fault is it anyway? Is it heredity that causes some people to be overweight? Is it society? Honestly, as someone who has been overweight most of my adult life.. I’ve often wondered the same thing! Who is to blame!? I know I am to blame but something has shifted that has brought our society to a majority of overweight people compared to other countries.

Then Kandy discusses the dreaded “You have such a pretty face!” compliment! Well meaning friends/family/strangers are often at a loss as to what to say. They know that you are more than your weight but for some reason they feel the need to verbalize it. Kandy talks about some common misconceptions towards overweight people in Chapter 4 that are a must read for anyone!

I found this book very refreshing in a society that is so focused on weight loss. Of course I know that many of us do need to lose weight but sometimes it’s nice to just be comfortable in your own skin for a while. Beating yourself up doesn’t help you lose weight! You cannot be kind to yourself if you are constantly beating yourself up for who you currently are. At some point you have to at least partially accept yourself before you can truly muster the strength to commit.

I’m happy to have had the chance to review Kandy’s book and am looking forward to her interview tomorrow!! Check back and see what she has to say!

Visit Kandy's blog

Buy the Book!

*material provided by the author for review purposes

Baby Bible Christmas Storybook - Robin Currie

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Robin Currie

and the book:

Baby Bible Christmas Storybook

David C. Cook; Brdbk edition (October 1, 2010)

***Special thanks to Karen Davis, Assistant Media Specialist, The B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rev. Dr. Robin Currie is the Early Childhood Librarian/Preschool Liaison for the Glen Ellyn Public Library and serves on the staff of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. She is also the retired pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Glen Ellyn. Before and during seminary she was a children’s librarian for public libraries in Illinois and Iowa. She holds master’s degrees in Library Science from the University of Iowa and in Divinity from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, as well as a Doctor of Ministry in preaching from LSTC. Her published books include seven resource collections for librarians and over a dozen children’s Bible story collections.

Visit the author's blog.


Product Details:

List Price: $9.99
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Board book: 36 pages
Publisher: David C. Cook; Brdbk edition (October 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0781403685
ISBN-13: 978-0781403689

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER (Click on pictures to see them larger):

My Thoughts:

I love childrens books! My "baby" is 13 so I don't get the chance to read/look at them very often anymore but with two of my cousins recently having babies, I've got a great excuse again! Not only will this book make a GREAT gift for Christmas, it's FUN!

The illustrations are darling and easy to see, the words are clear enough that you could easily read this book upside down while showing children the pages.

I can see this book being packed away with Christmas ornaments each year and being passed on through generations. It is sweet, interactive and educational all in one!

*This book was provided by the publisher for review purposes