Paper Poppies

The child in Paper Poppies was a crippled orphan with TB whose body was strapped to a hospital bed in Siberia, but whose mind and heart were on an amazing and memorable quest for Truth. Marianna sifted through the myriad of beliefs that filled empty souls during the Communist years in Russia: Soviet atheism, old folklore and superstitions, and empty religious traditions. When, in her pain and loneliness, one Christian dared to share her Christian faith with Marianna, a seed was planted that later led her to Christ.

That child was...

Marianna Vekhova, a graduate of Moscow State University, School of Journalism. She worked as an editor for a children's publishing house, then wrote scripts for children's radio and television. She has published children's books in Russian. She also has volunteered at a Moscow mission evangelizing street children.








You will be blessed by this poignant story of loss, confusion and pain, but reminded of the scandalous love of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  He can break through any barrier with His grace.  What wonderful work Ms Vekhova now does because of God's amazing grace poured out in her life.  Truly, what the enemy meant for evil in her life, our God used for His glory...the saving of many lives!

The book is a mere 176 pages, but packs a powerful story.  Hurry to Amazon.com today, because the Amazon Kindle version of Paper Poppies is available from March 15-19 FREE.  Just visit HERE. 

Happy Reading,

Jennifer

Prize of My Heart

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Prize of My Heart Bethany House Publishers (March 1, 2012) by Lisa Norato

An unsolved mystery separates ex-privateersman Captain Brogan Talvis from his lost son--his only living relation, his only family. Shortly before her tragic demise, his wife abandoned their infant to strangers, refusing to reveal the child's whereabouts. Now, three years later, Brogan has discovered the boy at the home of a shipbuilder's daughter, Lorena Huntley.

Lorena guards a dark secret about her young charge. She finds herself falling for the heroic captain who has come to claim his newly built ship, unaware his motive for wooing her is to befriend the boy he plans on reclaiming as his own--until the day anothers evil deceit leaves her helplessly shipbound, heading toward England.

As the perfect opportunity to reclaim his son unfolds, Brogan is haunted by thoughts of Lorena in her dire circumstance, and he is forced to make a heartrending choice between his child and the woman who has begun to capture his heart. But only his unselfish sacrifice can win him the greatest prize of all--love.

 

Read the first chapter by going HERE.

 

A life-long New Englander, Lisa Norato lives in a historic village with homes and churches dating as far back as the eighteenth century. She was born into a close-knit Italian family that hungered as much for the things of God as they did for lasagna. After church, the family spent Sunday afternoons gathered in fellowship around a never-ending feast that featured her grandmother's homemade spaghetti and pizza.

From the time she learned to read, her mother impressed her with the joy of getting lost in a good book. She passed novels along to her as early as age thirteen, but it wasn't until many years later that Lisa felt compelled to write one herself.

She first discovered a love of writing when assigned to write and illustrate a children's book at the art college she attended. She balances writing with a career as a legal assistant specializing in corporate law. When not creating stories, she enjoys domestic pursuits like precious time with her dog and family, cooking, baking and eating vegan, reading, her Bible, her favorite television shows and crocheting.

Lisa is a member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA), American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), Rhode Island Romance Writers (RIRW) and American Colonial Christian Writers. 

 

You can learn more about Lisa by visiting her website found HERE.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK:

I don't typically enjoy books in this particular genre, but Norato has made me a believer!  She writes with the perfect blend of romance wrapped in a Christian worldview, suspense and nostalgia.  Her story reads like a beautifully written poem at times.  The description she provides of both the characters and scenery make you feel as if you are right there in the story yourself.  This story is hope filled.  Prize of My Heart will remind you that nothing is lost when a life is surrendered to the Lord!

You can order the book from Amazon.com by going HERE.  

Happy Reading,

Jennifer

First Ladies Tea

Some of our Senior Adult ladies in our church organized a Ladies Tea and Silent Auction to benefit our nursery ministry.  We are being blessed with families who have young children visiting our church and recognized a real need to give some attention to this important area of service.

I had not planned to have JennaBeth attend.  She and Bentley were going to hang out with their daddy while me and Cecily went; however, this precious lady (Ellen Tanner) brought JennaBeth her very own teacup and saucer to have, so she ended up getting to attend her very first Ladies Tea!

(Ellen is in the red top and JennaBeth is sitting in Ms Jane's lap.)

(JennaBeth's little teacup and saucer.)

The committee of ladies who worked on this event really did a fantastic job.  The afternoon was a fun time of fellowship, entertainment and encouragement in the importance of nursery ministry in the church.

 (Left to Right:  Cherry, Earlene and Tammy - She gave excellent leadership to this event.)

(Mary and Maggie making the tea.)

As you can tell, the decorations were beautiful.  We enjoyed tea, sandwiches, and cookies.  JennaBeth enjoyed drinking from her little teacup - she had tea complete with cream and lemon.  The whole "cream in your tea" thing has never grown on me.  I guess because I'm just a plain ole Southern Sweet Ice Tea girl! JennaBeth also enjoyed her ham salad sandwich and 10 cookies!  They placed that cookie tray by the wrong person :)

We enjoyed learning a little about "tea etiquette".  I think Cecily may have how to properly hold a teacup down. 

The Osterhouse girls (Marissa and Sara) along with a friend of theirs performed and Irish dance for us as well as leading us in this fun little song...


No, you didn't see JennaBeth in the video, because by this time she had had enough of "tea time" and joined her daddy and brother elsewhere!

I'm so proud of the ladies who organized and worked so hard on this event!  Due to their efforts and the blessing of God, we were able to raise over $1,000 for our nursery ministry, which includes the goal of purchasing some playground equipment.

One last thing to share:

Are those not the sweetest baby quilts???  Thank you Ms Polly Naylor for making these!  We had a sweet 11 month old baby girl visiting Sunday morning and it was nice to cover her little cold legs with such sweetness!

And what about these cute handmade bibs...

Ms Polly made those as well!

Thank you ladies for your service on Saturday.  Your commitment to serving the Lord with excellence will be a blessing to many little ones who pass through the nursery at Northside Baptist Church!

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men."  Romans 14:17-18

Blessings,
Jennifer

Ruby Dawn

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Ruby Dawn White Rose Publishing (January 27, 2012) by Raquel Byrnes 

 

A painful past. A love returns A desperate plan.
Former street kid, Ruby now reaches out to runaways through her medical clinic in the worst part of the city, but her escalating battle with a gang leader puts that in jeopardy.

Cavalier, a risk-taker, charming… Ruby’s first love is now on the right side of the law and the center of a dangerous DEA sting involving her clinic.  Tom’s disappearance ten years ago broke her heart and rattled her faith. As their romance relights, memories of what it costs to love him flood her with fear.

Ruby’s battle with the gang ignites a firestorm of danger, and a pattern of lies from within her own camp emerges. With Tom’s life in the balance and her world cast in shadows, can Ruby trust God as she once did…or has she strayed too far, for too long to ever return?

 

 

 Raquel married her college sweetheart seventeen years ago and you can still find them spending time together chatting over a cup of coffee like when they were first dating.

Her husband is her biggest fan and most ardent supporter. He encourages her to take time for writing as often as he can. He regularly gives her gift cards to her favorite coffee house so that she can go there to write and relax.

He has been known to whip up his famous chicken quesadillas complete with guacamole and brownies for dessert.

Raquel has written books for more than a decade. She loves to do research and has taken private detective courses, gun classes, and underground tours to get every detail right for her novels. She writes romantic suspense with an edge-of-your-seat pace. Stories filled with faith, love, and adventure.  You can learn more about Ms Byrnes at her website by going HERE. 

In 2009 she signed with agent, Terry Burns, at Hartline Literary. Terry worked to get her Shades of Hope series sold and in 2010, White Rose Publishing purchased the three-book series.

 

 

You can read the first chapter of Ruby Dawn by going HERE.

My Thoughts About The Book:

I just finished Ruby Dawn last night!  Ms Byrnes provides an action packed story of suspense, danger, rescue and love and it all begins within the very first chapter!  Byrnes tells the story of Tom and Ruby using "flashbacks" to when they first met at a youth detention center over ten years ago from the present story line.  This added to the mystery element that kept me turning the pages.  I also appreciated the theme of second chances woven into the story as well.  Having a background in Social Work primarily in the adolescent age group, I was drawn to Ruby-D (Dr. McKinney) and Tom's back story.  Thank you Ms Byrnes for reminding us all that God is faithful, He has no "throw-aways" and He does provide second chances!   

The only criticism I can give the book is that there were a few editing problems in several places.

 

Happy Reading,

Jennifer   

 

 

 

One Tangled Birthday

For some time now, JennaBeth has been enamored with "Ms Punzel" (Rapunzel) and the movie Tangled.  I mean like watch it multiple times a day enamored!  She loves the girl with the long golden hair.  Ever since her brother's birthday last September, she has been planning her "tangled bertday".  We finally got to celebrate her turning 3 this past Saturday with a party at our house.

We had little princesses everywhere!

JennaBeth wore her Ms Punzel dress she got for Christmas.  Our little princesses cooked for a little, while we waited for everybody to arrive.  JennaBeth was so excited!  After all, she'd been planning this for only about five months!

Each little princess got to make their own tiara.  I was so glad to have Cecily and two other older girls from church help at the party.  They really helped things go smoothly and everybody had a fun time.  One of the little girls that attended the party was Gianna.  She just turned two in January, so she was more interested in playing with all the toys and was so cute!

Her daddy was a good sport and made her tiara for her...

Princess Gianna...

Princess Morgan...

Princess JennaBeth...

Princess Tabitha...

Princess Anna...

I found these cute little teacups at Oriental Trading for the princess tea party and of course we had pink lemonade...

Princess JennaBeth's daddy even drank from one!

For the tea party, we had heart shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cocktail sausages in bar-b-que and apples with caramel sauce.

During the five months of JennaBeth's planning, she never wavered from the fact that she wanted "pink coocakes" (cupcakes) for her party.  So, that's exactly what we had!  I baked strawberry cupcakes and Cecily iced them with cream cheese icing dyed lavender to keep with the Tangled color scheme.  She also used fondant dyed yellow to make the sun emblem from the movie to go on top of the cupcakes.  One of the little girls attending the party has a severe egg allergy, so the cupcakes were baked using one cup of 7 Up which replaced the egg and oil in the package directions.  They turned out really good!

JennaBeth and her best big girl friend, Darci...

Christina and Morgan...

After cake and ice cream was present time.  JennaBeth was blessed with cards before hand from grandparents.  Her granny and pops sent a copy of the movie Tangled so now if NetFlix is on the blink, I don't have to deal with weeping and knashing of teeth from JennaBeth!  Thank you Granny and Pops!  That's as much a present for me as it is for JennaBeth!

After JennaBeth opened presents, the girls all got their fingernails and toenails painted!  Gianna's dad jumped in again and painted her nails for her!  It was encouraging and sweet to see a dad so involved...

Christina painting Tabitha's toes.  She wanted each toe a different color!

Darci giving JennaBeth hot pink fingernails with sparkle on top!  JennaBeth wanted fingernails the same color as Darci's...

"Oh, it's so exhausting getting beautiful"!!!!

Morgan wanted blue toes!

 

Tabitha and Morgan showing off their nails!

We had planned for every one to get their hair braided like Rapunzel's in the movie, but we ran out of time.  I guess it was better to have too much planned rather than not enough!  My brother's wife makes amazing hair bows for little girls back in MS.  I had asked her to make some "Tangled bows" for the party for each little girl to take home...

Is that not the cutest bow???  Thank you Aunt Julie for the hair bows!  The little girls were all tickled to have their own custom made Tangled bows to take home!  They were a huge hit with the mamas as well!

After everyone left, we had a fun time with JennaBeth's new Tangled wig she got as one of her gifts...

We all agreed that daddy looked like a hippee dude with the Tangled wig.

Just call me "Tangled Mama"...

Don't ya just love this pose with the hands on the hips???

To top baby sister's day off, big brother lost a second tooth...

and big sister's drawing placed second at the Burrowing Owl Festival.

Yep, it was a pretty full day with my little family and we are so very blessed.

Blessings on you,

Jennifer