As summer comes to an end—Lenora Worth

Summer is over but fall is coming!—-Lenora Worth

I’m late on posting today. For some strange reason, I cannot keep up with my posting dates. Could it be too much to do and getting older by the minute. I thought I’d share some of my latest covers and some of the pictures I’ve taken this summer. I wrote two different books over the summer and now I’m working on a novella and my next Amish book, both due before Christmas. But I love my job and I love our readers. That is the fuel that keeps me motivated! The first picture is Marta Perry and me at the Harlequin signing at NY RWA! The second photo is of my roommates and me as we found the townhouse that was featured in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I’m with Nancy Robard Thompson, who took us on this quest, Julia Justiss, Eve Gaddy, Kathy Gabera and Denise Daniels. We all write in different genres but our friendships are strong and I’ve know most of these ladies for close to thirty years. Also, I love being in reissues with friends and I write for LIS and Tule Publishing. See, told you I’m spinning plates and going in circles!

Happy Friday and I wish everyone health and happiness as we go into fall. Thanks to everyone for the prayers for Florida as we survived Dorian. I’m in the Panhandle, so we are okay. Prayers for the Bahamas, too.

Showers of Inspiration

    

It's happened to me more times than I can count. I get up early, brew some coffee and settle down at my desk in my teensy writing office, ready to tackle the next scene in my story.

     I write. I delete. I write again.  I delete. I stare goggle-eyed at the annoying cursor flashing reproachfully on my screen.

     I mentally tot up how far behind I'm getting and how soon my kids are going to be up, signaling the official end of my writing time. I seriously consider scratching the whole idea of writing books. Maybe I'll take up knitting instead. Knitting is cozy, and you can do it while you watch television.

     I remember the last time I tried to knit.

     Okay. So maybe not knitting.

     I refocus on the computer screen. I don't like my characters anymore, especially that heroine who's stubbornly refusing to cooperate with me. In my beautiful, breezy outline, she came across as delightfully spunky. Now she's like that renegade wheel on the grocery cart I always end up with--the one that makes me veer off track and crash into pyramids of canned green beans.

     I want to clonk her on the head.

     I decide this book is a total wash. No matter that I'm on page one hundred and eleven. It's garbage. I'm just going to have to start over; that's all there is to it.

     I give up and go to take a shower.

     And then--when I am physically as far away from my computer as I can get and still be inside the house, when I have no pen, no paper, nothing except shampoo and soap--it comes to me.

     I know exactly how to write that scene.

     I wish I had a nickel for every time I have hopped dripping out of a half-completed shower in desperate search of a pencil to jot down the dialogue my spunky heroine can utter that will turn the scene from a disaster into exactly the plot device I need to move the story forward.

     Apparently, I'm not alone in this. Agatha Christie, who as a murder mystery writer did have the enviable advantage of being able to kill off annoying characters, once remarked, "The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes."

     What about you? Is there a non-writing activity that tends to get your creative juices flowing when you're blocked? Since I'm in the middle of a particularly balky book right now, I'd love to hear about it! Leave a comment below--or connect with me on my blog, via email or on Facebook.

And don't forget to check out my newest release A Baby for the Minister, available now! 

Heroines that are Stronger than they know.

Hello, Jolene Navarro here and I have a question.

Do you have a certain type of heroine you like? I have always loved the stories of the old west, stories of the women in my family.

Strong, independent and leaders. Women of faith that rode horses, took care of the land along with raising children and caring for a home.

The part of history we don’t see as much is the woman that mastered the tools of the cowboy trade such as ropes, spurs, knives, rifles and branding irons.  They rode beside the men of Texas. Some even before Texas was Texas.

Life was not easy as they carved out a home from the rock of the Texas land. They didn’t back down and they didn’t give up.

I was just reading about Bess Colemn.

She had a dream but as a daughter of a Cherokee father and an African American mother no one expected her to achieve them. Coleman defied all odds when she became the first black woman aviator (as well as the first Native American woman aviator).  It didn’t come easy. It was during World War 1 and she couldn’t find any one willing to teach a woman or an African American to fly. Undeterred, Coleman took a language course in French, and then sailed to France where she earned her pilot’s license at the age of 29. Unfortunately it would be just five short years later she was killed in a plane crash. She was a passenger when the plane malfunctioned in mid-flight.

But she changed the way people thought of women as she traveled across the country as a “barn stormer” or exhibition pilot. She didn’t follow the script someone else gave her.

Women in my family loaded up and headed to the unknown land of Texas in the mid-1820s. They ran ranches and farms, faced booms and years of devastation.

They loved their families and the possibilities in this wild untamed land. The heroine of my upcoming historical (My first with LIH and my last) LONE STAR BRIDE was influenced by stories of the women that helped build Texas.

https://www.amazon.com/Lone-Star-Bride-Inspired-Historical-ebook/dp/B01NBAA8OL/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1495021614&sr=1-2&keywords=Lone+Star+Bride

She wanted to help her father – growing up she was allowed to work with the cattle and excelled at the cowboy skills. After the death of her mother and brother she thinks it is a perfect time for her to step up and become a partner in the ranch.

But her father has other plans for her, to prove to her father she is more than capable, she dresses up as a boy and help drive the cattle to New Orleans.

To call her feisty and stubborn might be an understatement. She was inspired by the history I read of my own family. I loved writing her and as we get word that the LIH is being discontinued I think about the determination I put into her to success and live out God’s plan even as other events and people try to stop her.

She perseveres and stays true to herself and God’s plan for her, a plan only she can fulfill.  It didn’t go the way she planned, but it rarely does. Our characters come from us, from our experiences or from the people that inspire us. We create from deep inside us. The characters I develop never seem to know how strong they truly are until they are forced to change and find their essence.

Finding your essence is never an easy path. When I look back, I see that some of the scariest moments of my life ended up taking me in a new direction I would have never even know – a direction that was greater than anything I could have planned.

Have you had a time that didn’t go as planned but looking back you wouldn’t change a thing? Reminds me of the Garth Brooks song: The Dance. 

Christmas Reunion--Craftie Ladies of Love Inspired--Lenora Worth

Hello, readers. We're happy to share our gift to you, a short Christmas story that will run from today through December 21st. Please join us and comment each day to win what we call a Book Blast. We will pick two names and if you win, you'll get books mailed to you from our authors. Several books!!! So come back often and enjoy our gift to you!

And now....

Christmas Reunion
Chapter One
Lenora Worth

Silver water glistened just beyond the tree line. The view hadn't changed. But her world view was different now. The log cabin her grandfather had built in the sixties still stood as sturdy as the day he'd hewn the first logs. He'd tried to teach her to be sturdy and strong like the stunning snow-covered aspens and blue spruce trees of this quaint ski village in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. But she'd always be a girly-girl. With a spine of steel.

Reunion. What kind of name was that for a small town? And why had Grandpa insisted they have one more Christmas here? Sure, he was old and ornery but he needed to stay down in the valley at the nice retirement center where he'd be close to doctors and friends. And she should have stayed in Denver, in her tiny apartment where she had a good job and good friends. But not much else.

Grace Holly turned from the ceiling-to-floor window and remembered laughter and a lot of happy Christmases here with her grandparents. Grandmother died four years ago and this old cabin had become too much for Grandpa Jeb. She and Jericho had a hard time convincing her stoic, proud grandfather that he couldn't live here alone anymore.

Jericho Walker. Grace hadn't though about him in years. He'd moved away, too, after that one Christmas when they'd fallen in and out of love. All that mistletoe and snow could get to a girl and that's exactly what had happened to Grace for one blissful week. Mistletoe. And a man who made her heart melt like marshmallows in hot chocolate.

"Enough about him," Grace said out loud. Pushing a hand over her always unruly dark hair, she said,  "I have to get this place in shape for Christmas. A tree and some decorations, a fire. And one missing grandpa. Where are you, anyway?"

She heard a rattling at the door. "Ah, I guess the aide got you here in one piece."

Grace rushed to the front door and opened it, a blast of misty snow obscuring her view and rattling her ornament-inspired earrings. "Grandpa, I was getting worried ...."

She stopped in mid-sentence. Grandpa wasn't alone. Jericho Walker stood there behind Grandpa's fancy wheelchair, his deep blue eyes bright with expectation. "Hello, Grace. We're here."

Grace swallowed and ignored the current that rushed over her like Christmas lights flickering to life. "Jericho? What on earth are you doing here?"

"He's with me," Grandpa announced with gruff pride. "He's my aide. We'll all be here together."

Grace's unsteady gaze met Jericho's unyielding eyes. "For the entire week?"

"Yes," Jericho said. "Where he goes, I go." The look he shot her dared Grace to argue.

"Merry Christmas," Grandpa said with a triumphant huff.

"Ho, ho, ho," Grace retorted. A whole week in a cabin with Jericho?

She'd been set-up. Big time.

What if God's Will is Not My Will?

Hello, Jolene Navarro here. Si Dios quiere. Google translate cannot always be trusted. If you hear a native Spanish speaker say Si Dios quiere they are telling you they trust God in everything, the good and the bad. To have faith that God is always good, even in the middle of a storm.  It means to completely trust in God’s will. If you plugged it into the internet you might get – Yes, God he wants. LOL! I think there is a great deal lost in translation.

In my September release The Soldier’s Surprise Family, the heroine Anjelica Ortega-Garza has been raised to live this way and for the most part she does. But as we know believing something and living something are two different things.

As I write this my husband and I are driving to San Marcos Texas, delivering things forgotten as our four children transition to living on their own. For the first time in twenty-five years we are the only people living in our house.

I did try to raise them with natural consequences – I didn’t run to the school to deliver homework or lunches left behind. It was supposed to teach them not to forget the stuff they needed. I’m here to tell you it didn’t seem to work. Maybe it did and they would be even worse than they are now. They did manage to remember most of their belongings. I'm sad with all four leaving at once, but Si Dios quiere.

What does this have to do with Si Dios quiere? Life is full of changes some are big and will crumble the foundation you are standing on, while others are small and  sneak up on you. But through it all we have to know how to live in God’s will.

Life consistently changes, it always has and always will, all the while staying the same.  Sometimes Si Dio quiere can tear your gut out.  When you get a call that you mother has been taken to the hospital with what looks like a stroke you start praying, you pray for her to be healed and fine. But sometimes prayers are not answered the way you want.  My grandmother held my hand as she prayed for God’s will and to align the desire of our hearts with God.

What if God’s will is not my will?

This is the truest meaning of faith. To look around and know that God has you and you will grieve but you can’t get lost in the changes of life. You have to trust in God so that you can live fully and find the purpose he has for you, a purpose only you can achieve.

In The Soldier’s Surprise Family, Garret Kincaid has returned from war and a divorce mentally scared and doesn’t trust anyone, especial God.

When he discovers he has a son he didn’t know about, a son that has his own PTSD issues he knows he has to accept help. Falling in love with his landlady, Anjelica wasn’t part of the plan. Yet even Garrett can’t deny that love has begun building a family right around him. He learns  to trust God’s will.

Expert from The Solider's Surprise Family:

Anjelica kept her gaze on Garrett’s face as he started at the top photo of the boy. Not able to resist, she peeked over his arm and saw a serious little boy with Garrett’s green-gray eyes starting back at them.

Garrett pressed his hand over his eyes.

Moving back, she wanted to give him space to collect himself. A broken heart was nothing new to her, but to watch such a controlled man fight to hold it together made her want to wrap him in her arms.

He handed her the photo, paper-clipped to an information sheet. “I don’t know how to do this, being a father.”

“We can make it work.” She blurted out. Thinking of what happened to those two small children, she knew they needed a home full of love and good memories. Tears burned her eyes. “We have to make this right for them. We have to bring them to a real home.”

He looked at her. “We?”

The Soldier's Surprise Family by Jolene Navarro

I loved writing Garrett and Anjelica's story of healing and faith. Si Dios quiere.  Thank you for letting me share my thoughts, pictures and my latest story.  

This won't happen again ever--Lenora Worth :)

Something is about to happen in my writing career that will probably never happen again. From August through November, maybe December I will have a book out every month. Don't ask me how things lined up this way. I write them and send them in and wait to hear when they will be released. But somehow, this year I only had two books out in the spring and now--wham!!! It's like Christmas in August!!!

When you write category commercial fiction, you learn to write steadily and hope to have at least two books out per year. Some years that balances out through the year. And some years it just looks like you must write all the time! Okay, I do write all the time. I eat, sleep, dream, scream, writing because I love it that much. But people are usually surprised when I tell them I only work about five or six hours a day, sometimes less. I like having my own schedule, on my own time. At times,  I finish way ahead of time and at other times, I skid into SEND at one minute before midnight. Whew!

So before you ask, I do not know how this happened but I'm happy about it. I love Christmas stories so this is my year, baby! And of course I have to show off my gorgeous covers! (I share one of these books with Shirlee McCoy! How cool is that?)

Now, dear craftie ladies, tell me about your schedules. It's interesting to hear how we each handle deadlines, schedules, books out per year, and having some down time. Let's discuss while you admire my pretties:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Covers: from Vague Ideas to the Reader's Hands

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Naomi Rawlings here, and I thought I'd share a bit about book covers with you today. Have you ever looked at a book cover and thought, Oh, that looks interesting? 

If so, the next thing you probably did was pick up the book and glance at the back cover copy to find a little more about the story. Perhaps at this point, you put the book down and realized it wasn't quite like you thought it was going to be. Or maybe the paragraphs on the back of the book made you even more curious about the story. So then you find the price, flip the book open to the first chapter, and decide whether you want to buy the book.

Or perhaps the opposite is true. Have you ever seen a book cover that made you cringe and walk to the other side of the store?(Don't feel bad. I think we've all done that before).

I'm currently in the process of gathering cover information for my next book (The Wyoming Heir, which releases January 2014). And while every publisher goes about creating book covers a bit differently, they all have the same goal in mind: To make a cover so eye-catching readers will take a moment out of their busy day to give the book a second glance.

For all of the Love Inspired imprints (Contemporary, Suspense, and Historical), authors fill out a cover form on the computer called an Art Fact Sheet. This sheet asks for all kinds of information about the story. The year and place in which the novel takes place, the themes of the book, the looks of the hero and heroine, etc. On top of that, I also have to provide a summary of the novel, as well as pictures of famous people who look like me hero and heroine. For example, my hero, Luke Hayes, is a rancher from Wyoming and looks a little like . . . Paul Walker.

My heroine teaches advanced mathematics at a girls preparatory school, and she looks like . . . Amy Adams.

Furthermore, the story takes place in 1893 upstate New York. So then I had to dig up some pictures of New York in the fall.

 

And then, I'd really like for the story to convey that my rancher isn't very comfortable being called to New York and thrust into all the business his late grandfather left behind. So I thought, why not have a western cowboy on the cover with a fancy white mansion in the background? I found this picture of a mansion:

All in all, Love Inspired writers have to give the Art Department three different scene ideas for the front cover. Then the Art Department decides which scene they think will do best on the front of the novel and use that.

So what will the cover for The Wyoming Heir look like when all it's done? I have no idea! I've got to wait until this fall to find out. But I do know that the art department will try very hard to create a cover that will appeal to readers like you.

So now I'm curious. Is there a book cover you saw recently that you loved? Please do share. I'd love to know what some of your favorite book covers look like. As for me, one of my best friends (Melissa Jagears) has a debut novel releasing in October, and I'm completely in love with the cover.

What do you think?

What are You Reading?

We here at the Craftie Ladies are wondering what you're reading right this moment?

E-book or print? If e-book, what device do you prefer to use?

Was it a Christmas gift?

Please share! We'd love to hear more about you and your reading preferences. And we'd love to hear from some of you who are lurkers who don't usually comment. :)

While I'm popping it today to help fill in (we have scheduled authors who are moving and who are sick), I'd love to share my new cover with you!! I'm so excited! It'll be out in April...

Merry Christmas to all our readers!

Like many of you, The Craftie Ladies are at home with family and friends celebrating this joyous Christmas day. We want to thank all our readers for giving us your time and participation on this blog and by reading our books. We've put together a Christmas "card" of wishes for all of you. Enjoy your holiday. Many wishes for a blessed Christmas and New Years. Lisa Mondello


Linda Goodnight with her two youngest daughters wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.



Merry Christmas to all our readers. Louise Gouge



Wishing all of our readers a blessed and joyous day. And prayers for a prosperous New Year. Leann Harris



Since my husband and I travel a great deal to see family over the holidays, we seldom have a Christmas tree, but we always have our Swedish Christmas tree. My father-in-law made this for our first Christmas, and it holds a special place in our hearts. I wish you the deep joy of Our Savior's birth wherever you may be. Christine Johnson




Merry Christmas and a Joyous and Prosperous New Years to you and yours. Jean Gordon



Missy Tippens: Greetings from the Tippens's house to yours! We pray you have a very merry, love-filled Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior.

May Christmas fill you with wonder, for like the shepherds in the fields, you have received tidings of great joy. Unto us the Son of God has been born. Patricia Davids

And I wish for everyone--Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year and Peach on Earth !!!!! Lenora Worth





Wishing you a Merry Christmas from the wintery world of Northern Michigan.
Naomi Rawlings


Merry Christmas to all our readers! I hope you enjoy the season and eat lots of great food and spend time with those you love. God bless. -Lacy Williams

Lisa Mondello: May the season of Christmas remind you all of the importance of family and good friends. May you be rich in both.

Wishing all our readers a blessed Christmas time, filled with family and friends, as we celebrate God's most precious gift to us. May you experience His love in a special way this season. Sandra Orchard

Merry Christmas and have a Blessed New Year. Kim Watters

Hi, Terri Reed here. I hope this finds you wrapped in the love of our savior, surrounded by family and friends and full of the spirit of the season. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

"I wish our readers a very blessed holiday and a new year filled with true love." Lyn Cote

As of the date I sent this in I hadn't put up my 'big tree' yet, so I thought I'd send a picture of this tabletop version. It's very pretty, especially in a darkened room, and was made for me many years ago by a very dear friend so I have a special attachment to it.
To each of you who visit here, I wish you a very joy-filled and blessed Christmas, surrounded by family, friends and warm memories.

Merry Christmas to all the Craftie Ladies and our readers. May the joy of Christ be in your hearts today and in the coming New Year. Merrillee Whren

Road Trip!

Hi readers. Christine Johnson here for my very first post. Woohoo! I'm excited to be here with the other Love Inspired Craftie Ladies. Hugs and waves, everyone!



Now for today's post. Nothing got me more excited as a kid than the prospect of a road trip. It could take me as close as the nearest park or many states away, but each time I expected a new adventure. What treasures would I discover? What new sight would inspire me? How would I conquer the danger that lurked around every corner? (Yes, the writer in me was already at work.)


We took several camping vacations when I was young, many to Kentucky. One year we toured Mammoth Cave, where I pestered the tour guide and constantly ran ahead of the group. Poor guy! But like a hero, he indulged my adventurous spirit and even encouraged my brother and I to scout ahead. Years later when I became a tour guide on a museum ship, kids on tour did exactly the same thing to me. Ah, paybacks!



My husband and I love road trips. Sometimes we fly or take a train or ship rather than drive, but adventure always awaits us. One of our favorite places is Glacier National Park in northwest Montana. We love to hike the mountains and thus far have escaped calamity, though we've had our close calls with grizzlies.



These photos are from our last trip to Glacier National Park in 2010. The sheer beauty always leaves me breathless, and I wanted to share my love of this place with all of you in my upcoming book. All Roads Lead Home (January 2012) takes my fearless heroine to the edge of the Rocky Mountains to save an orphaned boy. Moreover, she drives there...in 1922!




After settling in with a cup of coffee or tea and a cinnamon roll, let's chat about our favorite road trips. Where did you go and what made it memorable? Where would you like to travel if you had the opportunity? And how would you prefer to get there - by car, plane, train or ship?

FEATURED BOOK: BUILDING A FAMILY BY LYN COTE

Lawyer Eleanor Washburn defends wayward teenagers and supervises volunteers for Habitat for Humanity without missing a beat. But she is unnerved by fascinating single dad Pete Beck—especially since his chaotic life includes a little girl wishing for a mother. Sweet Cassie has Eleanor yearning for what's been missing from her lonely existence. Soon, both dad and daughter are chipping away at Eleanor's defenses. Can she find the courage to risk losing her heart to this ready-made family?

FEATURED BOOK: THE CHRISTMAS CHILD BY LINDA GOODNIGHT

In Redemption, Oklahoma, a young boy is found huddled in a Dumpster, clutching a Christmas book. Scared and refusing to speak, he captures undercover agent Kade McKendrick's guarded heart. Kade brings the child home until he can track down his family—and his story. All Kade has is a name, Davey, and the boy's trust of sweet, pretty teacher Sophie Bartholomew. With her kindness and faith, Sophie helps both the boy and the battle-scarred cop to smile again. And as they uncover the mystery of a very special child, a family is formed—just in time for Christmas.

Romantic Suspense ideas?

HI, Terri Reed here. I'm in the middle of writing my 24th novel for Harlequin's Love Inspired line.The first five or so books I wrote were Love Inspired Romances, and the rest have been Love Inspired Suspense. I tend to gravitate toward the romantic suspense genre because I love the action, the tension and the mystery. Coupling suspense with romance is such a great way to get best of both genres. I'm always looking for unique and interesting ways to put my hero and heroines in danger.

Is there anything you haven't seen done that might pose a good threat for my characters?

I'd love to hear your ideas!

The second book in my Protection Specialists: Guarding the Innocent series comes out in January 2012. This book is set in Mississippi at winter time. I tried to give the book a gothic feel, complete with an old house, creepy relatives and a sinister villain all of which make life difficult for our hero and heroine.

A Shocking Revelation!

Finding out she is heir to a fortune shocks Caroline Tully to her core. And to “qualify” for the inheritance, she just has to visit her newfound grandfather’s Mississippi home from Christmas to New Year’s. Adopted as a baby, Caroline knows nothing about her mother’s family...and doesn’t realize they can’t be trusted. When attempts are made on her life, there’s only one man who can protect her. Donovan Cavanaugh—a man who made her lonely heart want to love again. Posing as her fiancé, Don promises to find the would-be killer. But will his protection—and his love—be enough to keep her safe?

Upcoming 2012 titles:

June 2012--The Deputy's Duty, book 6 of the Fitzgerald Bay continuity series

September 2012--The Doctor's Protector, the third book in the Protection Specialists: Guarding the Innocent series.

Facing Your Challenges, your skeptics and your difficult loved ones

At a recent Christian Educators' conference, the following thoughts were presented. I read them and what a light bulb moment for me! Recently, I've had struggles. I have published an ebook, an inspirational romantic suspense entitled Souvenirs and it's been difficult to reinvent that part of my writing life, to garner interest and give people the hope I showcased in that story.

But I also found myself at odds with several other people. Loved ones or not, people with whom you bump noses can still hurt you. So this short workshop really spoke to me, especially as I explain my difficulties to non-believers.

"Some people find it unreasonable to think that challenges and struggles might be a regular part of God's plan for our lives," The writer of this workshop explains. Romans 5:3,4 says "…tribulation worketh patience, and patience, experience, and experience, hope."

We tend to blame others, but really, in most situations, there is no one to blame. The mature response to tough situations is to affirm by faith God's purposes for us. These hardships give us a story to tell, allowing us to showcase the reality of God and that we don't have freedom from troubles just because we believe in Him.

But rather, Christ sustains us during those dark times.

I like how the Romans 5:3,4 in the NIV is for me more direct and clear. Suffering -> perseverance. Perseverance -> character. Character -> hope. Hope is what we get because we know we can handle tough things.

When you're struggling with a difficult loved one, remember first and foremost to love them. Your love will motivate you. Love them!! Ask them about their goals and concerns. Share your own failings. But focus on them.

Be energetic. At that conference, one writer put it well. "So often evil is portrayed as high energy and creative, while Good is portrayed as solemn and passive." Read Revelation for proof at how 'Good' really is!

Remember that we all have a touch of immaturity. We rush though easy work, but when it comes to something challenging, we hit a wall and become discouraged. Our loved one who are facing and causing challenges more than likely is facing the same. Remember that your loved one is not the enemy. Walk away if you have to, for a time, to prevent offending someone and being offended yourself. Proverbs 18:19 warns that 'an offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city.'.

God is at work when a believer is struggling with a challenge. And when the worst of the worst happens, He's at His busiest, because He's building hope, character and joy, and allowing the believer to tell others about the tough time they had. How can the believer witness if they haven't struggled themselves?

And as I work on my independently stories, as I promote them and show that they, like the Love Inspired books, are designed to inspire, I must remember that hope comes from tribulations. It's really only a few steps away.

Next time you're dealing with a tough loved one, or work is especially difficult, as it has been for me, remember that God isn't making it easy for us. He's showing us we can "Do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

I encourage you to pick up a Love Inspired book today. And consider, also, Souvenirs – a story of hope, forgiveness, and redemption.

Souvenirs

Having been accused of murder, Anna LaBonte has no one to turn to but her mysterious neighbor, Brent Stirling. Brent knows the only reason he's helping her is to ease the guilt within him. But unless Brent can fully forgive himself, and Anna learn to trust, they will both end up dead.

Souvenirs is available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005AX7Z64

Thank you for stopping by today, and I pray that God is strengthening you to the fullest. And I thank the Christian Educators' Convention, (part of Accelerated Christian Education) for their inspiring words.

Barbara Phinney

www.barbaraphinney.com