Journal Jots – Blog

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD,

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

plans to give you hope and a future.

— Jeremiah 29:11

Undeniably, there are those indisputable times in life when you know that you know that you know God has intervened.

Like the time I was a teenager walking my girlfriend home at 2:00 AM in the morning. A carload of older boys screeched to a stop when they saw us, and their car doors flew open as three of them gave chase. Sleet slithered my veins while my friend and I bolted behind a house — she tearing off towards her home on the street behind and me circling to get back to mine. Much to my horror, the three boys followed me around the house, and with a frantic scream, I darted to the front door, fear pounding while I bludgeoned the doorbell. Certain I was about to be raped, I never expected the lone, deaf widow who lived there to actually hear my cries or even open the door to a stranger at 2:00 AM. But open it she did, just as the boys reached the steps of her porch. When they saw her standing there, they fled toward their car and squealed away. I wasn’t much on God back then, but trust me, even I knew the Almighty had intevened.

Or like just this morning when my daughter was on a plane ready for takeoff to go visit a friend. Imagine her shock when the last person to board the plane was my daughter-in-law from Spokane with her brand-new miracle of a baby, Genevieve! My daughter had recently bemoaned the fact that she could not see little Evie in person, something she desperately wanted to do.

It was Amy’s birthday this week, so I prayed that God would show her His love in some special way. Trust me when I say tears flowed as Amy held little Evie most of the way while she and my daughter-in-law chatted at the back of the plane. Now I ask you — what are the odds that my daughter from Birmingham would be on the same plane as my daughter-in-law from Spokane? Go on — tell me that’s not a God thing!

The truth is when God’s people pray, He intervenes! Just like I believe He did this week with our elections. Whether they turned out the way we wanted or not, God is still on the throne, and more than ever, it’s imperative that we pray. Pray for wisdom, direction, and especially protection for President Elect Trump and his family. And for our country — that God will heal the wounds inflicted by so much division and unite us as we were meant to be — one nation under God. So will you join me in this effort to pray for our country, our leaders, and our people? Because we desperately need it now, more than ever.

Hugs and Prayers,

Julie

Facebook Party!!

THURS., NOV. 17, 8:00-10:00 PM EST: Join me, Mary Connealy, Ruth Logan Herne, and Anna Schmidt for a “cool” Facebook party for Cowboy Christmas Homecoming  with lots of gab, goodies, and giveaways, so mark your calendars and come on by!  Here’s the link: CCH FB PTY. Hope to see you there!

Historical Romance Giveaway! 

NOVEMBER 14-21:  Hop over HERE beginning Monday and join in on this wonderful fall Inspirational Historical Romance  contest featuring more than 55 of your favorite authors

(including Ruthy Logan Herne, Mary Connealy, Myra Johnson, Pam Hillman, and moi with chances to win a book from each… and a Kindle Fire!

Good luck!

“What you do

matters far less to God

than how you do it.”

— Anonymous

I am a Christian author. That’s what I do. But you know what? I’ve discovered that although this is a ministry given to me by God, that’s not the most important thing to Him. Nope. What’s important to Him is how I do that ministry. Am I going to rely on my own efforts and talent? Or am I going to rely on Him?

I decided I want to rely on Him, so as most of you know who read this blog, I am stepping back from most promotion to focus on writing for a season. But … it seems the moment I did that, promotion opportunities fell from the sky to literally drop in my lap. First one of my favorite Christian magazines asked me to be on the cover of their December issue with an interview inside, then one of my favorite bloggers asked me to be a part of her 10-year blogaversary, and finally one of my favorite authors  asked me to do a Flash Christmas giveaway with her on Facebook today. So, since giveaways are involved in two of these ventures, I thought I better tell you about them to win some free books!

Today Only!       (Friday, Nov. 4)

Head on over to my Facebook  page today to enter the dual giveaway of two signed Christmas books for two winners! All you have to do is leave a comment on my FB page and then click on the link there to my good buddy Denise Hunter’s Facebook page, too, and you’ll have TWO chances to win TWO signed Christmas books, both Denise’s wonderful novel, Falling Like Snowflakes, and my Irish Christmas love story, A Light in the Window. And if you already have A Light in the Window, then I’ll give you your choice of another of my books, okay? Here’s the link to my FB page (where you’ll also find Denise’s FB page link), so hope to see you there!

Click Here for Julie Lessman’s FB Page

And … I invite anybody who’d like to see the cool video my artist hubby did for A Light in the Window using my daughter as the model to do so HERE.

Fri.& Sat., Nov. 4-5:

This Weekend, November 4-6: Come by to say hi and help celebrate Andi Newberry Tubb’s ten-year blogaversary with me. I’m giving away three signed copies of my paperback books — A Passion Most Pure, A Passion Redeemed, and A Light in the Window. Here’s the link — hope to see you there! NOTE: You have to enter by clicking on the “A Rafflecopter Giveaway” link at the end of the post.

RADIANT LIGHT BLOG GIVEAWAY

The Paperback for Love Everlasting is Coming …

And JUST in time for Christmas! It will be up this week on Amazon, so do keep checking HERE.

Those of you who have won signed copies will be receiving them soon, so happy reading!

Sale!!

 If you haven’t had the chance yet to read the award-winning, 5-star book 1, Isle of Hope, your timing is good because it is now on sale for 50% off at the lowest price yet of $3.99, so you can check it and all the reviews HERE.

Free Download!!

Finally, if you haven’t downloaded the prequel novella to Isle of Hope, A Glimmer of Hope, what are you waiting for? It’s FREE and available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo, so I hope you take advantage.

Thanks for coming by, and I’ll leave you with a couple of fun pictures from our visit to see our brand-new granddaughter EVIE (whom you prayed for!!) and the other two cuties.

Hugs and have a WONDERFUL weekend!

Julie

Sweet little Genevieve (Evie) at one month.

LOVE these two! Check out the gleam of trouble in those eyes! 😉

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens …

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing …

a time to be silent and a time to speak …

Ecclesiastes 3:5 & 7

Anybody that knows me knows I’m a hugger. And I don’t just give one hug, I give several, with all my might because when I care about someone, I want them to feel that I am pouring every emotion into that hug to let them know just how special they are.

But even for hugs, there is time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. For instance, this week my hubby and I spent the weekend with dear friends whom we enjoy immensely. But my sweet friend of almost 45 years does not like to hug. You see, she’s a very private person with a very big heart, but hugging is not something she’s comfortable with. So I try to avoiding overhugging her, which is difficult for a hugger like me, although she is gracious enough to allow both a hello and a goodbye hug, for which I am most grateful.

Unfortunately for me and my hugger nature, lately I have felt a very strong leading to not only “refrain from embracing,” but to be silent.

Be still and know that I am God. —

What does that mean? Well, for me, it means that over the last month, I’m strongly feeling that this is my season to write and only write. Those of you who read my final book in the Heart of San Francisco series, Surprised by Love, may recognize “The Abraham Factor” in play here.

What is The Abraham Factor, you ask? It’s a Biblical concept I included in Surprised by Love where the hero, Bram Hughes, explains to Logan McClare, the older hero, about putting his love for Caitlyn McClare “on the altar” like Abraham did with his son Isaac in the Old Testament. You can read about it in more detail HERE in a prior Journal Jot, but basically it’s a concept that God first taught me while writing my Heart of San Francisco series, and now I’m ready to put it into action in my writing in a deeper way than ever before.

So, beginning with this Journal Jot, I will be pulling back from most promotion, social media, and even Journal Jots to a degree. BUT … I promise I will keep you apprised of anything you need to know such as sales, freebies, new releases, and what I’m working on at the moment, so although it won’t be as regular as my once a week Journal Jot, I will keep you in the loop, I promise.

However … in order to do that, I strongly suggest you subscribe to my Journal Jot blog if you haven’t already because as soon as I DO post something you need to know, you will receive an email with the entire post in it, but ONLY if you subscribe! All you have to do is enter your email address in the box at the top right of this page that says, “Enter your email address to subscribe to Julie’s Blog.” That way, you will never miss any news, okay?

During this time, I’ll be focusing hard on my writing, so I’m hoping to have both book 3 in the “Isle of Hope” series, Unchanging Love, and book 1 in my Western “Silver Lining Ranch” series, Love’s Silver Lining, out next fall, plus a prequel novella to that Western series in the spring. And then hopefully — fingers crossed! — separate ebook releases of Charity & Mitch’s Christmas novella from the Seeker’s Hope for the Holidays collection and Lizzie & Brady’s novella from the Home for Christmas collection (both of which are no longer for sale). In addition, I hope to write new Christmas novellas for Faith & Collin and Katie & Luke, so again, if you want to be kept in the loop about these ventures — please subscribe to Journal Jots!

Update on Evie!!

I can’t thank you all enough for your prayers for my granddaughter, Evie (Genevieve). She is doing very well, and although the echocardiogram she had on 10/7 did not reflect the total healing I was hoping for, she is doing very well. My son and daughter-in-law are trying to fatten her up for surgery in February to correct her heart problem, and after that, my sweet little Evie will be able to live a normal life, so praise God! Your continued prayers for the surgery would be greatly appreciated, and I will keep you posted.

We Have a Winner!!

My month-long Thunderclap contest is over and I want to thank everyone who participated — you guys are AMAZING!! So the winner of a character named after them in the Love Everlasting paperback due out in November (and her name will be in the revised e-copy as well), plus a signed copy and signed paperback or ecopies of 3 of my books and a framed quote from Isle of Hope is …

Beth Erin!!!

SUPER CONGRATS to Beth and all of her hard work! I will be in contact soon.

Again, I want to thank every one of you who read my Journal Jots on a regular basis. So many of you are kind enough to contact me to tell me you are praying, and I can’t tell you how much that means to me. You are not just readers of my blog — you are good friends who mean a great deal to me, whether I post a JJ once a week or once a month.

I’d appreciate your continued prayers for God’s leading in my career, His anointing on my writing, and, of course, for sweet Evie.

Hugs and more hugs!

Julie

Last Contest of the Year!!

40-BOOK PROMO ENDS TOMORROW, 10/17!! To celebrate the beginning of fall, I have teamed up with more than 40 fantastic inspirational contemporary romance authors to give away a huge collection of novels, PLUS a Kindle Fire to one lucky winner!

Which means you can win my novel, Love Everlasting, plus books from tons of other top authors! So, enter the giveaway by clicking HERE. Good luck, and enjoy!

Sale!!

 If you haven’t had the chance yet to read the award-winning, 5-star book 1, Isle of Hope, your timing is good because it is now on sale for 50% off at the lowest price yet of $3.99, so you can check it and all the reviews HERE.

 Free Download!!

Finally, if you haven’t downloaded the prequel novella to Isle of Hope, A Glimmer of Hope, what are you waiting for? It’s FREE and available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo, so I hope you take advantage.