Journal Jots – Blog

 NOTE: “Christian Fiction Rocks” Winner Below AND New Contest!

Embracing what God does for you

is the best thing you can do for Him. 

—Romans 12:1, Message Bible

What? Somehting I can do for God? To make Him happy, to bless Him, to express my love to Him and convey just how important He is in my life? Wow, sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? But what exactly does it mean to “embrace”?

 1 em·brace, verb \im-ˈbrās\: To accept (something or someone) readily or gladly.

Mmm … so when God gives me something or does something for me, I’m to accept readily and gladly? Still doesn’t sound too hard.

Until I think about Christmases with my daughter after she hit those dreaded teens. Trust me, the old adage “it’s better to give than to receive” did not apply here because suddenly, I couldn’t buy a Christmas present she’d like to save my soul. Of course, all she wanted were clothes, but finding something she “readily or gladly accepted” was a little bit like winning the lottery. Which, by the way, I never did.

And trust me, I tried. One year I scoured her closet and studied what she liked, then went to her favorite store and picked out similar items.

Eerrrrrrnnnnntttttt!! She took everything back.

The next year, Keith and I scoped out a young salesgirl at Amy’s favorite store who was dressed very hip or cool like young people like to dress, so we figured we couldn’t go wrong, right? We had her pick out just about everyone of Amy’s presents that year.

Eerrrrrnnnnnntttttt!! She hated everything and took it all back.

Finally, I thought I’d found the winning combination, and I must admit, it came close. I would pay her best friend to buy all of her Christmas presents each year, and I think there was a 50-75% success ratio depending on the year, which is pretty darn good. Because you see, poor Amy can’t fake liking a present to save her soul either, so on those rare occasions (and we’re talking lottery-winning rare) when her face would light up over a present we’d given, I gotta tell you—it felt like I had won the lottery.

So this morning, when I read the Scripture quote above—embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him—I suddenly understood in some small way just how important it is to God that we readily and gladly accept His gifts and blessings. To let Him know as His children just how much we appreciate what He has done for us. And not just appreciate it, mind you, but to “readily and gladly accept” it.

And not just the obvious blessings either, like a close parking space, good news in the mail, or losing two pounds. No, I mean accepting the life, the path, and the direction He has given each of us—readily and gladly—knowing that He “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” —Jeremiah 29:11

The rest of our Scripture quote above goes like this:

Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping,

eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—

and place it before God as an offering.

Embracing what God does for you

is the best thing you can do for Him. 

Our lives. Whatever they may be. Whatever they may not be. To readily and gladly accept them as a gift from a God Whose whole plan hinges on blessing us, loving us, saving us. Kind of “Father Knows Best,” if you will.

Because He does.

Hugs and Happy Weekend!

Julie

YOU DID IT!!

Because many of you took the time to vote in my “CHRISTIAN FICTION ROCKS” CONTEST, I am beyond thrilled to tell you that Surprised by Love made FamilyFiction’s Top Ten Novels of 2014!! MEGA THANKS to each of you who voted and be sure to check out the entire list HERE.

Deep Breath!!

The winner of that contest winning FIVE TOP CBA BOOKS (including one of mine if they like) is (drum roll, please …):

NANCY McLEROY

SUPER CONGRATS to Nancy—I will be in touch with you soon.

I cannot thank you guys who voted for me enough, but you know what? I’m going to try. At least for three randomly selected winners!

If you voted in the Family Fiction Magazine contest, let me know through my website HERE, and I will enter you in a random drawing for one of three copies of a PDF of either Mitch and Charity’s Christmas novella, A Whisper of Hope from the Hope for the Holidays Historical Collection OR … ta-da! … a PDF of Blake “The Rake” McClare’s (the rogue brother and cousin in the Heart of San Francisco Series) very own novella to be released this spring, entitled Grace Like Rain.

VALENTINE’S CONTEST!

HELP!!!

This is it—my first FREE DOWNLOAD ever—for my award-winning indie novel, A Light in the Window, TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, 2/10-14, so I need your help spreading the word!! 

A Light in the Window is the winner of the 2013 International Digital Award, 2013 Reader’s Crown Award, and the 2013 Book Buyers Best Award and currently has 178 five-star reviews on Amazon and a 4.7 rating, so check out the video starring my daughter for a sneak peek here: ALITW VIDEO.   

So … because I need your help in spreading the word (and downloading the book if you haven’t already), I am implementing another contest this week only to promote free downloads. Points will be awarded every day you promote the sale on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, with family, friends, wherever. CONTEST BEGINS FEBRUARY 10, so just check out the Rafflecopter box below at the very bottom of this post and GOOD LUCK!!

“THE PERFECT KISS”

BLOG GIVEAWAY!

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2015:

Just in time for Valentine’s Day!!  Join me in Seekerville when I give my perspective on THE PERFECT KISS with a giveaway of any of my books, including a paper copy of the Charity and Mitch novella or my upcoming Blake “The Rake” McClare novella coming this spring. Here’s the link — hope to see you there!

 http://seekerville.blogspot.com/

UPCOMING SPRING RELEASE!

COMING SPRING 2015 … a novella about Blake “The Rake McClare” from the Heart of San Francisco series, so check back for when and where.

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Please forgive me for being late with my Friday post, but I’ve been verrrrry busy! Reading fairy-tales, playing dominoes, coloring, solving puzzles, sliding down slides, playing with sand, watching Sleeping Beauty and Tangled, drinking hot chocolate out of snowman cups, and eating dionsaur chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese. All with a beautiful little girl by the name of Rory, in town for the weekend from Spokane!

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“Intimacy with God always comes before impact for God.”

—Allen Arnold

I’ll tell you what—that Allen Arnold said a mouthful! “Intimacy with God” is what being a Christian is all about, in my opinion, a love affair with the Almighty that should change the way we think, act, love, and live—and all for the better! To walk with God so closely, we become like His shadow, showing the world His love and His light wherever we go, in whatever we do.

Which is why I love Christian fiction so much. Mere human beings who are intimate with God, weaving that very intimacy into wonderful stories that impact thousands, imparting a gift no secular book can.

Sigh … I LOVE Christian fiction!! And you do, too, or you wouldn’t be reading this right now, right? So, what if I told you that you could walk away with your choice of FIVE top CBA books (including your choice of mine if you want) for merely casting a vote for your favorite book of 2014? Interested?

I hope so, because right now Family Fiction Magazine is asking you to vote on “your favorite Christian fiction book published in 2014” out of a list of 34 nominated books, so I warn you—it won’t be easy!

BUT … entering my “CHRISTIAN FICTION ROCKS” contest will be!

“CHRISTIAN FICTION ROCKS” CONTEST:

1.)  Go to the Family Fiction Magazine website link HERE.

2.)  Peruse the list of nominated books.

3.)  Vote for only one by clicking on the grayed-out circle on the left side of your favorite book.

4.)  Once a black dot appears next to the book for which you voted, scroll down to the very bottom of the page and click on the “SUBMIT” button.

5.)  Then simply come back here to my Journal Jots page and enter my contest in the Rafflecopter box at the bottom of this post, and you’re in!

PRIZE:

Family Fiction Magazine’s contest ends February 3^rd, so I will announce the winner in my Journal Jot blog on Friday, February 6^th. Winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter  and will receive his/her choice of FIVE top CBA books from my personal library (mostly new or some gently used books by authors such as Deeanne Gist, Denise Hunter, Serena Miller, Elizabeth Camden, etc.), including choice of any of my books.

I’m going to tell you right now, that the caliber of books nominated in the Family Fiction contest is mind-boggling, so I would print the list off for future reference because these are some of the best novels of 2014. Please Note: You do NOT have to vote for my books to enter my “CHRISTIAN FICTION ROCKS” contest!

Ready, set … VOTE!

Hugs and Happy Weekend!

Julie

V-DAY IS COMING … AND SO IS A FREE DOWNLOAD ON A LIGHT IN THE WINDOW!!   

My Irish love story, A Light in the Window—winner of three awards—will be free the week before Valentine’s Day — FEBRUARY 10-14 — so do check it out. AND PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIENDS!!

Here’s the video my hubby did for A Light in the Window with my daughter as the model for both the book and video, so take a peek. ALITW Video.

a Rafflecopter giveaway