Journal Jots – Blog

“Just follow the string …”

— A Still Small Voice During my Devotional Time This Morning

 If I have to say so myself, last week was pretty amazing …

You see, we celebrated the end of my birthday week (yeah, we tend to milk it around here with ‘birthweeks’ instead of ‘birthdays’ …), then the beginning of my daughter’s birthday week, then the release of my Christmas e-book A Light in the Window and finally wrapped it all up with a pretty, little bow in the form of a marriage proposal.

Oh, and what a proposal it was! One day after her 25^th birthday, my daughter Amy was proposed to by her boyfriend Nate in true fairy-tail setting on a lush, rolling Architectural Digest-type horse farm. It was a joyous moment for all while Keith and I secretly watched along with Nate’s parents, one of Amy’s best friends, a St. Bernard named Olga and a donkey named Julio.

What more can I say? Well, being it’s me, the woman who writes 500-plus-page books, a lot, but I will spare you the Gone With the Wind version and get right to the heart of what God spoke to me this morning as I sat on my sofa and cried, pressured by deadlines and discouraged with the writing life.

“Follow the string, Julie, just follow the string …”

Amy’s fiancé is a very creative guy, a musician on the worship team at church and a man with a flare for drama (gotta love him already!), so it was no surprise when he masterminded a proposal that our daughter (and us) will always remember.

It all began with Amy being blindfolded and dropped off at a forested area by a country road, where the blindfold was removed so she could follow a piece of twine through the woods. Unbeknownst to her, all of us watched from a hidden loft area above the barn while she appeared at the top of a hill that led into a lush, rolling field. Excitement bubbled in our chests as she slowly followed the mile-long twine past horses and hand-painted signs with her and Nate’s favorite Scriptures interspersed throughout. Midway down the hill, a beautiful black horse slowly ambled over to nuzzle her hand, truly picture perfect before she made her way down the hill to a pristine barn where their favorite song was playing …

 This chest is full of memories of gold and silver tears,

I’ll give you more to own than all of this …

 I’ll give you more than years.

 —“Slow Your Breath Down” by Future of Forestry.

The string led through a long, open tunnel of the barn with horse stalls on either side to a massive treasure chest at one open end, backdropped by woods and a video camera that filmed Amy’s approach while we secretly watched from above. Amy knelt before the chest and cried—along with each of us—while she sifted through its contents … treasures and memories from their year and a half of dating.

Wiping her eyes, she rose and followed the string through a rustic, open greeting area that led to a circular cobblestone patio where a tall chair sat in the field beyond, fit for a queen. Meandering through the grass, the twine fed into a small, white satin box on top of an open Bible resting on the seat of the chair.

A cord of three strands is not easily broken …

— Ecclesiastes 4:12

And while Amy stood there and sobbed her heart out, Nate appeared from behind to take her in his arms and seat her in the chair before getting down on one knee to ask for hand.

Ah, happy tears … so much better than those we shed in our moments of malaise, and yet God warned us that tribulation would be part of the emotional mix, moments of fear or despair or weariness that threaten to take us down. Just like this morning when I cried out to God with tears in my eyes … for His strength, His hope, His peace in the midst of a storm of life overwhelmed.

“Follow the string, Julie, just follow the string …”

I closed my eyes then and suddenly I saw my daughter slowly but surely picking her way down that hill, her path riddled with any number of hazards—piles of manure, snakes, beggar’s lice, a twisted ankle. She couldn’t see that diamond ring from where she was standing, but she followed the string nonetheless, joyful and fully confident that at the end of the line, her heart’s desire rested … on God’s Word.

“For I know the plans that I have for you,”

declares the LORD, “plans for welfare and not for calamity

to give you a future and a hope.”

—Jeremiah 29:11

You know, sometimes in life we can’t see the field for the forest or the forest for the trees, but God is faithful and true to steer us along the path He has for us—a good path, paved with blessings and hope that rest upon His Word. He may not lead us as quickly as we like nor the path we would opt to take, but He will usher us past all the heartbreak and manure of life with the assurance that if we just hold on and follow His lead, He will guide us both to His will and His pleasure … which, when we wipe away the blur of our tears … will look suspiciously like the desires of our heart.

 

WEEKEND CONTEST WINNER!!!

A HUGE thank you to all of you who entered my weekend contest—I wish each and every one of you could have won. But out of a Randomizer drawing of 321 entries, only one can and that special person is:

Carrie Turansky

SUPER CONGRATS to Carrie, who wins a Kindle or equivalent gift card, a signed copy of any of my books and her choice of five top CBA books from my personal library. I will have another Kindle giveaway next month, so be sure to check Journal Jots every Friday, okay?

BOOK GIVEAWAYS!!!

Don’t miss these opportunities to win your choice of any of my books including A Light in the Window:

TODAY ONLY … NOVEMBER 16, 2012:

Win your choice of any of my books including A Love Surrendered and my Christmas e-book A Light in the Window: An Irish Christmas Love Story blog at:

MARYLU TYNDALL’S BLOG

NOVEMBER 27, 2012:

Win your choice of any of my books including A Love Surrendered and my Christmas e-book A Light in the Window: An Irish Christmas Love Story at a giveaway on LENA NELSON DOOLEY’S blog at:

LENA NELSON DOOLEY’S BLOG

NOVEMBER 29, 2012:

Win your choice of any of my books including A Love Surrendered and my Christmas e-book A Light in the Window: An Irish Christmas Love Story at a giveaway on THE SWORD AND THE SPIRIT blog at:

DEBBIE LYNN COSTELLO’S BLOG

HAPPY FRIDAY AND GOD BLESS!!

Julie

 

WOW … talk about HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

It’s my precious daughter’s birthday, my Christmas e-book releases today, A LIGHT IN THE WINDOW: An Irish Christmas Love Story (and, yes, that’s my daughter on the cover!) plus I woke up to a pretty cool article in USA Today‘s Happy Ever After Blog — all in all, a pretty nice start to the weekend!!

So … to celebrate … I am holding a WEEKEND CONTEST for FRIDAY-SUNDAY ONLY!!!  And what do you win, you ask??? Well, one lucky person will win ALL of the following!

A KINDLE or EQUIVALENT GIFT CARD ($69 value)

CHOICE OF ANY OF MY BOOKS (even ALITW, ebook or signed manuscript)

CHOICE OF TEN-PAGE CRITIQUE FOR ASPIRING AUTHORS

OR

CHOICE OF FIVE OF THE FOLLOWING CBA BOOKS:

—A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber (hardback)

—Like Dandelion Dust by Karen Kingsbury

—Redemption by Karen Kingsbury

—And the Shofar Blew by Francine Rivers

—The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers

—Faith by Lori Copeland

—Mending Places by Denise Hunter

—Glamourous Illusions by Lisa Bergren

—Long Trail Home by Vickie McDonough

—Out of Control by Mary Connealy

—A Distant Melody by Sarah Sundin

—House of Secrets by Tracie Peterson

—Breathe by Lisa Bergren

—Twice Promised by Maggie Brendan

—The Harvest of Grace by Cindy Woodsmall

—Enduring Justice by Amy Wallace

—Faith by Lori Copeland

—Snow Angel by Jamie Carie

—The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers

—A Lady of Secret Devotion by Tracie Peterson

—The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian

So … HOW do you win?

You can enter this random drawing by accruing points for any of the following:

1.) AUTOMATIC ENTRY for leaving comment on USA Today Happy Ever After blog at:

USA TODAY’S Happy Ever After Blog

2.) TEN EXTRA POINTS in both this 3-day giveaway AND in my Kindle Fire Contest for every purchase of A Light in the Window: An Irish Christmas Love story over this weekend either by clicking here for AMAZON or BARNES AND NOBLE!! Buy for yourself or a loved one for Christmas. NOTE: If purchasing as a gift, you can order today and schedule delivery for Christmas!! Details at the end of this blog.

3.) TEN POINTS for signing up (or getting anyone else to sign up) for a FREE subscription to THE BOOK CLUB NETWORK BOOK FUN e-magazine and FIVE ADDITIONAL POINTS for clicking on my book!! When you sign up for this FREE subscription, you are AUTOMATICALLY entered into Book Fun Magazine’s Signature Library Contest where they are giving away 140 books by more than 100 authors of which I am one. The Signature Library Contest details can be found in the magazine, which features Liz Curtis Higgs on the cover PLUS 80 pages of great articles too!! One winner will get first choice of 30 books, the next person 20, 5 people will pick 10. REMEMBER — ADDITIONAL FIVE POINTS in this weekend contest if you click on my book cover for A LOVE SURRENDERED: 

BOOK FUN MAGAZINE’S SIGNATURE LIBRARY CONTEST

4.) ONE POINT EACH for sharing this on Facebook and Twitter.

 

TO MAKE THIS CONTEST EASY, simply copy this list below, indicating what you have done and e-mail it to me through my website contact tab CONTACT JULIE.

I HAVE DONE THE FOLLOWING FOR WEEKEND CONTEST (check appropriate slots/quantity if more than one):

 

_____ Left a comment on USA TODAY’S Happy Ever Blog (required to enter contest — 1 pt.).

_____ Signed up for BOOK FUN free subscription and Signature Library Contest (10 pts.).

_____ Clicked on A Love Surrendered in BOOK FUN’s Signature Library Contest (5 pts.).

_____ Purchased A Light in the Window (10 pts. in BOTH this Weekend Contest AND my Kindle Fire Contest).

_____ Shared Julie’s Weekend contest on Facebook and Twitter (max 2 pts.)

_____ TOTAL POINTS ACCRUED IN THIS WEEKEND CONTEST

 

WHOO-HOO … winners will be announced right here in next week’s Journal Jot, so GOOD LUCK and HAPPY FRIDAY!!

HUGS,

Julie

INFO ON AMAZON’S E-BOOK GIFT-GIVING FOR CHRISTMAS!!

When customers gift a Kindle book they have the option to have the gift delivered immediately or to specify a future delivery date. To give a gift, please visit the AMAZON page of the book you wish to buy and click on the “Give as a Gift” button located under the “Buy” button on the product detail page for the book you wish to gift.

By default delivery date is set to “now” and your gift notification will be delivered immediately to the recipient’s e-mail address. NOTE: If you choose a future delivery date, the e-mail confirmation of your gift will be sent to your recipient between 12 a.m. and 3 a.m. Pacific Time on the date you selected.

You may also choose to instead send the gift notification to your own e-mail address, which you can then forward, or print out and deliver, whenever you choose.

CHRISTIAN FICTION SCAVENGER HUNT WINNERS HERE …

PLUS MORE GIVEAWAYS GALORE!!!

My deepest thanks to each and every one of you who participated in last week’s Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt, and I hope it was as big as blessing to you as it was to me and the other authors involved. Without further ado, SUPER CONGRATS to the winners of this year’s Fall Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt:

The GRAND PRIZE of a Kindle Fire and 31 brand-new paperback releases goes to:

Jennifer Friedley

The two $50 gift certificates go to:

Laura McEwen

Gretchen Michels Garrison

My BONUS giveaway of a $50 gift card,a signed copy of any of my books and having a character named after them in my next book, Love at Any Cost goes to:

twomainecats

MORE GIVEAWAYS!!!

As some of you know, my Christmas e-book, A Light in the Window: An Irish Christmas Love Story, releases November 9, and not only is this book near and dear to me because my artist husband designed the cover and my daughter is the model for it, but because it is a deep and moving love story “aglow” with the true meaning and Light of Christmas.

The good news is there are LOTS of ways to win it in e-book form OR a signed manuscript for those without e-readers and those who cannot afford the $7.38 cover price. For instance, throughout November on Facebook, I will be posting about ways each of us can share our light at Christmas, so stop by and leave a comment to have your name tossed into the hat for one of FIVE giveaway copies of A Light in the Window. Details and my FB Author Page link can be found on my CONTEST page, where I am also giving away a Kindle Fire loaded with A Light in the Window or an equivalent Gift Card to Amazon AND also have another contest to have a character named after you and a $50 gift card and free book. Here’s more about the story:

One Woman. Two Men.

One stirs her pulse and the other her faith.

But who will win her heart?

Marceline Murphy is a gentle beauty with a

well-founded aversion to rogues. But when two of Boston’s

most notorious pursue her, attraction, dreams and faith only

muddle her mind. Can the light in the window

illuminate the path of true love?

 

Thank you again for coming by Journal Jots, and I invite you to scroll down to check out some of my past blogs for spiritual lessons I’ve learned or the latest news about my books.

And if you have never read my books before, I invite you to check out my “Passion with a Purpose” style of writing on my EXCERPTS tab of this website, where I have listed my favorite spiritual and romantic scenes for each of my books.

Finally, in addition to the giveaways listed on my CONTEST tab of this websit, you’ll find more giveaways listed on my website CALENDAR, so please check it out!

May each of us embark upon the upcoming holiday season with the glow of Christ in our hearts, embracing and reflecting the true LIGHT OF THE WORLD!!

Hugs,

Julie