Some Great Books for Christmas Gifts

Just a few of my favorite things.

 

Chasing fireflies: a novel of discovery by Charles Martin. A heartbreaking, heartwarming story of family; of raw pain finding healing from the acceptance of God.

 

Deceived: a Private Justice novel by Irene Hannon. Mystery, criminal investigation, family and friends. A story I found hard to put down.

 

Brunch at Bittersweet Café by Carla Laureano. I’m going to confess—I am so not a romantic. Just ask my poor husband, who is a romantic. I do read a lot of romance books though, because I like to read Christian fiction, and many are romance books. There are always other interesting things going on in these stories. I am going to heartily recommend this book. It is a romance novel. It also has family rifts that need healing. Friendships that get slammed and need to be built back up. People who have to look deep into how they’ve arranged their lives and figure out the direction their paths and careers need to go. And, they have to examine whether they’ve been fair and real about their faith. It is a delightful story.

 

When Tides Turn by Sarah Sundin. Boston and Atlantic Sea conflict, 1942-1943, WWII. A story of intrigue and French resistance, and American Navy ships in the war against U-boats.

 

Before amen: the power of a simple prayer by Max Lucado. This gentle pastor explains conversation with a loving God to those of us who have a hard time with prayer. The book is encouraging, strong and clear-cut.

 

Millie's Christmas by Kathy McKinsey:

Millie, an orange kitten, shares about her first Christmas. Her best friend Ruthie, six years old, teaches Millie about Christmas food, decorations, music, presents, and Jesus!

https://www.amazon.com/Millies-Christmas-Kathy-McKinsey/dp/B09HQBTL7J     

Thank You, Lord

Father, thank you for your promises, of closeness and hope.

 

Psalm 136:1:

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

    for his steadfast love endures forever.

 

Psalm 86:5

O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.

 

Joshua 1:9

This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged.

For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

 

Isaiah 41:13

 “For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you,

‘Do not fear, I will help you.’”

 

Hebrews 7:25:

Consequently he is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him,

since he always lives to make intercession for them.

 

Isaiah 43:25:

“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”

 

1 Peter 5:7

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

 

Ephesians 2:10

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus,

so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

 

Psalm 116:1-2:

I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy.

Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!

 

John 5:24

“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

 

Hebrews 4: 16:

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence,

so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

 

Psalm 40:2

“He lifted me out of the pit of destruction, out of the sticky mud. He stood me on a rock and made my feet steady.”

 

2 Thessalonians 3:3

But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.

 

Psalm 95:1-2

 Come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him.         

Have No Anxiety

Matthew 6:25-34:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?

"So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

 

Philippians 4:6-7:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 

Anxiety is a constant companion in my life, habitually and medically. I’ve known these verses for many years. I believe them. But, I constantly fight anxiety.

 

In spite of my worries, and in spite of the hard times I’ve gone through, my life has usually been good. It is very good.

 

For as long as people have walked and sinned on the earth, bad things have happened. And they always can.

 

Where is our hope?

 

Our hope is in Jesus. I know that.

 

John 16:33:

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

 

I believe this.

 

But I constantly fight anxiety.

 

I thank God for what he started in me; my parents took me to church since I was a baby. In college, I got involved with a campus ministry where I learned some habits—daily Bible reading and prayer; at least weekly meeting with a church.

 

I’ve not been always faithful to these practices, but they were embedded deep. I’m reminded of them again and again. These habits prop me up.

 

Am I a bad Christian because I still fight with anxiety?

 

The Daddy, who daily holds my hand, reminded me of another verse this morning.

 

Psalm 103:13-14:

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.

 

God understands my weakness. He is a father who loves me, and walks beside me. He lifts and holds me up.     

Psalm 24, Strong and Mighty

Psalm 24

Of David. A psalm.

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,

    the world, and all who live in it;

for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?

    Who may stand in his holy place?

The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,

    who does not trust in an idol

    or swear by a false god.

They will receive blessing from the Lord

    and vindication from God their Savior.

Such is the generation of those who seek him,

    who seek your face, God of Jacob.

Lift up your heads, you gates;

    be lifted up, you ancient doors,

    that the King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory?

    The Lord strong and mighty,

    the Lord mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, you gates;

    lift them up, you ancient doors,

    that the King of glory may come in.

Who is he, this King of glory?

    The Lord Almighty—

    he is the King of glory.

 

Father God, thank you that everything in our world belongs to you. Help us keep our trust in you.                 Help us lift our eyes to you. You are strong and mighty enough to fight our battles. 

To Australia with Nina

I am such an armchair traveler. I love when my friend Nina shares her adventures with me.

 

I am typing in hopes this will make it through- we are birding in Australia.  We were worried that a medical condition might have prevented us from going but the doctor gave the all clear to Dave.  We will be here until the 23rd.  We are in Queensland mainly in rainforests and woodlands that are very much like Missouri but for the fact that kangaroos and not deer are bounding between the trees.  Others in our group said it is all so unfamiliar- the bird calls and songs we simply don't know and we depend on our guide and the trip leaders, who are retired school teachers from Ohio.  Cindy and Jim are kind people with a sense of humor and we discovered that they only live a mile from our son in law's parents outside of Dayton.

 

I love the accent here.  People are extremely friendly and quick to start up a conversation.  Bakeries are a good place to pick up lunch- I assumed it was all rolls and cookies but they offer hot meat pies (and vegetarian ones) at the counter.  I was thinking the crust would be like a chicken pot pie but it's more like puff pastry.  

 

There are a lot of small towns with shops along a Main Street.  But Costco, KFC and McDonald's are here in the bigger cities.

 

So far no bites or stings.  There is a stinging tree- we learned to identify it by its leaves with many holes in them.  I shuddered when the guide said, Oh back in the day people used to carry a bit of kerosene with them when traveling in the bush, so if they brushed by the tree by accident they would spread kerosene on their skin where they got stung and light it, hoping to burn off the stinging invisible needles.  

 

How bad does something have to hurt that lit kerosene is the better choice?  Tom, one of the older guides, said his daughter brushed by one of those trees and was in agony for over a month.

 

We are not near those trees any more, thank goodness.  There are kookaburras here and they sound like monkeys.

 

 

Part 2:

We are back in the US.  

 

Our phones were limping along- Dave’s was 7 years old and mine desperately needed a new battery.    The first thing we needed to do was get Dave a phone that actually worked and charged and I got a new battery for mine.     

 

It was a good trip, despite a few health issues with the both of us.

 

  I think my favorite bird call is the kookaburra- the ooh OOOH AH ah AH AH sounds exactly like a monkey.  

 

We tried and tried to see a giant cassowary in the wild, to no avail.  Our tour leader, Cindy, is a kindly retired elementary school teacher and she said on the next to the last night, “Okay everyone we have a decision to make.  We can either drive 1.5 hours one way to maybe get a glimpse of one in the wild or we can drive to Karunda, a tourist town where they have a small aviary and a small zoo where, for a fee, you can hold a koala."  I asked if the aviary had a cassowary.   They did.   

 

I was as excited as a five year old.    The aviary was lovely, although we passed on feeding the parrots- we used to own parrots and we know how easily they bite.  We could hear people talking up at a shaded patio,  "Oh look, the parrot wants to be on my shoulder! Hi parrot! Do you want a grape? AGGGGHHHH! He bit my ear!!"   

 

Over at the small zoo of Australian animals,  we lined up for the koala holding/photograph. This was a very brief encounter.   Only one person in the group gets to hold the koala and Dave kept saying how cute they were so I let him hold the koala while I stood next to him.  I did reach out to pet it once the keeper had settled it properly into Dave's arms.   They are soft but not smooth, like a teddy bear that has gone through the washing machine.   They also seem to be not completely aware of what is going on, unafraid and passive.   We stood for the picture and then it was time for the keeper to pick up the koala for the next person's turn.

 

A brief but lovely moment on a warm and humid day.

 

I stayed back with Dave one day as the rest of the group was scheduled to take a riverboat ride.    But "no great loss without some small gain"- there was a tiny coffeeshop by the boat launch and it had, of all things, strong decaf coffee. Australians usually don't even think decaf really exists.   Dave said, You should have gone with the group, I'll be okay.   I said,  Well, what if you had passed out?  You can't be alone.   We're a team and you are more important than a silly boat ride.   We shared a treat and drank coffee after Dave's pain began to ease up. 

 

We are tired and glad to be home.   Our little dog Toby was so happy to see us and he is constantly by my side as if he's worried I w                    ill take off again. 

Grace and Truth, Jesus in Charge, John 19:16-27

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,

“They divided my clothes among them

    and cast lots for my garment.”

So this is what the soldiers did.

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

 

Many may have thought they were in charge. The soldiers thought they had control of Jesus, but he knew what should happen and made sure it did. Pilate decided what the sign would read. Did he think giving Jesus this title would keep him, Pilate, safe?

 

Soldiers chose to not split Jesus’ garment, but, truly, this had been predicted years before in the Psalms. And Jesus, the oldest son, made sure his mother would be taken care of after he was gone.

 

Thank you, Jesus, that no matter what man may think, you are in charge of our future; of our daily care; of our salvation. 

Guest Author, Jann Franklin

 

Thank you, Jann, for sharing with us this week.

 

Love Isn’t Equal

 

 

When my second child came along, I worried I wouldn’t love him as much as my first. Of course I did, and I expected to love them the same.

 

I thought having two boys meant I could repeat everything for Cameron—he could wear Nathan’s outgrown clothes, play with Nathan’s outgrown toys, etc. I learned, much to my surprise, that children aren’t the same. Nathan didn’t equal Cameron, and neither did my love.

 

Nathan adored cars from the beginning, and taking things apart. Cameron preferred action figures and drawing. Nathan was tall and slim. Cameron was tall and, well, not slim. Cameron told me once that he could never get married. “Mom, I’m going to give all my money to the poor. I can’t afford a wife.” Nathan would walk into a store and tell me how he would rob it.

 

A stern look would send Cameron into distress. He’d burst into tears and exclaim, “You don’t care for me!” Disciplining Nathan took words and looks, more words and looks, and usually banishment to his room. That kid loved to push all buttons, literally and figuratively! As my boys grew, so did my parenting skills (or so I imagined). I learned which phrases and discipline methods worked best on which child. I also adapted my encouragement and teaching to fit their personalities.

 

Cameron needed to be a leader instead of a follower. We put him in situations so that he could make decisions and take the first steps for others to follow. He grew to understand that he could say “no” when others tried to influence him. He learned to stand up for himself and for what was right. Maybe a little too much! Cameron told me that during his work evaluation, his supervisor remarked that his peers felt he gave his opinion a little too much.

 

Nathan had to learn empathy, and that being right wasn’t more important than being kind. We gave him opportunities to show love and caring, such as handing out cookies to children in subsidized housing and working with the preschoolers at church. The last decade or so, Nathan’s friends consistently mention his kindness and empathy toward others.

 

Another lightbulb moment—I had to pray for my children differently. For Nathan, I prayed that God would soften his heart and incline it toward others. I prayed for my oldest to feel what others felt, and see their sorrows and joys. My prayers for my youngest were almost the opposite. I asked God to protect Cameron’s tender heart, but not to let undesirable influences take advantage of him.

 

I’m happy to report, by God’s grace and a mother’s fervent prayers, my kids are just lovely. Nathan is twenty-six years old and engaged to Kat, whom we adore. They plan to marry this November, and we are beyond excited. He is a sergeant with the Texas National Guard in Abilene and is an active member of a local church. Nathan is on fire about the upcoming men’s conference at his church, and he and Kat actively take part in local outreach programs.

 

Cameron, at twenty-three, has completed his first year of marriage. We can’t say enough amazing things about his wife, Gracie, or her family. They met at Texas State University in CRU, formerly Campus Crusades for Christ. Cameron and Gracie just finished the first year of their two-year internship with CRU, and they plan to make college ministry their full-time passion. Not so fun fact: 86% of kids who enter college professing they are Christians go on to exit college stating they no longer follow Jesus. Ya’ll can see why I’m so excited to have Cameron and Gracie in this mission field!

 

I struggled those first few years of parenting because I tried to love my kids equally. I was so worried I might love one more than the other, and I consumed my days doling out my love in carefully measured portions. When the lightbulb moment hit and I realized the insanity of my parenting, I took a step back and regrouped. I finally got it—parenting isn’t about loving my children equally. It’s about loving them the way that they need it. I wasn’t the perfect mom, by anyone’s scale. I didn’t love my kids equally, just the way that they needed. And that’s so much better!

 

Bio: I live in Grand Cane, Louisiana.--population 298. Many of my ideas come from weekly interactions with my fellow villagers. Like my protagonists, I never appreciated my small town upbringing until my husband forced me to live in one. No I can't imagine living any other way. My husband, Joh, and I enjoy Sundays at Grand Cane Baptist Church, dinner with family and friends, and watching the lightning bugs in our backyard with our dogs. Our kids come to visit, when they aren't too busy living their big city lives. 

 

My website is

Jannfranklin.com

 

My books are listed under

Jannfranklin.com/mybooks

Guest Author, Kathy Cretsinger

 

Kathy Cretsinger is a dear friend. As a publisher, she took a chance on me, a beginning author, for which I will always be grateful. She is a devoted Christian, a loving mother, grandmother and great grandmother, and a delightful writer.

 

Thank you, Kathy, for having me on your blog. I always enjoy visiting with you and your friends.

Authors are a strange race of people. We think of things that no one else thinks about, and our thoughts come to us at all times of the day or night. That is what happened with Unlikely Candidate.

A couple of years ago, I was listening to the news and a thought came through my brain. Can a Christian woman run for President of the United States? Would she win, and could she have a sense of humor? Maggie Culbertson was born.

Maggie is a no-nonsense woman, mayor of the town of Possum Ridge, Tennessee, lawyer, wife, and mother. She loves God, family, and country in that order. She sees things differently than most people. There is always humor in her life. There is also Clarence the rooster who chases her when she is outside.

This came from something that happened in my life. When I was a child, we had a rooster that chased us all over the back yard. He always tried to take a bite out of your heel. I named him Clarence.

There are snippets of truth in the story. Most writers add from their life.

While I was writing the book, I decided we needed a Secret Service Agent, and Kenneth was born. Then, he told me he wanted to fall in love with Loretta. Most of us have characters who talk to us. I loved writing about Kenneth and Loretta. He is such a sweet guy.

There is a tradition in Possum Ridge. When a child is born in the family, their first name begins with the same letter as their last name. Maggie is Magnolia Louise Masters, but she married Craig Culbertson. Their children are Cynthia and Charles. The chickens are Clarence, Cindy, Caroline, and on and on. I think you get the picture.

I enjoyed writing this book. I hope you enjoy reading it. It can be purchased on Amazon at https://bit.ly/4dieZ13

 

Blurb

Magnolia (Maggie) Louise Masters Culbertson asks a question, “What do you have to do to run for President of the United States?” Her husband, Craig, and friend, Rocky, explore the early stats and discover she has powerful support.
The country is in a turmoil, and she can improve it with her calm demeanor, witty outlook on life, and Christian values. Her experience as a U.S. Senator, Special Counsel for the State of Tennessee and mayor of Possum Ridge, Tennessee are in her favor.
When she announces her candidacy, someone slips a note into her hand. It reads, “You will not live to be president.” That won’t happen.
Maggie’s stubbornness to make the country better prevails. She is unstoppable and has a secret few know about.
She happily watches her secretary, Loretta Little, and security guard, Kenneth Anderson, fall in love while she runs for office.
Can she save the country from this den of lions?

 

Kathy Cretsinger is an avid reader and writer. She loves to encourage other writers to help them find their writing life.

 

Several years ago, Kathy and her husband left their home in East Tennessee to begin a new home in Western Kentucky. They are much closer to their children and grandchildren. This move brought more time for her to write.

 

Each month, Kathy writes a newsletter to bring her readers up to date on her books. Join her at kathycretsingerauthor.com.