The #CANCrown Awards Are Open!

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Christian Authors Network Crown Awards #CANCrown on social media The CAN Crown Awards Celebrate Excellence in Christian Media and Marketing by Authors. Purpose of CAN Crown Awards: To recognize, educate, and encourage excellence in marketing and promotion skills of all Christian authors. Why? One crucial career area for Christian authors is marketing. (I know, stop rolling your eyes. Marketing can be fun!) The problem is that an author now has to wear so many hats. So many hats that the marketing hat may cause the whole stack to tumble if you don’t know how to make and follow through with a…

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Trouble—No Problem for God

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My friend’s husband slipped during a vacation and injured his back. Instead of getting better, the pain grew worse. After numerous doctors’ visits and tests, he heard the news no one wants to hear. Cancer. Of the bones. And he needed back surgery. The surgery left this formerly active husband and father with a back brace and a cane. His wife struggled with responsibilities he’d previously carried with ease. Sometimes the loss of the life they’d taken for granted and the frustration over lack of youthful strength boiled over. One such day, she fumed to herself and her husband as…

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Joy is Transformation

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Picture the contrast between a funeral and a wedding. A funeral is somber, reflective, full of sadness, grief, perhaps even remorse. A wedding, especially one between two godly believers, is full of gladness, delight, gless, bliss,  rejoicing and packed with hope on the horizon. The wonderful majesty of God is that He has the ability and desire to turn our mourning into a wedding dance! You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have  taken away my clothes of   mourning   and clothed me with   joy…(Psalm 30:11) I like to jump into the original language to dig…

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Living Beyond Our Comfort Zone

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  Life is marked by change. Eighteen months ago, my husband and I purged our earthly belongings and moved aboard a sailboat. This was no midlife crisis. We did it because God said “go.” Transitioning from house to boat was my husband’s dream come true. He grew up in a waterfront home and drove a speedboat when he was six years old. He later built a small sailboat and then owned a 27-foot Catalina. As for me—well, I grew up on the Alberta prairies. The first time I rowed a boat, I did it backwards. I don’t even like cold…

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Joy is a verb!

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One of the benefits of writing about joy, like Discovering Joy in Philippians: A Creative Bible Study Experience,  is that you learn many unique facts that can in turn help you and those in your ministry. In the New Testament, a common word is JOY! χαρὰ  (chara) from chairó is in N. T. 74 times! When God repeats Himself– that is a sign of importance or priority– so obviously His ability to help us walk in joy is on His heart! To great someone and wish them JOY, was a a common greeting and farewell salutation. (Wouldn’t the world be…

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The Woman We All Love to Hate

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She’s the woman we all love to hate, and she used to really bug me. The woman Proverbs 31 praises so highly—she’s just too perfect. She meets everyone’s needs with a smile and looks great doing it. And she gets up early, well before sunrise, and gets right to work. Ugh. Through the years I’ve tried to follow her example. I had my couponing-and-three-store-menu-planning phase, my make-crafts-and-sell-them phase, and I’ve even had more than one let’s-get-up-before-the-sun-and-get-this-day-going phase. But eventually I learned I was trying to copy this much-maligned woman’s activities rather than her character. What the Proverbs 31 woman actually…

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Joy is Celebration!

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When you are experiencing JOY, what is your response? Do you do a happy dance? Jump for joy? High five someone near?  Throw a party? The Bible clearly connects joy with celebration. Here are a few verses: When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. Psalm 94:19 explains this word meaning of joy as  a delight or to play. When was the last time you jumped up and down in delight and glee over something God had done for you? Do you celebrate with God when He pulls you up out of despair and rescues you from…

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A Chat with Author Liz Tolsma

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Greetings from Sarah Sundin! Today I have the joy of interviewing an author I’ve enjoyed getting to know over the years. Not only is Liz Tolsma a gifted and bestselling historical novelist, but she’s generous and compassionate and enthusiastic. Through her novels, she’s explored various eras—and in her latest novel, she’s delving into historical romantic suspense! Liz, please tell us about your book, The Pink Bonnet. When Cecile Dowd’s daughter is kidnapped by Georgia Tann and the corrupt Tennessee Children’s Home Society, she must rely on Tann’s own lawyer to find out what happened to Mille. How far will they…

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Content with What We Have

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Seated at the table with seven other women attending the women’s retreat where I was speaking, I enjoyed visiting with these young moms. Each one introduced herself and then we started talking about the gift of hospitality. Sarah spoke up and motioned to the woman beside her. “Natalie has the most amazing gift of hospitality. Her husband must have had it in mind when he built their huge house. She just makes everyone feel welcome.” The women nodded their agreement. Then another friend of hers offered, “Natalie’s house is so inviting, you’d never guess it’s 6,500 square feet.” Everyone nodded…

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