Holiday Relationship Tips

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While simplifying your holiday season, take time for relationships to thrive, not just survive the holidays.  Keep those relationships balanced with your holiday planning. People ARE more important than things at this time of year.  Here are some relationship principles using one of the familiar words of the holiday as an easy to apply acrostic:   C enter your heart on the true, deeper meaning of the holiday season (Thanksgiving through New Year’s.) This will help everyone become easier to get along with because the heart of the holiday will remain intact. H ear what your friends and family are…

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Good News of Great Joy!

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  I often give Christmas messages for women’s ministries, and one is entitled “Christmas Joy”. Joy is the beautiful result of Christ coming at Christmas. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. (Luke 2:10) In my book, LOL with God,  (co-authored Dawn Wilson) we chronicle just a few of the over 350 verses that speak to joy: 1 Chronicles 16:27—“Strength and joy [are] in his dwelling place.” (Dwell with God and find joy!) Job 33:26—“He prays to God and finds favor with…

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Deck the Soul with Boughs of Forgiveness

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CHRISTMAS!  The word evokes many feelings, depending on our experiences. For some, Christmas is a happy time, filled with beautiful memories and joyful expectations. For others, Christmas is a depressing time, a season one wants “to get over with” as quickly as possible because of bad memories associated with this time of year. Having ministered to people for many years, I have come to the conclusion that depressing memories at Christmas time are most often related to problems of unforgiveness. Hurts from the past become more pronounced during the Christmas season, but the reason those hurts still affect us is that…

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Fiction and Nonfiction Choices for Last Minute Gifts!

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It’s a busy season full of wonder, miracles, and–let’s be honest–at least a little stress! Gift cards are an easy option when we’ve run out of ideas or energy, but how about the gift of literature? After all, a book is like a present that you get to open again and again, right? Here are two new titles that have recently released from our CAN authors!  Care to put a little mystery and suspense in your holiday shopping? Try Pendant, a new release from M L Hamilton. A field trip gone awry. A student gone missing. Haunted by her student’s…

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After-Christmas Bargain

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I love after-Christmas sales! Wrapping paper, ornaments, and Christmas cards are available at greatly-reduced prices. One year while buying groceries in a super-store, I steered my cart to the Christmas aisle—just out of curiosity. And there it was—a beautiful, hand-painted ceramic nativity set on display at seventy-five percent off! Several boxed sets were on a shelf, so I took one and placed it on the bottom rack of my cart. When I got home, I left the box intact and slid it in my Christmas closet. The winter months came and went, as did spring, summer, and fall. Soon it…

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Readers Wait for Your Words (Really!)

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On Christmas Eve, Iceland celebrates the national tradition of Jólabókaflóð, the “Christmas Book Flood. That evening, Icelanders anticipate and enjoy exchanging books. After they open and admire their books, family members retire to their individual beds and read themselves to sleep. This literary tradition traces back to World War II, when the government restricted currency and imported gifts. In contrast, Icelanders enjoyed a flux of money because of the war. Fortunately, restrictions on imported paper remained lenient and books burgeoned as the country’s most popular gift for Christmas. Fast forward to today and the holiday-reading tradition virtually supports the book-publishing industry.  According…

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Bless Back

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This Christmas, I had the joy of speaking at many women’s teas and Christmas events. My message was on “Christmas Light” and it is based on our family’s Christmas Advent Wreath and Dinner and Dialogue tradition. We use Isaiah 9:6 as the center of our celebration and conversation because it is the center of the hope and light we all enjoy because of Christ’s birth. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,  Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” This Christmas, which…

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Your Friendship Circle for Success

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Your Friendship Circle from Pam Farrel Text Message: “A frnd lvs @ al tms.* * “A friend loves at all times . . .” Proverbs 17:17 NIV My friend, Dawn Wilson, and I, wrote a book called LOL with God: Messages of Hope and Healing for Women. It is a unique devotional that has a humorous story on one page and a daily devotional on the other, and the theme through the book is “text messages” between you and God. In one of these devotionals, Dawn shared who is in her friendship circle, and at the Christmas season, as I…

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An Irish Bride in the Christmas Brides Collection by Vickie McDonough

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“An Irish Bride for Christmas” novella in The Christmas Brides Collection. A man who recently lost his brother and sister-in-law in a tragic accident fights for custody of his niece. About the author: Vickie McDonough is the best selling author of more than 30 books and novellas. Her awards include the Book Sellers Best, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and she’s an 8-time finalist in ACFW’s Carol Awards.   New Releases are posted by Christine Lindsay, author of the multi-award-winning Shadowed in Silk, Captured by Moonlight, and newly released Veiled at Midnight, and contemporary romance Londonderry Dreaming.

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A Christmas Gift by Kathi Macias

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A Christmas Gift, Julia knew firsthand that Chiapas was not a safe place. Could a simple man’s faith and love be enough to make her stay? About the author: Kathi Macias is a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother—and the award-winning author of nearly 50 books. She and her husband call SoCal home.   NEW RELEASES are posted by Christine Lindsay the author of the Multi-Award-Winning historical novels Shadowed in Silk, Captured by Moonlight and newly released Veiled at Midnight.

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