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A New Year…

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I’ve been quiet on this blog. I got caught up in the frenzy of this past holiday season, but I’m back and excited about 2013.

Last week on my Facebook page, I wrote about how I don’t like setting New Year’s Resolutions. If you don’t know, I’m a member of Weightwatchers and when I attended the first meeting of the New Year this past Saturday, it was PACKED!! {I should’ve arrived earlier, lol} The old timers in the meeting warned us that it would be very busy in the beginning of January, but the crowds would dwindle by March.

I thought to myself, this is abnormal. Eat to your heart’s content during from Thanksgiving to Christmas, feel guilty about it, and join a weight loss program in January. Fall off the weight loss bandwagon in the spring, only to repeat the cycle again in November.

I read one quote which said insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result.

So, I don’t set New Year’s Resolution. Instead, I try to set goals which I feel I can keep up with for a lifetime. Something small, but if repeatedly and consistently done over time with reap a HUGE REWARD. Here are some of my lifetime resolutions:

*Use cash for purchases and fix my space at home so I don’t make impulsive, online purchases.

*Balance checkbook daily.

*Plan the next day the night before or first thing in the morning.

*Read the Bible 15 minutes a day.

*Maintain a prayer journal for at least 5 minutes a day.

*Walk regularly. {Now, I pray while walking so I do a double whammy.}

*Write 2 pages a day.

*Read a story from the Bible and a quality children’s story to my children each day.

Now, I don’t always meet these aims, but because they are doable for me, it’s easier for me to return to them if I ever let up.

What are your lifetime goals?

I have a resource available now to help you figure out what your lifetime goals. It’s my latest ebook, Visionating. Available on Amazon for only $4.99.

Next Monday, we’ll talk about how to set doable, lifetime goals for the major areas of your life.

The Heart of Parenting, a guest blog by Cheri Swalwell

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I’m excited to welcome Cheri Swalwell to the blog today. Cheri is the author of two devotionals  “A Forty Day Habit Between Friends, Because They Need You” and  “A Forty Day Habit Between Friends, Taking it to the Next Level” which are available now.

Does parenting come naturally to you, or did you feel like a fish out of water the first time your little one was placed in your arms? Maybe you’re gifted with handling the baby/toddler stage, but the preteen years and beyond send you into a full-blown anxiety attack. Do you have one child whose compliant, another out of control, and a third or fourth somewhere in the middle?

I believe children are a gift from God, but I also think parenting is one of the hardest jobs a person is blessed to have. Every day presents different challenges and if you have more than one child, sometimes multiple times a day you are called on to have insight you just don’t feel equipped to dish out. I’m so glad I’m a follower of Christ, because without His wisdom, this parenting journey would be much more difficult than it already is.

This devotional was created from a blog I started over a year ago. Each topic is short and to the point and speaks from a godly perspective about specific challenges you may or may not face during your parenting years. They’re perfect for when you want to connect with God at any time of day and small enough to fit in your purse or briefcase. They’re a great gift to give to an unsaved or seeking relative or friend as it’s just me talking, friend to friend, sharing from my heart. They are the same conversations I would have with you over a cup of a coffee, during a play date, or sitting alongside you on the bleachers.

It has been said that it takes approximately forty days to create a habit. That is why this devotional has forty messages, just the right amount to get you started on a healthy habit of connecting with God. It’s small and compact, but full of morsels to get you thinking about your own relationship with God.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. Can’t wait to connect with you.

About Cheri

Cheri_portrait-2

Cheri Swalwell is a wife, mother, and avid reader, but first and foremost she is a Christ follower. She has a degree in Psychology and has been blessed to be a guest on a variety of blogs including Christiandevotions.us, Circle of Friends, and Crosswalk.com/family. She is a regular contributor to book fun magazine. If you want to hear more about the heart she has for marriage, parenting, and relationships from a Christian perspective, feel free to visit her blog: http://journeysfromtheheartofawifeandmother.wordpress.com or “like” her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/cheri-Swalwell. She loves to interact with her readers, so feel free to connect with her at clSwalwell99(at)gmail(dot)com

“A Christmas Homecoming” eBook – Just .99! Enter to win a Paperwhite Kindle from MaryAnn Diorio!

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Grab a copy of MaryAnn Diorio‘s “A Christmas Homecoming” for JUST .99! MaryAnn is celebrating by giving away a Paperwhite Kindle! Details below!

One “merry” winner will receive:

  • A Paperwhite Kindle
  • A Christmas Homecoming by MaryAnn Diorio

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on December 22nd. Winner will be announced on 12/23/12 at MaryAnn’s Blog.

Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning.

 

Seven Christmases have passed since Sonia Pettit last heard from her daughter Jody. Since Jody’s departure, Sonia’s world has been turned upside down. Her husband has died of a broken heart, and her son, bitter over his sister’s destructive actions, has become rebellious.
Her greatest desire is to have her family together at Christmas, but after what Jody has put them all through, can Sonia truly forgive her daughter?
Jody Pettit O’Dair ran away to experience a life of adventure and excitement, but since her departure, her world has been turned upside down. She’s been abandoned by the man she met and married, lost her job, and is unable to care for her two children. With nowhere else to turn, this prodigal daughter begins the long journey home and prays she will be welcomed after walking away so long ago.
Will Jody find forgiveness in the arms of her family as easily as she received it from God?
My Review: An excellent Christmas read! I was pleasantly surprised with the turn of events in this story. I can’t wait to read more by Mary Ann.
Meet MaryAnn: 

Dr. MaryAnn Diorio loves God, people, children, and dogs, in that order. She also is passionate about story and its power to transform the human heart. Dr. MaryAnn, as she is affectionately called, writes compelling fiction that deals with the deepest issues of life. She is Adjunct Online Professor of Fiction Writing for Regent University and coaches writers on their journey to publication. MaryAnn and her husband Dominic are the blessed parents of two wonderful daughters and a fantastic son-in-law. Find out more about MaryAnn at http://maryanndiorio.com/.

 

Guest Post by Jo Huddleston

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Today we’ll meet one of the characters in Jo Huddleston’s debut novel, That Summer. Jo interviews the character, Louisa, below. Leave a comment and be entered in the drawing for a copy of Jo’s book.

 

 

INTERVIEW WITH LOUISA

JO: Louisa, did you grow up near Caney Creek?

LOUISA: No ma’am, I grew up in Maple Hollow, a good distance from Caney Creek and the town of Newton.

JO: Tell me a little about where you grew up, please.

LOUISA: Well, I’ve lived my whole life in Maple Hollow. Our house wasn’t much to look at but it kept us dry and a little warm in the winter. We never had much company. You see, the road we lived on was the only way up into the hollow. The road went a little past our house and then you had to turn your buggy around and come back, going by our house.

JO: You say you lived in Maple Hollow. What is a hollow?

LOUISA: Well, I’m sure you know what a valley in the mountains are—a place where the mountains dip down, form a flat stretch of valley, and then rise back to their height of a mountain. I love my home, my sister, and parents. But I wish I had lived in a valley. Things are beautiful in a valley in the spring and summer, green and crops grow well there. Branching off those pretty valleys are hollows. They are not as flat and wide as a valley, just a cut out piece of rough land that meanders up and away from the valley. We don’t see much sunlight at home.

JO:  How many were in your family?

LOUISA: Four of us. There were me and my sister, Callie. Then my dad and mother. But when I was about fourteen years old, my mother died when she tried to birth her stillborn baby. We all missed her awfully bad. Callie and I were saddened and aggravated when Dad married a year after Mother died.

JO: How did you feel about another woman to take your mother’s place?

LOUISA: We didn’t like it. Mother had barely been dead a year when Dad married again. He married an old maid school teacher from town. She was nice, I guess. But she wasn’t our mother. Nobody else could take our mother’s place. We didn’t tell Dad how we felt. He didn’t seem to mind another woman in our house.

JO: Louisa, you seem unhappy living in Maple Hollow. What’s wrong?

LOUISA: I’m sorry but I’m just not satisfied now. My sister, Callie, moved into town when she graduated high school. With school out for the summer, I don’t have anybody my age to talk to, to tell secrets to. Dad and Mavis, that’s my stepmother, don’t go into town much. Dad has never worked on a public job. So I’m just stuck here in a place I used to love when Callie was here.

JO: As dissatisfied as you are with Callie being gone, what can you do to remedy your situation?

LOUISA: I don’t know. I’m just trying to figure out what I can do. Callie doesn’t come home much now that she’s working in town. The next time she comes home I’ll try to get Dad to let me go back and stay with her for the rest of the summer. Callie lives in a boardinghouse in Newton. I hope I can share her room and maybe she can pay for my meals there. She makes good money working at the hosiery mill. I might try to get a job there too.

JO: Callie, do you have a boyfriend you can talk to?

LOUISA: I think I have a boyfriend.

JO: You think you have a boyfriend. Why don’t you know whether you do?

LOUISA: Well, country life is not like it is in town. I’m not saying either one is better. They’re just different. Anyway, I met a boy at the county fair. He looked at me a lot and I sure looked at him. He’s handsome. We talked some. Living in the hollow like I do I can’t get out and see him again. But I think he might be my boyfriend.

Links to purchase My Summer:

During the month of December only, Jo’s publisher is offering her book in paperback format at a discounted price of $9.99 if you use this link. You may order as many copies as you wish at this price with this link but only in December.  http://donaldjamesparker.com/sosproducts.aspx?p=473&c=5

 Paperback and Kindle copies here 

Nook copy here  

Both paperback and eBook copies will soon be available at Barnes&Noble, and CBD.

About Jo

Jo Huddleston is a multi-published author of books, articles, and short stories. Her just-released debut novel, That Summer, is an inspirational Southern historical. She is a member of ACFW and of the Literary Hall of Fame at Lincoln Memorial University (TN). She holds a M.Ed. degree from Mississippi State University. Visit Jo at http://www.johuddleston.com/p/home.html.

 

 

Guest Blog by Author, Cheri Swalwell

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I’m pleased to welcome, Cheri Swalwell to the blog today. She’s the author of the devotional “A 40 Day Habit Between Friends: Taking It to the Next Level” Take it away, Cheri!

  Do you ever feel like life is out of control and you just need a chance to stop and catch your breath? I work from home juggling two jobs and three kids so I understand what it means to feel overwhelmed and exhausted, needing a few minutes to stop running and rest. As a Christ follower, I struggle with balancing the important relationships in my life with my other responsibilities. I wrestle with fear versus faith, allowing myself freedom to rest in such a fast-paced society, as well as some of the more difficult questions, such as does God “give or allow” pain in our lives.

Spending time with Our Heavenly Father on a regular basis is essential to our growth as a Christ follower. Without regular fill-ups, we aren’t as effective as we could be. We’re in different seasons of our life and therefore, the amount of time we have to spend with Him will vary. I believe God cares more about our hearts and desire to connect with Him then He does in an established amount of time just going through the motions.

This devotional was created from a blog I started over a year ago. Each topic is short and to the point. They’re perfect to connect with God at any time of day and small enough to fit in your purse or briefcase to read whenever time allows. They’re a great gift to give to an unsaved or seeking relative or friend as it is just me talking, friend to friend, sharing with you from my heart why I’m a Christ follower and what that means in my life. They’re the same conversations I would have with you over a cup of a coffee or while we took a walk.

It has been said it takes approximately forty days to create a habit. That is why this devotional has forty messages, just the right amount to get you started on a healthy habit of connecting with God. It’s small and compact, but full of morsels to get you thinking about your own relationship with God.

 Thank you for joining me between the covers of A 40 Day Habit Between Friends: Taking it to the Next Level.  I’m glad you stopped by to connect.  

About Cheri:

Cheri Swalwell is a wife, mother, and avid reader, but first and foremost she is a Christ follower. She has a degree in Psychology and has been blessed to be a guest on a variety of blogs including Christiandevotions.us, Circle of Friends, and Crosswalk.com/family. She is a regular contributor to book fun magazine. If you want to hear more about the heart she has for marriage, parenting, and relationships from a Christian perspective, feel free to visit her blog: http://journeysfromtheheartofawifeandmother.wordpress.com or “like” her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/cheri-Swalwell. She loves to interact with her readers, so feel free to connect with her at clSwalwell99@gmail.com.

Guest Post by Joi Copeland, author of Hope for the Journey

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One of the theme’s of Hope for the Journey is cancer and finding the strength to deal with it. I wrote of Emily’s cancer based on a woman I only met twice. But those two meetings were unforgettable and will forever be etched in my heart.

I met Cynthia on Christmas Eve of 2010. Her hair was thinning, she was very thin, but I’d never seen someone glow like that. Cynthia was the best friend of my dear friend, Terri. I was telling Terri about the book I wanted to write, and she suggested talking to Cynthia. When I spoke with her, she asked me why her. What made her story so special.

Cynthia’s story isn’t that different from other cancer patients. The doctor’s discovered her cancer, and though they did their best to get rid of it, she eventually left this world and went Home to be with Jesus.

Perhaps it wasn’t the story that affected me, but the person. Cynthia has two daughters under the age of 11 when her cancer hit. For me, I would’ve been devastated, questioning God at every turn. Why couldn’t I see my kids grow up? Who’s going to be there to love on them, to show them what a real woman of God is like? Who will guide them into womanhood?

No. Not Cynthia. As we sat at Applebee’s, she had me laughing and crying throughout my interview. First, she told me about her port placement in her chest. She didn’t like all the needles in her, so the doctor suggested the port placement. That’s how they hooked up the chemo. I get a little, no a lot, queasy when it comes to medical things. She kept telling me to touch it. I would decline, and she’d get this twinkle in her eye and push the subject a little more. I never did touch it, could barely stand to look at it when she showed me. It wasn’t gross. It just twisted my heart into a corkscrew to see it. That was where the laughter came in.

The tears began to flow when I asked her a personal question. “How are you dealing with all of it? Not seeing your girls grow up?” She leaned forward, rested her hands under her chin and said, “Joi, if God heals me, then I am blessed. I get to watch my kids grow up and live to be a cancer survivor. But if He doesn’t?” She shrugged, a soft smile flowing across her face. “Well, then, I am equally blessed because I get to leave this worn body and be united with my Savior.”

Oh my! The tears I’ve shed from that conversation! Cynthia’s faith amazed me. And so, I transferred that to Emily. Is Emily’s life reflecting that of Cynthia’s? No. But her faith does. And that’s what matters.

What about you? How’s your faith when trials and tough times hit? Honestly, I’m working on mine. I pray I can be like Cynthia and like Paul who said, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

About Hope for the Journey:

Kayla Musso has been married to her husband, Brad, for several years. Having just had a baby, Kayla feels her life couldn’t be more perfect. Then one day, Brad drops a bomb shell on her that threatens to destroy everything they have worked so hard for in their marriage. Suddenly she is faced with a choice to forgive or let go of the life she loves so much.

Emily Sorenson had always been the picture of health, but when a trip to the doctor becomes the shock of her life, she is faced with a decision, like Kayla, to either fight the battle before her or give up the life she loves. In addition, her husband Jake has to come to grips with the struggle before them as well. As he does, he begins to question God. How could He let Emily go through such pain? As he wrestles with his questions, he faces his own dilemma. Would he be willing to seek God in his time of despair or will he walk away from everything so dear to him?

Every marriage has it struggles. Into every life, rain must fall. At some point, we all question God and his motives. Although the characters in this much-anticipated follow up to Hope for Tomorrow are fictitious, the turmoils they face are very real for many people all over the world every day, and you may find the solutions are something you can apply to give you Hope for the Journey we call “life”.

 

Through the Psalms in 2013

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I previously wrote a post about how I’d like to go through the One Year Bible on this blog for 2013. Well, the prospect of blogging the entire Bible in the year seemed pretty intimidating to me. So, after much thought and prayer I’ve come up with a solution: go through one aspect of the One Year Bible each year.

The One Year Bible features an Old Testament reading, a New Testament reading, a Psalm and a Proverb each day. After going through the daily readings in my personal quiet time, I am often amazed at how the Holy Spirit connects each passage for me. Very cool.

Next year, I want to focus prayer and prayer journaling on this blog. For me, the Psalms are records of written prayers by great men of God…so it’s the perfect fit. I’m a big proponent of journaling and with my ebook, Visionating: Goal Setting Made Simple releasing soon {details to follow}, I think focusing on the Psalms next year will be a great combination.

I used to set goals based on MY plans, but after trying that and flubbing many times, I’ve come to the realization that consulting with God first is the best way to set goals. That’s what Visionating is all about, and our studies of Psalms in 2013 will {hopefully} provide us with records of the actual process of seeking God for the correct path to take in this life.

I’ll provide details of how we’ll work out the logistics of the Psalms study and couple it with Visionating in a future post. For now I just wanted to key you in on the fun!

Be encouraged…

On My Heart

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In celebration of this holiday season, I posted a link to a YouTube video of “Mary, Did You Know?” one of my favorite Christmas songs. This version touched my heart in a special way, as any mother would understand.