Michelle Ule's Blog, page 71

How Someone Else’s Wedding Changed Me

Me as a bride!

We spent the weekend at a beautiful family wedding that exceeded any ceremony I’ve ever witnessed.

Probably a third of the guests were my relatives and the mini-family reunion coupled with a gorgeous bride and handsome groom, with every detail flowing perfectly, made for a terrific celebration.

As we relieved that glorious evening on Facebook and in our stories, I found myself thinking about how special every wedding I’ve attended has been.

Each one involved two people pledging their lives together. We’ve watched two families merging into one. We’ve danced, eaten cake, drunk punch and champagne, toasted, cheered, laughed and cried.

They’re all special and I’m thankful to have been present. I always cry.

I’m not sure I’ll ever attend a wedding so polished and perfect as Briana and Joey’s, but even the most meagre one has blessed me.

And it’s that simple, haphazard and tiny marriage ceremony that ushered me into the full life of an adult Christian.

Eighteen months or so after the wedding that really changed my life–mine–my young naval officer was finally attached to his first submarine, then undergoing an overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard.

I was an arrogant 23 year-old, relieved to finally be living somewhere for more than six months and ready to charge into the world with my degree and find a real job.

It didn’t work out that way for me, but I still saw myself as different from the other women in my evening Bible study. I thought I was more intellectual, more refined, really, better than most.

For no reason other than my personal opinion.

And of course I was married to a naval officer.

(Sigh. I promise. I’m much better now!)

We attended a Tuesday night Bible study at the Chaplain’s mansion on Captain’s Row. The gathering numbered between 20 and 30 and the Chaplain and his wife served as surrogate parents for the many young people who flowed through the Navy’s enlisted schools on the island, not to  mention the folks attached to subs in overhaul.

It was a great Bible study, filled with singing, teaching and prayer requests. I fit right in, even if my own personal requests differed from that of others.

One night, I was surprised to learn (please remember, I was a foolish young woman) that a plain enlisted woman with chopped-off hair and a poor figure at best had gotten engaged to a strikingly handsome enlisted man with a chiseled chin and slow drawl.

Wow. What did he see in her?

They were planning a wedding and asked for prayer.

It would be small and relatively soon. If they were married, the Navy might station them together when their orders came.

I prayed with everyone else.

Several weeks went by, more prayers for the wedding, and then I happened to notice the bride-to-be, so radiant at first, was drooping.

It wasn’t a good look on her.

All brides want to be excited about their weddings.

Besides, an engaged woman should be more excited, particularly about the wedding.

God tapped my heart.

So, I approached and asked about her plans. Had she gotten a dress yet?

She wrung her hands as she explained. She lived in the barracks. She needed to sew her dress, but where? Time was ticking by and she was afraid she wouldn’t get it done.

Thank God my pride did not quench the Holy Spirit. “Why don’t you come to my house? I’ll help you with it.”

Tears. “Really?”

She came the following Sunday when she had time off, bearing the material, the pattern and her sewing machine. She hadn’t even started and the wedding was two weeks away.

My heart turned over completely. “What do you need me to do?”

“Can you help me cut it out?”

“No, I mean, of course I can, but what do you need me to do to help with the wedding itself?”

Everything.

That afternoon we cut out the simple dress and we started sewing. I was able to fit it on her, to insure she would look her best for her dashing groom–who would wear his dress uniform.

She took the dress back to the barracks to work on the fine points, hemming and adding bits of lace, but the dress was mostly done.

The bride-to-be and the groom-to-be came to dinner the next Sunday. I wrote out a list of all the things they needed me to do for the ceremony the following Saturday.

When his intended left the room, the groom turned to me with tears in his eyes. “I can’t thank you enough. She was so lonely without anyone to help her, you’ve made such a difference to both of us.”

I smiled back. “It’s been a pleasure.”

Of course it had. I’d grown to love her myself.

The chaplain‘s wife brought the cake (her teenage daughter was the maid of honor and sole attendant. The bride told me it would have been me if the girl had gotten sick).

I was in charge of punch, mints, flowers, coffee and setting up the table. The chaplain’s wife, daughter and I decorated a small classroom for the reception.

St. Peter’s Chapel hardly needed to be decorated

Fortunately,  St. Peter’s Chapel with it’s Tiffany stained-glass windows decorated itself.

The chaplain’s wife, daughter and I helped the bride dress. I stood outside the chapel and made sure the bride’s gown and veil were perfect when she walked down the aisle on the arm of the chaplain’s young 10 year-old son.

There were about 20 of us from the Bible study to witness the ceremony.

Afterwards, we toasted with punch, watched the couple open the dozen gifts, and threw bird seed when they hurried out to the borrowed car. They had 36 hours for a honeymoon. They couldn’t miss class Monday morning.

It was a lovely wedding and just as at every wedding I’ve attended, I cried.

For them, yes, but also because I had changed–for the better.

The arrogant woman can still be found on bad days, but on that day, such a charming, sweet, simple wedding day, I grew up into my role in the body of Christ.

I’d been a kid before, content to be immature in my attitudes and responsibilities.

That day I learned that even my haphazard abilities can be necessary to the Kingdom of God.

I’m so thankful the Lord prompted my heart to ask a simple question. I’m so thankful the Holy Spirit made the selfish scales fall from my eyes to see a young woman who wanted to be beautiful for her groom. I’m so glad I know how to sew.

On that day, even I could see her radiant and beautiful on the arm of the man she loved.

Thanks be to God.

Tweetables

A plain woman’s wedding changes an arrogant woman’s heart. Click to Tweet

Is every bride beautiful? Why else would I cry at every wedding? Click to Tweet

How God changed an arrogant woman’s heart to help at a wedding. Click to Tweet

 

Speaking of brides, I’ve got two books releasing this fall that concern other historical (albeit fictional) brides: A Pioneer Christmas Collection and The 12 Brides of Christmas!

 

Goodreads Book Giveaway


A Pioneer Christmas Collection
Giveaway ends September 19, 2015.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

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Davalynn Spencer: Summer Brides

Davalynn Spencer returns to 1886 Colorado with The Columbine Bride, part of The 12 Brides of Summer Collection , on September 1.

The Columbine Bride is a sequel to her Christmas novella and features a character who demanded his own story.

“While I wrote The Snowbound Bride, I became intrigued by a secondary character, Buck, the uncle who helped raise my hero, Nate Horne. Buck needed a story of his own – to see if he would practice what he preached to his nephew when faced with the same dilemma.”

Her Christmas story ended with a December wedding and the sequel picks up five months later and continues through the summer. Ara and Nate are married and pregnant–everyone fears she’s carrying twins because of her size.

“But the biggest change is in Buck who – well, I won’t give that away.”

Enter Lucy Powell and her two small children and watch Buck’s world turn up-side-down.

Columbine

Lucy is struggling to get over her late husband’s freak accident at their ranch last summer. She wrangled a teaching job to support her family, but the school year is over and it’s time to return to the scene of their heartbreak.

Can she and her young children manage?

And if not, how will they survive?

“Need” is the driving idea behind The Columbine Bride. Need and how God meets it,” Davalynn said.

“It’s funny, but I become very attached to my characters when I’m working on a story. I feel I know them better than many actual people in my day-to-day life.

But this one? Oh, I’m especially fond of Buck and Lucy and the depth of their feelings.”

Since Davalynn lives near the setting for The Columbine Bride, she didn’t have to do much additional research.

She did, however, hear a story that worked its way into the novella.

“I had an interesting conversation with a horse woman who grew up around here near Cañon City, Colorado. She talked about “limbing” (cutting the limbs off) a fallen tree, then dragging it out from the woods on horseback.”

You’ll have to read The Columbine Bride to find out the importance of that little fact.

You can purchase The 12 Brides of Summer Collection #4 featuring Vickie’s The Country Fair Bride, Diana Brandmeyer’s The Honey Bride and Davalynn Spencer’s The Columbine Bride through ebook retailers found on the 12Brides.com website.

Who is Davalynn Spencer?

Davalynn Spencer writes inspirational Western romance complete with rugged cowboys, their challenges, and their loves.

Her work has finaled for the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award, the Selah, and the Holt Medallion.

Davalynn teaches writing at Pueblo Community College and at various writing workshops.

She and her own handsome cowboy make their home on Colorado’s Front Range with a Queensland heeler named Blue.

Connect with Davalynn online at www.davalynnspencer.com and https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDavalynnSpencer

Available ONLY in select Walmart stores

 

Some select Walmart stores will be carrying physical copies of Old West Summer Brides–a four-novella collection of stories from this series featuring the 12 Brides of Summer novellas written by Mary Connealy, Susan Page Davis, Davalynn Spencer and Miralee Ferrell starting July 14.

The ebook versions of The 12 Brides of Summer will be available in four ebooks with three stories in each.  One will release the first of each summer month beginning in June and continuing in July, August and September.  Mark your calendars for the first of the month, because you won’t want to miss a single one.

 

The entire collection will be released in summer 2016 in a deluxe edition book with actual pages.

And for those looking for a complete collection of The 12 Brides of Christmas novellas, they’ll be published in one book this October 2015.

Releasing October 1, 2015. You can preorder at
http://amzn.to/1FclW0u

The post Davalynn Spencer: Summer Brides appeared first on Michelle Ule, Author.

Blog Post # 500

One published post for every piece of paper in this ream.

This is blog post # 500.

As in, the five hundredth post I’ve posted.

But, forgive me for indulging today. I’m celebrating.

When I began this blog in January 2011, I wrote for the love of sharing my thoughts and experiences and also for promoting my first novella, The Dogtrot Christmas.

I had little idea, though I should have, how the blog would rule my life.

My husband didn’t either.

It’s a joy most of the time, though the twice weekly deadline can become a chore.

The need to write and maintain the website runs in the background of my mind all the time. I’m constantly thinking, “that would make a great blog post,” and scribbling down notes on my church bulletin, and sending myself cryptic emails with subject lines like: Lego and boats.

I’ve loved it, though, and no matter what happens with the book publishing life (I’ve been part of six published books now), I’m pretty sure I’ll keep on writing my blog.

This is blog post #500 published, but I’ve got lots more to say and to come. Keep reading!

(And if you’d like to receive these posts twice a week in your email, on Tuesdays and Fridays, sign up over on the right: “Subscribe to Blog.”)

Written on this computer

For blog post # 500, I’m going to honor some of the favorite and most read posts. Here they are:

#1 Why Did God Let Oswald Chambers Die So Young?

This post struggles to answer the question so many fans of Oswald Chambers debate–why would God allow such a man at the top of his ministry in the middle of a war when he pretty much led a revival among ANZAC troops, suddenly die?

A tough question and one I wrestled with while writing my (as yet unpublished) A Poppy in Remembrance.

But as I thought about it and looked at the ultimate result, I saw an answer.

It’s led me to my next book, but that’s a story for another time.

# 2 The Nudist Colony Field Trip

This silly post was the result of not being able to think of anything else to write when the deadline loomed. I closed my eyes while sitting in front of the computer and tried to think of something. I remember this story I’d recently told, and typed it up. For a very long time this was #1.

I’ve also been chastened by someone, that I was treating the subject of nudity in an undignified manner.

Maybe, but I really think the post was about my sense of the absurd. You choose.

#3 Civil War Dresses: Of Corset it Hurts

In a series of surprising events, my husband and I suddenly became host parents to two Chinese teenage boys one summer. Since I was working on my (as yet unfinished) Civil War novel, we’d made arrangements to attend the local Civil War games two days after the 13 year olds arrived.

How would you explain the Civil War to two teenagers from inland China?

We tried: cannon, gunfire, horses, swords, soldiers, camping and Abraham Lincoln.

I’m not sure they understood, but they loved the whole day!

And while there, I did research–including what exactly the women wore under all those layers.

I love the title–and of course it’s true!

#4. Death at Christmas: Six Ways to Cope

My mother died three days before Christmas and the holidays are difficult, even twenty years later. I wanted others staggering through the horror to read how we’ve managed. I hope this post helps.

Laughing all along

Why these posts?

These posts perhaps best encapsulate what is close to my heart: recognizing the fingerprints of God in everyday life.

In all the Oswald Chambers-related posts (20; so many he gets his own tab), I’m talking about a man of God who lived his life to his utmost for God’s highest.

And not just OC, but his wife Biddy and all those who have read My Utmost for His Highest for the last 88 years. My blog posts on Chambers regularly hit on the first and second pages when you google Oswald Chambers.

At least a dozen people read one of these posts every day. They provide the biographical information and thoughts others seek. It’s a honor to minister that way.

The Nudist Colony Field Trip and Civil War Dresses highlight several points of my life: absurdity, travel, whimsey, history and what my husband calls, “Connecting dots that may or may not be there.”

I love to tell stories and provide what I consider interesting information.

They’re also fun to write.

Death at Christmas appeals to my real life where I teach Bible study, listen to broken hearts as a lay counselor and honor people I love.

It’s a great writing–and living–life.

Why write a blog, much less blog post #500?

The experience of writing down ideas, putting together thoughts and amusing readers grabbed me as a child. I used to read Jack Smith‘s column in the Los Angeles Times. I loved the vignettes of his life, comments on southern California, wildlife sightings in his yard and his travel adventures.

That’s the sort of friendly, musing reporting I wanted to do.

When I got to UCLA and became a reporter, I lobbied several times for a columnist slot.

“Nope,” editor after editor said. “People come in all the time asking to be a columnist and we always say no. You have to be dead on, never missing a deadline and you have to write about interesting things. Sorry.”

The UCLA Daily Bruin did not have a columnist during my years on the paper. I couldn’t even write a column when I WAS an editor!

A blog really is nothing more than a personal column.

And that’s why writing the blog, and blog post # 500, is a delight to me.

Thanks for reading.

I’d be thrilled and honored if any readers would remember a post I wrote that meant something to them and note it in the comments.

To celebrate blog post # 500, I’ll give away one copy of each of my books to six randomly selected commenters on this post. (Alas, US only, unless you’ll take an ebook–and then it’s open to the world!)

Contest ends at midnight Monday, August 31. Winning names will be drawn out of a hat by adorable grandchildren and will be announced next Friday, September 4 on this blog.)

Tweetables

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Top 4 blog posts: Oswald Chambers, Nudist Colony, Civil War and Death Click to Tweet

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Diana Brandmeyer: Summer Brides

Diana Brandmeyer’s The Honey Bride is part of the fourth 12 Brides of Summer novella series releasing September 1.

Set in the spring following Diana’s The Festive Bride, it follows the fortunes of a young couple in 1887 Trenton, Illinois.

Kate’s life spirals into difficulties when her father is killed during a severe storm. She and her brother and grandmother try to make do on their farm before the bank repossesses it. What did her widowed father do with their money? How could it have disappeared?

A sympathetic neighbor (who works for Roy from The Festive Bride) wants to help but is spurned by Kate’s independence. When he happens upon beehives in the woods, he wonders if he’s found the secret to the lost funds and a way to Kate’s heart.

Diana enjoyed writing The Honey Bride, even as she felt great sympathy for her heroine: “I felt so bad having Katie go through so many trials!”

The story required a lot of research about bees.

“It seems like most of it ended up in a file on my computer instead of the story, but I read Langstroth’s Hive and the Honey-Bees: the Classic Beekeeper’s Manual [written 150 years ago] and talked with a friend who keeps bees.”

The idea to write about bees came when she nearly stepped on a bee one day.

“I did that a lot as a child and it hurt so much. Then bees were everywhere. Now the bees are dying so I was thankful I didn’t squish it. That made me wonder if there were bee keepers in this area. I didn’t locate any records in Trenton, IL that said there were but I did find a small advertisement about Italian Queen Bees for sale.”

The Honey Bride is a sweet addition on a summer day!

You can purchase The 12 Brides of Summer Collection #4 featuring Vickie’s The Country Fair Bride, Diana Brandmeyer’s The Honey Bride and Davalynn Spencer’s The Columbine Bride through ebook retailers found on the 12Brides.com website.

 Who is Diana Brandmeyer?

Bigger. Better. Together.         Stories of love, blending and bonding.

Christian author, Diana Lesire Brandmeyer, writes historical and contemporary romances. Author of Mind of Her Own, A Bride’s Dilemma in Friendship, Tennessee and We’re Not Blended-We’re Pureed, A Survivor’s Guide to Blended Families. Once widowed and now remarried she writes with humor and experience on the difficulty of joining two families be it fictional or real life.

LINKS

Website: http://www.dianabrandmeyer.com

Blog: http://www.dianabrandmeyer.com/blog

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dianalesirebrandmeyerauthor

Twitter: @dianabrandmeyer

To read Alma and Roy’s romantic story set at Christmas, try The Festive Bride  for only 99 cents!

Tweetables

Who is Diana Brandmeyer? Click to Tweet

Honey bees and romance. What could be sweeter? Click to Tweet

 

Some select Walmart stores carried physical copies of Small-Town Summer Brides–a four-novella collection of stories from this series featuring the 12 Brides of Summer novellas written by Pam Hillman, Diana Brandmeyer, Maureen Lang and Amy Lillard starting June 30.

.

 

The entire collection will be released in summer 2016 in a deluxe edition book.

And for those looking for a complete collection of The 12 Brides of Christmas novellas, they’ll be published in one book this October 2015.

Releasing October 1, 2015. You can preorder at
http://amzn.to/1FclW0u

The post Diana Brandmeyer: Summer Brides appeared first on Michelle Ule, Author.

The Value of Music and a Girl’s Emotions

And it still works!

What’s the value of music for a girl’s emotions?

Everything.

We watched the Masterpiece Theater version of A Room with a View last night and laughed every time Lucy Honeychurch turned to the piano to vent her emotions.

It was an uneasy laugh–we recognizing aspects of our past.

My sister-in-law told me once she only survived her rocky teen years because she could play out her emotions on the family piano.

I nodded. I knew the feeling well.

How many days and nights did I spend at my old piano, playing Chopin for the misery, Bach for order, Beethoven for passion and Scarlatti for joy?

I laughed with Scott Joplin and stumbled through sight-read Christmas carols each year.

But in the totally bleak moments that so often characterize teenage girls, I pounded the bass notes and scurried up the keyboard in a composition I wrote myself: Opus I.

There was no Opus II.

Opus I was sufficient!

It unlocked my emotions in a healthy way–if you didn’t mind all the crashing in that lower register.

The piano survived and so did my relationship with the rest of the family.

Perhaps it was funneling the emotions into my fingers–something else unlocked and lightened in the sweet treble’s higher notes–but I catch glimpses of it even now when I play my clarinet.

That surprised me. I thought it was the pounding of the piano keys that enabled the emotions to scatter.

I play almost exclusively in church now, but on some of those pieces, the music takes over. Sitting in my seat behind the black music stand, I sway and nod, and shiver.

Sweet longing and worship comes out in church. I’ve never loudly honked or squeaked deliberately to release anger there!

My favorite clarinet music is Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A–I want to weep whenever I hear that long sweet drawn out sound that comes early in the second movement.

Here it is:

It rips my heart out just listening to it now. How about you?

Other teenagers and music

Many young people talk about how important “their music” is to them–which is why they spend so much time listening to it, often with earphones.

I laugh to see so many commuters with white wires leading from their ears into a hidden spot–on the metro, standing at the corner, walking down the street, in the car with others driving.

They block out what’s going on around them–and that can be a bad thing when it precludes conversation.

But if it’s the only thing that calms them down enough for their emotions to function–can we really complain?

(Of course we can, we’re their parents.)

Certainly music can be used as an emotion tool to the bad and to avoid dealing with problems.

I chipped off several ivory keys in my –shall we say–vigor.

Often, though, playing my heart out was the only thing that kept my mouth shut and the lines of communication–eventually–open.

What’s a family to do?

Lucy Honeychurch and her family used the piano the same way. When something tremendously dramatic came from the keyboard, her family looked among themselves and quietly left the room.

Humorous–we laughed–but wise.

I don’t play my piano very much anymore. But my children grew up listening to classical music on the radio.

The louder I turned up the music, the more they glanced among themselves.

It either meant company was coming and I was cleaning or . . .

They usually stepped right in to help.

Kids can recognize the value of music to dissipate emotions, too!

Tweetables

How do you use music to deal with emotions? Click to Tweet

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Margaret Brownley: Summer Brides

The Dog Days of Summer Bride is best-selling author Margaret Brownley’s contribution to The 12 Brides of Summer Collection.

The third group of novellas will launch August 1 and will feature Miralee Ferrell’s The Dogwood Blossom Bride and Pam Hillman’s The Lumberjack’s Bride.

Unlike many of the other’s The Dog Days of Summer Bride is not a sequel to Margaret’s 12 Brides of Christmas story. She explains why:

“It’s hard for me to write sequels because when I finish a story it’s done.  All the loose ends are tied up and all the sub-plots complete.  Some writers come up with fantastic sequels and I admire that talent.  I’m afraid any sequel I write would fall flat.”

Instead, she’s spun a trademark fun tale that matches its title:

Music teacher Miralee Davis hasn’t got a beau but she does have a dog—sometimes.  His name is Mozart, but she calls him Mo. He would be the perfect canine companion except for one very disturbing fault; Mo disappears every week like clockwork for three or four days.  That wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t come back looking like a ragamuffin and smelling like yesterday’s fish dinner.

Blacksmith Jed Colbert’s dog Dynamite (Dyna for short) has the same disturbing habit.  Only when Dyna returns home he puts the male species to shame by smelling like a dandy.

Neither Jed nor Miralee know they share the same dog until . . . Mozart/Dynamite digs up a stash of stolen loot.  The reward will go to the dog’s owner—if only Miralee and Jed could agree on who that owner is. And that’s not all they disagree on

It’s going to take an act of Congress for these two sometime pet owners to see eye-to-eye—and maybe even a little help from a certain matchmaking dog who now answers to the name Dyna-Mo.

[image error]

Wikipedia Commons

 Where did she come up with that idea?

“I tried to think of something that went with the summer theme and dog days popped into my head.  I’ve had animals in my stories; a love-sick mule and an eccentric cat, but never a dog.  I played the “what-if” game and came to a question that intrigued me: what if two people unknowingly owned the same dog?

I went to bed with that burning question in my mind and woke up at four a.m. with my story.  It was so much fun to write.  Two strangers owning one dog leads to so many fun complications.  The dog in question is a black and white cow dog with a very special mission in mind.”

Margaret enjoys writing historical fiction because of the opportunities to do research and learn about past times. She also pays close attention to what her readers like and that informed the writing of The Dog Days of Summer Bride.

“The one thing I noticed from reviews of The Nutcracker Bride [Part of The 12 Brides of Christmas Collection] is that readers loved learning about the history of nutcrackers.  Keeping that in mind I included some interesting facts in my story about the dog days of summer and how it got its name.”

Margaret does enjoy story sequels if someone else puts them together:

“My all time favorite move sequel was Toy Story 3.  Bawled my head off. I guess I wasn’t ready to let Andy go off to college. Come to think of it, I felt the same way about my own children.  I’m anxiously waiting for Finding Nemo two.  They better not send Nemo off to college, that’s all I’ve got to say.”

You can order The 12 Brides of Summer Collection #3 featuring The Lumberjack Bride,  The Dogwood Blossom Bride and The Dog Days of Summer Bride here.

 Who is Margaret Brownley?

Best-selling author Margaret Brownley has penned nearly forty historical novels including Undercover Bride, book two in her Undercover Ladies series. Her books have won numerous awards, including Readers’ Choice and Award of Excellence.

She’s a former Romance Writers of American RITA® finalist and has written for a TV soap and is currently working on a new series.

Not bad for someone who flunked eighth grade English.  Just don’t ask her to diagram a sentence.

This is the fourth series Margaret and Michelle Ule have contributed to, including The Log Cabin Christmas Collection, The Pioneer Christmas Collection and The 12 Brides of Christmas Collection (releasing as a full volume in October 2015)

You can find Margaret here:

Website: www.margaret-brownley.com

Twitter

Facebook

Tweetables

Who is Margaret Brownley? Click to Tweet

Who owns this dog? and other @margaretbrownly absurdities! Click to Tweet

Summer’s Dog Dayz ends in romance. Click to Tweet

Some select Walmart stores will be carrying physical copies of Prairie Summer Brides–a four-novella collection of stories from this series featuring the 12 Brides of Summer novellas written by Margaret Brownley, Amanda Cabot, Vickie McDonough and Michelle Ule.

The ebook versions of The 12 Brides of Summer will be available in four ebooks with three stories in each.  One will release the first of each summer month beginning in June and continuing in July, August and September.  Mark your calendars for the first of the month, because you won’t want to miss a single one.

 

The entire collection will be released in summer 2016 in one special edition book with actual pages.

And for those looking for a complete collection of The 12 Brides of Christmas novellas, they’ll be published in one book in October 2015.

Releasing October 1, 2015. You can preorder at
http://amzn.to/1FclW0u

The post Margaret Brownley: Summer Brides appeared first on Michelle Ule, Author.

WWI: a YMCA Worker’s Camel Tale

Supplies were brought in by camel

Think it was easy to be a YMCA secretary during WWI?

The spiritual rewards may have been profound, but the physical cost was high.

According to Sir James Barrett of the British YMCA:

“The business of the YMCA is to provide comfort by personal service over and above military necessaries for the men who are well. The Red Cross Society attends to the wants and needs of the sick and wounded.”

Indeed, the YMCA “began as entirely religious movement, meetings for prayer and informal religious exercises.”

Here’s the story of one man struggling to get needed supplies to Jerusalem in December 1917, after the British Expeditionary Forces (BEF) under General Edmund Allenby took the city.

Philip Hancock was a secretary– a man assigned to help run YMCA events and huts in Egypt and Palestine.

A native of England, he had studied at Oswald Chambers‘ Bible Training College and when Chambers headed to Egypt in 1915 as a YMCA secretary, a number of his former students applied to the same program.

In 1917, Hancock was assigned with the front line British and Anzac army units to Beersheba, where he ran a YMCA hut–selling items like paper, pens, stamps and tea (which would include cookies and other foodstuff).

The huts set up with the front lines were typically small and moveable, thrown up in a hurry–often mere dugouts. (Soldiers dug trenches in the Middle East as well as at the Western Front).

They served as necessary respites for the men camping in primitive conditions under hostile fire.

Hancock supplied the small comforts he could, taught Bible studies and ministered to the men.

Many had been far from home for a long time.

The push across the Sinai desert took eight months of  battling German and Ottoman soldiers.

In the summer, of course, water was hard to come by in that region and battles often took place around oases and villages (which were built near water supplies).

Government Press Office (GPO) – British General Edmund Allenby” by Eric Matson; http://www.flickr.com/people/69061470... –

General Allenby and his men accepted the surrender of Jerusalem on December 9, 1917.

All were thankful to have finally taken the city–which promised better accommodations as Christmas approached.

The BEF supply line took precedence, but Hancock had YMCA supplies that would be helpful for the exhausted men while off-duty.

It was tough going getting them to Jerusalem:

I got the goods as far as Hebron and then the rains came. We were held up for 4 days and a lake of water formed and was gradually creeping up to the place where I had stored my precious stores.

First of all I asked God to stop the rain, but the arrogance and selfishness of the request appeared to me when I thought of what I was really asking. I was asking God to enable me and my cargo of about 250 British pounds of food stuff. [$9000 2015 US dollars] to get to Jerusalem at the expense of the harvest and water supply of Palestine!

Hancock repented of that request and the rains continued.

So I changed my request and prayed for the necessary transport to enable me to get going in spite of the rain. Every wagon and camel were being used to the limit, but I set off to a Camel Depot and after three attempts, I got 20 camels. We loaded them in the rain and mud, and then started off for Jerusalem.

We partly walked and partly waded, and the camels did a lot of sliding. It was a great experience and in spite of all the difficulties there was much real cause for laughter.

The following day we got to Jerusalem, and the stores which took me six days to bring up were sold out in a few hours.

The YMCA was a life saver, in more ways than one.

I’ve written about the challenges of dealing with camels here and here.

Soldiers guarding the Jaffa gate; 1917

Interesting for the YMCA secretaries to be working in the Holy Land. Their location left a great impression upon the secretaries, ministering to soldiers in often desperate conditions. Summers overpowered everyone with heat, mosquitoes and flies; winter surprises them with cold, rain and slippery conditions.

And yet, they were serving God and man in a land they’d long studied.

Hancock concluded his report with admiration:

“It was a great privilege to go  “up to Jerusalem” along that route, one felt in company with all the great men of God who centuries ago had tramped those same magnificent hills, and who must be looking on in joy and wonder during these strange days in the history of their land.”

Hancock married Gertrude Ballinger, another student from the Bible Training College who also worked for the YMCA in Egypt during World War I. They wed in Egypt (with Kathleen Chambers as flower girl) and spent the rest of their lives as missionaries.

The YMCA experience, coupled with their training from Oswald Chambers, set the course for their life of service, under often difficult circumstances, in Persia.

Tweetables

The challenges of YMCA secretaries in WWI Israel Click to Tweet

Philip and Gertrude Ballinger Hancock; 1920’s Persia

A WWI YMCA secretary dealing with camels in the rain Click to Tweet

The YMCA gets supplies to Jerusalem in 1917. Click to Tweet

 

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Pam Hillman: Summer Brides

The Lumberjack’s Bride is Pam Hillman’s contribution to The 12 Brides of Summer , available in the third collection releasing August 1.

A sequel to her The Evergreen Bride story from The 12 Brides of Christmas, The Lumberjack’s Bride returns to the same heart of the Mississippi pine belt in 1889.

Many of the characters return to this story set 18 months later when the family sawmill and logging operation has expanded. They need additional help and ask for business assistance from Annabelle’s uncle.

Annabelle’s plans for a white Christmas in The Evergreen Bride involved a trip to Illinois to visit her relatives, in particular her cousin Lucy Denson, a dainty petite city gal.

When the opportunity arose to write a sequel, Pam explained, “I wanted to use the same setting, the sawmill and the logging industry, for the second book. Lucy Denson was the obvious heroine.”

The pretty young woman soon catches the eye of Eli, a rough-and-tumble Mississippi lumberjack in an earth-shattering meeting deep in the forest.

Minnesota Historical Society Location no. HE6.41 p20 Negative no. 4291

A Mississippi native, Pam had to do research to make her story come alive.

“I delved more into the logging industry in the late 1800s and incorporated several terms unique to the hard-working lumberjacks.

Some of the terms, like widow-maker and gut-hammer are self-explanatory when used in context.

I enjoyed learning more about the era and the logging industry and figuring out ways to sprinkle The Lumberjack’s Bride with logging jargon.”

Both Pam’s stories deal with contentment and recognizing true love when it’s right in front of you, to a happy and satisfying ending.

But how important is it for Lucy to learn to cook well?

Only The Lumberjack Bride‘s groom will tell.

You can order The 12 Brides of Summer Collection #3 featuring The Lumberjack Bride,  Marilee Ferrell’s The Dogwood Blossom Bride and Margaret Brownley’s The Dog Days of Summer Bride here.

Who is Pam Hillman?

CBA Bestselling author PAM HILLMAN was born and raised on a dairy farm in Mississippi and spent her teenage years perched on the seat of a tractor raking hay.

In those days, her daddy couldn’t afford two cab tractors with air conditioning and a radio, so Pam drove an Allis Chalmers 110.

Even when her daddy asked her if she wanted to bale hay, she told him she didn’t mind raking.

Raking hay doesn’t take much thought so Pam spent her time working on her tan and making up stories in her head.

Now, that’s the kind of life every girl should dream of.

For more about Pam, visit her webpage www.pamhillman.com

You can also find her on

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You can order The Evergreen Bride here: BUY

Some select Walmart stores will be carrying physical copies of Small-Town Summer Brides–a four-novella collection of stories from this series featuring the 12 Brides of Summer novellas written by Pam Hillman, Diana Brandmeyer, Maureen Lang and Amy Lillard starting June 30.

The ebook versions of The 12 Brides of Summer will be available in four ebooks with three stories in each.  One will release the first of each summer month beginning in June and continuing in July, August and September.  Mark your calendars for the first of the month, because you won’t want to miss a single one.

 

The entire collection will be released in summer 2016 in a deluxe edition book.

And for those looking for a complete collection of The 12 Brides of Christmas novellas, they’ll be published in one book this October 2015.

Releasing October 1, 2015. You can preorder at
http://amzn.to/1FclW0u

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The Relief of a Public Shout

How would YOU find a toddler in a crowd?

Have you ever needed to shout in public?

You know, stand up and ask for attention from a group of total strangers?

People stop and stare, then shrug and go on their way.

But some listen and act.

Whenever I’ve shouted, relief has been the result.

The first time happened many years ago when this Navy wife rode a car, train, airplane and bus to travel from New England to jolly old England in quest of her submariner husband.

I carried a one year old, a three year old, amoxicillin that had to be kept cold, an enormous suitcase stuffed with clothing and all the diapers we’d need.

The newly walking baby rode in a backpack, but the three year-old was on the loose, so I labeled him with name, flight number and any other pertinent piece of information. I feared him being lost or stolen in a foreign country.

My husband had sailed into Scotland on a submarine and thence to Heathrow airport.

I’m so thankful he met us.

When we finally arrived at the hotel, he listened to my travel adventures (I’ll spare you) and commented, “you know, I’ve never been left with just the two boys before. I don’t know how you do it.”

I put on the stiff upper lip we Navy wives have favored for so many years and bit back the logical responses: “Do I have a choice?” and “Shall I leave for a couple hours?”

I was glad to see him!

We had a crazed week-long trip around southern England where, in his words, “every day became a primitive hunt for food and lodging for my family.”

We’re pretty sure we got the right baby back

When it came time to fly home, I should have remembered his earlier remark.

I left him in a very crowded noisy area with the two boys and went to arrange the boarding passes.

After I obtained the documents and shoved my way back, I found my husband chatting with the three year-old.

“Where’s the baby?”

“Didn’t you take him with you?”

Many will understand the engulfing horror as I turned, eyes blinded with tears, to scan a vast milling crowd. The baby spoke no language, not even English.

He was not labeled. He wasn’t tall and he didn’t walk well at 13 months.

All I could see was a wall of strangers.

What would you do?

I shouted. “Does anybody see my baby?”

I’m sure that entire boarding area did not go silent, but it hushed enough that I heard a friendly voice from far away call, “there’s a little tyke over here.”

British Airways beat me to the toddler, slapped a label on him and thrust him back into my arms.

Both of us were sobbing.

With relief.

In the years since then, I’ve appealed to mobs with a shout numerous  times: for jumper cables, same lost child, missing keys and, today, information about where to find a sari.

I shouted and someone loaned me a sari!

People have always responded, cheerfully and with great advice.

What a relief.

And my husband?

He’s great with kids and has had plenty of time with just him and them.

I made sure of that.

Tweetables

What a relief! Shouting in public. Click to Tweet

“Does anybody see my baby?” and other reasons to shout in public. Click to Tweet

Thank you for responding to a public shout. Click to Tweet

 

 

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Miralee Ferrell: Summer Brides

Miralee Ferrell is the author of The Dogwood Blossom Bride, part of The 12 Brides of Summer novella collection # 3 releasing August 1.

A sequel to The Nativity Bride, Miralee’s new story returns to the same town, Goldendale, Washington–located only 45 minutes from her home.

Two and a half years have passed since Curt and Deborah from The Nativity Bride were married. They’ve settled into the farming town in 1888 and had children. The town has grown and they appear in the story, but The Dogwood Blossom Bride is about the romance between a red-headed tomboy and a former cowboy.

Spunky, adventurous Addie doesn’t want to be pushed into marriage, particularly this summer, when she runs into Will under a spreading dogwood tree.

With an orphaned niece to raise, Will is focused on his woodworking job for Curt  when the red-head drops into his life.

“The story has a few light-hearted moments and a summer theme,” Miralee said. “The Nativity Bride was a more solemn book set during Christmas.”

“For those in parts of the country where a dogwood doesn’t get large enough to climb, we have a larger variety, that when mature and older, is tall with wide-spreading boughs, with either white or pink blossoms.”

Miralee took some of her inspiration from stories set in small towns.

“One of my favorite book series is the Mitford series. I’ve been listening to it on audio recently and enjoying the small-town flavor and vivid characters all over again, something I enjoy bringing into my own work.”

Since her Christmas novella came out last year, Miralee branched out into some new: a series of middle-grade girls’ books titled Horses and Friends. The first book A Horse for Kate released on March 1 and  a companion book Silver Spurs. will be out soon. These books will have an emphasis on friendship, horses, adventures, and will contain high moral values and lessons for kids woven into the story line.

You can order The 12 Brides of Summer Collection #3 featuring The Lumberjack Bride,  Marilee Ferrell’s The Dogwood Blossom Bride and Margaret Brownley’s The Dog Days of Summer Bride here.

Who is Miralee Ferrell?

Miralee’s an avid reader and has a large collection of first edition Zane Grey books, which inspired her desire to write fiction set in the Old West. She rides horseback with her adult daughter and lives with her husband on 11 acres along the Columbia River in southern Washington.

Miralee served as president of the Portland, Oregon, chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) for five years and currently serves on the board as an adviser, and she belongs to several other writing groups. She speaks at women’s groups, libraries, and churches about her writing journey, and has taught at both writers’ and library conferences

For more information about Miralee, please visit her website: miraleeferrell.com

You can also find her on

Facebook

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You can order The 12 Brides of Summer Collection #3 featuring The Lumberjack Bride,  The Dogwood Blossom Bride and The Dog Days of Summer Bride here.

Available ONLY in select Walmart stores

 

Some select Walmart stores will be carrying physical copies of Old West Summer Brides–a four-novella collection of stories from this series featuring the 12 Brides of Summer novellas written by Mary Connealy, Susan Page Davis, Davalynn Spencer and Miralee Ferrell starting July 14.

The ebook versions of The 12 Brides of Summer will be available in four ebooks with three stories in each.  One will release the first of each summer month beginning in June and continuing in July, August and September.  Mark your calendars for the first of the month, because you won’t want to miss a single one.

 

The entire collection will be released in summer 2016 in a deluxe edition book with actual pages.

And for those looking for a complete collection of The 12 Brides of Christmas novellas, they’ll be published in one book this October 2015.

Releasing October 1, 2015. You can preorder at
http://amzn.to/1FclW0u

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