Julie Arduini's Blog, page 95

COTT: Tackling the Fields by Janet W. Ferguson

 

Congratulations to Janet W. Ferguson and the novel Tackling

the Fields for taking home this month’s Clash crown! We’re pleased

to feature this guest post, which gives us a little insight into Janet’s

book and football…yes, football!

In the South, most of us love football. It’s something we talk about,

cheer for, and spend time watching with friends, whether in person or as

a group viewing it on TV. The adrenaline seems to flow as the leaves

begin to turn from deep greens to those fall yellows and oranges, a

chill touches the air, and those pads and helmets are put on.

My husband played high school football. He was a center. I’ve always

watched the sport at whatever school I attended, and of course, in

Mississippi, a lot of us follow the SEC games. I never thought a whole

lot about why we enjoy watching so much or about the injuries the

players battle with—until my son played the sport.

His junior year, he tore his ACL and his shoulder labrum participating

in this sport he loved. And he was not able to make a comeback. I saw

the game through different eyes as he struggled with the loss. He missed

the comradery, the goal, the discipline, the friendship. Everything

about being a part of a team.

While he was going through three of four surgeries that he ended up

having, I began writing Tackling the Fields. It combines this love for a

game with the loss of a dream for one character and the loss of

innocence for another. It was a challenging, almost painful, book to

write. But in the end, God heals our wounds and helps each of us recover

from our broken places.

He’s there to free each of us from the heartaches that try to take us

captive.

About the book:Cole Sanders is a changed man. The university

quarterback questions his direction in life after serving on a mission

trip in Honduras. Things that used to fill Cole’s ego seem empty after

witnessing the developing country’s extreme poverty and the death of a

precious child. The one glimmer of hope through his confusion is the

fresh perspective he now has about his tutor, Audrey. She possesses

something beautiful inside and out—something that might help him become

the person he wants to be.

University senior Audrey Vaughn

tutored Cole Sanders for an entire year and never imagined the popular

quarterback would see her as anything more than a friend. After

partnering with him on the mission trip, they are drawn together. And he

appears to have changed for the better. To let Cole into her life,

Audrey will have to overcome not only her brother’s distrust, but also

the paralyzing fear still lingering from a past she’s tried to leave

behind.

Cole can’t walk away from Audrey now that they’re back

in Oxford. He’ll have to figure out how to keep her giant of a brother, a

lineman on his football team, from killing him when the coach has his

back turned. But can Audrey trust her heart to a player so similar to

the one who stole so much from her in the past?

 

PURCHASE ON Amazon

Visit Janet

online

Janet on

Twitter

Janet on Facebook





Tags:  Clash of the Titles, COTT, COTT: Tackling the Fields by Janet W. Ferguson, fiction, Janet W. Ferguson, Julie Arduini, Tackling the Fields




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 COTT: Mary Ellis and Her New Amish Fiction Release Living In Harmony  Margaret McSweeney Introduces the 12 Pearls of Christmas with the Concept of Juxtaposition  Book Review: Lady Blues: Forget-Me-Not by Aaron Paul Lazar  Thankful for Life by Connie Arnold  Marriage Monday on Sunday: My Ultimate SurrenderCopyright © Julie Arduini: Surrender Issues & Chocolate [COTT: Tackling the Fields by Janet W. Ferguson], All Right Reserved. 2016.

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Surrendering Control by Michelle Griep

I’m a control freak. No, really. All my toilet paper rolls are lined up like little soldiers beneath the sink in the bathroom. Spices in the kitchen cabinet are in alphabetical order. Even my bookshelves are ranked according to genre. Organization is practically my middle name—until puppy Ada Clare entered my life and changed that name to chaos.

 

Ada is a fuzzy-muzzled bundle of electric wires covered in black fur. She flips couch cushions onto the floor in a big nest. She can root out Chapstick like none other, remove the cap, and eat the insides. Destructo Dog doesn’t begin to describe this boxer.

 

I tried to control her. I really did. I watched every Dog Whisperer episode, paid frequent visits to the humane society for behavior tips, and bought every possible chew toy and doggie treat known to mankind to keep her occupied. All to no avail. It got to the point where I had to concede defeat and either pack her off to the pound or surrender my need to control my household décor.

 

Give up the dog or give up my Better Homes and Gardens ideals?

 

I kept the dog. It’s been two and a half years now and she’s settled down, for the most part. I still get dog nests and I have to lock up my Chapstick, but it’s been worth it. She’s my buddy, my watchdog, and my lap warmer (even though she’s fifty pounds).

 

So with my love for dogs, it’s natural that I’d include one in my new release, OUT OF THE FRYING PAN. But heroine Zula Hopkins’ canine is anything but cute. Her Fifi is a decrepit little terrier who could give the world’s ugliest dog a run for his money. Here’s a blurb . . .

ABOUT THE BOOK ~ OUT OF THE FRYING PAN

Michelle Griep’s latest release, Out of the Frying Pan.

Murder in Paradise whips life into a froth for FERN and ZULA HOPKINS. When the retirement center’s chef is found dead, the two ladies get folded in with the case. Their zany attempts to track down the killer land them in hot water with Detective JARED FLYNN. Should he be concerned about their safety—or the criminal’s?

But there are deadly ingredients none of them expect. Drugs. Extortion. International cartels. And worst of all…broken hearts, especially when the Hopkins sisters’ niece KC arrives on the scene.

Life at Sunset Paradise Retirement Village will never be the same.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ~ MICHELLE GRIEP

Michelle Griep’s been writing since she first discovered blank wall space and Crayolas. She resides in the frozen tundra of Minnesota, where she teaches history and writing classes for a local high school co-op. Her latest release is OUT OF THE FRYING PAN, but historical romance is her usual haunt. THE CAPTIVE HEART releases in October. Follow her escapades at www.michellegriep.com or www.writerofftheleash.blogspot.com or stalk her on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

 

Purchase OUT OF THE FRYING PAN HERE

 

 

 

 

 

Tags:  control, control issues, cozy romance, dog, guest blogger, Julie Arduini, Kelly Klepfer, Michelle Griep, mystery, Out of the Frying Pan, pets




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 Interviewed by June Foster  Marriage Monday: Especially in a Cri$i$  Entrusted Featured in This Week's Clash of the Titles  Sabbath Sunday: Unexpected Snow in Spring  Book Review: Buried Secrets by Irene HannonCopyright © Julie Arduini: Surrender Issues & Chocolate [Surrendering Control by Michelle Griep], All Right Reserved. 2016.

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OAC: Win a Trip to See the Newsboys in Dallas!

Want to be entered for a chance to win a free trip for four to hear the Newsboys, the award-winning Christian music band, in Dallas? Sign up to be a part of the movement to protect religious freedom for future generations: Bring Your Bible to School Day! Students from kindergarten to college will be bringing their Bibles to school and sharing God with their friends on October 6.

By completing the information on this page, you’re automatically entered to win the chance to see the Newsboys with Focus on the Family and Adventures in Odyssey. Don’t miss out on the chance to see a fantastic band with your family!

Plus Sign Up for a Free Two-Week Trial of Odyssey Adventure Club

Getting used to a new school isn’t easy, especially for someone as paranoid as Buddy Norman. In “A Predicament of Biblical Proportions” he envisions wacky worst-case encounters with townsfolk who seem like mobsters, snoops and fairy-tale tyrants—until he gets to know them. He’s also a little confused about Bring Your Bible to School Day. What’s it about? Should he participate? See Odyssey through Buddy’s eyes in this witty celebration of religious freedom.

Listen to this story through a two-week trial only on the Odyssey Adventure Club.

Tags:  Adventures in Odyssey, family, Julie Arduini, Newsboys, OAC, OAC: Win a Trip to See the Newsboys in Dallas! Christian, Odyssey Adventure Club




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 A2Z Meme: Gimme a Break This Summer Vacation  OAC: Take the Plunge with the Odyssey Adventure Club  Book Review: It Had to be You by Susan May Warren  Character Confession: New Marching Orders  Unlikely Merger Authors: Our Business Influences Day 3Copyright © Julie Arduini: Surrender Issues & Chocolate [OAC: Win a Trip to See the Newsboys in Dallas!], All Right Reserved. 2016.

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Kolleen Lucariello: A Friend Who Refreshes

A Friend Who Refreshes

by Kolleen Lucariello

As we flip our calendars from August, ushering in September, we say farewell to our summer vacations and hello to the season of back-to-school, cooler temperatures of fall and one of the highlights of our home: football. Here’s another bonus of September: it’s also Women’s Friendship Month and I love the gift of friendship!

Recently I was reading in Acts about Paul and how difficult life had become for him. He was beaten, bound with chains, accused by the Jews, imprisoned, taken before councils and Rulers, and then eventually sent to Rome. I imagine by the time Paul boarded the ship to begin his journey to Rome he was a tired man; he’d endured a great deal. As I’m feeling bad for him, this verse jumps out at me: “The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, treating Paul with [thoughtful] consideration, allowed him to go to his friends there and be cared for and refreshed” (Acts 27:3 AMP).

I simply adore the fact Julius, the guard in charge, thought enough of Paul to recognize he needed the care and refreshment of his friends. That part of the story just blesses my heart because I’m so grateful for those who recognized when I needed the care and refreshment only a faithful friend could bring. While my journey, or your journey, may never look like Paul’s, it’s still possible for imprisonment to find us.

We might endure a prison of darkness when depression covers us like a thick heavy blanket. Or chained to a past we can’t seem to move away from. We may find ourselves standing before accusers—relentless in voicing their opinions while refusing to hear ours. Life is full of moments when the waters can become a turbulent sea.

That’s when we need our own Julius, the guard in our lives, to recognize our need for care and refreshment. Who is traveling your journey with you? Who is your guard in life that notices when you’re about to break? Who reaches out when you begin drifting away? We all need a guard like Julius, someone willing to stand by us, giving thoughtful consideration to our needs. And we all crave friends who bring care and refreshment to our lives. Proverbs 11:25b promises, “Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed” (NIV).

Guarding and Caring always brings:

R-Refreshing.

+~

Kolleen Lucariello is the author of The ABC’s of Who God Says I Am. Read her heart at www.speakkolleen.com. She has been married to her high school sweetheart, Pat, for 34 years. Together they have three grown children, and four beautiful grandchildren. They make their home in Upstate New York.

 

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 Clash of the Titles Blog Alliance: Vote for Your Favorite Read  Book Review and Giveaway Opportunity: Susan May Warren's My Foolish Heart  Sabbath Sunday: That Brilliant Sun  12 Pearls of Christmas | Day 7 - When God Wraps a Present . . . by Julie Lessman  Sabbath Sunday: God, The RomancerCopyright © Julie Arduini: Surrender Issues & Chocolate [Kolleen Lucariello: A Friend Who Refreshes], All Right Reserved. 2016.

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My eBooks are FREE Friday and Saturday!

My eBooks are FREE Friday and Saturday!

There are writing moments I ask why.

Why am I writing when life is pulling me so many directions?
Why write if the words are hard to come by?
Why write when it is so lonely?
Why write if it feels like no one knows or seems to care?

Well, I write because I was created to write stories that show readers there is freedom through surrender. I’m so passionate about the message that I often do the opposite of what markets advise.

Like I enjoy offering eBooks for free.

And that’s just what I’m doing.

On Friday, September 23 (check price first, the sale tends to start after 3am Eastern,) and Saturday, September 24 (again, check price first,) ENTRUSTED and ENTANGLED will be FREE eBooks.

I want these books to reach as many readers as possible.

Not only do I want readers to experience the freedom through surrender by reading my fiction, I also am starting a book club on my Facebook Author Page in October. I’d love readers to join me as I discuss assigned chapters. I’ll also be sharing the writing process AND secrets behind the chapters. I love doing events like this, and again, the best way to get started is to offer you these eBooks for free so you can join me.

My eBooks are FREE Friday and Saturday!

Spread the word, won’t you?

 

Like my Author Page and in October, we’ll have the Book Club there— http://facebook.com/JulieArduiniAuthor

Grab ENTRUSTED as a FREE eBook Friday 9/23 and Saturday 9/24 (check price first)

https://www.amazon.com/Entrusted-Surrendering-Present-Time/dp/B01FGC1Z8W/

Grab ENTANGLED as a FREE eBook Friday, 9/23 and Saturday, 9/24 (check price first)

https://www.amazon.com/Entangled-Surrendering-Past-Time-Book-ebook/dp/B01FG7JALG/

Both eBooks are also FREE on Kindle Unlimited.

I’ll be offering this same eBook sale October 7-9.

The private feedback and the Amazon reviews are confirming that these books have purpose. Readers are finding friends in the characters and they are finding the courage to surrender fear, loss, change, and regret.

Join me on the journey, won’t you?

Tags:  2016, Adirondack Mountains, Amazon, book review, Christian fiction, clean romance, ebook, Entangled, Entrusted, Facebook Author Page, freedom, Julie Arduini, My eBooks are Free Friday and Saturday, readers, romance, September 23, September 24, surrender




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 Book Review: Rock Solid Faith Study Bible for Teens  COTT: Giveaway Tuesday!  A Writer's Thanks by Betsy Duffey and Laurie Myers  Surrendering My Loved Ones by Christine Lindsay  Guest Blogger: Recipe for Single Moms by Dawn V. CahillCopyright © Julie Arduini: Surrender Issues & Chocolate [My eBooks are FREE Friday and Saturday!], All Right Reserved. 2016.

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Surprised by Tears by Teri Wangard

Surprised by Tears

Five years have passed since my mom died. Her final years brought significant back pain from a narrowing of the spinal column, or something like that. We used to range far and wide on bicycles; she had to give up bike riding. She stopped driving. She couldn’t even go for a walk. To get anywhere required holding onto someone’s arm.

Her life contracted to the house with visits to the therapy pool at the YMCA.

And then dementia began destroying her mind. She’d put plastic bowls in the oven. She forgot how to spell. Children’s books became her preferred reading.

Staying patient with her wasn’t always easy. When I had full care of her during my dad’s absence, she insisted he didn’t want to bother with her anymore. I kept telling her, he’s on a business trip, he’ll be back. She would not be consoled.

There were times I wished she would die. There is, after all, no more pain or crying in Heaven. She was no longer living; merely existing. A painful, confusing existence. What’s the point in this suffering?

And then she died. She is free from pain and crying and sorrow. But we are not. Five years has passed, and sometimes, still, the grief strikes fresh.

While cleaning the house, I decided to look through the half dozen boxes stacked in the tiny sewing room. They contained remnants of yarn. Mom was a prolific knitter and sewer. As I pulled out the skeins, I remembered their use. I remembered when she fell on ice and broke her arm. She had completed one mitten of a new set for me and wanted to finish its mate before I returned to college after Christmas break. With her arm in a cast, she couldn’t knit, and was so frustrated.

I remembered trying to sew a new top for the first day of a school year. I had to rush off to orientation, my sewing unfinished. I returned home, wondering what I’d wear, and discovered she had finished it.

Holding that yarn, the tears fell. The agony and horror of her last years are fading, and the memories of the good years are pushing forward. And I miss my mom. The mom who could be found in the church kitchen stirring up Kool-Aid during Vacation Bible School. The mom who helped plan and hosted a birthday party for two friends and me, born just days apart, with the church youth group.

She was very much an involved mother. Mom had the gift of service. Had she been old enough during World War II, I could imagine her serving as a Red Cross doughnut girl. For my new release, Soar Like Eagles, I named my main character for her. And I dedicate this book to her.

Carol wants to do her part for the war, but can she maintain her ideals?

Chet joins the air force, hoping to find peace.

Carol joins the Red Cross, serving doughnuts  and coffee to GIs in England. Convinced wartime romances are doomed to disappointment, she avoids entanglements. She transfers to France, away from Chet, the B-17 navigator who tempts her to throw caution to the wind.

Chet’s father and brothers always belittled him. Now a squadron lead navigator, he longs to prove them wrong. He’s been offered a terrific job with PanAm after the war, but has several close calls in combat.

Carol and Chet continually cross paths. Do they dare make plans for a future together?

Terri Wangard’s first Girl Scout badge was the Writer. These days she is writing historical fiction, and won the 2013 Writers on the Storm contest and 2013 First Impressions, as well as being a 2012 Genesis finalist. Holder of a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in library science, she lives in Wisconsin. Her research included going for a ride in a WWII B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. Classic Boating Magazine, a family business since 1984, keeps her occupied as an associate editor. Her first two books, Friends and Enemies and No Neutral Ground, were published earlier this year, but the publisher went out of business one month before the third book in her WWII series was to release. All three books will be released by Celebrate Lit later this year.

www.terriwangard.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorTerriWangard

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/terriwangard/

 

Tags:  author, Celebrate Lit, daughter, dementia, fiction, grief, Julie Arduini, mother, Surprised by Tears by Teri Wangard




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 MC Blogfest: An Interview With Ben Regan, My Fiction Character  Old-Fashioned Honor in Today's World by Ginger Solomon  Sabbath Sunday: Beyond the Branches  Fiction Friday: Faith, Hope and Love Again  Book Review: Annabelle's Angel by Therese M. TravisCopyright © Julie Arduini: Surrender Issues & Chocolate [Surprised by Tears by Teri Wangard], All Right Reserved. 2016.

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COTT: Jennifer Uhlarik Crowned Olympia Champion

 

Many deserving competitors entered the fray. One became the victor!

 

Congratulations Jennifer

Uhlarik,


2016 Olympia Award Champion.

We took a few moments to get to know

Jennifer a little better, and now here’s your chance to do the

same:

Congratulations to Jennifer Uhlarik, 2016 Olympia Champion.

Jennifer Uhlarik discovered the western genre as a pre-teen, when

she swiped the only “horse” book she found on her older brother’s

bookshelf. A new love was born. Across the next ten years, she devoured

Louis L’Amour westerns and fell in love with the genre. In college at

the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old

West. Armed with a B.A. in writing, she has won five writing

competitions and finaled in two other competitions. In addition to

writing, she has held jobs as a private business owner, a schoolteacher,

a marketing director, and her favorite—a full-time homemaker. Jennifer

is active in American Christian Fiction Writers and lifetime member of

the Florida Writers Association. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her

husband, teenaged son, and four fur children.

How did you come up with the idea for this book and what made you

want to write this particular story?

While working with a few other authors on some novella collection ideas,

I came up with the idea of three adult siblings who reunite after being

separated by adoption in their youth. This story and the two that follow

it are the result of that idea—three strong siblings devoted to law and

justice, each in their own way.

What does winning the Olympia Award mean to you?

It is such an honor! I love the Olympia since the first round is judged

by readers. That is probably the truest group of judges one can have.

And I know the competition is always stiff in contests, so just to final

is quite humbling. To win is indescribable (and I’m an author, so that

says a lot. I’m speechless. LOL)

How can people find you online/contact you?

I can be found in the following places:

Website: www.jenniferuhlarik.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferUhlarikAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferUhlarik

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jenuhlarik/

Tags:  author, Clash of the Titles, COTT, COTT: Jennifer Uhlarik Crowned Olympia Champion, Jennifer Uhlarik, Julie Arduini, writing contest




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 At Christians Read Today  Sabbath Sunday: He Will Direct Your Path  Sabbath Sunday: Your New Normal  12 Pearls of Christmas---Elizabeth Goldsmith Musser's Why I Decorate for Christmas  Entrusted Book Release in YoungstownCopyright © Julie Arduini: Surrender Issues & Chocolate [COTT: Jennifer Uhlarik Crowned Olympia Champion], All Right Reserved. 2016.

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OAC: Commit to bring your Bible to school October 6th

By signing up, you’ll receive a free guide with tips, downloadable posters, sticker and T-shirt designs, information on your legal rights, and other fun, interactive activities.

You’ll also be automatically entered for a chance to win a free trip for four to hear the Newsboys, an award-winning Christian music band, in Dallas!

Plus Bring Your Bible to School Comes to Adventures in Odyssey

Getting used to a new school isn’t easy, especially for someone as paranoid as Buddy Norman. In “A Predicament of Biblical Proportions” he envisions wacky worst-case encounters with townsfolk who seem like mobsters, snoops and fairy-tale tyrants—until he gets to know them. He’s also a little confused about Bring Your Bible to School Day. What’s it about? Should he participate? See Odyssey through Buddy’s eyes in this witty celebration of religious freedom.

Listen to this story through a two-week trial only on the Odyssey Adventure Club.

Tags:  Adventures in Odyssey, Bible, Julie Arduini, OAC: Commit to Bring Your Bible to School October 6, October 6, Odyssey Adventure Club, school




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 Don't Miss This: Sapphire Secrets by Dawn V. Cahill  Book Review: Leaving Egypt---Finding God in the Wilderness Places    Featured Video of the Week: Healing Love by Laura V. Hilton  Sabbath Sunday: Beyond the WoodsCopyright © Julie Arduini: Surrender Issues & Chocolate [OAC: Commit to bring your Bible to school October 6th], All Right Reserved. 2016.

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Surrendering A Stormy Marriage by Kelly Klepfer

 

It was a dark and stormy night. Not literally. The sky was clear. We could see for miles. However, the inside of the van was alive with lightning and thunder. As difficult as it is to admit, my husband and I were supposedly fighting for our family but there we were again trying to rip each other to shreds.

 

Let me back up and give some basic details of why we were there and why we were in such deep, deep trouble.  We were high school sweethearts and married shortly after I graduated. Being Baptists we had a lot of practice putting on nice and polite and hiding our real inner uglies. Right after marriage and our first baby our church split in a very public and vicious way. We fled church and in doing so we fled from Christ. Years later we were still reeling from the destruction. My husband developed an alcohol addiction. I developed the mentality of a victim and kept a long list of what he’d done to me ready for flinging at him in any situation that warranted it. My first crushed heart incident was when he chose alcohol over us. We survived through “Christian” counseling. God was nominally involved due to my refusal to give Him more than lip service. The second was when he chose another woman over alcohol. I found out on our anniversary while we were getting ready to go celebrate. She called me to tell me she was pregnant. Let’s just say that was an unforgettable date night.

This time we survived by immersing ourselves in church.

His little girl became involved in our family. We’d pick her up for a weekend a month then take her home and I’d share my concerns with him. I had a lot of material on my laundry list of unacceptable behaviors.

This hurricane of a night was no different. I pointed out some areas needing improvement. He defended himself. I got more and more agitated. Finally he waved both arms in the air and screamed at me. “I don’t understand what you are saying. I’m doing the best I can. It’s like you are speaking Chinese.”

I gave up and pulled into myself and began to pray. Actually. I was weeping and railing against God. Pointing at Him and mentioning what He was doing wrong. Why the heck wasn’t my husband a better husband? He owed me and our kids. And I was so angry at the idea that our marriage could end over this after it had survived alcoholism, no love, and an affair. I let God have it in tornadic blasts of rage and helplessness and hopelessness.

He let me vent. And then He spoke a quiet question into my heart. I have no doubt it was from God because this question was no where in me. He asked. “Why do you think you are right?”

Silence filled with sniffles and moans. No words came. I couldn’t answer that question. Not to the One who could see right through the lies. Coincidentally, our church was offering an inductive Bible study on marriage starting just days later. I told Him I’d go and I’d try being a wife the way He designed it.

I went alone. And 17 years later everything has changed. Including my husband. My marriage. Our children. Us. And though we’ve still had plenty of rain and some bits of hail and even some high water, our foundation stands. God did some remodeling and replaced the shifting sands with bedrock. Perfection? No. Nothing close. Surrender works. God works. His plan, His suggestions, He’s the answer to all of it.

Bio:

Kelly Klepfer had ambitions to graduate from the school of life quite awhile ago, but alas . . . she still attends and is tested regularly. Her co-authored cozy/quirky mystery, Out of the Frying Pan, is the culmination of several of the failed/passed tests. Kelly, though she lives with her husband, two Beagles and two hedgehogs in Iowa, can be found at Novel Rocket, Novel Reviews, Scrambled Dregs, Modern Day Mishaps, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Goodreads and Twitter with flashes of brilliance (usually quotes), randomocities, and learned life lessons.

To purchase Kelly and Michelle Griep’s book, Out of the Frying Pan, click here.

Tags:  affair, alcoholism, anniversary, author, forgive, guest blogger, Julie Arduini, Kelly Klepfer, marriage, oneness, Out of the Frying Pan, pain, Surrendering a Stormy Marriage by Kelly Klepfer, trusting God




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 Book Review: Old Fashioned the Devotional by Ginger Kolbaba and Rik Swartzwelder  Facebook Users Unwritten Rules  COTT: Welcome Penelope Wilcock!  An Interview with Author Dr. Rita Garcia  Book Review: Letters of Love by Joi CopelandCopyright © Julie Arduini: Surrender Issues & Chocolate [Surrendering A Stormy Marriage by Kelly Klepfer], All Right Reserved. 2016.

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Lillian Duncan: Giving Up VS. Surrendering

Giving up VS. Surrendering

Giving up VS. Surrendering. No one wants to give up in a situation. On the other hand, surrendering to God is what Christians should want to do in any situation, right? So what’s the difference?

In 2012, I was diagnosed with bilateral brain tumors and subsequently a genetic disease called Neurofibromatosis Type 2. To say it came as a shock is a bit of an understatement. Nevertheless, I was determined to face it in a godly manner.

But I had no idea what was to come!

It’s now 2016 and I’m still getting treated for them. At the time I was diagnosed, the doctors said it would take two years to complete the treatment. But that’s not been the case with me, and I’m still not finished. I’m about to start chemotherapy for the third time.

I don’t have the time or space to get into specifics but these past four years have been filled with more ups and downs and curves than a roller coaster ride. I’m completely deaf in one ear and have lost much of my hearing in the other. I also have balance problems that affect my mobility and my daily life.

However I am still committed to facing the situation in a godly manner, but it’s not always been easy to do that. One of the questions that I faced was if I surrender to God’s Will isn’t that the same as giving up.

After lots of Bible study and prayer, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not the same at all. Surrendering the situation to God is about accepting God’s Will even when it’s not what we want. Surrendering the situation to God is about staying in His peace and joy in spite of difficult circumstances. Surrendering the situation to God is about trusting and believing God still loves us even when the situation doesn’t resolve itself the way we want.

Giving up means not having hope; in God we always have hope.

In my latest novel, GAME ON, Nikki Kent is a private investigator with her own surrender story. As a new Christian, she’s trying to learn to do the right thing. When the man who broke her heart years ago shows up needing her help, she wants to refuse.

First because she’s still hurt and angry and second because she can’t take a chance on her own secret coming to light. Even as she tells him no, God tells her that it’s the right thing to do. But it’s the last thing she wants to do. Still in the end she puts her trust in God and surrenders the situation to Him.

What’s Nikki’s secret that she is so intent on keeping hidden? You’ll have to read the book to find out! Game On is filled with enough twists and turns that it should keep any reader turning those pages late into the night. I really had fun writing it and hope readers will have fun reading it.

My publisher outdid herself with the book trailer for GAME ON so I hope you’ll check it out at: https://youtu.be/t6MK2UGB1P0.

GIVEAWAY:

To celebrate the release of GAME ON, I’m giving away a virtual basket of goodies on my blog that includes Amazon gift cards. For all the details go to Tiaras & Tennis Shoes. Simply leave a comment on the blog post GAME ON at www.lillian-duncan.com and you’ll be entered.

AMAZON LINK

PELICAN BOOKS LINK

BLURB for GAME ON

Politics is no game when a stalker nears and there’s nowhere to hide. A run for the senate is just a step on the road to the White House for Congressman Lucas McMann. But his public profile has put him in the middle of a crazed gunman’s twisted game of stalking. If he wants to win the election and reclaim his life, he’ll need the help of the one person who’d rather leave their past behind them. Private Investigator Nikki Kent knows how to dig up secrets and discover those who exist in the shadows. She should. She’s good at hiding secrets of her own. Can she risk her own discovery for someone so desperate for her help? For the first man who broke her heart? With new-found faith, she’ll help Lucas search for the answers. But with the truth comes a danger they must face together.

BIO:

Lillian Duncan…Stories of faith mingled… with murder & mayhem.

Lillian is a multi-published author who lives in Ohio Amish country with her husband. After more than 30 years working as a speech pathologist for children, she believes in the power of words to transform lives, especially God’s Word.

Lillian writes the types of books she loves to read—fast-paced suspense and mystery with a touch of romance that demonstrates God’s love for all of us. To learn more about Lillian, you may visit her at www.lillianduncan.net or www.lillian-duncan.com. She also has a devotional blog at www.PowerUpWithGod.com.

 

 

Tags:  Amazon, author, Game On, giving up, guest blogger, Julie Arduini, Lillian Duncan, Lillian Duncan: Giving Up VS Surrendering, surrender, suspense




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 Fiction Friday: No Idea  WFW: White as Snow  COTT: Salsa and Speed Bumps by Susan M. Baganz  Book Review: Melody's Song by Kathleen Friesen  Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room by Ginger CiminelloCopyright © Julie Arduini: Surrender Issues & Chocolate [Lillian Duncan: Giving Up VS. Surrendering], All Right Reserved. 2016.

The post Lillian Duncan: Giving Up VS. Surrendering appeared first on Julie Arduini: Surrender Issues & Chocolate.