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Back to School Book Giveaway

Now that the kids are back in school you’ll have all this time on your hands to read, right? Well, while that might not be the case for me and many of you, how can you pass up FREE books from Hachette publishing and the best news is, all you have to do is comment!…

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12 Pearls of Christmas: Slow Down, Pray & Give Thanks

All Decked Out For Christmas by Maureen Lang One of the reasons so many of us love the holiday season is that it’s just so…pretty! Twinkling lights, shiny ornaments, packages that glisten with bows and fancy wrapping. Our houses are trimmed with wreaths and glowing trees, and the neighborhood lights up the night with strands…

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12 Pearls of Christmas: Wondrous Mystery

Magnificat by Anna Joujan Holy. Holy. Holy is the Lord. The familiar catch of breath. The sting in the eyes. And the tears begin to flow with the falling rain. Or do the tears fall with the flowing rain. What is it in these words that I whisper that wrenches at my heart so? Why…

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12 Pearls of Christmas: Perspective

A Soggy, Jolly, Holly Christmas by Melody Carlson One of my most memorable Christmases started out as a natural disaster. But isn’t that a bit how a pearl is formed? An oyster’s soft easy life is disrupted by the invasion of sand, but something good comes out of it. When I was eight, we experienced…

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12 Pearls of Christmas: Help & Support

Calling Elizabeth … HELP! by Tricia Goyer Mary, the mother of Jesus is one of the most well-known women of all time. She was also a teen mom facing an unplanned pregnancy. This Christmas we will see evidence of Mary’s story all around us. And as you hear it through Christmas songs and Christmas shows…

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12 Pearls of Christmas: God Intervenes

The Answer by Susan May Warren Whos, Here, we are Whos here, smaller than the eye can see. Whos here, we are Whos here, I’m a Who and so is she… I’ve always wanted to live in a musical. When I was a kid, I loved Oklahoma, Sound of Music, West Side Story. I seriously…

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12 Pearls of Christmas: He is Always Enough

Christmas in a Barn by Mary DeMuth   The Christmas of 2006 we were homeless. We didn’t have keys. Not to a car, not to a home. We’d flown halfway around the world, leaving behind a ministry we toiled over. Much, particularly in our hearts, lay in ruins. Some friends had a camp, and on…

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Long Awaited Raggs PBS Trip Part Two

I’m either getting old or I’m just too busy. Maybe a little of both because I forgot to post on Part Two of our Raggs PBS trip. I could have sworn I did, but here’s another go (from my fading memory) and some quotes from my daughter. My last post ended with me trying to…

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12 Pearls of Christmas: Faith, Hope & Love

The Pearls We Pass Down by Holley Gerth Ten years ago my Grandma Frances went home to heaven in her sleep just before Christmas. My Grandpa carefully handed me a brightly-wrapped box on Christmas morning and said, “This is her gift. Now I want you to have it.” I opened the lid slowly and tears…

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12 Pearls of Christmas: God Provides a Way

A Long Ago Christmas Memory by Patricia Crisafulli The old farm on a dirt road in the backwoods of northern New York State was described to me so many times, I can imagine the place, even though I never saw it: the big frame house with the wide porch, the pair of maple trees out…

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