I like reading a wide variety of genres of literature...but I have one main concern: that the books I read are not filled with swearing and inappropriate content. It's nice to know that some authors, like Lynette Eason, are writing faith-based suspense fiction that doesn't contradict my values for the books that I choose to read. |
Lynette Eason grew up in Greenville, SC. Even as a young girl, she knew she wanted her life to reflect the love of Jesus Christ. After graduating from the University of South Carolina with a business degree she used for a very short time (sorry, Mom and Dad!), she moved to Spartanburg, SC to attend Converse College where she obtained her Masters degree in Education. During this time, she met the man she would marry—the boy next door! She is married to Jack Eason, who speaks, leads worship, and consults with ministries around the country. They have two children. Lynette’s books have appeared on the ECPA and CBA bestseller lists and have won several awards. |
In the interest of full disclosure, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I receive an affiliate commission...without it costing you a penny more. I only recommend products I use personally. Your purchases through these links help support Joy In Our Journey. I humbly thank you for your support!
You've probably been so busy the last two weeks that you didn't even miss me.
But in case you haven't noticed, I took the last couple of weeks off to focus more on spending time with my family. It was so worth it!
I missed visiting with you all here. December was a very busy month for my family, filled with preparations for Christmas, Kelsi's 16th birthday, our 19th wedding anniversary, Brittany's 3rd annual Christmas party that we host, and many music concerts in which the girls were either singing or playing instruments.
Here's a quick recap of the month of December for the Miller family:
Freak snowstorm . . . and very cold weather for two weeks:
Our Kelsi turns 16!
Kelsi, our oldest daughter, turned 16 in December. She is such a treasure to us. She is smart, funny, loves to learn, is talented on the violin, enjoys graphic design and Photoshop, is an excellent teacher, works well with children, follows Christ wholeheartedly, and is just overall such a delight to us. I plan to show you more of her 16th birthday party soon! |
Annual Gingerbread House decorating:
When our girls were around ages 4 and 6, I brought home some gingerbread houses for them to ice and decorate on Thanksgiving evening. At some point in late November or early December each year since that time, the girls decorate gingerbread houses. This is an annual event in our home that has been going on for 10 years now! :) I love seeing the variety of creativity in their finished houses.
Kelsi's Gingerbread House:
Brittany's Gingerbread House:
Brittany's Teen Christmas Party!
Christmas Eve worship service at church:
Christmas celebration in our home:
My mom or I set out Christmas sweets and eggnog or sparkling cider for everyone to enjoy while we either read the Christmas story about the birth of Christ from the book of Luke in the Bible, or we read through Helen Steiner Rice's poem called, The Christmas Guest.
I pray that your Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations provided you with some new, delightful memories for you to treasure. I look forward to celebrating Christ's birth every year...and celebrating His birth every day of the following year, as I should. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
If you're familiar with VeggieTales, then you know that Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato, plus all of their veggie friends, bring positive messages to children through really fun videos!
My children have been enjoying VeggieTales DVDs and videos since they were little. You know what? They still enjoy them. Why? Because now they're old enough to understand all of the jokes spread throughout the DVDs!
In Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas, Larry The Cucumber is a Christmas elf at the Spring Valley Mall who just wants to spread joy at the holidays. When he meets a little girl with a big heart whose only Christmas wish is to help a friend in need, "Merry Larry" sets off on adventure that will light up the holidays like never before and show the town of Spring Valley what Christmas is all about - "Christmas shines most bright and true when you give the love God gave to you!"
Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas features Si Robertson as Silas the Okra! If you're a Duck Dynasty fan, you're in for a hoot of a good time!
We also enjoyed the music by Toby Mac and Owl City, two favorites of my teens. Here's one of the music video songs on this DVD:
It's time for a giveaway!
The Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas DVD giveaway ends on Friday, January 10th, 2014 at midnight Pacific time...
...and please read the requirements for entering, below, because if you're the winner, and you said you completed a step, but didn't, I'll be checking up on you! ☺ U.S. entries only, please. Thanks!
Entrants must be 18 years or older; only U.S. residents are eligible to enter this giveaway.
I will select the winner of this prize using Random.org (via this Rafflecopter entry form, below).
I will be verifying the winning entrant's giveaway entry options to make sure they are valid. In the past several months, multiple potential winners were excluded from winning even though their names had been selected randomly as winners, because they said that they had signed up for email subscriptions but had not completed the process, which includes clicking on an email you will receive to confirm your subscription. An email subscription to Joy In Our Journey.com is not a requirement to enter our giveaways, but if you do use an email subscription option to enter to win, please make sure that you click on the confirmation email that you will receive. That will validate your entry. Thank you! :)
In the interest of full disclosure, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I receive an affiliate commission. I only recommend products I use personally. Your purchases through these links help support Joy In Our Journey. I humbly thank you for your support!
Quite a few years ago, our family chose to simplify some of our Christmas "happenings" and focus more on Christ. We began reading through a fun and meaningful series of 3 books.
Arnold Ytreeide has written some wonderful Advent books that combine action-packed fictional stories set in the time of Jesus' birth with delightful, short advent readings for each night in December. These are written so well that Elmer and I have enjoyed each moment reading through them, too!
Each year, right after Thanksgiving, we would begin reading one of these three books:
for our family's regular evening worship time with Advent. These three stories fascinated our girls when they were younger (about age 7+), and now that they are in jr. high/high school, they still are enjoying the stories and Advent readings! (And so are Elmer and I...heh, heh!)
We simplified our gift-giving list; we actually decided to make fewer Christmas candies and goodies; etc. This year, we are decorating our home with our traditional Christmas decorations as well as these symbols of peace that my daughter, Kelsi, and I designed.
People have seemed to enjoy the free October Autumn PumpkinScripture printables we made for October, and the November "Leaves of Thanks" Scripture printables, so we decided to make some free printable Scripture decorations for December and CHRISTmas for you to enjoy!
(Email subscribers will want to click on the title of this blog post to view the graphics and to download the three pages of Christmas Peace for your use.)
Christmas.
These two words, in my mind, don't go together. My Christmases throughout my childhood and adult years have been times of peace, not conflict.
Did you know that Christians are now seeing conflicts surrounding Christmas?
...employees refusing to say "Merry Christmas" but instead, "Happy Holidays"
...the forced removal of Nativity scenes in public and some private places
...writing X-mas instead of "Christmas"
...claiming that the Christmas holiday was originally pagan and that we shouldn't celebrate it
The War on Christmas: Battles in Faith, Tradition, and Religious Expression is a book designed to confront the arguments and conflict surrounding Christmas.
At first, my thought was, "Here we go, another book on all of the reasons why Christians shouldn't have a Christmas tree, hang stockings, etc., etc., etc." Well, I was wrong. This is an excellent book, one that my family is reading through in our evening Bible devotional times together.
My husband is enjoying this book so much, that he is also teaching about the misconceptions and conflicts surrounding Christmas in our adult small group class on Sunday mornings about church, using this book as one of the helpful resources in his studies.
For now, though, I want to leave you with a bit from Chapter 14 from The War on Christmas: Battles in Faith, Tradition, and Religious Expression:
Did you know that the male name, "Joshua", is also a form of the word "Jesus"?
Chapter 14 of The War on Christmas pinpoints various Scripture verses from both the Old and the New Testament and shows why the genealogies of Jesus' family history are actually listed in the Bible. There are important elements we can learn from reading through and studying these genealogies! Every part of the Bible is inspired by God and has an important purpose. You'll get a glimpse of the many prophecies surrounding the Messiah and why Jesus is the only God-man who has ever fulfilled all of those prophecies.
This video, below, shows some of the misconceptions Americans have about the birth of Christ. I found this interesting!
...Emmanuel, God With Us, Blessed Redeemer, Living Word.
Those are all some amazing names of God.
Whether you are excited about celebrating Christmas, or you feel it is a sin to celebrate Christmas, I think you will appreciate much of the material in this new book. We have!
You may find that it's easier for each person to have their own copy to read and follow along as everyone takes turns reading from the book. This particular book, we've found, is easier to read in a quiet moment than to listen to it being read from in a small group. It's also great for creating discussion that leads to growth!
We are learning some new things about the Scriptures, and that's always great!
In the interest of full disclosure, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I receive an affiliate commission. I only recommend products I use personally. Your purchases through these links help support Joy In Our Journey. I humbly thank you for your support!
For some of you, this may not apply...but since my family and I are followers of Jesus Christ, we have tried to make a thoughtful effort every December to bring more of Christ into our Christmas and less of the self-centered "give me, give me!" type of attitude. We've downplayed Santa and other secular versions of Christmas that can take over the true meaning of Christmas.
If you enjoy the rhythm of the poem, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moor, then I think you are going to be pleasantly surprised at the similar rhythm of this new illustrated book, The First Christmas Night!
(Email subscribers may want to click back to the original post in order to most easily view the photos and enter the giveaway contest.)
About The First Christmas Night
Here's a sample of the poetry found between the covers of The First Christmas Night:
’Twas the very first Christmas when all through the town
not a creature was stirring—there was not a sound.
The moon shining bright in the heavens so high
gave the look of midday to the Bethlehem sky.
The animals were nestled in warm, cozy places
with looks of contentment on each of their faces.
Julieanne's review of The First Christmas Night:
About the author:
Keith Christopher is an award-winning composer, arranger, lyricist, and author, and his musical talent is evident in the lyrical verses of The First Christmas Night. In addition to writing and producing, Keith is on the faculty at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He lives in Hendersonville, Tennessee, with his wife and two children. |
About the illustrator:
At a very early age, Christine Kornacki developed a love for painting and bringing stories to life. After receiving a BFA in illustration from the University of Hartford, her dreams of illustrating children's books began to take shape, including illustrating the best-selling The Sparkle Box for Ideal's Children's Books. Christine's recent work also includes illustrating the six-book series for the American Girl historical doll characters Marie-Grace and Cecile. She spends her days painting in her studio, which adjoins a charming cafe in New Haven, Connecticut. |
More info. about The First Christmas Night:
- Kids ages 4-8 - The rhyming language can help them develop verbal language skills and learn to read
- Family story time during the holidays
- Children's Ministers and Sunday school teachers
- Christmas carolers could set it to a tune!
Now, for the GIVEAWAY of The First Christmas Night:
The First Christmas Night children's picture book giveaway ends on Monday, December 9th, 2013 at midnight Pacific time...
...and please read the requirements for entering, below, because if you're the winner, and you said you completed a step, but didn't, I'll be checking up on you! ☺ U.S. entries only, please. Thanks!
Entrants must be 18 years or older; only U.S. residents are eligible to enter this giveaway.
I will select the winner of this prize using Random.org (via this Rafflecopter entry form, below).
I will be verifying the winning entrant's giveaway entry options to make sure they are valid. In the past several months, multiple potential winners were excluded from winning even though their names had been selected randomly as winners, because they said that they had signed up for email subscriptions but had not completed the process, which includes clicking on an email you will receive to confirm your subscription. An email subscription to Joy In Our Journey.com is not a requirement to enter our giveaways, but if you do use an email subscription option to enter to win, please make sure that you click on the confirmation email that you will receive. That will validate your entry. Thank you! :)
In the interest of full disclosure, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I receive an affiliate commission. I only recommend products I use personally. Your purchases through these links help support Joy In Our Journey. I humbly thank you for your support!
Our family is gearing up for a fun family reunion this Thanksgiving, not far from home. Because our mindset is on being thankful right now, for so much that God has given us, it can be a bit tricky to switch gears and think about Christmas - before Thanksgiving.
But I must. ☺
The main reasons are that our daughters are involved in quite a few Christmas music rehearsals right now; the best prices on a couple of Christmas gift items were better this week than they will be even on Black Friday; and I need to order our family Christmas cards.
I consider personalized Christmas cards to be a luxury item, one that isn't a necessary tradition for me to carry on in order to celebrate Christmas.
However, because quite a few extended family members and friends of ours are not on Facebook, we feel it is important to touch bases with them at least once a year and share our family's news and photos, either using a personalized Christmas card, or sending a newsy letter with a family photograph enclosed.
Something I have found frustrating when shopping online for photo Christmas cards is that most of the personalized card companies offer few - or no - religious Christmas cards. A few sites I've found have had around 95% "holiday" cards and only 5% Christmas cards. What do they think 99% of Americans are celebrating this time of year? ☺
If you want to purchase "holiday" cards for your family, feel free to do so. My family serves and loves Jesus Christ, and we try to show that in our actions and in how we spend our money and our time...and we want our Christmas cards to show our faith in the Reason for the Season - and that's Jesus. I won't criticize you for ordering holiday cards, but we are looking for something different. ☺
I learned about Minted.com this autumn and was delighted to see that they have plenty of Christmas and holiday photo cards, including 15 Christian cards including either Scriptures or Christmas hymn passages. YES! One of the unique options for many of their holiday cards is that while previewing a card online, you can select whether you want the message on the outside of the card to be Christmas, Holiday, or New Year...or you can change some of the text altogether. Nice! |
Minted.com also offers unique edging on many of the cards, as you'll see in the photo, above. While it isn't a free feature, it is beautiful! I really like their ornament photo cards. Neat!
Here are some samples of Christmas cards to which I uploaded family photos as a "preview". While some of the photos look a bit out of focus, this isn't because of Minted.com; it's because they were simply a sample preview of how my card might end up looking...and taking a quick snip of those previews meant the photo quality wasn't all that great.
A neat feature on Minted.com is being able to upload some of my own photos to their website - and selecting one of those uploaded photos so that all of the cards I want to view are showing my chosen photo. How fun is that?
Here's the thing: Minted.com prices are a bit higher than the average personalized card online site. However, you'll find these unique features on Minted that you won't find on all of the other card sites:
- Minibook Cards containing several pages, fastened at the end
- Foil Pressed Cards
- Ornament Cards
- Free recipient address printing on the envelopes with a qualifying order
- Find It Fast - try your photo in many cards at one time
- 1 free proof created by a graphic design professional
- Thicker, higher quality paper and envelopes
Read on to enter my giveaway (age 13+ may enter) for your own copy of this new family-friendly music CD!
Glamour: the attractive or exciting quality that makes certain people or things seem appealing or special.
Teen band. Lots of glitz and lots of glamour. And probably lots of hairspray. ☺
So why would I be sharing with you about a new Christian girls' band for tweens and teens?
Because when the new 1 Girl Nation CD arrived in the mail, and I put it into the CD player, I loved it, and so did my daughters!
I'm a 40-something mama, and while I don't love standing up at rock concerts for three hours straight, I still love music of all kinds. Okay, most kinds. Maybe not punk rock or acid rock, or opera in foreign languages. ☺
What's most important to me are the words to the songs...the message that those words hold for me and my teen daughters.
1 Girl Nation helps satisfy the desire of many Christian teens who want to listen to "cool-sounding" music, but don't want to be blasted by the Lord's name being used in vain, or having to go on Prozac because the words to the songs are too depressing.
Here are a couple of videos so you can listen to 1 Girl Nation for yourself!
1GN, as they’ve already been dubbed, stars Carmen, Kayli, Kelsey, Lauryn Taylor and Lindsey, five girls with a passion for telling their fans about Christ through their music. Their first single, “While We’re Young,” can be heard on radio stations across the country, and their self-titled debut album is now available.
Now for the giveaway:
This time, I'm allowing everyone, ages 13+, to enter the giveaway, so your teens can also enter if they have a separate email address.
This 1 Girl Nation CD giveaway ends on Sunday, December 1st, 2013 at midnight Pacific time...
...and please read the requirements for entering, below, because if you're the winner, and you said you completed a step, but didn't, I'll be checking up on you! ☺ U.S. entries only, please.
Entrants must be 13 years or older; only U.S. residents are eligible to enter this giveaway.
I will select the winner of this prize using Random.org (via this Rafflecopter entry form, below).
I will be verifying the winning entrant's giveaway entry options to make sure they are valid. In the past several months, multiple potential winners were excluded from winning even though their names had been selected randomly as winners, because they said that they had signed up for email subscriptions but had not completed the process, which includes clicking on an email you will receive to confirm your subscription. An email subscription to Joy In Our Journey.com is not a requirement to enter our giveaways, but if you do use an email subscription option to enter to win, please make sure that you click on the confirmation email that you will receive. That will validate your entry. Thank you! :)
I received a copy of this audio CD for review purposes, but was not compensated financially in any way. The opinions expressed are my own and are based solely on my experiences while watching this movie. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
In the interest of full disclosure, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I receive an affiliate commission. I only recommend products I use personally. Your purchases through these links help support Joy In Our Journey. I humbly thank you for your support!
About this new book:
Joy In Our Journey's review ~ by Julie:
Christmas at Harmony Hill, by Ann Gabhart, takes place during the Civil War - when families and neighbors are fighting each other and dying for a cause they dearly believe in, each in their own way.
When Heather falls in love with Gideon Worth and marries him just as he is taking off to become a Yankee fighter, her Confederate family is torn; her father angry, her brother taking up the cause of the Confederates. It is difficult but Heather chooses her path to follow Gideon off to war; she is able to stay with him and become a washer woman for the company with which he is stationed. Then she becomes pregnant, and Gideon decides she can no longer stay with him, especially after she is seven months along and can no longer keep up with the troops.
Heather returns to her home, after a long and difficult journey. With great sorrow at having to leave her husband, she knows she is doing the right thing to bring her baby into a safer situation. But her father turns her away, saying she is no longer his daughter and she is not welcome in his home. She encounters much sadness at that. Because she also learns that her mother and two brothers have died in her two-year absence, she is beside herself with grief. Her sister, Beth, advises her to try to find their Aunt Sophrena, who lives not too far away at the Harmony Hill Shaker community.
Heather’s arrival at the Shaker community, and her first meeting with her Aunt Sophrena, brings her many surprises. First, her aunt (whom she has never met) is so like her own mother that she is nearly overcome with memories. Second, she is welcomed into the Shaker community in a way she never thought would be possible; she is not made to feel a part of the community, but they provide for her physical needs very well and assign her aunt to become her caretaker during her confinement with her pregnancy. It is an eye-opening experience for all of them.
Heather learns much about the Shakers and tries hard to understand some of their very strange beliefs and traditions. Sophrena comes to face her own doubts and longings after having spent over 25 years with the Shakers. This story is an education into a totally different kind of life than most Christians would know; it is hard to understand some of the beliefs that come to light, and it can be difficult to accept the sense in the type of community life they had built for themselves.
There is much to ponder in the way of forgiveness and love for one another as these characters intermingle and communicate. Much, much prayer goes up for protection of those involved in the war battles, the families left behind, and a greatly anticipated birth right at Christmas time. Conflict turns to victory as the story unfolds - but there are surprises to the very end.
About the author, Ann Gabhart:
I started writing when I was ten and have been writing ever since. I've now published twenty novels for adults and young adults. I married Darrell Gabhart, young and in love, but we defied the odds and are still married all these years later. Maybe because we went to church together and were committed to the Christian life. We have three children and nine wonderful grandchildren. I like walking in the fields and woods, finding wildflowers and spotting birds and wildlife while trying to keep in shape. I'm crazy about dogs, with three of my own and several neighbor dogs who like to hang out in my yard or take walks with me. |
Read on to enter my giveaway for your own copy of this new movie!
The Story:
Who is Norman Rockwell? Rockwell became famous for his American culture illustrations and artwork. He was born in the late 1800’s and died in the mid 1900’s. This movie tries to capture the feelings of many Norman Rockwell paintings.
Here are some of the Christmas paintings that Mr. Rockwell did for December magazine covers:
About the movie:
Here's the official movie trailer, so you can get a feel for this new movie:
What did my family think about Coming Home for Christmas?
Now for the giveaway!
The Coming Home for Christmas DVD giveaway ends on Sunday, December 1st, 2013 at midnight Pacific time...
...and please read the requirements for entering, below, because if you're the winner, and you said you completed a step, but didn't, I'll be checking up on you! ☺ U.S. entries only, please.
Entrants must be 18 years or older; only U.S. residents are eligible to enter this giveaway.
I will select the winner of this prize using Random.org (via this Rafflecopter entry form, below).
I will be verifying the winning entrant's giveaway entry options to make sure they are valid. In the past several months, multiple potential winners were excluded from winning even though their names had been selected randomly as winners, because they said that they had signed up for email subscriptions but had not completed the process, which includes clicking on an email you will receive to confirm your subscription. An email subscription to Joy In Our Journey.com is not a requirement to enter our giveaways, but if you do use an email subscription option to enter to win, please make sure that you click on the confirmation email that you will receive. That will validate your entry. Thank you! :)
I received a copy of this DVD movie for review purposes, but was not compensated financially in any way. The opinions expressed are my own and are based solely on my experiences while watching this movie. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
In the interest of full disclosure, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I receive an affiliate commission. I only recommend products I use personally. Your purchases through these links help support Joy In Our Journey. I humbly thank you for your support!
Hi! I'm Julieanne!
You'll find me in the kitchen
trying new Trim Healthy Mama recipes, loving God, and carrying out that love as I bless my husband and teen daughters.
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