Seasons of Opportunities

To accommodate today's lifestyles, a garden needs to fit easily into a very small plot, take as little time as possible to maintain, require a minimum amount of water, and still produce prolifically. That's exactly what a postage stamp garden does. Postage stamp gardens are as little as 4 by 4 feet, and, after the initial soil preparation, they require very little extra work to produce a tremendous amount of vegetables--for instance, a 5-by-5-foot bed will produce a minimum of 200 pounds of vegetables.   When first published 40 years ago, the postage stamp techniques, including closely planted beds rather than rows, vines and trailing plants grown vertically to free up space, and intercropping, were

Imploding relationships, incapacitating losses, injurious personal mistakes, or spiritual failures—whatever the issue, the wounds are the same. Whether it’s a lapse in judgment by Bathsheba or the moral failure of the women’s ministry leader in your local church; the spiritual insensitivity of Martha or the compulsive obsessions of your church’s care circle chairwoman; the terror of an abandoned single mother like Hagar or the struggling single mother in your prayer group—the time and circumstances are different, but the wounds are equally deep and spiritually devastating. Dena Dyer and Tina Samples get it. They have their own stories of pain before healing—along with similar experiences of their families and friends. Offering more than pat affirmations or vicarious shoulders to cry on, Dena and Tina delve deep into

Today, I am linking up with the Five Minute Friday community. Once we get our "word" for the day - we have five minutes to write. No editing, just what flows from the heart. Today's word is HIDE. Ready Set Start! Do you ever just want to run and hide? This week I have definitely felt like hiding. Life has just been hard and I am weary! Dragging myself out of bed every day has not been an easy feat. Usually, I am upbeat, motivated, and excited about life.  But the last few weeks, It seems like hiding under the covers or the bed, ignoring the world, or crawling in a deep, dark hole for a few days would be easier than getting up and cheerfully facing life. 

Miriam Hastings has her future plans in place...                              But Trygve Knutson is intent on changing them. Just a few short weeks into her year-long training at the Blessing Hospital, Miriam Hastings is called home to Chicago, where her mother is gravely ill. With siblings to care for, Miriam pleads to be allowed to finish her training in Chicago. Her nursing supervisor grants her a brief reprieve but extracts a promise that Miriam will return to Blessing and fulfill her one-year commitment.   While in Chicago, Miriam has tried to get Trygve Knutson and Blessing out of her mind, but his letters make that impossible. Trygve is busy building a house, hoping he can convince Miriam to return to North Dakota and marry him. Torn between Trygve's love and her family's needs, she doesn't know what to do. 

One young man is about to discover the true cost of independence For years, Doug Anderson has been drifting slowly but steadily away from both his family and his faith. His parents have been trying to reach him before he falls too far. His friend Christina hopes what she is seeing online isn't true. But sometimes you have to hit bottom before you're ready to grow up.  Just as things begin to settle down a bit, Doug's life takes a turn that requires every bit of faith and patience for both his family and Christina--whose growing feelings for Doug, a man who writes her off as not worth his time, keep her off balance. Will Doug's crisis finally clear his vision and help him focus on what he has right in front of him?

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;  Isaiah 49:16 Overcoming the Fear of Being Unnoticed and Forgotten Jesus criticized those who "do all their deeds to be noticed by men." Yet we do the same thing today. A great deal of our activities are born of this desire for attention and the often desperate fear of not being known, appreciated, influential, or remembered. Christianity meets this need in a resounding way. This book contains a lifetime collection of accounts, illustrations, and biblical material that speak to this subject. Available at  Deeper Shopping

a Miller's Creek novel and Christian contemporary romance A former soldier battles for the soul of a prodigal... After a devastating divorce, a bitter single mom and atheist starts her own real estate company in the nostalgic and picturesque town of Miller’s Creek, Texas. Then her young daughter’s disturbing symptoms lead doctors to discover that her leukemia has relapsed. With her new life now turned upside down, Mara Hedwig struggles to keep her business afloat. And her daughter’s worsening condition forces her to rethink her beliefs about Carter Callahan and his God. Will Mara make the return to Christian faith in the face of life’s greatest challenge? An ex-military operative struggles with the return to civilian life while coping with his rebellious teen-aged daughter. During a house-search, Carter meets Mara, a headstrong Realtor who wants nothing to do with his God. But when Mara’s little girl is diagnosed with leukemia, the clock begins

A first-year college student adjusting to life in the States. A brand-new pregnancy center desperate for new volunteers. A mysterious phone call from a girl who's far too young to be pregnant. UNPLANNED from award-winning suspense novelist Alana Terry After volunteering at a crisis pregnancy center, Kennedy Stern finds herself a pawn in a deadly game of intrigue, at the mercy of those who consider a few innocent lives a small ransom to pay for victory. (Be sure to see below to get your own pre-release copy of Unplanned  before it hits the bookstores.) Protagonist Kennedy Stern vs. Author Alana Terry (a video interview) It's always fun to learn how much of themselves authors put into their characters. For Alana Terry, it can be a whole lot! In her new Christian suspense series, the main character Kennedy Stern is a lot like Alana was in college. They both were in school in the Boston area, they both were pre-med students, and they both loved Russian l

I am linking up here with the Five Minute Friday community. Once we get our "word" for the day - we have five minutes to write. No editing, just what flows from the heart. Start! As I read the word last night - GOOD - the first thing that came to mind was: "That's the perfect word for Good Friday."  The next thing that came to mind was: "Everyone is going to be writing about Good Friday because it is Good Friday." So I started thinking of other ideas. The best one I had was "Oh taste and see that God is Good." Yet, as I was reading my devotions this morning, I began to think about the Good News! Yes - the Good News as the Scriptures tell us is the good news of Jesus! So today I am writing about the Good News. We are told to: ” Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. ”  Mark 16:15 (HCSB) But we can’t do that unless we know what the Gospel is.

This story is set in the early 1900's in the small town of Bridal Veil. This town began as a paper mill and eventually became a lumber and planing mill. Although the story is fiction it is based on true happenings of the times. I have read several of Miralee's books and I really enjoy her writing. I also enjoy the historical tidbits she adds to her books, whether is it about the towns they are located in or maybe something about the time period. I think, that touch of insight, really helps make the stories realistic as well as educational - for me anyhow with my love for history. In this book, Margaret Garvey, a school teacher is learning to cope with life after the death of her father. In the intro, we learn that Margaret was in love with Nathaniel, who up and left town without her after they had planned on eloping. She is just moving on with life, as well as getting acquainted with a new fellow - Andrew - when Nathaniel returns. Not only does this complicate matters most

This is one of those fictional books that reads like a true story. For a while there... I honestly had to keep checking just to see if the book was fiction or non-fiction. It is so realistic!  Sam Pennington’s life has fallen apart. His father is dead. His mum’s started drinking. And now they’ve been dumped in a dismal public-housing complex in East London. Sam’s anger at his circumstances puts him on the brink of expulsion from school and into dangerous conflict with those around him. Professional boxing trainer Jerry Ambrose has finally gotten everything together. After a turbulent early life, his newfound faith has helped him reconcile with his past and dedicate his life to helping others. But when a brutal street fight leads Sam to Jerry’s boxing club, both their futures are thrown into question. As Jerry reaches out to Sam, an extraordinary fighting talent emerges—a talent that reopens the wounds of Jerry’s own life. Both find themselves battling what can happen to a man’