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29 January 2017

Janet S. Grunst -- Overcoming Divorce & Single Parenting

Author Janet S. Grunst
CFP: I am happy to have my friend, author Janet S. Grunst visit with us. Janet is the co-leader with me, of the Tidewater Christian Writers Group. She's also a member of Colonial American Christian Writers and a contributor my group blog, Colonial Quills. She's an amazing lady and I'm so delighted with her debut in Christian fiction! Please welcome Janet to the blog!

Janet:
In the fall of 1993 my world came crashing down when my husband announced he was leaving me and our two sons.  There had been no warning signs. Shock, despair, and anxiety for the future continued in the weeks and months to come. But I also knew that the Lord would see us through all that faced us. 

I clung to Joshua 1:9  “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

I would never want to relive all the trauma and health crisis of that decade, but I am so grateful to have experienced how God manifested His presence, power, provision and protection in it.  
1. I prayed for wisdom and guidance in how to respond to my husband, my sons and to the circumstances and choices ahead. 
~ God gave me an unbelievable composure and the words whenever I needed them. It was all God’s work. 
2. I asked God for the truth of why my husband was leaving.
~ God provided a miraculous and unexplainable phone call with the answer.

3. In despair I cried out to God. 
~ God provided clergy, and godly friends to counsel, pray for, and support each of us, a family who included us at holidays and other times, friends who sent things and showed up unexpectedly at crucial moments. 
4. I asked the Lord for godly men to mentor my sons.
God sent men from the church to take them to sporting and to Promise Keepers events. 
5. I prayed for professional help of his choosing for our family
~ God provided a wonderful Christian Counselor and later a Christian lawyer


6. I traveled many miles each day to get my sons to their schools with only two hours of sleep each night. I asked God for protection for my health and travel needs.
~ For eight years I never got sick. He kept me alert and saved us from a head-on accident with a large van in a completely unnatural way. Later, a friend I hadn’t seen in years who witnessed it, called to tell me she had seen angels protecting our car. 
7. I prayed God would provide a job, if at all possible working in ministry.
~ The Lord provided me with a job at the ministry I’d been serving in as a volunteer for the previous twenty years. I could even continue to attend a CBS class. 
8. I asked the Lord to find a purchaser for our home and for an affordable home closer to church and schools.
~ God provided all of that, and eleven to move us on the Friday after Thanksgiving, a day they had off work and should have been spent with their families. Before they left, they gathered and prayed peace for us and blessings on our new home. Two girlfriends provided lunch for them.  A stressful, emotional move was transformed to a time of intense humility and gratitude to God and His servants.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,  plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”                       Jeremiah 29:11-13

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” James 1:2-3, 12

Bio: Janet worked in banking or ten years and as a freelance writer for two regional publications. After taking a break to raise her children, she worked for an international ministry, Community Bible Study, most recently as the Executive Assistant for the Executive Director. She continues to serve as a leader in her local Community Bible Study class and in her church. She resides in the Historic Triangle of Virginia with her husband and West Highland White Terrier.


Janet Grunst can be found online at:
http://JanetGrunst.com
http://colonialquills.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                https://twitter.com/janetgrunst 
CFP: Thanks so much, Janet for visiting with us and sharing your testimony of God's provision!                                                                                                                                   

Giveaway: We're giving away a copy of Janet's debut novel A Heart Set Free from Smitten Historical Romance (a division of Lighthouse of the Carolinas) to one lucky guest. Please leave a comment to enter! 

24 January 2017

Diana's Review Of 'A Moonbow Night' By Laura Frantz

A Moonbow Night

A Moonbow Night By Laura Frantz
Revell Publishing, January 3, 2017

Reviewed By Diana Flowers
~5 stars!~

Synopsis:~ Her wilderness survival skills are without rival. But her greatest talent is keeping other people's secrets.

After fleeing Virginia, Temperance Tucker and her family established an inn along the Shawnee River. It's a welcome way station for settlers and frontiersman traveling the wild Cumberland region of Kentucke - men like Sion Morgan, a Virginia surveyor who arrives at the inn with his crew looking for an experienced guide.

Though he balks when Tempe is appointed to lead his team through the wilderness, it isn't long before Sion must admit that her abilities may outmatch his own. But can the tenuous tie they are forming survive the dangers waiting just around the bend?

With her signature sweeping style and ability to bring the distant past to vivid life, Laura Frantz beckons you to join her in a land of Indian ambushes, conflicting loyalties, and a tentative love that meanders like a cool mountain stream.

My Thoughts: Author Laura Frantz is a masterful artist who paints stunning pictures with words, and A Moonbow Night is a portrait that left me awestruck. This novel is an evocative, heartbreaking, and hauntingly beautiful tale with courageous, strong characters, and deliciously descriptive prose. The author's historical research is impeccable and well-detailed and her writing style is indescribably spectacularquite possibly the best I have ever read by Ms. Frantz! The reader is immediately drawn in to the dangers and beauty of the early Kentucke wildernessfrom the constant terrifying fear of savage Indian attacks to the dazzling allure of the moonbow o'er misty waterfalls.

Although I would love to have had more romantic tension between Sion and Tempe earlier on, I realize that they were both haunted by loss and heartbreak...and to rush things would have been unseemly and unrealistic. The waiting and anticipation was well worth it, however, and the romance was utterly breathtaking...and yes, might I add toe-curling!?😛As I read the last chapter with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes, I knew that I had been someplace specialinto the heart and mind of Laura Frantz and her beloved Kentucky. And what a beautifully captivating journey it was.


**Note to OWG viewers** This review is actually my tribute to Laura Frantz, whose first book The Frontiersman's Daughter, paved the way for me to begin writing reviews on OWG...which literally changed my life. Our mutual love of this fabulous book first drew Carrie Fancett Pagels, Marian Baay (one of our earlier reviewers), and I together as FB friends and we maintain a staunch friendship to this day. This in turn led Carrie to ask me to join OWG blog. I have read every book Laura Frantz has ever written and I urge you to as well. As I will soon be leaving OWG, I wanted to take this opportunity to tell Laura "thank you" for all the hours of reading pleasure (looking forward to many more!), and for helping me get through the death of my mother with Courting Morrow Little and her loving support. A Godly, humble lady, and a precious friend to allmay God bless you, dearest Laura!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This novel may be purchased through Amazon, CBD, B&N, BAM, and your local Christian bookstore.

GIVEAWAY: A paperback copy of A Moonbow Night will be given away to one blessed commenter! US entrants only. To be eligible, please leave your email addy written (at) and (dot) to protect yourself from spammers. DRAWING SUNDAY!

22 January 2017

Overcoming With God -- 2017 Changes

We have some changes here at Overcoming With God blog this year in 2017. 
Noela Nancarrow, International Contributor 

In December, 2016, we said goodbye to our wonderful Aussie Angel, Noela Nancarrow, who did such an amazing job reviewing books. While we will miss our dear friend, we wish her well -- both in health and in her own writing (devotionals) as God has led her to do. 

In February, 2017, our beloved Senior Reviewer, Angel Girl Diana L. Flowers, AKA Malibu Barbie, will be "retiring" from the blog. She will be greatly missed! But first we have to party, which will also celebrate her first guest post on the blog six years ago and the start of her blogging with OWG!


What's different: We're aiming for at least one weekly post. Interviews will remain on Sunday/Mondays.  Teresa Mathews, who is battling breast cancer, continues as our poetess.  

Bonnie Roof, also battling cancer, will be doing periodic book reviews. Keep praying for her and Teresa's full recoveries.

Since Carrie is part of the My Heart Belongs series from Barbour Publishing, we'll be featuring the authors from this series and reviews.  Carrie will continue to review audiobooks and some ebooks and paperbacks in Christian fiction. We'll continue to do giveaways but will be doing fewer giveaways on the blog, and pointing you toward other giveaway opportunities.

Once Carrie's brand new website is up and running, she'll be setting up her own weekly blog spot here on OWG, where she'll be sharing posts related to her writing. Whew! Lots of changes! But we pray our readers will be blessed by what we're doing here at Overcoming With God blog -- 

*reviewing Christian fiction
**sharing testimonies of overcoming and of coping with life's challenges
***encouraging through poetry
****and sharing Carrie's writing journey. 

Many blessings to all of our readers!!!

19 January 2017

Liz Johnson's Where Two Hearts Meet - Reviewed by Carrie Fancett Pagels


Where Two Hearts Meet by Liz Johnson

After I finished reading Liz Johnson's The Red Door Inn, Book 1 in this Prince Edward Island Romances series from Revell, I immediately wanted to know more about what happened to the sweet baker/chef, Caden, who was in book 1 and the heroine of book 2. So I ordered Where Two Hearts Meet!

From the Publisher:
Evocative Contemporary Romance Set in a Charming Inn on Beautiful Prince Edward Island

In her kitchen at the Red Door Inn, executive chef Caden Holt is calm, collected, and competent. But when her boss asks her to show off their beautiful island to impress a visiting travel writer and save the inn, Caden is forced to face a world much bigger than her kitchen—and a man who makes her wish she was beautiful.

Journalist Adam Jacobs is on a forced sabbatical on Prince Edward Island. He's also on assignment to uncover a story. Instead he's falling in love with the island's red shores and Caden's sweets.  When Caden discovers Adam isn't who she thought he was, she realizes that the article he's writing could do more than ruin the inn's chances for survival—it might also break her heart.

Readers will discover hope for the hurting, joy for the broken, and romance for the lonely at the enchanting Red Door Inn.


"The Way to A Man's Heart"
Where Two Hearts Meet
by Liz Johnson (Baker Publishing, 2016)

Review by Carrie Fancett Pagels

I read this book as an ebook. What a delightful story!  I hesitated a little because I have a reporter in my own upcoming release, set on another island -- Mackinac Island -- albeit in 1895 and not 2016. I quickly got pulled into the story, though, and charmed thoroughly by the characters. Caden starts out being resistant to showing gorgeous Adam around the island. But a true friendship blossoms as they spend more time together.

There is an antagonist in the story who you'll "love to hate" and with a cool twist at the end of the story. The cooking contest is a really fun element in the story and gives good tension. But will Caden go off on a new path that God has planned for her? Will Adam? Can he turn in his assigned story? Will he find other truths?

The next book in the fantastic Prince Edward Island series comes out in summer, July, 2017! Can't wait to read it!

Bibliotherapy: Caden has some simmering self-esteem issues, some associated with her weight. She is, after all, a chef so we can't be too surprised she samples her food. She has to work through those feelings of self-worth. 

Do yourself a favor -- order a copy and read Liz Johnson's Where Two Hearts Meet. Click here to order from Barnes & Noble or here to purchase from Christian Book Distributors.



15 January 2017

Poet Guest Amy Ballard & Giveaway!



Author Amy Ballard

Carrie, thanks so much for having me. It’s great to be able to hang out on your blog and meet some of your readers.

To introduce myself, I’m a high school English teacher and freelance writer living in southern Idaho. I grew up in Maine, scribbling away at my journals and poems while homeschooling. I went on to study Creative Writing at Bob Jones University, then launched my writing career by working as a correspondent for the Times-News, a newspaper in Twin Falls. When I became certified to teach and became a full-time public school teacher, I had a lot less time for writing. Still, I sent the occasional manuscript out and kept believing that God had given me the gift of writing, and that over time, I’d see results.

Some of your readers will know my mother, award-winning inspirational author Susan Page Davis (susanpagedavis.com). Mom has been a great encouragement to me as a writer at every step along the way.

Now it’s finally time to celebrate the release of my poetry chapbook, Landlocked. It’s about place—the importance of place to the psyche, the craving we all have for our own place, and homesickness. My mom used to tell me that I bloom where planted. That’s true, but moving from Maine to Idaho hasn’t been a completely seamless transition. The journey isn’t over, and I still get homesick for New England after sixteen years in the West. But God has not failed to reveal the blessings of being right where He has placed me. In the seventeen poems in Landlocked, you’ll see my struggle at several points along the journey toward accepting my new home.

Some people don’t realize they like poetry. I mean, we know and cherish poetic passages from many sources—songs, Bible stories, even TV commercials—and don’t realize they’re poetry. We associate poetry instead with bad run-ins with Shakespeare in high school, or with cheesy greeting card verse. Really, poetry is for everyone. If you’ve ever sung along with a catchy tune on the radio or savored the wording of a favorite Psalm, it’s for you, too.

Here’s one of the poems from Landlocked:

DISCONTENT

Driving home from church, some evenings,
Dad would point to the western sky
Where purple clouds were gathered.
“If we were in Oregon,” he’d say,
“Those would be mountains!”

His native state must be like Heaven,
The way he talked. “I dreamed I died
And went to Oregon.”

His discontent grated on the rest of us
At times. Look around!
The Maine air’s so clean
They try to bottle it!

Now I live that same displacement.
Sometimes I wish these glorious mountains
Were only purple clouds.


Incidentally, my parents have moved from Maine to Kentucky, so the old saying, “You can never go home again” is true in my case. Now when I visit Maine, I’m a tourist. And that’s okay.
Landlocked by Amy Ballard

Here’s a poem that shows the other side of the coin, a time when I could see the beauty in my new surroundings.

THE PRAIRIE IN FALL

What is it like to live in the city
and not have geese swimming overhead
in fine formation
while cows graze the yellow stubble?
Never to watch the shadow of a white cloud
glide along the foothills
like blue-violet paint on a roller?

The convenience of a corner store
and the proximity of movie theaters
could not replace the prairie’s splendor
in fall.

When Paul wrote, “I have learned, in whatever state I am, therewith to be content,” he wasn’t talking about “states” as in organized political communities under a government, but I’ve had to learn to be content in different geographical states. Granted, it’s not a true culture shock. Mainers and Idahoans speak (roughly!) the same language. One of my friends is a missionary in Croatia, and I can only imagine the sense of uprootedness she must feel. I know her faith in God is teaching her contentment, too.

I would like to encourage readers to allow God to work contentment in their lives. Reading my poems, you’ll know that it’s been a tough growth process for me and that the process isn’t over. But I believe God has put me here for a purpose, and I want to experience that purpose abundantly.

Order Landlocked at www.createspace.com/6821684.

Please drop me a line here in the comments, and find me on Facebook @christianteacherpublicschool. I blog at christianteacherpublicschool.blogspot.com. My Web site is amyballard.com.

Thanks again for having me!

CFP: Thanks for visiting OWG blog, Amy! And thanks for offering a giveaway of your book to one of our readers! Simply comment below to be entered.

13 January 2017

My Heart Belongs Line -- From Barbour -- Launches with Erica Vetsch


Barbour Publishing has launched the "My Heart Belongs" series!!! We had a super busy and lovely Facebook Party on Tuesday night!  If you missed it, you can still enter the Rafflecopter giveaway of a Kindle Fire and 13 ebooks to go with it (ends January 31st) by clicking on this link and following directions: Click here

Are you excited about the launch of this series? I sure am! And I can't wait to get to the Straits of Mackinac and Mackinac Island, where my heart belongs!!! Speaking of which, My Heart Belongs on Mackinac Island: Maude's Mooring is available at pre-order HALF OFF price at Barnes & Noble and Amazon!!! I don't know how long that will last, though, so get your copy now!!! Releases July 1, 2017!

08 January 2017

NO FEAR by Teresa S. Mathews

NO FEAR

When your thoughts are running away from you.
When you heart races and you don’t know what to do.

When it seems, your life is turned upside down. 
And you feel your world spinning round and round.

When your life hasn’t turned out liked you thought. 
When all your dreams have come to naught. 
  
When your doctor tells you, “there's no cure.” 
In this one thing you can be sure;

Your life is in the hands of GOD, 
He’s been every place you’ve ever trod. 
  
As His perfect love draws you near, 
Remember in HIM there is NO FEAR!! 

TSMATHEWS © 2017

Back in 2014 when my husband Carlton was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, GOD began to deal with me about fear. He brought to my remembrance many scriptures about fear and He reminded me many times that fear doesn’t have a place in a Christian’s life.  I thought He was showing me this to encourage Carlton while he was going through treatment. No, He was getting me ready for the most difficult time of my life, losing my husband of twenty-eight years. He was showing me how to live a life fully trusting HIM with NO FEAR!!

Most of you know the struggles I have had since Carlton moved his residence from earth to Heaven on May 7, 2015, if not, you can read about it here. There have been many things I have faced that should have made me tremble with fear but GOD has held me close and reminded me HE is in control of my life.

On the first day, I visited the Oncology Radiation Office waiting to be called back, I begin to feel an overwhelming spirit of fear and I started to tremble. So, I begin to pray and ask the Lord to bring peace to me. One of my sons noticed me and asked what was wrong, when I explained, he held my hand and prayed too.  I began to immediately feel GOD’s peace surround me, but as we all know, satan wants us to live in fear, so he will do whatever he can to slip it back in our lives. He is very cunning and will use whatever tactic he can to succeed.

During the past 4.5 weeks, every time I undergo a treatment, which only lasts about 3-4 minutes, I pray that the radiation only goes to the “bad” area and not to the surrounding tissues, heart, lungs, ribs, back, etc... To me that seemed like a normal response to a stressful situation.

On Wednesday of this past week, while repeating my ritualistic prayer, the Lord spoke to my spirit these words….NO FEAR!!!  Wait a minute!! Could my little silent prayer asking for protection from the radiation, be born out of FEAR??!! Then I felt the Lord telling me “Instead of praying a fearful prayer, why not use this time to pray for the others that are coming in and lying on this table undergoing radiation treatments.” It only took me a few seconds to process this and I began to pray for salvation and healing for anyone that comes into that lonely room to undergo treatment.

Let me clarify that asking GOD for mercy and protection is not wrong, in fact that is what we are supposed to do. Our Heavenly Father loves to hear from his children; but when your prayers are being driven by fear and not by faith, it grieves Him. 1 John 4:18  tells us “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”  GOD’s love is perfect and it will drive away any fear that we have.

Another scripture on fear is 2 Timothy 1:7  “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”  Fear will torment our minds and that is not what GOD wants for us. He has promised us a sound mind! When we call out to Him, He will help us overcome our fears, just like Psalms 34:4 says “I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”

Another wonderful reminder that GOD will help us overcome our fear is Isaiah 41:10 “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

I appreciate all the prayers that everyone has sent up for me and for the ones that you will continue to pray but I also ask that you join me in praying for EVERYONE that is fighting cancer. Hearing that word can instill fear in anyone, so let’s remind them and especially satan, that GOD IS GREATER than cancer and in HIM THERE IS NO FEAR!!



Here are some additional scriptures about not being fearful. 


          Deut. 31:6             Joshua 1:9            Psalm 27:1            Psalm 56:3-4            Psalm 118:6

         
 
          Isaiah 41:13          Isaiah 43:1            Hebrews 13:5-6     John 14:27



Here are a couple of my favorite songs by Chris Tomlin.
ENJOY!!

  

                                                                     


If you have a favorite scripture that has helped you overcome fear,  
please leave me a comment.  I would love to hear from you!! 


05 January 2017

Audiobook Review of Kim Vogel Sawyer's Guide Me Home

Guide Me Home by Kim Vogel Sawyer
Narration by Kate Forbes
Audibook by Recorded Books

Skillfully & Beautifully Guided Home!
Review by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Since my great-grandmother was from Olive Hill, Kentucky, which is right by Carter Caves, I had to listen to this book. We've been to Carter Caves once, and it was fascinating. The references Ms. Sawyer makes to that total darkness are so true. There's nothing liking being in the pitch and total black of a cave where even the person standing right next to you is not at all visible.

Kim Vogel Sawyer's novel gives multiple points of view for this fascinating novel. I'm pretty sure there were five but it might have only been four. Her rendering of local accents struck me as fairly accurate. Like Rebekah, the heroine, my own mother was the only sibling who didn't have an Eastern Kentucky Appalachian accent. I think Mom must have worked on that whereas Rebekah credits her book-reading for the absence of her accent.  

Because of the dangers of cave exploration, I found I kept waiting -- like a "wait for it. . . wait for it. . ." moment and when it arrives it is such a twist that I was totally taken by surprise. Well done! Didn't see that coming.

I am not a fan of Kate Forbes as a narrator. When I realized she was doing the narration I almost returned the audiobook. I'm glad I didn't. She ended up for this title doing a fine job.

Bibliotherapy: Class differences, educational differences, poverty, disobedience, consequences of sin, and the power of love to overcome.

Available from Barnes & Noble 
Also at Audible.com
Christian Book Distributors
Amazon

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