Evening Prayers: For Every Day of the Year by Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt

Book Description:  We want to turn to God at the end of each day, but often don’t find the words to express our deepest feelings and longing. This collection of prayers is one of the few daily devotionals especially intended for use in the evening. Blumhardt’s words bespeak a certainty in God’s nearness. The peace that flows from them comes from an unshakeable conviction that God’s kingdom is indeed on the way. In stormy and challenging times like our own, most of us need this reassurance frequently, if not daily.

My Thoughts:  I was quite interested in this book since I had never used a "prayer book" before.  Most Protestant Christians ( I assume) just say a prayer from the heart.

But as I read prayers in this book, it occurred to me that reading a prayer was more like speaking a devotional.  

There is a verse before each prayer and there is a prayer for each day of the year (365!).  

These prayers give glory to God.  Many of the prayers are praise to our Heavenly Father with a supplication to the Father for protection and blessings.

As one reads the prayers aloud it seems that a flow of praise comes from the heart and you may (as I did) add your prayer from the heart at the end of each prayer.  A wonderful addition to your daily devotions!

This is a lovely hardback book, full of peace and praise, that will make a wonderful gift or a lovely beside book.

*This book was provided for review by Handlebar Marketing*

• Hardcover: 408 pages
• Publisher: Plough Publishing House; 5 edition (June 11, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874868114
• ISBN-13: 978-0874868111

The 13th Gift: A True Story of a Christmas Miracle by Joanne Huist Smith

Book Description:  For readers of Richard Paul Evans and Greg Kincaid comes The 13th Gift, a heartwarming Christmas story about how a random act of kindness transformed one of the bleakest moments in a family's history into a time of strength and love.

After the unexpected death of her husband, Joanne Huist Smith had no idea how she would keep herself together and be strong for her three children--especially with the holiday season approaching. But 12 days before Christmas, presents begin appearing on her doorstep with notes from their "True Friends." As the Smiths came together to solve the mystery of who the gifts were from, they began to thaw out from their grief and come together again as a family. This true story about the power of random acts of kindness will warm the heart, a beautiful reminder of the miracles of Christmas and the gift of family during the holiday season.

My Thoughts:  I left this book to read until right before Christmas because I heard that it was one of those reads that brings the Christmas spirit to our hearts. 

Most of us have heard of the Secret Santa (a person who gives presents anonymously)...I call this kind of giving Random Acts of Kindness.  

As I read this book I forgot that this is actually a nonfiction read that reads like a work of fiction.  

We lost my dad this year and even though we are all older this story really hit home with me.  The grief, the difference of not having your loved here for holidays, the memories...and yet, in this story the widow must be strong of her children with no idea of how to get through this holiday season, much less how to buy gifts for her three children.

This is truly a Christmas read from the heart and will touch the heart of the reader. It is truly wonderful help others when they are going through a difficult time, especially at a holiday like Christmas.

The 13th gift is heartwarming.

This book is beautiful and makes a nice gift!

*This book was provided for review by Waterbrook/Multnomah*

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Harmony (October 28, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553418556
• ISBN-13: 978-0553418552

WOW {Warm Oven Wednesday}

I love yoplait yogurt and this is a wonderfully 

easy way to make a treat!

Make a quick, creamy and chocolatey malt without the blender! 

Take a Yoplait Original French Vanilla yogurt, a little bit of chocolate milk and a teaspoon of chocolate malt powder. 

Stir well and top it off with a little whipped cream and cocoa powder for a delicious malt without the mess. 

Don’t forget the straw! 

Your whole family will enjoy this treat.

{Kregel Book Tour} The Bachelor, Plain City Peace (Book Two) by Stephanie Reed

Book Description:  In this sequel to The Bargain, Betsie Troyer is back home in her Amish community where she knows she belongs, free from the confusing Englisher way of life. She and Charley Yoder have made promises to each other, and her life is back on track--until Gerald Sullivan shows up with his young daughter, asking for Betsie's help. He’s on his way to find his estranged wife, and begs Betsie to take young Sheila in.

When she agrees, Betsie's carefully planned life is shaken up again. Sheila's newfound faith is troubling to Charley--and his attraction to another girl is beginning to be a problem. But how can Betsie confront him when she is still trying to confront her own feelings about Sheila's brother, Michael? Keeping the peace between the Amish man she's always loved, a twelve-year-old Englisher girl, and a draft-dodging hippie is more than she ever thought she’d have to deal with in her simple, orderly life. Still, Betsie is convinced she can keep things from falling apart completely.

Then during her best friend's wedding, tragedy strikes and her world is upended. She has to make a decision: does she love Charley or Michael . . . or is she craving a deeper love that only God can give?

My Thoughts:  The Bachelor by Stephanie Reed is the second book in the Plain City Peace series.  I missed book one, The Bargain, but as I began reading The Bachelor, the story of Betsie Troyer, I was caught up in her Amish lifestyle.
It seems that Betsie has been gone (assuming this took place in book one) but she now knows she belongs at home in her Amish community because being with the Englischers was quite confusing to her way of thinking.  Ah! No place like home!
It seems that Betsie just wants a simple life but as others call on her for help...Gerald Sullivan asks her, well actually begs her, to take care of his daughter while he searches for his estranged wife.  And then she and Charley seem to have made promises they can't keep...does she truly love Charley when she thinks about Michael?  The quote at the top of page 133, "A woman is perturbed by what a man forgets, a man by what a woman remembers" is one of my favorite quotes out of the book...sort of/kind of sums up this read. 
Even though I didn't read book one I found this the story of Betsie and Charley interesting.  
This is a great read for all those Amish fans but you may want to read book one first just to get the whole story!

*This book was provided for review by Kregel Publications*

GREAT PRICE THIS WEEK ONLY!!
Click this LINK

• Series: Plain City Peace (Book 2)
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Kregel Publications (October 1, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0825442168
• ISBN-13: 978-0825442162

2014 Laurel Award Feature And Open Submissions for Unpublished Authors

On October 22, 2014, A Miracle of Hope won Clash of the Titles' Laurel Award. During a six-week period, the novel's first 3,500 words were read and judged by avid readers of Christian fiction who determined it to be the worthiest to receive the 2014 Laurel Award.

Clash of the Titles extends a heartfelt congratulations to author Ruth Reid for her commendable work. We wish God's abundant blessings on her future projects. 

“A Miracle of Hope quickens a reader’s heart in hope that one child’s faith will be miracle enough.” –Alan Daugherty, News-Banner columnist

About A Miracle of Hope

Lindie Wyse thinks an arranged marriage is the only way to preserve a future for herself and her unborn child. Josiah Plank is certain he’ll never love again, but he needs someone to care for his deaf eight-year-old daughter, Hannah. The two take on their arrangement tentatively at first but soon realize they are each in for more than they imagined. After a short time, Lindie experiences a breakthrough with Hannah when she recognizes the child’s special gifts, but a risky pregnancy and serious health issues threaten to demolish the foundation Josiah and Lindie are building—and the love that is growing between them.

Will their marriage survive their struggles, or will their hearts become as cold as the northern winter?

PURCHASE YOUR COPY

“A beautifully written love story, A Miracle of Hope is both heartwarming and heartbreaking and features believable, charming characters who are willing to do whatever it takes for love.” 4 stars, RT Book Reviews  

Listen to Cynthia L. Simmon's" Heart of the Matter" radio interview of Laurel Award Winner, Ruth Reid!

About Ruth:
Ruth is a CBA and ECPA best-selling author of the Heaven on Earth and Amish Wonders series. When attending Ferris State University School of Pharmacy in Big Rapids, Michigan, she lived on the outskirts of an Amish community and had several occasions to visit the Amish farms. Her interest grew into love as she saw the beauty in living a simple life. Ruth resides in Florida with her husband and three children. 

She can be reached HERE.

“…Ruth’s descriptions of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula during the winter are vivid and almost hauntingly beautiful—yet the hardship and “cabin fever” element are very real. But it’s character depth that is this story’s strength…” –Carole Jarvis, Amazon Review

Ruth's Upcoming Projects:

Her Christmas Pen Pal, a novella in An Amish Second Christmas collection released October 2014. 

A Woodland Miracle will be released in January 2015

She is currently working on book three of the Amish Wonders Series (untitled at this time; release is planned for 2016). 

****

OLYMPIA OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS!

Authors, take note! 

Clash of the Titles has opened its doors for submissions to the 2015 Olympia.

The Olympia is COTT's yearly contest for unpublished writers. The submissions are judged by their audience—readers well versed in Christian fiction yet not associated with the CBA industry.

Authors write for readers, so why not have readers be the judges?

Finalists in the contest will also have their work read and judged by three industry professionals!

With a submission fee of only $15, easy electronic submission, a bevy of prizes, and judges devoted to Christian fiction and author encouragement, the Olympia is a contest like no other.

But once our doors are open, you'll need to act quick! Slots are limited. To avoid overburdening our volunteer judges, we are limited in the number of submissions we can accept.

Submissions:

Oct. 31, 2014-Dec 12, 2014 

For more details, please visit our site.

Stay tuned for updates by 

subscribing to COTT's blog and “liking” our Facebook page.

Books!

WOW {Warm Oven Wednesday}

Easiest and BEST ever peanut butter fudge!