Love is a Powerful Emotion: A Devotion

God is love, 

and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, 

and God in him.

I John 4:16b

I'm always looking for ways to show my love to my family and friends.

It not only gives them happiness and joy (I hope),

but it also gives me satisfaction and peace

to know I've again shown I love them.

So...

recently I saw this picture:

and decided immediately to do this for my youngest grandson's

class for Valentine's Day.

I wanted to make sure it would be okay with him (Jonathan).

I sent him the picture and asked if he'd like me to make these for his class.

He faced timed with me and emphatically declared,

YES! 

I said, but what if some didn't like applesauce?

No, he assured me, everyone in his class liked applesauce.

Now, whether he really knows or not,

his enthusiasm gave me the answer.

This week I'm gathering the materials for this simple project 

and plan on delivering the Valentine Applesauce cuties

to him when its time.

How I love that boy!

But even more so, 

how God loves me.

A fumbling, mistake-making,

sometimes selfish, sometimes hesitant

sometimes asking forgiveness

person I am,

and...

God loves me.

And that's

 enough.

***

About Carole:

Besides being an active participant in many writing groups, Carole is an award-winning author and enjoys mentoring beginning writers. She loves to weave suspense, tough topics, romance, and whimsy into her books and is always on the lookout for outstanding titles and catchy ideas. She and her husband reside in SE Ohio but have ministered and counseled nationally and internationally. Together, they enjoy their grandsons, traveling, gardening, good food, the simple life, and did she mention their grandsons? 

Personal blog: http://sunnebnkwrtr.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CaroleBrown.author

Amazon Author Page:  http://www.amazon.com/Carole-Brown/e/B00EZV4RFY/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1427898838&sr=8-1

BookBub:  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/carole-brown

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/browncarole212

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sunnywrtr/boards/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5237997-carole-brown

Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/carole-brown-79b6951a?trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile

Stitches in Time:  http://stitchesthrutime.blogspot.com

A Devotion: It's All About Love

    The Lord your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love, 
he will rejoice over you with singing.

 Zephaniah 3:17

What beautiful words of inspiration!

Let's talk a little about these words.

"The Lord your God is with you"

What wonderful assurance

BUT...

there's a condition.

The Lord YOUR God is with you.

You must be God's child.

"he is mighty to save"

Not just "he will save you"

but...

"He is MIGHTY to save."

He has the power, the strength to do so.

We can stay confident in what he promises,

that he will do and has abundantly the ability to do so.

"He will take great delight in you"

Why?

Because it pleases him to do so. 

It gives him joy to love you.

That, you can rest upon.

"he will quiet you with his love"

His love is so abundant and assured,

we can rest in his words.

No matter the turmoil in our lives,

in the world,

If we are his child,

His love is there,

forever,

with no end.

"He will rejoice over you with singing"

In fact, he so loves us that he rejoices by singing

He's so filled with joy at our love for him

that he bursts into song!

Can anything be better than knowing our God loves us so very much?

***

LOVE to Read?

I have a giveaway offer for you!

I'll be posting twice this month on Stitches through Time.

Just comment on both posts,

and I will choose one person to receive a Kindle copy of their choice of

one of my Appleton, WV Romantic Mysteries. 

(Sabotaged Christmas,

Knight in Shining Apron,

Undiscovered Treasures,

Toby's Troubles)

Here's the link to check them out:

https://www.amazon.com/Carole-Brown/e/B00EZV4RFY/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1492661357&sr=1-1

About Carole:

Besides being an active participant in many writing groups, Carole is an award-winning author and enjoys mentoring beginning writers. She loves to weave suspense, tough topics, romance, and whimsy into her books and is always on the lookout for outstanding titles and catchy ideas. She and her husband reside in SE Ohio but have ministered and counseled nationally and internationally. Together, they enjoy their grandsons, traveling, gardening, good food, the simple life, and did she mention their grandsons? 

Personal blog: http://sunnebnkwrtr.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CaroleBrown.author

Amazon Author Page:  http://www.amazon.com/Carole-Brown/e/B00EZV4RFY/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1427898838&sr=8-1

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/browncarole212

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sunnywrtr/boards/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5237997-carole-brown

Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/carole-brown-79b6951a?trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile

Google+:    https://plus.google.com/u/0/113068871986311965415/posts

Word Sharpeners: https://wordsharpeners.wordpress.com/

Stitches in Time:  http://stitchesthrutime.blogspot.com/

Loving is Forgiving

The Real Meaning of Christmas...

is the giving of love every day.

Has anyone ever hurt you so badly, you felt crushed inside? 

I have.

Earlier this year, someone I love dearly, hurt me so much that I felt my heart was being crushed in sorrow, the false insistence inside me clamored loudly that it was a burden so heavy I'd never get over it. 

But God... He came to my rescue with his perfect wisdom:  Hold steady and believe. I have this.

My spirit reached out for those words of love and steadiness from my Savior. I clung to those even when the doubts and fear tried to overwhelm me. When I felt I was sinking in the waves of despair that things would never be right again. 

One month passed, then two. I wasn't at all sure things would ever get better. But God's words to me still rang in my mind:  Hold steady and believe. I have this. 

Then one day a text came. No asking for forgiveness. No admittance of the wrong.

But my heart bounded. They may not have admitted the wrong they'd committed. They may not

have spoken a request for forgiveness, but my love for this person abounded. I read behind the scenes and knew what was going one.

God's love through me was forgiving...

This month--December--the month we celebrate Christ's entrance into the world means even more to me today because of the hardships I've gone through. Because of those hurting times, my trust has grown, my faith in God has strengthened, my love for Him has increased. He has taught me forgiveness even when I didn't want to.

For God so loved the world (the many people who would reject him) 

that he gave his only begotten son (Could you? Could I do that? Deep thought!) 

that whosoever (anyone! everyone!) 

believeth in Him (not riches, not other people, not a position or wealth or knowledge, but God!) should not perish, but have everlasting (forever and forever!) 

life (abundant!) 

John 3:16. 

And as the brief lines of the Christmas tune above convey:

The real meaning of Christmas...

is love, 

for when we love, we forgive! 

Question: Have you ever forgiven even when no apology has been forthcoming? 

A love-filled Merry Christmas is wished for you, my friends! 

About Carole:

Besides being an active participant in many writing groups, Carole is an award-winning author and enjoys mentoring beginning writers. She loves to weave suspense, tough topics, romance, and whimsy into her books and is always on the lookout for outstanding titles and catchy ideas. She and her husband reside in SE Ohio but have ministered and counseled nationally and internationally. Together, they enjoy their grandsons, traveling, gardening, good food, the simple life, and did she mention their grandsons? 

Personal blog: http://sunnebnkwrtr.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CaroleBrown.author

Amazon Author Page:  http://www.amazon.com/Carole-Brown/e/B00EZV4RFY/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1427898838&sr=8-1

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/browncarole212

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sunnywrtr/boards/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5237997-carole-brown

Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/carole-brown-79b6951a?trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile

Google+:    https://plus.google.com/u/0/113068871986311965415/posts

Word Sharpeners: https://wordsharpeners.wordpress.com/

Stitches in Time:  http://stitchesthrutime.blogspot.com/

My Hope Next Door

My Hope Next Door

by Tammy L. Gray

This romance sucked me in right away. The proverbial preacher’s kid gets mixed up with the bad girl in town. But this almost-cliché is not what it might seem. I love how the author shows the depth of struggle in both characters. The bad-girl who wants to be good, and the good-guy who lost his reputation help each other discover more about the God who created them both, and who continues to draw them each near to Himself.

It’s a beautiful story about second chances and becoming the person God wants us to be. It addresses the difference between caring what others think, and caring for others. It’s about miscommunication, lack of communication, and communicating truth to the ones we care most about.

I love the ins and outs of this budding relationship, the uncovering of secrets from the past, and the handling of guilt. I think everyone can relate to this story on some level – because we’ve all been the bad girl and we’ve all been the goody-two-shoes for at least a moment, if not years at a time. It’s about the wrongs others dish out to us, and forgiveness, whether they are sorry or not. More than anything, it’s about how we love.

Highly recommend! No wonder this title won the Rita award! The author’s style is so pleasing - the story is easy to read, and the characters still linger in my mind. What’s great about that? Well, she wrote another book with some of the same characters! Yay! My Unexpected Hope is the next one.

Do you have a favorite bad-girl character? How about a preacher's kid character? Leave us a comment to be entered to win A Flute in the Willows by Stitches author, Carole Brown.

Jennifer Fromke writes from NC, where she pines for colder temperatures all year long. Northerners by upbringing, she and her husband of 26 years have raised three Southern-ish children. Jennifer reviews books at Shetalksbooks.com and you can download a free short story from her website when you sign up for her newsletter at jenniferfromke.com