Celebrating Grandparents Day on September 8

What a God-given privilege and blessing to enjoy grandchildren.

What a God-given duty to do our best in helping to train them in the right ways.

What a God-given opportunity to share with them creative and interesting experiences.


Grandparents Day falls each year on the first Sunday after Labor Day.

There are three purposes for Grandparents Day:

• To honor grandparents
• To give grandparents an opportunity to show love to their children's children.
• To help children become aware of the strength, information and guidance older people can offer.

In 1979, Jimmy Carter proclaimed the first Grandparents Day. Part of the proclamation reads:

Grandparents are our continuing tie to the near-past, to the events and beliefs and experiences that so strongly affect our lives and the world around us. Whether they are our own or surrogate grandparents who fill some of the gaps in our mobile society, our senior generation also provides our society a link to our national heritage and traditions.

We all know grandparents whose values transcend passing fads and pressures, and who possess the wisdom of distilled pain and joy. Because they are usually free to love and guide and befriend the young without having to take daily responsibility for them, they can often reach out past pride and fear of failure and close the space between generations.

Enjoy your day, grandparents!

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How far would YOU go to avenge a daughter’s cruel death? Cara is considered rebellious and inappropriate to befriend. Dayne is the apple of Elder Simmons’ eye—until he takes a stand against their teachings. Can his prayers and love reach Cara and show her the way to redemption? Will Cara realize God’s love and forgiveness before she goes too far?

The Redemption of Caralynne Hayman is a novel of hope shining through the darkness with strong elements of suspense and romance. A Selah Award finalist and a semifinalist in the Genesis contest, this novel has close to 150 raving reviews!

Amzn Author Pg: http://amzn.to/1nFS0og 

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/

Interview with Sandra Orchard about Writing and Her Newest Book, Blind Trust...And the winner is Melanie Backus!!

by Patricia Bradley

I read Sandra Orchard's first book, a Love Inspired title - Deep Cover, in 2011 and I fell in love with her writing. I have every book she's written since then, and if you leave a comment you will be entered to win a copy of her latest, Blind Trust. Later this year we are going to be roommates in North Carolina at the Writer's Police Academy. Can't wait to see what stories come out of that! 

Tell us a bit about yourself

I’m a happily married to a man who is very supportive of my writing, although he hasn’t actually read more than a few paragraphs of it. <Grin> I’m the mother of three wonderful children that I thoroughly enjoyed homeschooling on our little hobby farm. My two youngest still live at home and my youngest daughter is a freelance writer and aspiring novelist so we have a lot of fun commiserating together when plots don’t work and celebrating when they do. My eldest daughter is married and I’ve now become one of those grandmothers. You know the kind I mean. The ones who have a gazillion pictures and shamelessly dote on them every chance they get.

 

I’ve been writing full-time since signing my first contract in 2010 and am currently drafting my tenth contracted novel. I write for Revell and Love Inspired Suspense, and do a bit of freelance content editing and speaking/teaching. I also do bookkeeping (since I did major in Math at university). And when it can’t be avoided any longer, I clean the house. Before I took up writing, most of my spare time was spent renovating our old farmhouse, so I’ve always had a good excuse for dust bunnies.  <Wink>

What is your story about?

This is the second book in a three-part series, and although each book has a standalone mystery, the romance and a suspense arcs the three books, so I highly recommend reading them in order to avoid spoilers. In this novel, herbal researcher, Kate Adams returns, and caught inadvertently passing counterfeit money while buying groceries for her elderly neighbor, she lands in the middle of another one of Detective Tom Parker’s investigations. Determined to prove her neighbor’s innocence, Kate stumbles into a pit of intrigue that is far deeper than a two-bit counterfeit operation–and that strikes too close to home for comfort. As family secrets come to light, her world–and her budding romance with Tom–begin to crumble. To Kate, it’s clear that she won’t be safe until she uncovers all of Port Aster’s secrets. But is it too late for her and Tom?

Here’s what Booklist had to say in their review:

“Orchard infuses romance with suspense and keeps the excitement coming page after page.  Readers will love the ever-deepening mystery as Kate extends her investigation and finds herself and her long-dead father tangled up in an international corporate conspiracy.”

Do you have a favorite scene in the book? If so, can you tell us a bit about it?

Yes, The opening scene. This is the second book in my Port Aster Secrets series and hero and heroine haven’t seen each other for a while. It was fun to write this “reunion” in which she’s been caught counterfeiting and he’s the officer called in. His reaction: “If you wanted to see me, you could have just called.”

Since the store security guard who made the call doesn’t know their history and believes she is a thief, I had a lot of fun with the subtext of their conversation throughout the scene.

Where did you get the inspiration for your story?

There is a lot of stuff happening in the story. One reviewer counted at least 4. But the opening mystery was inspired by a counterfeit $5 bill that turned up in the offering at my neighbor’s Ladies’ Missionary Meeting.

What are you working on now?

I’m finishing the edits on the final installment in the Port Aster Secrets series, Desperate Measures, which promises to finally uncover everyone’s secrets. I’m also writing my next Love Inspired Suspense, a paramedic story featuring the cousin of the heroes in Perilous Waters (April 2014) and Identity Withheld (Nov 2014).

Where can readers connect with you?

I’m active on Facebook at: http://www.Facebook.com/SandraOrchard and would love it if you’d “like” my page!

And although I’m taking a break for the summer, I blog on Mondays at http://www.SandraOrchard.com/blog and a bit of nosing around on the site will provide lots of things of interest to both readers and writers, including bonus features for all of my novels.

Readers are also invited to subscribe to my newsletter at: http://bit.ly/OrchardNews for news of new releases, giveaways and subscriber exclusive short stories.

Where can readers buy your book?

You can ask for it at your favorite bookstore or find it online at all the major stores. At the moment it is on sale for an especially low price in E-format. The best prices I’ve found are at Amazon and CBD.com (for Epub format which works on Nook and Kobo).

Last but not least, apart from writing, what is your favorite creative outlet?

Since taking up writing, most of my former creative outlets, which included every kind of craft you could imagine from knitting and sewing to cross-stich and jewelry making and painting, have sat untouched. So probably my most creative outlet is keeping my young grandchildren entertained.  You knew I had to come back to them, didn’t you? <grin>

 Leave a comment to be entered for a copy of Sandra's Latest book, Blind Trust. Must have a US or Canada address and at least 18 years old. Winner will be announced Sunday morning, July 20, 2014.

The Close Knit Family

By Andrea Boeshaar

This is what the Guernsey Wrap is SUPPOSED to look like...
I won't show you what mine looks like!

I'm a novice when it comes to knitting and crocheting. I did, however, manage to knit and crochet scarves for my grandchildren, my daughter-in-law, and a son's girlfriend for gifts last Christmas. But when it came to creating a Guernsey Wrap from a pattern last February, I struggled -- and it's just knitting and purling! But it's enough to get me turned inside out. So I put that project aside for now and decided to make my newly-born granddaughter, Ashelee, a blanket. It's a single crochet stitch -- and crochet goes much faster than knitting, at least for me.

And just as some handmade projects pose challenges, family dynamics can be taxing too. I adore my grandchildren. But....well, you know the old adage: A son is a son till he takes a wife but a daughter's a daughter the rest of her life. I gave birth to three sons and raised them to be independent, hard-working men not mama's boys. A pity in a sense bcause I don't see my "guys" as often as I'd like to -- which means I don't get to see my grandbabies enough either! The fact caused me a lot of pain. But as I knitted the scarves for the grandkids last year, and now as I crochet baby Ashlee's blanket, I realize that my family is just a stitch away. 

The beginning of Ashlee's blanket.

With each single crochet stitch, I think about Ashlee being snug and warm under the multicolored blanket I'm making her. I think about which songs I'll sing to her as I rock her to sleep. Maybe "I Can Sing A Rainbow" -- my mom used to sing that song to my sons when they were little.

 I think about last year's scarves keeping little pink cheeks from frostbite. With each stitch I pray my precious grandchildren will all come to know the Lord Jesus and will live to glorify Him.

Through knitting and crocheting, I've discovered a way to stitch my family and loved ones close to my heart. Then they're never too far away.