Gaines Fever Giveaway

I was late to the Chip & Joanna Gaines “Fixer Upper” phenomenon. I happened to turn on HGTV one weekend last fall when I needed some background noise while I cleaned house and a Fixer Upper marathon was on. I ended up spending more time taking breaks to watch the show than I spent on cleaning. I was hooked on the transformations this sweet couple was able to bring about on some of the most hopeless looking homes. I started watching pretty much every time I found several episodes on in a row and soon found myself wanting to visit Waco, TX. Every time I’ve mentioned this desire I’ve had multiple people express the same feeling. I even lived the trip vicariously through one friend’s Facebook posts.

For the July 4th holiday, I flew to North Carolina to see my family and the lady next to me on the plane pulled out the Magnolia Table cookbook.

I didn’t want to seem nosy, but I finally couldn’t resist asking if she’d visited the new restaurant. She hadn’t but purchased the cookbook in hopes her husband, the cook of the family, would make some of the best-sounding recipes from it during the holiday week. As I peeked at the pages during the remainder of the flight, I found the longing to visit growing, but I could probably settle with a copy of the cookbook until the weather in Texas cools off a little bit. 😆

I am part of a promotion that is giving away a copy of Joanna’s best selling cookbook,

Magnolia Table as well as a $25.00 Amazon gift card to one lucky winner!

You can earn extra entries if you

click to follow me on Instagram, authorrebekahlyn, or visit my Facebook author page..

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Marvelous Redeemer

Have you ever been shunned for your faith? Amira has in the book Aleigha Israel recently released. And that isn’t the only problem she will face in life. Find out more about the book and be sure to check out the giveaway.

About the Book

She knew the decision would change her life. But she didn’t know she’d have to fight to survive.

When Amira put her faith in Christ, she knew life wouldn’t be easy. But hiding her conversion from her Muslim family soon becomes the least of her worries.

Forced to leave the only home she’s ever known, she travels to the island of Gabeburough, trying her best to make a fresh start.

Two escaped convicts and a treasure map. A leafy paradise that becomes her home. Amira begins to wonder, where is her Redeemer when she needs Him the most?

Caleb Haddington is prince of Carpathia. Life should be perfect, but he can’t get a certain dark-haired girl out of his mind. Amira was his best friend when he lived in France, but her letters to him have suddenly stopped. Her last letter is filled with terror that her faith will soon be discovered.

Only a single hope keeps him alive; when the time is right, he’s going after her. He’ll bring her back and prove to the kingdom that he’s a man.

But the journey proves to be more perilous than he’d ever imagined.

Ridicule, comfortless days, and the threat of a hurricane are just the start of his problems.
Lying becomes easy for Caleb until his own life crumbles before him. Brought to his knees under the pressure of his actions, he comes to realize the sweetness of his Savior.

Forgiveness, grace, and mercy are granted fully to those who ask.

Caleb and Amira soon discover that they don’t just serve a gracious Savior, but a wonderful, magnificent, Marvelous Redeemer.

About the Author

ALEIGHA C. ISRAEL writer of inspirational fiction and poetry, is an author of multiple books and enjoys sharing God’s love through the powerful art of storytelling.

Her trilogy “A Light for Christ” is distributed by Grace and Truth Books and has been enjoyed by ages nine to ninety-three!

Aleigha is a Student Mentor over at the Young Writers Workshop and she’ll be quick to tell you how amazing that community is. She resides in GA with the world’s best parents, and five of the greatest siblings. When she’s not writing (or reading!) she can usually be seen working around the house, playing games with her siblings, or traveling with her family’s band, “Fret Not.”

She doesn’t have to search very hard for inspiration. Living in the Israel household, it’s guaranteed there’s an adventure waiting around every corner!

Giveaway

Aleigha is generously offering a basket of gifts including old-fashioned candies, 4 bookmarks, a pen, a paperback copy of the book, and a little bottle on a key chain.

You can enter at this LINK

Excerpts

I decided to share both excerpts as I found both to be intriguing.

#1

Amira’s voice broke as she began the childish saying she and Alayla had said since they were children; “A friend to cherish, special secrets we’ll whisper,” she waited for Alayla to finish the sentence, but the words never came.

With a heart-wrenching sob, Amira turned and walked briskly towards the direction of the village.

She didn’t know where she was going, but she was no longer safe here.

At this moment, she was completely uncertain of what the future held.

But one thing she knew for certain; her life would never be the same again.

#2

“We all mess up, and we all have troubles. None of us deserve God’s grace, but He gives it to us anyway. Because of that, I’m convinced of one thing.”

Caleb’s eyes searched the sea of faces until they landed on Amira. He sent her a smile, his eyes growing bright. “We, as humans serve the most amazing Savior. And He’s not just our Redeemer. He’s a miraculous, gracious, perfect, and marvelous Redeemer.”

Tour Schedule

May 21

Bookish Orchestrations – Intro post

Spoonful of Surprises – Book Review

May 22

Letters from Annie Douglass Lima – Book Spotlight

Jannette Fuller – Book Spotlight

May 23

Rebekah Lyn Books – Book Spotlight

Frances Hoelsema – Book Spotlight

Writings From A God Girl – Author Interview

May 24

Laurel’s Leaves – Author Interview

May 25

Rachel Rossano’s Words – Book Spotlight

May 26

Bookish Orchestrations – Giveaway winner

Finding Spring~Part 2

As I’m sure many of you have experienced. The weather this spring has been wildly unpredictable and such was the case during my entire week in North Carolina. One night we had hail, another day it was overcast, but temperatures were mild, then the next day it was snowing. While it snowed for hours, nothing was sticking on our side of the mountain, so we went over to Cherokee to see what conditions were like there.

I don’t know if I will ever get used to the difference a few feet in elevation can make. As we climbed the mountain, we started to see patches where snow was gathering and at the top there was a good inch or so covering the land. Snowplows were stationed in several strategic locations along the way, but the roads were still warm enough to keep the snow from collecting there.

For me, snow is still a novel thing so I am delighted anytime I see it. I was hoping to see some elk in the snow, but they were all hiding. I had to settle for the sheer beauty of trees covered in the fresh dusting. The ranger station and old farmstead at Oconaluftee is one of my favorite places to visit and just wander around. With the snow still coming down I had it all to myself. (Well, my mom walked out with me to take some pictures.)

I could almost smell the scent of a fire warming the homestead and picture myself curling up with a well-loved quilt to watch the snow outside the window. I have to tell you, I felt like I was in a magical wonderland and couldn’t stop taking pictures. When a cardinal landed on a wood fence rail, right next to a blazing forsythia bush with tiny piles of snow on its yellow leaves, I knew I had to capture that moment.

Amazingly, the cardinal seemed to want his picture taken and he remained still for a couple of minutes as I inched ever closer. When we returned to the car, I remembered it was on this date more than ten years ago that my grandmother passed away. I felt a little closer to her at that moment and wondered if God may have sent that cardinal to bless me.

I’m seeing more blessings in the little things in life. This encounter with the cardinal, the beauty of my fresh cut flowers, a safe journey through the snow, a warm place to relax with my family. Every day I find things to be thankful for. In some ways I feel like my spirit is experiencing its own spring, awakening from a period of dormancy. I look forward to seeing what will blossom in this new season.

Finding Spring

In Florida we tend to take spring for granted. We don’t experience the dull, brown days of winter those further north endure for months on end. Bulb based flowers, such as tulips and daffodils, which are such hallmarks of spring, don’t flourish here. Most years, the only signs of spring are a handful of trees that shed their leaves for a few weeks in late January and start budding out new growth in late February. While we have experienced more winter and spring-like weather this year, I decided I wanted to experience a taste of real spring, so I spent a week in March at my family’s home in North Carolina.

The white blossoms of the Dogwood and Bradford Pear trees drew my attention right away, a blaze of color in a landscape that still had a lot of brown waiting to awaken. I didn’t have many plans for this trip, other than enjoy the scenery and work on some editing. I spent nearly an hour my first full day, just walking around the yard, enjoying the daffodils, hyacinths, mini-grape hyacinths, and sacred heart blooms, and marveling at the various stages of growth the ofnumerous peonies. Did you know that the older the peonies plant is, the faster it grows? Some were already close to a foot tall while others were just inches out of the ground.

I arrived late on Friday, and my mom was excited to tell me about a new place where we could go pick our own tulips. We stopped by on Sunday but couldn’t tell if they were open. On Monday went back and this time saw the sign saying that they are closed on Sunday and Monday. Finally, on Tuesday, after a failed attempt to check out a new restaurant, we made it to the tulip farm.

The land was terraced with rows of tulips as well as beds of hyacinths. Some of the rows were marked off for a local resort, but there were still plenty for me to choose from. There were a couple of variations I’ve never seen before and I probably spent more time taking pictures than actually cutting flowers.

The woman who owns the place was lovely and we had a nice chat while we wrapped up my purchase. Turns out she is from Florida, too. I found myself feeling a bit envious of her second home’s bountiful beauty. With threatening clouds on the horizon, mom and I took my cheerful bouquet home and I set about editing a few chapters in my “work in progress” waiting for the storm to move in.