Audra Jennings

An interview with Wally Armstrong, author of Practicing the Presence of Jesus Although professional golfer Wally Armstrong had pursued a relationship with Jesus for over 35 years, he always sensed that there was something missing. As Armstrong puts it, there's a big difference between believing something is true and experiencing something as real. In Practicing the Presence of Jesus: Experience the Gift of His Friendship (Summerside Press, October 2012, ISBN 978-1-60936-702-2, $12.99), Armstrong shares his personal journey of discovering Jesus as a real companion and true friend. Q: You write about a deep spiritual hunger that led you on a pursuit to experience a closer relationship with Jesus. Was there any one event that awakened the hunger? There has always been a deep desire to be an authentic believer and pursue a closer relationship with Jesus. He just seemed so unapproachable for many years. I didn't fe

Most of us fear something irrational. Or maybe with good reason. I dare say that my new fear is unique. Two or three weeks ago, Rachel and I were walking around my neighborhood. As we were walking along, we walked beneath a tree where a squirrel was chattering its head off. I'm going to venture as far as to say this squirrel was "screaming." I looked up, ducked around in a funny side step and said, "I don't want that squirrel to fall onto my head." At this point, I'm pretty sure Rachel thought I was a few nuts short of a bushel. Some people I know were a little bit behind us, and I'm pretty sure they thought the same thing. On Sunday as I drove over to my parents' house after church, a squirrel was crossing a power line as my car drove under. I thought, "if that squirrel were to fall off and onto my car, I bet it would make a dent." It made its way across. I don't know why I've had such a thing about falling squirrels lately

And so the adventure of cooking my Pinterest "I wish someone would cook this for me" board begins. I got this recipe from a pinner and her blog  High Heels & Grills . This, my friends is 8 Can Taco Soup . I don't know who the original recipe creator was, but I approve! Ingredients: 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed 1 (15 oz.) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed 1 (14.5 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes, drained 1 (15.25 oz.) can sweet corn, drained 1 (12.5 oz.) can white chicken breast, drained 1 (10.75 oz.) can cream of chicken soup 1 (10 oz.) can green enchilada sauce 1 (14 oz.) can chicken broth 1 packet taco seasoning I couldn't find anything that said green enchilada sauce. Or anything that looked like I thought green enchilada sauce, so I bought the salsa verde. I was kind of scared about how hot it was going to be as i poured green pepper seeds into the crock pot. I posted this picture pre-stir. Some people said yummy.

Me and my frozen dinner self decided to actually cook some of the recipes from my "I wish someone would cook this for me" board. Wishing obviously didn't do much for me. The result this far was giving up my usually long afternoon of snoring on the couch. I printed recipes, made an extensive grocery list, spent forever and lots of money in the store, then forever making room in the fridge, freezer and cabinet to put my groceries. I have four varieties of cream cheese now. Seriously. Hopefully, it will be several weeks before I go back. (I hate going to the grocery store that much.) Except for milk. The gallons of skim milk on the shelf had a date of two days ago. Brookshires needs to check their shelves. I checked dates on most everything I bought because I have bought expired food lately. And yes, I realize how terribly boring my weekends are to blog about this. The only other thing I have to blog about is how Rachel and I chummed up with 11 year old Thomas at

Yes, that is a group of guys dressed as Elvis driving mini motorcycles. This was Waxahachie today.

Celebrate the release of At the Feet of Jesus with Joanna Weaver by entering to win an iPad and RSVPing for the "True Life" Webcast Event on 11/8! One blessed winner will receive: An iPad The Year in Bethany Trilogy (Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, Having a Mary Spirit and Lazarus Awakening  At the Feet of Jesus  for YOU and Five of your friends. Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on November 7th. Winner will be announced at the "True Life" Live Webcast Event on November 8th . Connect with author Joanna Weaver and her special guest for an evening of encouragement, laughter and a Q&A! There will also be gift certificates and books given away to participants. So grab your copy of At the Feet of Jesus (or one of Joanna's other books) and join Joanna on evening of November 8th for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the books - don't let that stop you

An interview with Janice Thompson, Author of Queen of the Waves This year marks the hundredth Anniversary of the Titanic ’s maiden and only voyage, yet the passing of time has done little to diminish our fascination with the “queen of the ocean” or our love of stories set upon the ill-fated ship. This fall Summerside Press’ new American Tapestries™ line of historical romance novels will set sail with the release of Queen of the Waves (Summerside Press/October 2012/ISBN: 978-1-60936-685-8/$12.99) , a story of love and destiny by Janice Thompson . She shares more about how her latest release is different from anything she has done in the past and the unique challenges to writing about an event as historic as the sinking of the Titanic in the interview below. Q: You are one of the first two authors to release a book in the American Tapestries series. How did you become involved in the project? My agent asked me to put together a story idea focused on the Titanic. I’m

We are so technology and convenience dependent that getting a new phone ranks among the biggest pains in the neck there is. So what if part of the keys at the bottom of my less than two year old BlackBerry Torch weren't lighting up? So what if I couldn't get Instagram or Words with Friends on the Torch? I liked the keyboard that slid out of the touch screen and it was broken in. What I did care about is making a two minute phone call with a charged battery, then getting cut off. I couldn't call 9-1-1 if I had to. I bought a new Android. I refuse to pay for an iPhone when I could buy a refurbished Android for $9.99 and if I don't like it, I can pay more later. Regardless of what phone you buy, the transfer to a new phone is horrendous. If I wanted to save my contacts to transfer, I was going to have to go and save each one on to my SIM card because they were saved on the phone. Smartphone makers should be smarter than that. Make the contacts save on the SIM car

An interview with Melanie Dobson, Author of Where the Trail Ends     Many events in our country’s history have shaped us into the nation we are today—countless stories of brave men and women giving up the lives they knew in hopes of making better ones for their families. Sometimes they lost everything they owned to build this nation, but in the midst of their losses, many of them discovered faith and love. Life was especially difficult along the Oregon Trail, as depicted in Where the Trail Ends by Melanie Dobson (Summerside Press/October 2012/ISBN: 978-1-60936-686-5/$12.99) , one of two debut releases in Summerside Press’ new American Tapestries™ line of historical romance novels. Melanie Dobson’s writing has allowed her to travel to and explore many locales around the country, but she was excited that Where the Trail Ends allowed her to stick closer to home. “Our family moved to Oregon six years ago, and I’ve been intrigued by the unique history of this state ever since,

Celebrate the release of The Memory Jar  with author Tricia Goyer by entering her Amish Kindle Gift Pack Giveaway and RSVPing to her Facebook party on November 7th .   (And be sure to catch the fun video trailer or try your hand at one of the simple, keepsake crafts Tricia has put together on her website.) One fortunate winners will receive: A brand new Kindle Fire Custom-made Memory Jar Kindle Cover Amish-made decorative items {Wall hanging, horse/buggy and Amish houses} The Memory Jar {Be swept away by this captivating series.} Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on November 6th. Winner will be announced at the "Memory Jar Author Chat Party on 11/7 . Connect with Tricia for an evening of book chat, Amish trivia, and a live video chat! There will also be a chance to win gift certificates, books, and other fun prizes! So grab your copy of The Memory Jar and join Tricia on the evening of the November 7th for a chance to

Have you picked up your copy of Susan May Warren's latest offering in her beloved Deep Haven series, You Don't Know Me . Susan is celebrating with a $200 Weekend Getaway Giveaway and hosting a fun video Author Chat Party on December 12 (the chat on 10/23 is being rescheduled)!   One fortunate winner will receive: A $200 Visa Gift Card (Use that to catch up with a loved one and “Get to Know” your spouse, friend, sister, mom…whomever!) The entire set of Deep Haven Books Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on October 22nd. Winner will be announced at the ”You Don’t Know Me” Author Chat Facebook Party on 12/12.  Connect with Susan for an evening of book chat, Deep Haven trivia, and a live video chat! There will also be info about Susan’s BookShout read-along and a chance to win gift certificates, books, and other fun prizes! So grab your copy of You Don’t Know Me and join Susan on the evening of the December 12 for a chance