Audra Jennings

I need to get organized. If I was organized, maybe I wouldn't be posting a repeated song so soon. Remember that year I made the kids do a different song every single week with no repeats the entire year? That seems like ages ago now! They also started off knowing more songs for some reason. However, we've been working on our books of the Bible more.  Books of the New Testament Matthew, Mark, Luke and John Acts and the Letters to the Romans First and Second Corinthians, Galatians and Ephesians Philippians, Colossians First and Second Thessalonians First and Second Timothy, Titus and Philemon Hebrews, James First and Second Peter First and Second and Third John Jude and Revelation

I saw a post on my Facebook memory feed from three years ago. The comment was about setting up for 3 craft shows in 4 weeks. I was bemoaning starting set-up at 6:30 or 7:30 AM and ready to get back to my Saturday Rule of not getting out of bed until 9 AM. Boy, I was a wimp back then. That was when all of the events were within 5 miles of home, and we had about 1/4 (or less) of what we have now. Let me also say that 6:30 AM on a Saturday was a decent hour. I was up before 5 AM last week at least 80 miles from home. This year, it was 10 events in 11 weeks. Next Saturday, I will not be up early, I can promise you that. In fact, my room gets bright in the mornings, so I may stay in the guest room where it's really dark. This girl needs sleep!

In the days between the last two craft shows of the year, I've had about zip motivation to get anything done in the evenings. There are a few holes to fill and some orders I need to move ahead on, but this week, if it can't be done from my chair in the warm living room, I don't care! I said I was going to start going to be earlier this week, but that hasn't happened either. I've had all sorts of things to finish up. On Wednesday night after church, Rachel and I finally went out to "celebrate" my birthday which was three weeks ago. (Angie and I never did exchange birthday lunches in November which we always do. Instead, we talked about it when she went up with me last weekend to do the craft show.) I was thinking after this weekend I would get to relax, but I still have a to-do list. January is a good time to hibernate, right?

Two very different worlds collide, and Miriam and Mark begin to question if love can bring them—and their two worlds—together in Barbara Cameron’s new book,  Seeds of Hope .  Miriam Troyer has had a secret crush on Mark Byler since she was a teenager, but she knows they can never have a relationship: Mark is a big-city attorney and an Englischer. Even though Mark always loved visiting his grandfather’s farm as a boy, he’s convinced the Amish life is not for him. But when he suddenly finds himself out of a job and without direction, Mark heads back to the farm just in time to help with the harvest. Could life in this simple world be right for Mark after all? Has Miriam finally found her happily ever after? Enter to win a copy of  Seeds of Hope . Five winners will be chosen! Click the image below to enter to win. The winners will be announced December 22 on the  Litfuse blog ! {MORE ABOUT  SEEDS OF HOPE } (Gilead, November 2017) A...

Emilie and Reid both thought they knew Kaylene Adams until the police claim she’s her daughter’s murderer. Don’t miss  Imperfect Justice , the new legal thriller from Cara Putman called compelling, intelligent, and deeply satisfying.  Thrown together in a race to save Kaylene’s surviving daughter, Emily and Reid pursue the constantly evasive truth. If they can hang on to hope together, can they save a young girl—and find a future for themselves in the process? {MORE ABOUT  IMPERFECT JUSTICE } (Thomas Nelson, December 2017) The police say the woman was a murderer. Emilie Wesley knows they can’t be talking about her client . . . can they? To the world it seems obvious: Kaylene Adams killed her daughter and then was shot by police. Attorney Emilie Wesley knows a different story: Kaylene would never hurt anyone and was looking for a way out of a controlling, abusive relationship. Her death shakes Emilie’s belief that she can make a difference for ...

Part 2 of an interview with Melissa Spoelstra, Author of Total Christmas Makeover Read part 1 of Melissa's interview here. In the bustle of the Christmas season, it can be easy to get swept up in all of the things to do: decorating, cooking, socializing, and shopping. However, it is important to pause and remember the priority should be to spend time celebrating Christ’s birth and not forgetting to invite Jesus to His own party. In Total Christmas Makeover: 31 Devotions to Celebrate with Purpose (Abingdon Press), Melissa Spoelstra provides a practical approach to helping families learn what it means to truly celebrate the Savior. Q: What is a total Christmas makeover? A total Christmas makeover doesn’t mean scrapping all your holiday traditions or adding ten more to your list. Instead, it is a personal time of reflection to evaluate how your Christmas practices align with some biblical concepts of celebration. The Old Testament is filled with instructions ...

For a brief moment, I reconsidered skipping the holiday decorations, then I started unpacking all the Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday shopping I did on eBay. This only shows a portion of my current mess. It's likely to stay messy through the week because I've hit a wall.  One more craft show for the season, but I'm exhausted from all the work to prep for the two shows last week. I also have to rearrange my stacks of books to get these on the shelves and have the don't-want-tos.  I know I've complained a whole lot recently. I really do love having a bunch of events and selling lots of stuff though. I really do. I'm just going to have to do a better job next year of stockpiling finished projects over the summer. I've just never been that great with planning ahead. Actually, it's not the planning that's the issue, it's the execution! I have the same problem during the day. I plan to get all this work done... I really do have all o...