Ann, describe yourself for our visitors.

I’m a wife, mother of four, and an author. For more objectivity, I asked my family to pick some words to describe me. They said: “creative,” “fun,” “ideas,” “learner,” “a good teacher,” and “encouraging.” I do love to be creative, think, learn, and encourage others. But I wish one of the words had to do with my love of the Lord, because I seek to yield myself entirely to the Lord Himself so that everything I do, say, and think flows from and through Him.

How do you find time to connect with God?

Living a “not so fast” life helps. Because I’m not in frantic mode, I am able to sustain a pace that’s slow enough to connect with God—when we live life in overdrive, it’s much harder for our hearts and minds to turn to Him. Carving out solitude is important for me—I try for mornings, but I often journal, read Scripture and pray at night.

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In the Arms of Immortals, by Ginger Garrett from David C. Cook on Vimeo.

Linda, describe yourself for our visitors.

I am a child of God, a parent, grandparent, a writer, a voracious reader, a curriculum designer, a too-long-every-day-commuter, a good friend, an avid learner, a collector of U.S. counties and of books by and about first ladies. I love to talk, to be silent, to write, to think, to play ping pong, to take pictures and laugh. I’m a workaholic, but I love what I do, so it seems right. I am a Chicago girl through and through (yes, I’ve been a Cub fan since sixth grade.)

At age five, I told people I would someday be a pastor’s wife (like my mom) and a writer (like my dad). I grew up and did both. I was a pastor’s wife for 35 years until my husband passed away from cancer 3 years ago. I have written a couple thousand devotionals, articles and short stories. This is my 13^th book. I am senior curriculum designer of U.S. Programs for Awana which means I have written a lot of material for our clubs and teen ministries.

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Stretch Marks, by Kimberly Stuart from David C. Cook on Vimeo.

THE GREAT CHRISTMAS BOWL
by Susan May Warren

Marianne Wallace has always celebrated Christmas with her family gathered around her. It was the big deal of the year with lots of family traditions and togetherness. Marianne was just as determined to make this year rival the other years. After all, her youngest child, Kevin, was a star football player, and since her family wouldn’t make it home for Thanksgiving, she would go all out for Christmas. But things have a way of changing. A heart attack leaves the school mascot grounded, and Marianne steps in to fill in the need. Then she somehow finds herself on the church hospitality committee in charge of planning the Christmas tea, a tea she doesn’t even attend! And one by one, all Marianne’s plans come unraveled, leaving a Christmas that will change the Wallace family—and the community—forever.

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Jim, describe yourself for our visitors.

I am 50 years old.  For the last 20 years, I have lived my life as a blind person.  I’m a former national champion Olympic weightlifter, and I am president of the Emmy Award-winning Narrative Television Network which produces accessible broadcast and cable programming for the 13 million blind and visually impaired Americans and their families.  I have written 12 books.  One of them, The Ultimate Gift, was made into a major motion picture by 20^th Century Fox, and several other titles are in development for television projects or films.

How do you find time to connect with God?

I am learning more as life progresses to do as Paul said when he stated that we should “pray without ceasing.”  While I have my quiet time each morning, the boundary between my personal devotion and my daily life has diminished to a point where I hope I live my life as I pray, and I pray as I live my life.

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WHO DO I TALK TO?
by Neta Jackson

Gabby Fairbanks isn’t real sure where to turn when she returns home from resigning her job, at her husband’s request, to find out that her husband has changed the lock on the apartment, put her and her mother’s belongings outside, and took her boys off to parts unknown. Gabby is a basket case, and with no where to turn, she goes back to the homeless shelter where she used to work, but this time as a resident.

The next morning, Gabby meets with her former boss, who graciously helps Gabby out by giving her back her job and a game plan to follow to start getting her life back into order. Under her boss’s directive, Gabby visits a lawyer to see if she can get her boys back. The lawyer does much more than that, he helps Gabby to come up with a bit more of a game plan to make her case more appealing to the courts.  Like first, she’ll have to find someplace to live. No court will look favorably on a homeless person.

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JUST BETWEEN YOU AND ME
by Jenny B. Jones

Maggie Montgomery inherited her wanderlust from her mother. When she graduated from high school she packed her bags and didn’t look back. With her job as a cinematographer, she travels all over the world, but nothing would make her go home to Ivy, Texas.

Nothing, that is, except her sister.

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Designer Women
by Ruth Tuttle Conard

Ten different attributes women are designed to be are discussed in view of ten different women (groups of women) from the Bible. The author chose five from the Old Testament and five from the New Testament.
The main problem is there aren’t very many passages about any of these women. The author takes what little there is and then imposes what she thinks each woman would do in a given situation and then discusses how women were designed to do that. There are times when she really stretches it and has no basis in Scripture for most of what she says.

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