Sunday Words of Encouragement April 24, 2011

Is Resurrection Day real and relevant today? We hunt for eggs, give Easter baskets and wish Happy Easter, but do we stop and remember what we are really celebrating? Pastor's message today reminded us that the resurrection is not a myth but is supported by history.  The execution of Christ is historically recorded not only in the Gospels but by historians, Josephus and Tacitus. The resurrection was witnessed by an empty tomb (Matthew 28:1-15), the risen Christ was witnessed by at least 500 at one time (1 Cor 15:6) and a living Christ is witnessed by the Spirit living in the heart of believers, like me.

Without the Cross we are lost and would not know redeeming love.
Without the resurrection we are without hope and dead in our sins. (1 Cor 15: 12-18.)

This is one of the songs that we sang for our service this morning.
I particularly like it being an attorney and recognizing:
the punishment needed for crime,
the authority of the Judge,
and ultimately the pardon or paid debt.

The most wonderful thing to remember about Easter Week (from crucifixion to resurrection) is that Christ's sacrifice paid the price for us and gives us this ending for our lives:

A Verse for Today:

Mark 16:6 (New International Version, ©2011)

 ⁶ “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.

I pray today that all may know the hope and joy of Easter.

Winners: Eternal Rider, The Becoming, Woman of Honor, A Race to Splendor and Help Pick from "Won" Books

We have lots of winners tonight! CONGRATULATIONS to the Winners and thank you to everyone who entered.

Three Winners from Hachette of

Eternal Rider (Lords of Deliverance)

by Larissa Ione

Nicole, Juana and Hana

Winner of my copy

The Becoming (The Anna Strong Chronicles, Book 1)

by Jeanne C. Stern

Allie

Winner of PDF CD

Woman of Honor (Kingdom of Arnhem, Book 1)

by Nicole Zoltack

Natalie

Winner of ARC

A Race to Splendor

by Ciji Ware

mamabunny13

Winners of

Help me Pick from "won" books

KatherineA
and Rachel F who get to pick a book from the Christmas Giveaway Books, the February Love Books for Giveaway OR from the Updated review and ARC lists.

I will email winners tonight for mailing information and choice of books/bookmarks.

Enquiring Minds - Meme Week 34 PLUS Comment Giveaway + Winner

Interesting responses this past week. Thank you to everyone who participated!  Most of us do not have regular beauty salon visits - much less massage or spa visits! Do you think the fact that we are busy reading and on the internet says something about our priorities? Are we book and computer nerds who disdain fashion? LOL
Mystica reminded me that I like pedicures but I only do that about twice a year too.

The Winner from Enquiring Minds Week #33 is: #19. Jolene (who is lucky to have a sister do her hair *G*). Jolene, please pick a book from the Love Books List for Giveaway or remaining Christmas Giveaway Books and let me know your choice, your address and a choice of bookmarks if desired.

This meme is hosted by Dollycas Thoughts for Thursdays - which are hard for me to make.  The goal is to get to know our fellow bloggers and visitors better. Each week Dolly asks some questions for us to answer and then link up. I am late doing the post but I am trying to to participate as I would like to learn more about blogger and follower friends.

WEEK 34 QUESTIONS

1. What is your favorite Easter candy?

Hmmm - I had to really think what qualifies as Easter candy since it's my daughter's turn to celebrate with her kids and we don't have to do baskets anymore. :-) I like the Reece's peanut butter eggs but I think my favorite would be jelly beans.

2. Do you recycle, reuse, and reduce?

We definitely reuse around our house and reduce or conserve on power and paper etc. Having lived on boats and in the RV we have learned to minimize waste where possible. We are not so good on recycling perhaps because we rarely have aluminum cans - not too many soft drinks for us.

3. Do you have any special traditions to celebrate Easter or Earth Day?

I wish I could say we get new dresses but - nope.  I guess our biggest tradition is coloring eggs for the kids. I have to go right now and help my daughter do the eggs! We don't do anything special for Earth Day although we do get trees for Arbor day. :-)

Your turn to share: What is your favorite Easter candy? Do you recycle, reuse and reduce? Do you have special Easter or Earth Day traditions?

Enquire Comment Winners can choose a selection from  Valentine and "Love" books or the remaining Christmas Giveaway Books. 

Rules: a) Must be a follower; b) Share a comment on any (or all) of the three questions above.
Open internationally and an international winner may get a smaller book or a $5.00 GC if I decide the mailing is too much.
I will pick a Comment winner from all comments made by Friday, April 29 at 10PM central. 

Sourcebooks Celebrates the Royal Wedding!

This News Flash is in from Sourcebooks!

If you haven’t already checked out the Sourcebooks British Babes Book Brigade Facebook Page (where you can participate in giveaways and interact with authors like Elizabeth Chadwick, Jill Mansell, Helen Hollick, Sarah Bower and Phillipa Ashley and more…) then you should before next week because the page is about to go royally mad!!

The royal wedding is only a week away and we are going to be celebrating all next week. Starting Monday we will be doing a giveaway every day until the big celebration on Friday. But these are no ordinary giveaways – these are royal wedding prize packs!

3 winners will be randomly picked each day:

- The 1^st place winner will get a William & Kate wedding memento (it is top secret for now (just like Kate’s dress J) but check the page out on Monday to find out – oh and they are all different so there will be a different memento each day).  Along with that they also get their choice of three books from any of our British Book Babes. 

- The 2^nd  place winner will have their choice of any two books from any of our British Book Babes.

- The 3^rd  place winner will have their choice of one book from any of our British Book Babes.

Book Review and Giveaway Three Copies: Never a Gentleman by Eileen Dreyer

A marriage of convenience for an intrepid ugly duckling.
Never a Gentleman (The Drake's Rakes series) 
by Eileen Dreyer

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Forever (April 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780446542067
• ISBN-13: 978-0446542067
• ASIN: 0446542067

      Genre: Historical Romance
      My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0

Product Description
HE HIDES HIS TRUE COLORS . . .
Miss Grace Fairchild is under no illusions about her charms. Painfully plain, she is a soldier's daughter who has spent her life being useful, not learning the treacherous ways of the ton. She may have been caught in a scandal with society's favorite rogue, but how can she marry him when it means losing herself?

WHILE SHE HIDES HER TRUE SELF . . .
Diccan Hilliard doesn't know which of his enemies drugged him and dumped him in Grace's bed, but he does know the outcome. He and Grace must marry. To his surprise, a wild, heady passion flares between them. Yet Diccan is trapped in a deadly game of intrigue Grace knows nothing about. Will his lies destroy Grace just as he realizes how desperately he needs her? And how can he hope for a future with her, when an old enemy has set his murderous sights on them both?

Review: This one will tug at your emotions.
Grace may not be a beauty but she is a beautiful person: kind, giving, strong, courageous. She is recognized as an honorable spinster and revered by the soldiers whom she helped as she traveled the wars with her officer father. She has learned to be inwardly strong, self dependant and not to reveal her emotions or her dreams.

Unexpected circumstances land Grace in bed with the impeccable Diccan who is a government diplomat known in ton circles as “The Perfection.” He has always been kind to Grace but she knows he doesn’t want to marry her. But Diccan is trapped in espionage that requires he retain his honor and marry the gray wren.

Diccan doesn’t expect to feel any attraction to Grace and is surprised to discover that he enjoys her company especially when they ride together and share time as she gains confidence in herself. They even share a passionate night that engages them both. But Diccan cannot allow any outward affection to show or his enemies will use her against him. So he distances himself and allows his espionage duties to put him back in the arms of his former mistress. He ignores the humiliation and difficulties Grace faces as she first tries to maneuver in a society that rejects her and then scorns and pities her as well.

I am not a fan of infidelity so the blatant relationship with the mistress bothered me and made it hard for me to always like Diccan. There is also a very strong voyeuristic scene where Grace is put in a position to watch her husband and his mistress. That was difficult to get through because of the pain I felt for Grace. The author does an excellent job of evoking heartache for Grace and pride in her strength.  Even if I wasn’t sure I agreed with her actions, they played well in the story and ultimately allowed sorrow and acceptance for Diccan’s character. I think it is hard sometimes to understand the 19th century position of women as property.

The story moves along quickly with many interesting side characters adding to the fullness. The mystery flows through the entire story with some surprising revelations.  At the end the conspiracy remains to continue in the next book which will tell the story of Grace’s fiery friend and Diccan’s cousin, Kate.

xxx

Thank you to Hachette for this book to read and for providing THREE copies for giveaway.

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY: 

1. Visit the Author's website and tell me something you found interesting;
This is required for entry.
Make sure you leave your e-mail address!

2.  For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.

3. For two entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.
(Four total entries possible.) MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE YOUR E-MAIL!

THERE WILL BE THREE WINNERS!

* This contest is only open to residents of US and Canada.

* No P.O. Boxes Please - for shipping reasons.

* Limit one win per household.

* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on May 6, 2011.
The winners will be randomly selected from all entries.