Falling in Love on the Diamond Mine with Giveaway

LoRee Peery Introduces the Mine

to

A Boxed Set about Love

(BOOK GIVEAWAY)

see details after interview

CAPTIVE AT SEA by Mary MannersClaire Mulvaney’s benevolent spirit has her biting off more than she can chew when she spearheads a charity fishing event to raise funds for Winding Ridge’s overcrowded animal shelter and is forced to call on fishing expert Sean Maguire.Sean blames himself for his brother’s death. He spends his days in mourning and when Claire turns to him for help, he chases her off with gruff words meant to fortify his distance from the pain that has taken hold of his soul. But the enchanting woman with emerald eyes captivates, and Sean soon finds himself drawn to her warm-hearted enthusiasm.
 
NEVER THE TWAIN by Delia LathamHollywood agent Cass Townsend makes a more-than-satisfactory living helping talented “wannabe” actors become stars.Thanks to a twin brother who made it big in Hollywood and then estranged himself from his family, rugged Texas horse rancher Ryder Hayes sports oversized chips on both very broad shoulders toward celebrities. He’s not convinced any good at all can come out of Hollywood.She’s prim and proper to a fault. He’s fun-loving, with a streak of pure mischief. Ryder’s a good man, but not a Christian—not by a Texas mile. Cass can’t remember missing a single Sunday service since childhood. They’re the epitome of polar opposites and never the twain shall meet…or so the saying goes.

FULLY COMMITTED by Dora HiersReceiving a Dear Rand email while serving his country didn’t douse the fire in Rand Tenneson’s heart for his high school sweetheart. Fully committed, nothing quenched that love, not even news that Bryanna married. Back home now, Rand enjoys a busy life, firefighting and clowning around with patients at the children’s hospital. But a chance run-in with his ex-girlfriend, now a widow, rekindles that spark. God put her back in his life for a reason, and he vows to be there for her.Ten years ago, Bryanna Fenwick shattered two hearts, hers and Rand’s. But the Navy SEAL, deployed across the world, couldn’t rescue her from the real fear she faced at home. She made a choice and lived the lie for a decade. When Rand discovers the truth, she fears she’s hurt the handsome firefighter yet again and destroyed her relationship with her daughter. Can God’s grace overcome such a ginormous lie? Has He brought them back together for a second chance at love or only to reveal the truth?

WITHOUT A SONG by LoRee PeeryStill reeling from the loss of her husband, young widow Roni Marsden resolves to be strong for her precocious daughter. Invited to stay on the cleansing hills of her friend’s Nebraska ranch, she tries to figure out the next step. Should she leave Norfolk? Could she find work?Songwriter Dawson Bennett returns home to his brother’s ranch when the production company for his first album goes bust. He searches his heart for new songs he's unable to write. Even as he seeks direction for his career, he attempts to mend the past with his elderly father. Back in high school, Dawson had crushed on the lovely Roni when she dated his brother. Those emotions are reawakened when he discovers Roni and her daughter at the ranch. Protective feelings for the child, as well as for a stray pup that arrives on the scene, work together to soften his bitterness. Will these connections enable him to write lyrics that honor God?

AUTUMN LOVES by Tanya StoweTwo years after her husband’s tragic death, middle-aged widow Rylie Thornton struggles to raise her three sons while keeping the family business in the black. As the lush colors of her favorite season display, she finds herself struggling. Brain surgeon Micah Haden, on a rare break from his demanding profession, finds his sister’s friend a lovely mystery. He’s happy to help Rylie and her boys prepare for an upcoming autumn event. Why can’t she accept his offer with a little more grace? Is there a chance he could become one of Rylie's treasured Autumn Loves?

Amazon link: https://tinyurl.com/y7jzldt8

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Christian romance author LoRee Peery writes to feel alive, as a way of contributing, and to pass forward the hope of rescue from sin. She writes of redeeming grace with a sense of place. LoRee clings to I John 5:4 and prays her family sees that faith. She has authored the Frivolities Series and other e-books. Her desire for readers, the same as for her characters, is to discover where they fit in this life journey to best work out the Lord’s life plan. She is who she is by the grace of God: Christian, country girl, wife, mother, grandmother, sister, friend, and author. She’s been a reader since before kindergarten.

Connect with LoRee through these links:

www.loreepeery.com

Pelican Book Group: http://tinyurl.com/kwz9enk

https://twitter.com/LoreePeery

https://www.facebook.com/LoReePeery

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Please welcome my friend, LoRee Peery to the Diamond Mine. She let me know the other day that she's releasing (as well as a couple other friends of mine!) a book within a boxed set. I couldn't wait to let y'all know about it so I invited her to share a few things about it here on the Diamond Mine.

What do you say we get started?

Renee: Hi, LoRee, welcome to the Mine! I'm excited about this new release you have coming out but first things first. Can you explain what a "boxed set" is for those out there in the reader world who may not know what it may be?

LoRee: Thanks, Renee, I'm glad to be here. Of course, I will! A boxed set is a selection of novellas written by a group of authors, usually with something in common. I first saw these collections offered on Amazon as Christmas sets. In this case, the theme is falling in love during the autumn season.

Renee: I've seen several of these out there. I'm sure many readers have too. I've written novellas that have been included in series but not boxed sets. At least...not yet. LOL If you don't mind me asking, how did you come to contribute to this particular set?

LoRee: I am so human. Sometime last year, I petulantly remarked to a friend how much I’d like to take part in a collection but had never been asked.

In February of this year, I was invited to join a group of authors whom I knew online through our publisher. At the time, I had one idea for my next project, a novel-length story. I responded that I’d pray.

I'd seen her email at 5:00 on a Wednesday evening and on the way to choir, during rehearsal, and on the drive home, the title, premise, and location came to mind.

Yep, I knew it was a God-thing.

Renee: You know what they say...be careful what you ask for! LOL You said that your publisher put this thing together. Is that how you came to work with these authors or did you know each other before that?

LoRee: Well, my publisher indirectly was involved. She introduced us! But no, Pelican wasn't the lead on this one. The email came from Mary Manners, a great author and friend. I knew three of the other four authors from early-on following my first release. We did a common-themed short-short story for a blog, if I remember correctly. I learned to respect them all through social media, appearing on their blogs, praying for one another, and reading their stellar stories. Three of us, well, four including you, Renee, met in June this year in Deadwood, South Dakota at Wild Deadwood Reads for the first time. I like to think we're friends more than co-workers.

Renee: I do too. It's amazing what the Christian writer world is like. We become friends but can still remain honest with one another. I guess that's what most writers are like especially if we're critique partners! I guess that's also why we can write forthright reviews too. We expect nothing else but love and truth from one another. Was writing for a "boxed set" different than writing a "solo" book?

LoRee: This was an independently-published book so I was a little nervous about not having an editor involved (I’m a firm believer we all need expert opinions and proofreaders). These women are seasoned and I discovered a couple have outstanding editing skills. But we had simple guidelines regarding a common theme by the one who planned and invited us all, and willingness to meet deadlines by supplying what’s required for the author putting us up on Amazon. Above all, the freedom to write my own story has been exciting.

Renee: Would you do it again? 

LoRee: Oh yes. This has been rewarding. I’ll just add that I see the project as nothing but God's blessing and I hope I’m invited to participate in another collection.

Renee: Thanks for introducing us to this boxed set called Fall in Love and all of these authors, LoRee. I'm so happy you could join us on the Diamond Mine. I hope you can return soon!

___________________________

BOOK GIVEAWAY

PRINT COPY OF

LOREE PEERY'S WITHOUT A SONG

(available upon release)

Enter giveaway by commenting on this blog post only.

All eligible entries must include name and valid email address.

One winner will be selected by random draw and notified via email on 8/01/2018.

Prize awarded shall be one print copy of LoRee Peery's novella Without a Song (available upon release) and mailed to winner's mailing address provided upon contact by author.

Only USA residents eligible to enter.

_______________________________

Rough Diamond Miner:

Renee loves to read and write. She's been penning her stories since junior high school. From the sonnets of her poetry to short stories, they've found their way to the page. She wrote her first short story on the way to her grandparent's house, calling it Comanche Sky.

A pharmacist by trade, she's currently disabled and fights to regain her footing in order to once again serve the folks of Wyoming. However, she loves to pen her Christian tales. A romantic suspense author with a flare of mystery, she likes to keep things interesting. "Never a dull moment," as she likes to say.

To discover more about this exciting author and her books, join her Reader's Lodge on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/474728079355449/ as well as her Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/ChristianbooksReneeBlare/.

She loves to connect with her readers and fans and is active on social media in addition to her blog, Wyoming Walkabouts. In addition to the Facebook sites, you can contact her on the following:

Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram.

The Mine Discovers More than Just a Book with Christine Lindsay (Giveaway)

Christine Lindsay

Please welcome Christine Lindsay to the Diamond Mine! She’s telling us all about her latest release, Finding Sarah, Finding Me. This is a special book for her and we’re going to find out why. I can’t wait! You can even win a copy of this great book…check out the giveaway at the end of the interview. Let’s get started!

Renee: Hello, Christine, welcome to the Diamond Mine, can you tell us how you came up with the idea for your book?

Christine: Thanks, Renee, I’m so happy to be here. I wanted to tell the true-life story of giving up my baby girl to adoption since the very day I relinquished her in 1979 and of our heart-breaking reunion 20 years later. But as time went by I wanted to tell not just my story, but other people’s adoption reunion stories as well so that the issues of adoption and reunion could be looked at from different angles. People are made up of such different emotional stuff. We can’t all be expected to feel the same in shared situations. I had to learn to respect the emotions of my daughter’s adoptive parents when their emotions were so vastly different from mine regarding the reunion. Everyone has a right to their emotions.

The Reunion

Renee: That sounds like a powerful topic and such a personal one. I can understand why you’d want to write it. How did you pick your title?

Christine: My working title for this book was originally Just Like Hannah because so many of the people in the book referred to their adoption experience—whether they were an adoptive mother or a woman who struggled with infertility, or me as a birth-mom—as “just like Hannah.”

But my publisher suggested the title Finding Sarah, Finding Me because that is the main theme of my personal story—finding my true identity in Christ while I was searching for a love relationship with the child I relinquished.

One other thing you might want to know about this book—100% of author royalties will be donated to the Mukti Mission in India. If you want to know the special reason for this, you’ll have to read the book.

Renee: Well that’s a teaser isn’t it, folks? LOL You have a very giving soul, Christine. On a more professional note, what’s easiest about writing for you?

Christine's daughter, Sarah

Christine: Strangely, I find it easy to be transparent in all I write and when I speak in public. Perhaps that’s because I had to live with a secret for so many years that I felt such freedom when that secret was revealed to the world. My secret was having a baby out of wedlock and keeping that secret for almost 20 years before I could even tell my kids that I later had with my husband. But that was the way things were done back then. I felt that I was living but people didn’t know the real me. I didn’t even know the real me.

So with that background as the inspiration for all I write, I find it easy to delve into those deep human issues and emotions that affect our lives and show us our great need for God.

Renee: Secrets can be destructive. They can cause a lot of pain. How long have you been writing and why did you start?

Christine: That’s a long-held secret for sure. That and my desperate need to tell others that I had another child. I wanted so badly to write that book about my reunion with my birth-daughter shortly after the reunion in 1999, and I completed that manuscript, but no doors to the publishing world opened at that time. That was when I felt the Lord urge me to put the spiritual and emotional healing I had received from my birth-mother experience into Christian fiction to hopefully help others.

That was the beginning of my Christian Fiction career. Then 16 years later, and after the publication of 6 successful novels, my publisher wanted to release my non-fiction book. Finding Sarah, Finding Me is a very different book from the one I wrote all those years earlier though. There was so much to learn, mostly about who I was in Christ and how He used my heartache to draw me to himself in a deeper love relationship.

Renee: How has your life changed over the years in other respects? Do you have any fun hobbies or activities you like to do?

Christine: I’m a grandmother of 5 grandsons, and just two days ago my first granddaughter was born. So I love to spend time entertaining my grown kids and their children. I love to make our home an oasis for our kids to come and relax, so I work on my garden and outside living area as well as making the house as cozy as I can. Cooking large family meals around the holidays and decorating too are what inspire me.

We know you’re a Christian, so I have a couple of quiz questions for you. If you were at a party, what would you do?

I like to meet new people and make them feel welcome. So I’ll go up to strangers and start a conversation, get them to tell me about themselves and their lives. It’s great to see people’s faces light up when someone takes an interest in them.

Oh, you’re bolder than me. I’m not as shy as I used to be, but it’s still hard for me to approach strangers. LOL Has God ever told you NOT to do something you wanted to do?

For sure. He definitely told me back in 2000 that I was not to publish my birth-mother story in a non-fiction format. He wanted me to wait on that book until He had taught me all the deep things of the heart about my daughter being someone else’s daughter. He wanted me to see the situation from their point of view, and that took time. It took time for the heartache to be healed so that I could see things from the Lord’s perspective, and thereby write that story the way He wanted it written.

Thanks for joining us at the Diamond Mine, Christine. It’s been a pleasure and I know your book will be a success!

____________________________________________

I hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know more about Christine Lindsay! She’s also offering a digital copy of her new book, Finding Sarah, Finding Me.

To Enter, simply ask her a question about the interview or leave a comment on the following:

Who taught you the love of God?

(Leave your name and email address with your comment or question to validate your entry. Minimum of five comments required. One winner will be selected by random draw on 9/21/2016)

_________________________________________ 

About Finding Sarah, Finding Me:

Sometimes it is only through giving up our hearts that we learn to trust the Lord.

Adoption. It’s something that touches one in three people today, a word that will conjure different emotions in those people touched by it. A word that might represent the greatest hope…the greatest question…the greatest sacrifice. But most of all, it’s a word that represents God’s immense love for his people.

Join birth mother Christine Lindsay as she shares the heartaches, hopes, and epiphanies of her journey to reunion with the daughter she gave up...and to understanding her true identity in Christ along the way.

Through her story and glimpses into the lives of other families in the adoption triad, readers will see the beauty of our broken families, broken hearts, and broken dreams when we entrust them to our loving God.

Amazon (Paper and Kindle)

Barnes and Noble

About Christine Lindsay:

Christine Lindsay is the author of multi-award-winning Christian fiction with complex emotional and psychological truth, who always promises a happy ending. Tales of her Irish ancestors who served in the British Cavalry in Colonial India inspired her multi-award-winning series Twilight of the British Raj, Book 1 Shadowed in Silk, Book 2 Captured by Moonlight, and explosive finale Veiled at Midnight.

Christine’s Irish wit and use of setting as a character is evident in her contemporary and historical romances Londonderry Dreaming and Sofi’s Bridge.

A busy writer and speaker, Christine, and her husband live on the west coast of Canada. Coming August 2016 is the release of her non-fiction book Finding Sarah—Finding Me: A Birthmother’s Story.

Please drop by Christine’s website www.ChristineLindsay.org or follow her on Amazon on Twitter. Subscribe to her quarterly newsletter, and be her friend on Pinterest , Facebook, and  Goodreads

GUEST BLOGGER! Cheryl's Farm Fresh Wisdom~Ya Did What with a Goat??!!

We welcome back my overall-clad friend, Cheryl, who's full of farm fresh wisdom with a Godly flair. You won't BELIEVE what's she's up to this time!!! Put down yer book and pull up a bale of straw, greenhorns. You're about to be schooled on the fine art of animal revival, and we ain't at church! If I'm lying, I'm a dying! Take a gander at Cheryl's jawing.

    

Cheryl:   After receiving 8” of snow on Mar. 3rd, I was relieved that my son, Matthew, had no school. Finally finished all of the regular daily chores which took three times longer considering the massive accumulation of snow. Being quite tired, cold and wet, I was happy to get in the house even if it was 7:45 p.m.  Just as I had peeled the last bit of wet clothing off, my phone rings.

   “Mom, hurry! Come out here and help me! There’s a new baby goat and it looks real bad!”

   I quickly re-dress and out I go. Upon inspection, the newborn has it’s foot wedged and stuck in a deer stand, its mouth full of dirt and mud. It’s gurgling and freezing.

      My long day just got longer. 

     The mother just stood there in the distance, looking confused. Matthew and I grab the fragile 2 pound mass of screaming kid and sweep it away to our warm home. Once inside, we immediately try to clear the airway since the baby is struggling to breathe. Holding a newborn upside down with a slight swing usually clears the airway. Not this time! This baby stops breathing completely. I clean out more mud from its mouth, frantically patting it like burping a baby with no results.

   Yikes. I now hold a limp baby.

   I clean the mouth, cover nose and mouth with my mouth-breathe. Its chest expands in my hands and it exhales, gasps, and coughs. Then it quits breathing again. Upside down swing-nothing-pat,pat-nothing. Again I cover its mouth with mine-blow. I feel the baby’s chest expand.

   “Jesus, Help me!” I pray as I tap, tap, tap its little ribcage

   Then its pale little nose flares and its gray lips turn pink. Oh, yes! This baby really want to live. The newborn begins breathing but still gurgles. No more upside down swinging. Now to address its cold body. Thank God for a large utility sink and warm water. In she goes.  Now the kid’s nose is turning reddish. I start thinking this baby may make it.

   “Okay, Matthew. I will hold it and you blow it dry.” 

   Praise God for my son, Matthew! We wrap her in a warm towel out of the dryer and stash the baby in an orange box in the kitchen. Then we mix up some colostrum replacer and try to feed this little one. Oh great, it will not suckle. Drip by drip down its throat via a syringe. Only a half ounce. Two hours later, one ounce. Another two hours later, one and a half ounces. Still not sucking, but a least it is learning to cough. Now it spits up so much dirt, there’s no wonder it couldn't breathe. 

   So as I sat up in my chair holding this weak, abandoned baby on my chest throughout the night, it occurs to me that this is exactly what Jesus did for me when He took my place on the cross all these years ago! Jesus took my cold, dead, dirty life and breathed fresh clean air into it. He picked me up from the pit of sin that I could not escape on my own! He cleaned me and nurtured me. He held me close and taught me how to live a new life, unrestricted without shackles. 

   Oh, thank you, Jesus for taking away my guilt, shame, and filth and filling me with Your Word which is food for my soul. We have since named the goat, Ruth, from the Bible. Ruth followed Naomi everywhere and this goat follows me step for step. Just as we are to follow Jesus. Ruth has since learned to suck and loves a bath. She has moved to the laundry room and accepted a stuffed bear as a snuggle mate. 

   Thank you, Jesus, for a new life and spring!


Peggy: The last paragraph reveals reason we write here at the Mine!!! Thank ya much, Cheryl!!! And God's Blessings and Salvation to all.

Don't forget to check out the Miner's bookshelf!  Renee Blare's Beast of Stratton, Nancy Shew Bolton's The Right Ingredients, and, yours truly, my book, Year of Jubilee! And as always, thanks for stopping by!

P.S.:  Today all Prism Books are 25% off at All Romance ebooks!  That's a whole buck!!! Follow these links!

Beast of Stratton: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-beastofstratton-1761217-149.html

The Right Ingredients:  https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-therightingredients-1634862-149.html

Year of Jubilee: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-yearofjubilee-1778358-158.html 

Scribbling Through Life with Darlene Franklin on the Mine

Darlene Franklin

Scribbling through Life with Darlene Franklin

with a Special Giveaway

(details after the interview)

RB: Welcome back to the Diamond Mine, Darlene. Long time no see. When you visited our blog a couple of months ago, I was fascinated by your story. For those who may not remember, could you tell the readers a little about yourself?

DF: I live in a nursing home and still manage to write! I almost think it helps me keep my priorities in order. Writing used to knock me off balance.

I’ve been writing for 23 years, although my first book didn’t come out until 2005. Since then, I have 36 books published or contracted (several are repackaged) and contributed nonfiction pieces to 23 more. It’s been a long, uphill climb.

Let’s see. I lost my daughter and my mother a couple of years apart, which turned my life upside down and moved me from Denver to Oklahoma. Here I get to enjoy life with my son, my delightful daughter-in-law, and my precious grandbabies.

RB: You’ve had your share of bumps along the road. I’m so glad you have some family close to you now. And you get to write! Valentine’s Day’s around the corner. If there was one pearl of wisdom you could bestow on all the lovebirds out there, what would it be?

DF: Love is a verb, not a feeling. It means taking the initiative to show love even when the other person is being unlovable. That’s true for all relationships.

RB: Well said, Darlene. What about you? What’s on the horizon for Darlene Franklin, the author? The Christian?

DF: I love the way you phrased the question! Darlene, the author is scrambling to figure out “what next?” now that the Heartsong book club has closed down. So far, God is leading me into more indie publishing, of e-books. So far I am part of a Christmas novella series with a dozen authors; several holiday-themed books; and at least one devotional book. More on that later in this article.

As far as Darlene, the Christian, I am seeking to live each day intentionally. I am called to write, but also to love, to encourage, to seek thee Lord’s face. To keep my priorities straighter than I have before.

RB: God’s unconditional love is a gift to be treasured. How did the Lord reveal Himself to you? How does He continue to do so?

DF: God reveals Himself to me through His people. I live with many people whose minds are gone. But one lady sings “Jesus is here and it’s all right” when she thinks the building is on fire. Another lady cries when she sings “The Old Rugged Cross.” Another manages to say grace in between tears because of pain. Oh, to have that kind of unshakeable faith!

God also reveals Himself to me through His word. What can I say? I am sharing some of those insights in my upcoming devotional, A Writer’s Journey through Matthew: A Reader’s Perspective.

In reading this question again, I realize that you’re probably asking me about my salvation experience. I was a child, interested in belonging, and church was the one place I felt at home. During Vacation Bible School when I was nine, I invited Jesus into my life. A simple story, but one that shaped my life and opened me to God’s love.

RB: Where does your writing fit in God’s scheme for your life?

DF: It’s central, at least for now. I keep asking God, do You still want me to write? When your publisher closes down, you have to ask yourself that question. Before I could breath, God inundated me with opportunities for self-publishing. For instance, I put out a feeler for a 12-author Christmas series for 2015 and have authors super excited about our project!

My first two indie books, both Christmas stories, made more money than I expected.

Not only that, but I have been offered a contract for another novella. I can’t give you details yet, but a great blessing with everything that’s gone on.

RB: 2015 is here! (Believe it or not…) What do you have planned? Any books released soon or on the horizon?

DF: Readers not overrun by Christmas might be interested in my stories, An Apple for Christmas (http://www.amazon.com/APPLE-CHRISTMAS-Christmas-Traditions-Book-ebook/dp/B00O2BJ6BM/) and Christmas Visitors (http://www.amazon.com/CHRISTMAS-VISITORS-Holidays-Heart-Book-ebook/dp/B00QJRHZQA/)

To be released soon (February 4 or earlier) for Valentine’s Day: my second Holidays of the Heart story, My Candy Valentine. Candy maker Catrina Jensen is immediately drawn to Gilbert Williams arrives in town (1916 Loveland, Oklahoma). But when she learns he has less than honorable reasons for his visit, they both have choices to make.

To be released soon (around February 4) for the beginning of Lent: my second devotional book, A Reader’s Journey through Matthew. It consists of seven week, forty-two devotional readings from Matthew, written from the perspective of an enthusiastic reader/writer.

Excerpt: This is Day One from A Reader’s Journey Through Matthew

DAY ONE

Daily Bible Portion: Matthew 1:1-17

AFTER THE EXILE

Josiah had Jehoiachin and his brothers, and then the people were taken into the Babylonian exile. When the Babylonian exile ended, Jeconiah had Shealtiel.

(Matthew 1:11-12)

Today’s portion reads like a prologue titled “Then,” followed by the “Now,” the birth of Jesus Christ. Matthew lists Jesus’ human lineage from the first Hebrew, Abraham, through King David all the way to Jesus’ grandfather Jacob.

But if you’re like me, you’d skip this prologue if it wasn’t in the Bible. I find genealogies boring. Since God includes them in His Word, I avoid skimming over the names and instead look for the unexpected, details I have overlooked before. Today’s surprise offers me hope in dark times.

The list reads father and son, father and son, through forty-two generations. Each man’s name is repeated, first as son, then as father—except for verses 11 and 12. Josiah had Jehoiachin, but we’re not told about Jehoiachin’s sons. Instead, the genealogy picks up again with Jeconiah, “when the Babylonian exile ended.” What happened between Jehoiachin and Jeconiah? How were they related?

Since The Message is a paraphrase, I checked more exact translations. They all agreed that the counting began again “after the exile.” At least seventy years passed when fathers and sons weren’t recorded. Perhaps more, if Jeconiah didn’t return with the first wave of returnees.

Why?

Did the princes in exile do something to prevent their mention? I doubt it. After all, the kings before the exile excelled at doing evil. If anything, the exiles played an important role in keeping the Jewish faith and identity intact. Not all the Jews chose to return, but Jesus’ ancestors did, more committed to keeping the law than their ancestors.

Josiah and his sons were the last of Israel’s kings. When Jeconiah returned to Judah, he didn’t claim his right to kingship. Neither did any of his descendants. At the time of Jesus’ birth, Joseph wasn’t honored as a direct descendant of Judah’s last kings.

While he may not have been a prince, Joseph did live the faith of his fathers. With Jeconiah’s return, the pause button was turned off, and the story started again.

Do you ever feel like your life is on pause? Living in a nursing home as I do, I struggle with that sense of treading water. The time will come when God will hit the “play” button. Our lives will take a new direction.

There will always be an “after the exile.” You can count on it.

RB: I love your devotional! I may have to pick that one up. Thanks for joining us at the Mine, Darlene. It’s been a pleasure seeing you again.

SPECIAL GIVEAWAY! 

Comment now for your chance to win My Candy Valentine or The Homestead Brides Collection

Release Date: (Homestead Brides Collection) February 1, 2015

(awarded upon release)

ONE E-COPY of My Candy Valentine awarded for every 10 comments

&

ONE PRINT COPY of The Homestead Brides Collection awarded to one lucky winner.

...a minimum of five comments validates the giveaway...

About the Book:

My Candy Valentine:

Gilbert Williams sweeps Catrina Jensen off her feet when he arrives in Loveland, Oklahoma, shortly after New Year’s Day 1916. When the reason for his interest in her delicious candies is revealed, her affection turns to fear. Is her hero a traitor in disguise?

The Homestead Brides Collection:

Promises of free land lured thousands to venture into the vast American plains. They built make-do homes and put all they had into improving the land. Very often romantic thoughts took a back burner to priorities having to do with the land. Travel along through the Great Plains on romantic adventures as God helps each land prospector find someone with whom to share the dream—the work—and the love.

About the Author(s):

Darlene Franklin’s greatest claim to fame is that she writes full-time from a nursing home. She lives in Oklahoma, near her son and his family, and continues her interests in playing the piano and singing, books, good fellowship, and reality TV in addition to writing. She is an active member of Oklahoma City Christian Fiction Writers, American Christian Fiction Writers, and the Christian Authors Network. She has written over thirty books and has written more than 250 devotionals. Her historical fiction ranges from the Revolutionary War to World War II, from Texas to Vermont. You can find Darlene online elsewhere at https://www.facebook.com/Poet.Darlene.Franklin.

The Homestead Brides Collection features these authors: Mary Connealy, DiAnn Mills, Erica Vetsch, Carla Olson Gade, Kathleen Y'Barbo, Ruth Logan Herne, Pam Hillman, Darlene Franklin, and Becca Whitman.