Upgrade in Process: The butterfly is emerging

A note from Angie:

I'm taking this blog to the next level and turning it into the professional version in order to take advantage of some of the Google search engine benefits. Please bear with me for a day or so as it transitions from blogspot to the paid blogger version.

You will still see all the same posts and should not experience any change except it will be easier to find--in a day or two--hoping you haven't had trouble finding it now ;-)

The old address: http://www.GodUsesBrokenVessels.blogspot.com will still work but it will just be shortened to http://www.GodUsesBrokenVessels.com losing the "blogspot" word out of the search.

Once this transition is complete, I'll also be embedding it into my personal website and pointing a page from the business website directly to the blog, hopefully making it even easier to find.

A few things I won't know until it's all transitioned: I don't have a clue how this affects twitter and facebook links I've had in the past. I may need to adjust the links, but I'll do a little each day to make sure the transition is smooth.

Thank you so much for your time. I know it's precious and I'm very grateful when you choose to spend it with me here or anywhere we connect.

Appreciatively,
Angie Breidenbach

Red Ink by Kathi Macias

Angie's Take: I loved reading about the faith of this wonderful Chinese Christian, Zhen-Li, and how it affected the world around her, even from the darkest prison. I struggled with her and with the women who prayed all the way across the ocean.

As Maggie is drawn into a world she doesn't expect, I understood. I understood how women and children can be so tricked by those they learn to trust. I followed the thought process of the guard, Tong, and the thought process of Jake. From the outside looking in, I wish many more women could read Red Ink and understand the manipulation and greed that men like this use to turn their victims into objects. Kathi Macias has written a book that reveals how love can change people and how Jesus really is different than a religious teacher.

The sex trafficking crimes are rampant and the harm done to women and children is too horrible. Thank you, Kathi, for writing a story to show the way some young women are tricked into this slavery.

Thank you for sharing the story of Chinese Christians and the battle they face in their society, families, and government. Reminiscent of Bonhoefer's experience during WWII, this modern story shows Christ's love even in prison to enemies.

Beautiful stories entwined to show us that prayer really does matter.

About the book:

A young Chinese woman, Zhen-Li—raised to observe the party line, including its one-child-per-family doctrine—falls in love with and marries a Christian, and adopts his faith. Though the couple downplays their Christianity in an effort to survive, Zhen-Li’s family is appalled, and she and her husband are ostracized. When she becomes pregnant for the second time and refuses to have an abortion, the persecution begins in earnest. Zhen-Li’s parents, under pressure from the government, pay to have Zhen-Li kidnapped and the baby aborted.

It is then Zhen-Li decides she must live up to her name—"Truth"—and take a firm stand for her faith, regardless of the consequences, and so she begins to regularly teach children about Zhu Yesu ("Lord Jesus") and to distribute Christian literature every chance she gets.

Based loosely on the life of Christian magazine editor Li Ying, currently serving a ten-year prison sentence in China, the story of Yang Zhen-Li tells the desperate tale of her incarceration and separation from her family, as she continues to minister to other prisoners, and even to her guards.

About the Author

Award-winning author Kathi Macias has written more than 20 books, including the award-winning devotional A Moment a Day, and the popular "Matthews" mystery novels. One of her recent novels, Emma Jean Reborn, is being put into script form by playwright Barry Scott. Kathi has won many awards, including the Angel Award from Excellence in Media, fiction awards from the San Diego Christian Writers Guild, and the grand prize in an international writing contest. With women’s ministry as her primary interest, Kathi is a popular speaker for women’s retreats, conferences, and churches. A mother and grandmother, Kathi and her husband, Al, call California home.

Coming Oct. 23rd, 2010!

Angela Breidenbach will be teaching two classes in Richmond, VA.

1:30-2:30:     Create income: How to create "evergreen" products that sell while you write.

     This class will introduce using tools online to create CDs, DVDs, PDFs, E-books and more to make money as a writer from work you've already done. We'll explore kunaki.com, self-publishing, speaking, and products related to our books.

2:30-3:30:     Self or Traditional Publishing, how and why?
     Angela has done both with Creative Cooking for Simple Elegance and Gems of Wisdom: For A Treasure-Filled Life. Which is right for you? What company? What should you look for?

Bio for Angela Breidenbach:
     Mrs. Montana International 2009, Angela Breidenbach, is a multi-award winning inspirational author, speaker, spokes model, business owner and has a combined family of six.
     She is the American Christian Fiction Writers PR Officer, past-president of her toastmaster club, a certified Stephen Minister, and an Assistant Minister at her church leading music, communion, and prayer.
     Angela mentors in relationships, job interview skills and weight loss.
     She promotes awareness of Hope's Promise Orphan Ministries, the Jadyn Fred Foundation, and adding missions to your daily life.
     As a member of Romance Writers of America and American Christian Fiction Writers, she loves attending the conferences to teach, meet other writers, learn, and present her work.

     Check out her web site: www.MyGemOfWisdom.com

NOTE SPECIAL INSRUCTIONS FOR PAYING REGISTRATION FEE.

Richmond Christians Who Write
Presents
October Writers Workshops
Saturday, October 23, 2010, 1:30 to 3:30 pm
To be held at
Dumbarton Library, 6800 Staples Mill Rd,
Richmond, VA 23228, (804) 262-6507
in the conference room
for a $15 donation*

*Richmond Christians Who Write is a subsidiary of New Hope Counseling Service which is a 501(c)3 Virginia nonprofit corporation. To comply with Henrico County library rules of not charging non-profits for the use of their facilities, we want to pass this saving on to you. Make your advance registration check (no payments will be received at the library) payable to New Hope Counseling Service. You will be issued a $15 tax deductible receipt.
Mail to:  New Hope Counseling Service, 12114 Walnut Hill Dr., Rockville, VA 23146. 

Love & Prayers,

Yvonne

Yvonne Ortega, LPC, LSATP, CCDVC

Speaker, Author, Counselor, and Cancer Survivor

Finding Hope for Your Journey through Breast Cancer, Revell  9/2010

www.yvonneortega.com

www.blogtalkradio.com/hope-for-the-journey

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=15d5026f210060991a03

Embers of Love by Tracie Peterson

This week, the


Christian Fiction Blog Alliance introduces


Embers of Love Bethany House (October 1, 2010)


by Tracie Peterson


Angie's Take: Tracie is so careful about her research and it comes across in her work. She's a natural story-teller and one I admire greatly. She's also a fellow Montanan. Adding one more hit book to her long, long list of excellence with Embers of Love. Who wouldn't love a story that starts with a runaway bride and the instigator?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tracie Peterson is the bestselling, award-winning author of more than 85 novels.

She received her first book contract in November, 1992 and saw A Place To Belong published in February 1993 with Barbour Publishings' Heartsong Presents.  She wrote exclusively with Heartsong for the next two years, receiving their readership's vote for Favorite Author of the Year for three years in a row.

In December, 1995 she signed a contract with Bethany House Publishers to co-write a series with author Judith Pella.  Tracie now writes exclusively for Bethany House Publishers.

She teaches writing workshops at a variety of conferences on subjects such as inspirational romance and historical research.

Tracie was awarded the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for 2007 Inspirational Fiction and her books have won numerous awards for favorite books in a variety of contests.

Making her home in Montana, this Kansas native enjoys spending time with family--especially her three grandchildren--Rainy, Fox and Max.  She's active in her church as the Director of Women's Ministries, coordinates a yearly writer's retreat for published authors, and travels, as time permits, to research her books

ABOUT THE BOOK

The logging industry in eastern Texas is booming, and Deborah Vandermark plans to assist her family's business now that she's completed college. Unexpectedly, her best friend, Lizzie Decker, accompanies her back home--fleeing a wedding and groom she has no interest in.

Deborah, the determined matchmaker, puts her sights on uniting her brother and dear friend in a true love match. Deborah soon meets Dr. Christopher Clayton, a much-needed addition to the town. As their lives intersect, Deborah realizes that she has a much greater interest in medicine and science than the bookkeeping she was trained in.

But when typhoid begins to spread and Lizzie's jilted fiance returns, Deborah wonders if true love can overcome such obstacles...for those dearest to her, and for herself.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Embers of Love, go HERE.

Love Finds You Under the Mistletoe

This week, the




Christian Fiction Blog Alliance introduces




Love Finds You Under the Mistletoe Summerside Press (September 1, 2010)



by Irene Brand & Anita Higman


ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Irene Brand has written Sunday School curriculum, edited a two-year series of mission curriculum, and her works have appeared in five program-material anthologies. Her publishers include Zondervan, Standard Publishing, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Fleming-Revell, Barbour Publishing, Kregel Publications, Steeple Hill (inspirational imprint of Silhouette), and Summerside Press. She has had 4 non-fiction books published, and 43 fiction works. Her first inspirational romance was published in 1984.

Award-winning author, Anita Higman, has twenty-six books published (several coauthored) for adults and children, and she has been honored as a Barnes & Noble Author of the Month for Houston. Anita has a BA degree, combining speech communication, psychology, and art. Her favorite things include exotic teas, movies, and all things Jane Austen.





ABOUT THE BOOK

Two Christmas stories - one historical, one contemporary - under one cover!
Love Finds You under the Mistletoe: An Appalachian Christmas
A promise to her dying sister compels Julia Mayfield to take her young nephew to Mistletoe, Kentucky, a tiny town tucked away in the Appalachian Mountains. Sparks fly when she meets David Armstrong, a World War II veteran like herself. Even as shadows from the past weave a dangerous web around Julia and David, will their love flourish like the mistletoe that blankets the nearby hills?

Love Finds You under the Mistletoe: Once Upon a Christmas Eve
Hollie Goodnight's store has just been voted best Christmas shop in America. All the new publicity draws flamboyant novelist Van Keaton to the cozy town of Noel, Missouri, demanding to write Hollie's story - a dramatic tale of misfortune and triumph. She is swept up in his world of beautiful words and fanciful interludes. . .until Owen Quigly, her lifelong best friend, launches a plan to win her back.

If you would like to read an excerpt of Love Finds You Under the Mistletoe, go HERE.

Watch the book trailer:

Hanging onto Faith in the Midst of Breast Cancer

Introducing Yvonne Ortega, my guest today on God Uses Broken Vessels. Today she will be answering some interview questions over at my group blog, WritingByFaith.blogspot.com...

Yvonne shares:

When life seems to go along smoothly, we don’t struggle to believe God or to trust His ways. However, what happens when we receive a diagnosis of breast cancer?


On January 3, 2001, I heard the dreaded words, “malignant tumor.” I had breast cancer, and my world changed forever.

You may not have cancer, but each of us faces some kind of struggle. I found it helps to be honest with God. He knows what we’re thinking anyway. When we tell Him we’re riding an emotional roller coaster of fear, anger and depression, He helps us work through those emotions.
We can play praise and worship music day and night. With our focus on our heavenly Father, cancer or whatever we face seems small in comparison to Almighty God, our Rock, our Shield and our Strength.

As women, our hair and how it looks are important to us. However, some types of chemotherapy cause us to lose our hair, eyebrows and eyelashes. We can choose to withdraw and have a pity party or to believe God can use this experience for good in our lives and the lives of others.
In our daily quiet time we can include reading the Bible and memorizing Scriptures that promise us hope and healing.

I didn’t invite cancer into my life, but I am a stronger Christian and a woman who lives with purpose and passion because of cancer. I would have never become the published author of Finding Hope for Your Journey through Breast Cancer, if I hadn’t lived through it.
I now host the program, Hope for the Journey, for breast cancer patients at www.blogtalkradio.com/hope-for-the-journey and archives are available 24/7. 

(Pssst...I added the link to get Yvonne's book if you would like. ~Angie)

I also send out a free weekly devotion in both English and Spanish. These outreaches of my ministry are a way to give back what others gave me during my bout with breast cancer and to praise the God who healed me.


Ask God to use your circumstances for His honor and glory and hang on to your seat. You are about to go on an incredible journey.

Copyright © October 2010 by Yvonne Ortega
Web site: www.yvonneortega.com

Gems of Wisdom Pre-Order Available

I am so excited to share this news! Gems of Wisdom: For A Treasure-Filled Life is now available for pre-order! Pinch me!


Days like this are those you remember for years to come as an author. That your work is real, touchable, available to make a difference in the world. So much is happening fast, behind-the-scenes. But it's still amazing when one little picture goes up for the world to see. Have you had a dream come true? How did you feel when you finally saw that it was real?





I hope this book and the companion guide do make a difference in your life too. Writing them, living them, changed me.

I love that as people read this book, they may feel closer to God by undertanding a little more about the gems of wisdom he created and how they relate to real life. But I also love that it's attached to supporting the Sanctuary of Hope Homes in Kenya through Hope's Promise Orphan Ministries. It's connected because I have the opportunity to help others through this work and because of that the additional privilege of blessing the orphan homes.


To see this book coming to reality is a huge achievement for me and I'm grateful to so many people that have helped along the way in their brainstorming and consulting (Michelle Sutton and Dr. Willy Kemp), believing in me and the project (Tamela Hancock-Murray and Joan Shoup), and the amazing friends who critiqued, proofed, and supported me through the journey (Pam Morris, Margaret Daley, Sunni Jeffers, my F.A.I.T.H girl bloggers Missy, Mindy, Lindi, Christy, and Jenn). There are so many, many more. How about this...I'll post a thank you to people randomly because I'm grateful. The gem of wisdom in that for me is to keep my heart thankful for the love others have given to help me on the journey and to recognize that I did not do this by myself. To be here is to be aware that I am only here because God provided people to lift me up, walk with me, and mentor me along the way.

So join me on facebook, the new page set up for this book, as I thank people who made it possible for something like this book to be an achievable dream.

With joy and thankfulness to God that He is so good to bring about our dreams!
Angie

Just a little bigger so you can see it.

Gems of Wisdom Pre-Order

Within My Heart by Tamera Alexander

This week, the


Christian Fiction Blog Alliance


is introducing


Within My Heart Bethany House; Original edition (September 1, 2010)


by Tamera Alexander


Angie's Take: I was pulled right into this story with an intensity I didn't expect. The bell. You're going to have to read the first chapter sample (link at the end of this post) and see what I mean. The bell. If only people cared so much for strangers to be so available as this one man. The bell. It rings and resonates in my head hours after I read the significance. Please, read the first chapter. I think you're going to like it.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tamera Alexander is the best-selling author of Rekindled, Revealed and Remembered, the critically acclaimed Fountain Creek Chronicles historical series with Bethany House Publishers. Her second historical series, Timber Ridge Reflections (From a Distance, Beyond This Moment, and Within My Heart), penned in her style with deeply drawn characters, thought-provoking plots, and poignant prose have earned her devoted readers—and multiple industry awards.

These awards include the 2009 and 2008 Christy Award, the 2007 RITA for Best Inspirational Romance, the 2009 and 2007 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, 2007 Bookseller’s Best Award, and Library Journal’s Top Christian Fiction for 2006, among others.

After living in Colorado for seventeen years, Tamera has returned to her Southern roots. She and her husband now make their home in Nashville with Tamera's father, Doug. They enjoy life there with Joe and Tamera's two adult children, and Jack, a precious—and precocious—silky terrier.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Widow Rachel Boyd struggles to keep her ranch afloat and provide for her two young sons, though some days it feels as though her efforts are sabotaged at every turn. When her cattle come down with disease and her sons' lives are endangered, she must turn to Rand Brookston, Timber Ridge's physician and reluctant veterinarian. While Rachel appreciates his help, she squelches any feelings she might have for Rand--her own father was a doctor and his patients always took priority over his family. Rachel refuses to repeat the mistakes her mother made. But when she's courted by a wealthy client of the local resort, she faces a choice: self-sufficiency and security or the risk inherent in the deepest of loves.

 If you would like to read the first chapter of Within My Heart, go HERE.

A Friend in the Storm by Cheryl Ricker

Sometimes life is a bit rocky. A friend comes along and says a little word of encouragement, usually no more than a few sentences. We walk away lifted, stronger, and more able to face the rest of the day or situation.

Cheryl Ricker has done exactly that with her book, A Friend in the Storm. A quote, a verse, and a short few poetic phrases. The combination sets me off for a better day even on rough ones.

She gave her little book to me at the ACFW conference a few weeks ago. It was a sweet gesture of friendship and one I have privately been grateful for over the last few busy weeks in my life. I've stopped several times just for an uplifting word or thought.

Do you have a friend needing a little courage?
What about someone who has been through a rough spell lately?
What about you? Is life just a bit much?


I highly suggest taking a moment here and there to brighten what may feel like a storm into a much sunnier place to live by refocusing your mind with a page or two from A Friend in the Storm. Such an apt title!

Thank you, Cheryl, for being the kind of person that would write a book that feels like an uplifting friend.

Here's a sample poem that I asked Cheryl if I might use when I give talks based on Gems of Wisdom. It stunned me how perfectly it fit. (She said yes, by the way.)

In whirlwinds of confusion

when cold questions press you tight,

ask Me close and I will hold you

by a love surpassing sight.

You're My treasure, bright with promise,

and I live to see you reign;

As we cross this bridge together,

I will lead you through the pain.

by Cheryl Ricker 

p. 7 of A Friend in the Storm

About the Author: Author Cheryl Ricker reaches into the depths of human suffering from the perspective of Christ speaking to the reader in soothing poetic truth. This elegant gift book lightens the heart and soul of anyone facing difficult circumstances, leading them through their suffering into the arms of a faithful loving God.
Each two-page spread includes a poem, as well as reflections written by Christian leaders, along with healing Scripture verses. An elegant foil-stamped fabric binding makes this the perfect gift.