Cyber Monday Special Discounts

Cyber Monday! How about a 25%  Cyber Monday Special Discounts! In honor of the small section of population that would rather make gifts or buy online to avoid the crush and crowds, I'm offering some Black Friday Special Discounts continuing through Cyber Monday and through November 30th on my website by using simple codes at check out.

So if you would like one of my books, visit http://www.angelabreidenbach.com and enter the codes: black25 for Gems of Wisdom: For a Treasure-filled Life

black25CCC for Creative Cooking for Colitis ebook

black25CS for Creative Cooking for Simple Elegance ebook

black25CSP for Creative Cooking for Simple Elegance paperback (there are only 5 of these left.)

You'll get a 25% discount off the cover price :) I've added it already so you can go ahead and get a jump on your shopping right now. No crowds, no crush, no traffic. I hope these Cyber Monday Special Discounts will be helpful to you and keep your holiday time less stressed and rushed.

Do tell me who you are buying it for and I'll autograph the books for you. There's a little message box that should pop up to let you add comments to me. You can always email me or drop a message here on a post and I'll get it too.

God bless,
Angie

Black Friday Special Discounts

25th day of November and Black Friday? How about a 25%  Black Friday Special Discounts! In honor of the small section of population that would rather make gifts or buy online to avoid the crush and crowds, I'm offering some Black Friday Special Discounts on my website by using simple codes at check out.

So if you would like one of my books, visit http://www.angelabreidenbach.com and enter the codes: black25 for Gems of Wisdom: For a Treasure-filled Life

black25CCC for Creative Cooking for Colitis ebook

black25CS for Creative Cooking for Simple Elegance ebook

black25CSP for Creative Cooking for Simple Elegance paperback (there are only 5 of these left.)

You'll get a 25% discount off the cover price :) I've added it already so you can go ahead and get a jump on your shopping right now. No crowds, no crush, no traffic. I hope these Black Friday Special Discounts will be helpful to you and keep your holiday time less stressed and rushed.

Do tell me who you are buying it for and I'll autograph the books for you. There's a little message box that should pop up to let you add comments to me. You can always email me or drop a message here on a post and I'll get it too.

Can you tell I don't like going out on Black Friday? How about you?

May your Thanksgiving be full of joy!



Angie

Slow Down, Be Content with What You Have, and Enjoy the Holiday Season

Angie here: Sharing an article I found particularly appropriate as we go into the holiday season. Please enjoy and let me know if you agree or disagree.

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Slow Down, Be Content with What You Have, and Enjoy the Holiday Season
Watch out for a jolly little Englishman wishing you Happy Holidays

By Michael Ireland

Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
MINNEAPOLIS, MN / BAGHDAD, IRAQ (ANS) -- In a recent article for ASSIST News, my colleague Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST Ministries, called "Why are 'Christians' (and others) so angry, and sometimes downright hateful?" www.assistnews.net/STORIES/2011/s11110099.htm , talks about anger and hatefulness -- especially among believers.

I've been thinking about that, and I have to say it prompted me to think and write about why I really dislike going shopping at this time of year. I would like to consider the blindness and self-centeredness that affects holiday shoppers.


I love the real meaning of Christmas -- the Gift of God in the Birth of our Savior Jesus Christ -- but I dislike all the modern trappings that come with our Westernized commercialization of the holiday -- and all the pushing and shoving, and jockeying for position, that goes on at this time of year.


Canon Andrew White, the popular 'Vicar of Baghdad,' writes in "Christmas in Baghdad" on his Facebook page (which he gave ASSIST News permission to use): "The Western world is already preparing for the great day on 25th December. Presents are brought copious amounts of food will be brought in preparation for the party to begin. Decorations are prepared in the home and the towns for the great day to begin.


"For us, though, here in Baghdad things could not be more different. Our Christian people know that the Big Eid (Celebration) is coming. They know that we are about to celebrate the coming of the Christ Child. There is no razzmatazz; the only decoration will be the Christmas tree in the church. Presents -- well, there simply are not any, apart from what we get for the children and the boxes given by Samaritan's Purse. For the children we will work at bringing them some joy and fun. We will dress somebody up as Papa Noel (Santa Clause) as we give children their presents. The reality is that this celebration here is totally different from the festivity elsewhere in the world.


"Here, despite the media no longer showing our existence, we still live in violence and terrorism. I still move around my parish surrounded by hoards of soldiers and police -- yet we are still happy and for us there is total joy. Christmas for us is first and foremost a time of spiritual celebration. We may have nothing, we may live in total turmoil, but we celebrate this Christmas the coming of the Christ Child. For us Christmas is simply a celebration of God coming to be amongst us in Jesus the Christ Child.


"I never forget the day several Christmas's ago when I told the children I was going to tell them about Bethlehem where I used to live and where Jesus first came. A little boy Yousif put his hand up and said "Jesus did not first go to Bethlehem he came first to Iraq". When I asked why, he asked if I remembered that when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego where in the flames there was another person with them and it was Jesus and I was told that happened just down the road in Babylon. So I was seriously put in my place and each time I sing "oh little town of Bethlehem" I think to myself Jesus was indeed here first and he still is here.


"So for us Christmas is simply about our Lord amongst us. We celebrate the fact of his Incarnation. There is no food or parties, but real celebration of faith. Christmas is simply a time of spiritual renewal -- a time when we remember that the Lord is indeed here and His Spirit is amongst us. These words from the Eucharist we say at the beginning of every service in Arabic. 'Allah hu ma ana, Baruch ha qudos ma ana athan.' For us Christmas is simply a celebration of the fact that: "The lord is here and His Spirit is with us."


Three years ago this week, a Walmart employee was trampled to death by frantic customers rushing to be the first to get the best deals on Black Friday -- the infamous "shoppers delight" -- the day after Thanksgiving when all the world loses it mind for a 'bargain' at your favorite retail outlet.

As the New York Times reported: The throng of Walmart shoppers had been building all night, filling sidewalks and stretching across a vast parking lot at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, N.Y. At 3:30 a.m., the Nassau County police had to be called in for crowd control, and an officer with a bullhorn pleaded for order.

Tension grew as the 5 a.m. opening neared. Someone taped up a crude poster: 'Blitz Line Starts Here.'

By 4:55, with no police officers in sight, the crowd of more than 2,000 had become a rabble, and could be held back no longer. Fists banged and shoulders pressed on the sliding-glass double doors, which bowed in with the weight of the assault. Six to 10 workers inside tried to push back, but it was hopeless.

Suddenly, witnesses and the police said, the doors shattered, and the shrieking mob surged through in a blind rush for holiday bargains. One worker, Jdimytai Damour, 34, was thrown back onto the black linoleum tiles and trampled in the stampede that streamed over and around him. Others who had stood alongside Mr. Damour trying to hold the doors were also hurled back and run over, witnesses said.

Some workers who saw what was happening fought their way through the surge to get to Mr. Damour, but he had been fatally injured, the police said. Emergency workers tried to revive Mr. Damour, a temporary worker hired for the holiday season, at the scene, but he was pronounced dead an hour later at Franklin Hospital Medical Center in Valley Stream.

Four other people, including a 28-year-old woman who was described as eight months pregnant, were treated at the hospital for minor injuries. (See: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/business/29walmart.html?pagewanted=all)

I am prompted to ask what drives such madness that ended in the death of one man and injuries to others?

My Bible gives an answer -- "the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life," (1 John 2:16 NIV).

Our society promotes dissatisfaction with who we are and what we have (or, more accurately, what we DON'T have). There is a constant push and pressure from advertising media to be different from the person God made us to be, and to want more to satisfy our insatiable desires to be more than God planned. We are driven to be better than the next man (or woman), to want the biggest, the best, the latest, the newest. On and on it goes, ad infinitum.

This constant push to want more distorts the imageo deo -- the image of God -- within us. It trashes God's design for our health, happiness and wellbeing. More important, it destroys the design of God for lives of contentment.

The Apostle Paul wrote that he had learned to be content in whatever state or condition he found himself in. He had plenty of opportunity to exercise that attitude of heart and mind, having been beaten, shipwrecked, stoned and left for dead, among other things.

And my Bible advises me to "Be content with such as you have. Just as long as you have food and raiment (clothing), be satisfied with that." More important, my Bible also says, "Better is a little with the Lord, than much and great trouble therewith."

You see, that is good, sound, common sense advice from our Maker, Creator, and Sustainer.

My biggest "beef" is that holiday shoppers wander around in a glassy-eyed daze, totally oblivious to others around them while pushing their carts loaded with things they don't really need and cannot really afford.

Many times I have had to stop in mid-track -- right there in the middle of Aisle Four -- and by deliberately slowing down the frenzy in front of me, to ensure that my disabled wife doesn't end up in the Emergency Room, or in the Mortuary. She may be as strong as an ox in many ways, but in others she has certain physical frailties due to heart and lung (breathing) problems -- the result of a congenital heart deformity that led to a heart attack and two cardiac arrests on Thanksgiving, 2004. She was on life support and in a medically-induced coma and not expected to live. Praise to the Living God, He saved her and brought her back to me!

So, it really annoys me when people push and shove their way in front of my wife and I in the rush to make sure they don't miss out on that super-duper bargain they've just gotta have or they won't ever be happy again.

I know we cannot expect non- or un-believers to have the same selfless values we as Christians hold dear but, I am afraid, Christians are also guilty of this behavior. I know; I've seen you in the store that I too shop in.

I wasn't brought up that way. My mother taught me from an early age to help and respect the elderly and disabled, mothers with young kids and loads of grocery bags, to open doors for people of the opposite gender, and to give up my seat on the bus to any one of the above. To me, this just seemed like common courtesy.
 
Now it seems courtesies like this are not so common as we seek to indulge ourselves silly.
But, instead of being angry about this, I am going to go on my merry way, smiling cheerfully -- and making pleasant conversation with everyone with whom I can make eye-contact this Thanksgiving.

Consider it my personal crusade to bring some humanity back into the gift-giving season. And this will be my gift to the rest of humanity this holiday.

So, be warned: if you shop in the same stores as my wife and I this holiday season, you may be accosted by a short, fat, slightly-balding Englishman who just wants to make sure you have a pleasant shopping experience -- and be touched by the milk of human kindness -- the best gift any one human being can give another.

---

** Michael Ireland is the Senior International Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can make a donation online under 'Donate' tab, then look for 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' under 'Donation Category' to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' Michael is a member in g ood standing of the National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Newswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior International Reporter

We have partnered with numerous companies to help promote The Truth About Liberty: How The Tea Party Can Save America. Our goal is to have The Truth About Liberty reach the Top 100 on Amazon during the promotion.

If you order the book on Amazon from 11/15 to 11/18, over 40 special offers will await you! The offers include discounts ranging from 25% to 50% off web stores and selected items, as well as FREE eBooks and downloads.

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Tell your family, friends and business associates about this great promotion!

1 Check out the more than 40 Offers included in this promo.

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About the book: The Truth About Liberty: How the Tea Party Can Save America shows that the vast, corrupt government of today is definitely not the limited Constitutional government established by the founders of the United States. Attorney and movie producer Manny Edwards illustrates with stunning clarity just how far America has fallen from the great scope of freedom intended by the founders. He identifies precisely the political mechanisms by which these liberties have been lost — and how to get them back. About the author: Manny Edwards is an attorney, movie producer, traveler, and self-styled “freedom expert.” His interest in law, history, languages, and economics has broadened his understanding of liberty, and homeschooling five children has taught him the importance of governance in family and community.

Reader review: “Whether you’re a liberal, a conservative, or a libertarian, if you have any interest in individual liberty, this book is for you. It is bold, well-written, and motivating. I couldn’t put it down. For a long time I’ve known something was very wrong with our government, but I never really understood what until I read this amazing book. It explains how we lost our liberties and how we can win them back. As an active Tea Party member, it is very important for me to understand where the threats to my liberty come from, and what to do about it…” Reader praise: “…essential reading for the Tea Party” - Sam Long, Jr., Supervisor, Northampton County, VA “Thank you for shedding light on liberty” - George E. “…Manny Edwards delivers new insights and options for America. A must read for every family member.”                     -Tracy S.

Shadowed In Silk by Christine Lindsay

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introduces Shadowed In Silk WhiteFire Publishing (September 1, 2011) by Christine Lindsay

Angie here: I had the pleasure of interviewing Christine Lindsay for www.InspireAFire.com and have an article posted. Christine's real life story is absolutely fascinating. You'll also learn how the child she gave up for adoption came back into her life and stars as the cover model on this book!

My opinion? Shadowed In Silk: Beautiful writing with a setting in a far, exotic place--India.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Christine Lindsay writes historical Christian inspirational novels with strong love stories. She doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects such as the themes in her debut novel SHADOWED IN SILK which is set in India during a turbulent era. Christine’s long-time fascination with the British Raj was seeded from stories of her ancestors who served in the British Cavalry in India. SHADOWED IN SILK was the Gold winner of the 2009 ACFW Genesis for Historical.

The Pacific coast of Canada, about 200 miles north of Seattle, is Christine’s home. It’s a special time in her life as she and her husband enjoy the empty nest, but also the noise and fun when the kids and grandkids come home. Like a lot of writers, her cat is her chief editor.

ABOUT THE BOOK

She was invisible to those who should have loved her.

After the Great War, Abby Fraser returns to India with her small son, where her husband is stationed with the British army. She has longed to go home to the land of glittering palaces and veiled women...but Nick has become a cruel stranger. It will take more than her American pluck to survive.

Major Geoff Richards, broken over the loss of so many of his men in the trenches of France, returns to his cavalry post in Amritsar. But his faith does little to help him understand the ruthlessness of his British peers toward the Indian people he loves. Nor does it explain how he is to protect Abby Fraser and her child from the husband who mistreats them.

Amid political unrest, inhospitable deserts, and Russian spies, tensions rise in India as the people cry for the freedom espoused by Gandhi. Caught between their own ideals and duty, Geoff and Abby stumble into sinister secrets . . . secrets that will thrust them out of the shadows and straight into the fire of revolution.

If you'd like to read the first chapter of Shadowed In Silk, go HERE.

Watch the book video trailer:

Thanksgiving in Early America

Thanksgiving in Early America

by Elaine Marie Cooper

 

When we sit down at our Thanksgiving meal this month, we’ll be recreating a celebration that is as old as our country: sharing food with loved ones while thanking the God Who has provided the abundance.

 

While we understand that the First Thanksgiving was celebrated here by the Mayflower survivors along with the Indians that had helped them, the first official proclamation that was decreed to celebrate such a holiday was in 1777. It was a recommendation to the thirteen states by the Continental Congress to set aside December 18^th that year as a “solemn thanksgiving” to celebrate the first major victory for the Continental troops in the American Revolution: the Battle of Saratoga.

 

The Battle of Saratoga has significant interest for my own family since one of my ancestors was a soldier there. But he was not on the American side—he was a British Redcoat. After surrendering to the Americans, he escaped the line of prisoners and somehow made his way to Massachusetts and into the life and heart of my fourth great-grandmother. *SIGH* L’amour!

 

This family story was the inspiration for my Deer Run Saga that begins in 1777 with The Road to Deer Run. There is an elaborate Thanksgiving meal scene in this novel as well as in the sequel, The Promise of Deer Run.

 

Some may wonder why such detail was afforded this holiday in my novels set in Massachusetts, while Christmas is barely mentioned. The reason is simple: Thanksgiving was the major holiday in the northern colonies, with Christmas considered nothing more special than a workday. According to Jack Larkin in his book, The Reshaping of Everyday Life, “The Puritan founders of New England and the Quaker settlers of Pennsylvania had deliberately abolished (holidays) as unscriptural.”

 

But Thanksgiving was begun as a way to give thanks to God for His provision. It usually began with attending church services in the morning, followed by an elaborate feast in the afternoon. The food for this meal was prepared for weeks in advance.

 

Since the individual state governors chose their own date to celebrate the holiday, it was theoretically possible for some family members—if they lived in close proximity—to celebrate multiple Thanksgiving meals with family and friends across state borders. The dates chosen could be anywhere from October to December, according to Dennis Picard, Director of the Storrowton Village Museum in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

 

Chicken was most commonly served, said Picard, as it was readily available in the barnyard. And the oldest woman in the home had the honor of slicing the fowl for dinner.

 

Pies were made well in advance of the holiday and stored and became frozen in dresser drawers in unheated rooms.

 

“I like the idea of pulling out a dresser drawer for, say, a clean pair of socks, and finding mince pies,” said Picard, tongue in cheek.

 

Indeed!

 

Have a BLESSED Thanksgiving!

 

---

Author Bio

Elaine Marie Cooper

Elaine Marie Cooper grew up in Massachusetts but now lives in the Midwest with her husband, her three dogs and one huge cat. She has two married sons and triplet grandchildren who are now one years old. The Promise of Deer Run is dedicated to the triplets and to veterans who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.Elaine has been a magazine freelance writer for many years, and is a regular contributor to a blog on the Midwest called The Barn Door (www.thebarndoor.net) and a blog on Christian living called Reflections In Hindsight (ReflectionsInHindsight.wordpress.com). She is the author of The Road to Deer Run and the sequel, The Promise of Deer Run. Prior to becoming an author, Elaine worked as a registered nurse.

Why do we need other women?

Why do we need other women?

Friendship.jpg

Best answer? Friendship.

We have such difficulties in our daily lives. As women, we're all about relationships. We need someone to talk it out with, share our feelings, and get advice from in non-threatening ways. And other women need us to do the same for them. But in our techie world, we've often made better friends of our TVs than with real people.

Sometimes our lives are so busy we forget to spend time with those crucial friendships. We find ourselves feeling lost and uncertain. But God intended us to rely on each other to get through all the challenges coming our way. He wants us to remember fellowship.

So what do you do if you've been so busy you've lost track of your friends? What do you do if you've moved or they've moved?

First contact old friends. Find out what's happening in their lives and share updates in yours. Be sure to give them time to share their lives with you. Too much information dump and they'll feel used. Make them feel loved by being a listener and a sharer.

Go to women's book clubs, Bible studies, and ladies teas to meet new potential friends.

Volunteer in projects (short or long term) that really speak to your heart. You'll meet like-minded people.

Take time at church and social events to introduce yourself to people every time you go.
Visit with those people and build relationship. Relationships are built over many, many interactions.

Do the fun things you love even if you have to go alone. It took me a while, but I started going to comedies by myself. There was no reason I shouldn't enjoy a movie and laughing just because I didn't sit with someone I knew. I laughed with the others that had the same interest, laughing. Best empowering choice I ever made because my happiness was no longer dependent on someone else's schedule. I could do what I enjoyed because I enjoyed it. You can too when you lose the idea that someone you know must accompany you. People will already be there that like what you like. It takes practice, but it's worth it.

Allow yourself the grace to put in the effort and get to know the women in your community by being involved. Join clubs, groups, and community projects.

What ideas do you have for building friendships?
Angie

Friendship suggestion: Gems of Wisdom: For a Treasure-filled Life is a book I wrote that causes great discussions in women's groups. Consider using it as a book club or Bible study. You can order it from my website. www.AngelaBreidenbach.com and I'd be happy to Skype or Face Time with your group.