The Storyteller | Mary Vee

The advent season will started yesterday, Sunday. This is one of my favorite times of year. Most of us have either started our Christmas shopping or at least thought about starting it.  I always wonder what to get someone. I don't want to rob a bank to get expensive gifts, but I want the  impact of the present to be just as powerful. Some of the best presents given to me were handmade. By the way, guys can make some pretty great presents, too. My hubby has handcrafted our coffee table and several other nice pieces of furniture in our house.  Kids can handcraft great gifts, too. Our family has made many Christmas presents for relatives. One of my favorite was the shadowbox. Every place we went for weekend camping that year, our family gathered unique plants, driftwood, or some other form of nature, dried/cleaned it then filled the shadowboxes that also had been handcrafted by our family. Talk about the ultimate mess making-fun family-feel good projects! I also love

Today I welcome author:  Darlene Franklin To win a copy of Darlene's new releases: Christmas Visitors or An Apple for Christmas Scroll to the end of the post  to see how to get your copy. I enjoy meeting authors. Darlene has such a unique writing setting. Be sure to read her bio. It's very encouraging. I asked Darlene to share with us how God has led her on her writing journey. This is what she said: ** Also, special note, Darlene fell this week. Please pray for her as she heals. The Times I Felt Strong and Called Certain dates in my writing journey stand out clearly. At the age of ten, I listed “writer” as one of five jobs I might like to do some day. That didn’t happen for a long time. In 1991, in the wake of my divorce, I began writing about the lessons God taught me. My first published piece, a devotional, came out in 1993. After that, I had maybe one piece published a year until my first book came out in 2005

Photo Courtesy Here in America, we celebrate Thanksgiving this weekend. We talk about the pilgrims and the first thanksgiving, share with each other what we are thankful for, and enjoy a wonderful meal. Most of us get the day off of work and have fun spending time with family. Those who love God also spend the day thanking Him for what He has given them. Psalms of thanksgiving are read and sang.  But there is a different side of the story. God is thankful for you. It's true. God made you. God chose  your eye color,  your hair color,  how tall you would be,  the color of your skin, etc.  He also designed your vocal chords and had you grow up in the place where you would learn the language you speak, figure out how to laugh just the way you do, sing (maybe off key to you and others--but not to Him). God gave you someone to take care of you God did not invite sin to your life. Unfortunately, sin is all around us. And because sin is here:

Photo Courtesy In the movie/book The Time Machine by HG Wells, the main character is called Time Traveller . Time Traveller lives in the Victorian age, is an inventor/scientist, and makes a machine that enables him to travel into the future. To pick a year to visit, Time Traveller uses his curiosity about how the earth will end and selects AD 802,701. Weird year choice, huh?  When he arrives, Time Traveller meets the few people still inhabiting the earth. There are only two groups: one who sits around enjoying all that is on the earth (the Eloi), the other lives underground and--to Time Traveller's surprise--treats the first group like lazy cattle (Morlocks). Time Traveller discovers there are no books, schools, or motivations to cause the Eloi to care about each other or anything else. His heart goes out to the people. Even in the short time he is there, a few of the Eloi learn from his example and show a desire to fight the Morlocks to save their friends. Upse

Barbara stood at the edge of the 3rd largest canyon near Kruger National Park in South Africa. She and her daughter had fun taking selfies to remember this moment. Today I welcome author:  Barbara Phinney To win a copy of Barbara's new release, Protected By the Warrior Scroll to the end of the post  to see how to get your copy. I enjoy meeting authors. Right from our first communication, I sensed Barbara's sweet spirit and have enjoyed getting to know her better over the past several months. I asked Barbara to share with us how God has led her on her writing journey. This is what she said: LOOKING BACK AT HOW RIGHT GOD HAS BEEN How has God led my writing journey? That is actually a difficult question to answer. I have always loved writing romance, but it wasn't until I received a few rejections from my publisher that God took over. You see, my editor called me and asked me if I would like to write for a different

Do you have your thanksgiving plans all in order? We have one week left. Neither do I. Holidays are the events I generally never consider plans complete even as we sit down to celebrate. If I did, I might close the door on someone who at the last minute is able to come. Perhaps a family member is not able to leave for their destination and needs to stay another night. My daughter and I discussed the menu, we included favorites, some she didn't like (yams), and some I didn't like (three bean casserole). But each item is loved by someone who might be here for Thanksgiving. Boyfriends, girlfriends, anyone in need of a family willing to share Thanksgiving is invited.  I love a crowded kitchen, raising a bowl of mashed potatoes over the head of someone who walked into my path, every burner on the stove in use, every inch of counter space occupied with preparations, conversation, laughing, singing. This is Thanksgiving. Extra chairs are brought from every corner of t

To me the holiday seasons officially begins when the radio stations start playing Christmas music AND snow is on the ground. Well, the holidays have begun here. The radio is playing Christmas music in the background and light flakes of gentle falling snow are sprinkling. (I took this photo seconds ago) To top off the lightness in my heart, I am writing this on Sunday. God's day. What more could I ask? What a huge contrast from yesterday. The drive to visit my mother takes 3 hours, typically. I sat in a parking lot on the expressway (I75) behind millions of semis, pick ups, and cars. We sat so long I turned the engine off, which made me cold. I played ten games of solitaire while sitting. (I hate sitting) Eventually the traffic rolled forward inch by pokey inch. Hours dragged slower than the night before Christmas.  The car heater dried out my sinuses, and of course I forgot to bring something to drink.  Last night, my sinuses told me what they thought about the whole o

Today I welcome author:  Anne Mateer To win a copy of  Playing By Heart Scroll to the end of the post  to see how to get your copy. I recently attended one of the fun Facebook parties for new book releases. Anne was at the party. I learned so fun stuff about her, but when   I asked Anne to share with us how God has led her on her writing journey, I was so extra moved. This is a story you will enjoy. Here is what she said: God Used Grandma's Story How has God led me on my writing journey? That is a question I began asking myself very early on in my serious quest for publication, so I created a file titled “ My Writing Journey ” to record my various ups and downs in hopes of seeing God ’ s hand in it all. You see, I ’ d known I wanted to write fiction since middle school, but I didn ’ t begin a serious pursuit of both the craft and the business until 2000. That year one of my grandmothers passed away and I bega