Saturday, December 20, 2014

To Laugh Once More (Book 2, Snippet 8): Inspirational Novel By Sherrie Wilson

An Inside Look at book two, To Laugh Once More, by Sherrie Wilson!


To Laugh Once More is a Victorian Inspirational Romance set in Georgia in 1895.

The War may be over but the battles still rage.

A dissatisfied wife. A misunderstood husband. Three tragedies will alter their path forever. Will their choices tear them apart, or will they allow them To Laugh Once More?

Three years after her marriage to Hamilton, former debutante Lydia Barrington Scarbrough is dissatisfied with life. She has yet to have children, and she spends most of her days sitting in a circle of women chatting about homemaking. She thought life would be more than what it's turned out to be. Hamilton travels on business and never takes her with him. What's a lonely wife to do when she has no children to raise? She longs for adventure and romance, and really, she longs for the fulfillment of her purpose in life. A purpose beyond being a wife and raising children.

Lydia faces a series of hardships that stretch her faith beyond capacity. Leaving her childhood home in Florida for Georgia proves to be more difficult than she ever imagined, and her marriage may not survive the trials. Lydia’s own personal battles drive a wedge between them. What will it take to make Hamilton attempt to save their marriage and draw Lydia back to him?

As Lydia strives to etch out a place for herself in a new world full of unfamiliar prejudice and attempts to overcome her private battles, she must help Hamilton understand her deepest longings and learn the true meaning of joy. Will she surrender her will in order to find her purpose? Will her future hold a happier marriage, motherhood, and a calling greater than she could ever have imagined?

Ready for a Sneak Peak? Enjoy snippet 8 of 10 below:

Snippet #8
Lydia focused her eyes on the wall across from her and bit the inside of her mouth to keep from exploding at her sister's words. How could these women not be frustrated with this mundane life? Everything had remained the same at Live Oaks from year to year, except now the cries and laughter of seven grandchildren permeated the walls of the mansion.
Lydia stood and shoved past the settee and the piano, which she'd never learned to play. She narrowly missed the English teapot that sat on a tray on the table in front of the sofa. The orange slices and bowls of sugar and cream wouldn't have garnished the wood floor as well as they'd graced the tray. Despite Lydia's tantrum, the warm teacakes, sprinkled with sugar, fanning out around the teapot, disappeared one by one by the hands of her amused sisters.
She rushed to the window and pulled back the draperies. The bushy-tailed squirrels scampered about the lawn collecting the nuts buried back in the fall and chattered with excitement at each unveiled treasure. The birds chirped in the trees, looking for seeds in the dormant grass. The worms, the innocent victims of the birds' voracious appetites, poked their heads out of the soil, and the birds devoured them seconds later. In the distance, the cows mooed as they waited milking on this dreary day, and the chickens clucked. Nothing changed around the plantation.
Why couldn't she climb the moss-draped live oaks and the cypress trees that towered above her childhood home? They were the only things that had ever blanketed her in protection. However, married women, especially ones who'd already turned twenty-four, couldn't do such things. Married women couldn't do many things.
She turned to face Mother and sisters. "Oh, you don't understand. I've been a wife for three years now, and I feel as if I've done everything a wife can do and nothing I want to do. Planning the meals and mending socks is hardly fulfilling for a spirited young woman like me." They didn't understand that she was born to be more than just a homemaker.

About the Author:

Sherri Wilson Johnson is an Inspirational Romance novelist, a speaker, and a former homeschooling mom who’d rather have laugh lines under her eyes than worry lines across her forehead. She lives in Georgia with her husband, her two children and her Chihuahua, Posey. Her favorite thing to do when she’s not with her family is to curl up with a good book or work on her current work-in-progress. She loves to dream of visiting romantic places and is passionate about the Lord, motherhood, homeschooling, and writing. Sherri is the author of To Dance Once MoreSong of the Meadowlark, and To Laugh Once More. She is a columnist with Habits for a Happy Home and Choose NOW Ministries.

Connect With Sherrie:

Blogs
http://sherriwilsonjohnson.com/
http://nicoleodell.com/sherri-wilson-johnson-on-inspiring-purity
http://www.habitsforahappyhome.com/
http://www.bookfun.org/profile/SherriWilsonJohnson

Twitter
https://twitter.com/swj_thewriter
Pintrest
http://pinterest.com/sherriwjohnson/

Good Reads
https://www.goodreads.com/SherriWilsonJohnson
 

Purchase These Books Here:



Thursday, December 18, 2014

Christmas Baths: Christmas Fun with Health Benefits!

 

Nothing Like A Christmas Bath To Bring A Smile To Your Child's Face!

Not only is this activity just plain fun anytime of the year, there are added health benefits!

Epsom salt is used for healing, relaxation, better sleep, and adds magnesium to our bodies--a necessary mineral that most people are deficient in. Peppermint oil helps with digestion, headaches, respiratory problems, and a host of other things.

This is the PERFECT bath for a child or you, Momma, who has worked hard all day long!

What you'll need:

Let's Get Started!
  • Run warm bath water.
  • Add a few drops of food coloring or the colored water tablets. Let your kiddo mix the colors around in the water. It's fun to watch the color swirl around!
  • Add a small drop or two of the essential oil. Trust me, one or two drops is all you need.
  • Add 1/2 to 1 cup of Epsom salt and let your kiddo mix in these "ice crystals" with their sweet little hands.
  • Let your child soak for 20 minutes and enjoy their delightful Christmas Bath!

Tips: Christmas colors are great for this bath-time activity, but try blue for a wintry frozen bath! Play with different essential oils as well like lavender for a purple spring flower bath!

Not sure where to find some of the ingredients? Epsom salt will be in either the beauty/spa/facial/bath salts area of a local store or in the bandages/ankle wraps/band aides/splint section. I'm sure the aisles are named differently! lol :). For essential oils check your local natural store or even a vitamin shop like GNC or Vitamin World may carry them. You can also click the links I've provided in the context of this post to buy the oils and water colored tablets online.

Let me know how the Christmas Baths go!!

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Bucket of Blessings: Our Family's Christmas Advent & Devotional Time

Jesus is the Best Gift of All...


And that's why we celebrate Christmas. Love's Pure Light came to Earth to free us from our sin and give us the gift of eternal life if we choose to accept Him as our Lord and Savior. (John 3:16-17, Romans 10:9).

God gave so much--all He had, to rescue us.  What a blessing. He gave and so we give, not only at Christmastime, but all throughout the year, so each year our family participates in Bucket of Blessings to help us remember why we celebrate Christmas.

We LOVE the Bucket of Blessings and hope your family will enjoy it as well!

Bucket of Blessings

Purpose: To highlight the fact that Jesus was and is the best Gift of all, and how we are to bless others just as Christ blessed us.

Let's get started:
  • Find or purchase a bucket or box. Something small or large depending on what you'd prefer or have lying around. Feel free to decorate it with your kiddos. :)
  • Choose an Advent/Christmas devotion/Scripture reading. This year we are using the God's Gift plan from the Bible App. We've used other sources before and you can create your own devotion time using the Bible as your guide. The book of Luke Chapter 2 is where you will find the most popular version of the Christmas story.
  • Decide how many days/nights you'd like for this to last. This year we're doing 9 days only because that's how long the devotion lasts. We typically do 5-7 nights.
  • Choose a time & location to do the Bucket of Blessings with your family. For us it's after dinner sitting near the Christmas tree. For you it may be in the morning at the breakfast table.
  • Schedule Blessings for each night. Here's what we're doing this year, feel free to take these ideas or come up with your own:
    • Day 1: The Blessing of Words. I found a .99 book from GoodWill for each of my kiddos. It was my night to give them a blessing.
    • Day 2: The Blessing of Fun. We will play "The Candy Cane Game." It's basically a "Mom hides candy canes and whoever finds the most wins," game, but the kids love it.
    • Day 3: Bless Your Neighbor. We will make/sign Christmas cards and take them to our neighbors.
    • Day 4: Bless Your Brother or Sister. This night each sibling will have several minutes to talk about only the good things about their brother or sister.
    • Day 5: Bless a Stranger. This year we will be putting a few quarters in the shopping carts at Aldi's. It's fun to be someone's quarter angel!
    • Day 7: The Blessing of Grace. Grace is getting a gift we don't deserve, so this year, each kid will be able to pick one of their nightly chores for me to do for them as an act of Grace.
    • Day 8: The Blessing of Sugar. Something sweet is to be celebrated! Right!? This night Daddy will be choosing a sugary snack for each kiddo. It's his night to give a blessing!
    • Day 9: A Blessing is a Blessing just because. So on this night the kiddos will have an extension on their bedtime! Yay for them, but more prayers will be needed for us! :)
  • Begin and enjoy! I find giving the blessing after the devotion/scripture reading time is best for attention purposes.
  • Note: Gifts that are not tangible are hand written, rolled up, tied with a bow and put into the buck of blessings for the kids to pull out and read.
I'd love to hear how you've taken the Bucket of Blessings and made it your own! Have Fun!!

Monday, December 8, 2014

Merry Christmas! Shutterfly $20 GiftCard Giveaway & More!!


http://www.amazon.com/Wounded-Warriors-Wife-Hannah-Conway-ebook/dp/B00NE9DZV0/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1417987332
Merry Christmas!!

I absolutely love this time of year! The spirit of giving--isn't it the best? Giving is great, but there's something so much more incredible about it when others join in, which is why Christmas is the most beloved Holiday (My opinion only, but I'm sure I could make a pretty good case).

Giving is contagious! So onward we go!

I'm REALLY, REALLY excited to give out these fun little gifts just for you, and some for you to share--because giving is contagious!

Right now...
  • Take 15% of The Wounded Warrior's Wife in paperback!
  • Give a FREE eBook of The Wounded Warrior's Wife to a friend or family member when you sign up for my snail-mail list. Sign up HERE and I will send you a card in the mail with a special code for you to share with a friend or family member to redeem their free eCopy.
  • The eCopy of The Wounded Warrior's Wife is 99 Cents for a BIT longer, WOOHOO...and...
  • You and your friends and family have a chance to win a $20 Gift Card from Shutterfly! Details? Check it out below! Remember to share this site with them, lol!




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