Thursday, December 20, 2012

Christmas All Year Long




My Best Christmas Gift
By Anne Greene
 
Christians enjoy Christmas all year round. There’s a Christmas wedding planned at the end of A Texas Christmas Mystery. If you can tell me when Derrick fell in love with Amber, Gina will enter your name in a contest to win a free, autographed copy of my Scottish historical, Masquerade Marriage.

Christmas is a special time of year when we shop for gifts to give loved ones and many times gifts to give those not as fortunate as we are. I opened the absolute best gift of my life a few years back when I was twenty-one.

My family didn’t attend church—not even on Christmas Eve. I grew up with no religious instruction at all, but with an empty heart seeking God. I didn’t know about Vacation Bible School or Sunday School or Bible Camp, or any event that Churches use to reach children and young people. My Dad was an atheist.

But I had a deep yearning in my heart as God’s Holy Spirit drew me to Himself. Still, it took a move from Ohio to San Diego, California, before I met the Savior.

My new husband and I found an apartment in an older residential neighborhood, and as we drove around to see what surrounded us, I experienced an uncanny desire to attend a small, pink stucco building with Scott Memorial Church posted out front. The nondescript place didn’t look like a church, and the building had no drive-up appeal. Yet I was deeply drawn to it. 
 
So, on Sunday morning we walked up the eight steps and through the wooden door. The interior was small and probably held only about three or four hundred people. But most of those already seated in the pews were young, about our age. The pastor, Tim LaHaye, was dark-haired and charismatic. He spoke about the second coming of Christ.

I’d barely heard about the first coming of Christ. Yet, my heart told me this man spoke truth. Perhaps the only absolute truth I’d ever heard. When he gave the altar call to accept Jesus as my very own personal Savior, I sat in that pew and invited Jesus into my life. When I opened my eyes, the world was new. It was as if I was alive for the first time in my life. My heart was no longer empty. I was a new creation in Christ. That day began a journey with Christmas and God’s great gift of His Son as the center of my life. Jesus is a gift to keep unwrapping and finding more and more treasures inside.
QUESTIONS OF THE DAY:: When did you become a Believer? What is the best Christmas gift you’ve ever received?

~*~

ANNE GREENE delights in writing about wounded heroes and gutsy heroines. Her second novel, a Scottish historical, Masquerade Marriage, won numerous writing awards. The sequel Marriage By Arrangement will soon release. A Texas Christmas Mystery also won awards. In 2014 her World War II novel, Angel With Steel Wings, about WASPs, women test pilots will release. She makes her home in McKinney, Texas. Tim LaHaye led her to the Lord when she was twenty-one and Chuck Swindoll is her Pastor. In 1990, Anne graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Literary Studies from the University of Texas.

View Anne’s other books, her blog, Addicted to Excellence, extensive travel pictures, and art work at http://www.AnneGreeneAuthor.com. Anne loves to speak to book clubs, libraries, and conferences. Her love of sailing, horseback riding, history, and art, as well as her Citizens Plano Policy Academy training, and military life sometime figure in her books. She’s never too busy to talk with her fans.
Her highest hope is that her stories transport the reader to an awesome new world and touch hearts to seek a deeper spiritual relationship with the Lord Jesus.

A TEXAS CHRISTMAS MYSTERY
A lady Coastguardsman searches for a killer. An oil rig troubleshooter accused of murder races to clear his name. The murderer strives to silence them both.

As Amber seeks to arrest Derrick, sparks fly.

Amber Meredith needs to solve her first case. But the handsome Cajun suspect makes her heart race and her toes tingle.

Derrick Darbonne worked all his life for his high-paying, adventurous job. When his past threatens his future, will he endanger the woman he loves?

5 comments:

  1. Wow. that's quite a salvation story, but I don't want to have 'story envy'! I did grow up in a church and family setting - not perfect by any means but I could tell who really loved God by their actions. I made a public commitment at a crusade as a teen. I thank God HE hangs on to us throughout all the mistakes and falling away.

    By the way, you had me at 'hello' (Scottish historical. Seriously! Perhaps a little mystery involved?) THanks for visiting with us Anne!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for sharing your powerful story. My best Christmas present was my first child, December 19th 1994 :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. And what a beautiful Christmas present she was , and still is, Dina! I loved the picture you shared. Similarly, my best Christmas present was my son, Kirk, December 8, 1982. :-)

    Welcome, Anne. Your testimony is amazing. I'm so glad the Holy Spirit kept knocking at your door.

    I remember the first time I went to church. I was five and I begged my parents to let me go to church. (I don't remember how I heard about it) My dad walked me to a little white Baptist church in San Francisco, saw me safely inside a Sunday school class and left me there. It was the first time I'd ever heard of Jesus and I fell instantly in love. From then on, I went to church by myself. Two years later, when my sister was old enough to sit in Sunday School, I started taking her with me and from San Francisco to Japan to San Francisco to Whidbey Island, we continued that tradition all through our growing up years.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a beautiful testimony, Anne. Thank you for sharing it.

    Tim LaHaye of Left Behind is your pastor? Fascinating!

    Did your husband become a believer at the same time as you?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree, fascinating story!

    Anne, I do apologize for not getting your author photo and Christmas novel pic posted. I swear blogger does this to annoy me. Last week I circumvented blogger by using google docs. Blogger figured out what I did and wouldn't let me do it this time.

    Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete

Share This Post

How Our Giveaways Work: The Official Rules

We, the ladies of Inkwell Inspirations, would love to give free stuff to everybody. Since we can't, we will often have a giveaway in conjunction with a specific post. Unless otherwise stated, one winner will be drawn from comments left on that post between the date it was published and the end of the giveaway as determined in the post. Entries must be accompanied by a valid email address. This address is used only to contact the commenter in the event that he/she is the winner, and will not be sold, distributed, or used in any other fashion. The odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. NO PURCHASE, PLEDGE, OR DONATION NECESSARY TO ENTER OR TO WIN. ALL FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

Pinterest