Homeschooled Authors: December 2012

It's December and almost everyone I know is getting ready for Christmas. The shops are full of people buying cards and gifts. The roads are busy as people drive in and out of the city with bags of presents and boxes of decorations for their homes. Everyone is playing or singing carols.

Some versions of carols are bright and tinkly and some versions are dignified and choral. The tunes are the same: O Little Town of Bethlehem, Hark the Herald Angels Sing and God Rest You Merry Gentlemen among others. And then there are songs. A friend sings one of them with glee: Merry Christmas, Everyone!

One of my favorite carols is God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. I love the tune! I recently discovered that it was predated by an older song with a similar tune, from the fourteen hundreds, which entreated Christians in Latin and English to "in sweet shouting, now sing with hearts aglow!"

Later in the song, this earlier carol continues, "O that we were there!"

Those words made me stop and think. "O that I was there!" I've wondered for years what it was like to be Mary. If I close my eyes, I can imagine her story, her feelings as the light of an oil lamp flickered around the walls of the stable and across the feature of the baby in her arms.

And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

(Luke 2:3-7)

For a moment the bustle of the season fades. The endless list of things to do - cards to write and presents to wrap - doesn't seem so important. What was it like when Jesus was born? How did Mary feel? What did the shepherds see when they entered the stable in Bethlehem?

Take moment to celebrate your Savior's birth in your heart.

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;

O tidings of comfort and joy.

(God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen)

My name is Elisabeth Allen. I live in England with my parents and siblings. When not writing on my laptop, Clarissa, I love spending time with family and friends or reading, cooking, sewing, playing the guitar and working for a local interdemoninational ministry. A preacher’s kid and home-school graduate of Jewish and British heritage, I enjoy a faith relationship with Jesus Christ. I have a heart for ministry generally and discipleship specifically and a heart for young woman.

Elisabeth wanted to giveaway a copy of her wonderful book The Abolitionist! Enter below. Open to USA and England residents only.

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Monday, December 10, 2012

Tannenbaum

by Shannon McDermott

The lights are laced through the branches of the Christmas tree – the same lights that have adorned our tree for twenty Christmases past. The bulbs are old, thick; they do not sparkle so much as glow deep colors over the evergreen needles.

A plastic crown tilts on the reaching topmost branch, a token of the King. Wooden sleds dangle among wooden angels, which still keep most of their gold and white glitter. One branch bends, tugged down by a ceramic Noah's Ark. Another lightly bears a candy cane of pipe cleaners twisted together.

High among the branches hangs a white, gold-edged cross. The only ornament that matches it is a gilded dove, halfway down and on the other side of the tree. Nothing matches Larry the Cucumber, sporting pajamas and a nightcap as he stands perkily in front of his own Christmas tree. It's plastic, but so is he.
Yarn Christmas wreaths are scattered high and low – red and white, green and white. One Christmas wreath is thin metal, golden once and tarnished now; a long-ago year is imprinted on it. Other ornaments have that touch – etched with names or dates, marked by family and friends.

Candy canes are hooked on the branches – decoration today, candy again as soon as Christmas Day is past. Tinsel icicles are draped on the branches; even the bent strands shine with every bit of light they snatch. Two or three ornaments are paper, made in some barely recalled Sunday school.

A quilted rug wraps around the tree stand, its red and green patches saluting the season. White squares are sewn in, and rocking horses seesaw over them. They remind me of another rocking horse, a real one back in my childhood, that was made by the hands that made the quilt.

For the currency bartered for a Christmas tree like this is not money but time. Years and people go on their way, and leave things to be put on a Christmas tree.

Shannon McDermott is the author of The Last Heir, the novella Beauty of the Lilies, and the Christian Holmes series. To learn more about her or her work, go to shannonmcdermott.com or visit her on Facebook.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Announcement Saturday: Contests and Books

News

From Amy Wiley: Hi friends, I’m helping FaithWriters put on a writing contest for kids, ages 7-14. If you have kids or grandkids that age or work with any at church or in your neighborhoods or otherwise know kids who need encouragement to write, please pass on the word. There will be a small cash prize and publication of the winning entries. The theme is New Year or new beginnings and we’re accepting submissions now through Dec 12th. Check out all the details here: http://kids.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=23555

Injoy Inc. (run by a homeschool family) Is having a writing contest. "We're awarding a publishing package prize to one student author and one adult author. Beginning December 15, 2012 and through January 15, 2013 authors can submit 1-2 of their best chapters for the contest. Finalists will have until April 30, 2013 to submit their entire manuscript for judging. The best way to get info about the contest launch is to sign up for our Facebook page, and to sign up for the free newsletter."

Books Added

(Now Available) Annabeth's War By Jessica Greyson

Trust by Molly Evangeline

(Now Available) Frozen Footprints by Therese Heckenkamp

Will Our Generation Speak? by Grace Mally

The City Came Creeping by Rachel Starr Thomson

Wayfarer's Dream by Rachel Starr Thomson

(Now Available) Never by J. Grace Pennington

Avenir Eclectia (Volume 1) by Mary Ruth Pursselley

Salamont: Rise or Fall by Elisha Wahlquist

Authors Added

Mary Ruth Pursselley

Elisha Wahlquist

Monday, December 3, 2012

Writing for His glory

As a writer and published author, I’ve been asked countless times why I write and what my goals are. My replies often vary – after all, isn’t that a rather extensive question? How can you possibly frame into a few words the overpowering desire a writer has to place his or her ideas on paper? And, in my case, my love of history is one of my greatest inspirations for writing – a fact that creates a very complex answer to the query “So why do you write?”

However, as Christians, perhaps there is a simple answer to that constantly asked question. In his letter to the Colossians, the apostle Paul spells out our entire purpose as the servants of Christ. As found in chapter 3, verse 17, he says “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ…”. As Christians, our sole intent is to please our Lord and bring glory to His name. Can we do any less as writers?

But, perhaps that brings us to a whole new point. Do we truly write for His glory? Is our every intent to bring honor to Him? I think we all would hasten to say yes – but, deep down, are we truly committed to giving Him all the praise?

So, in conclusion, allow me to offer a challenge: Write as unto the Lord and give Him all the glory. And, when you are asked why you write, you can wholeheartedly answer that you write for His glory. Let this be your motto – Ad maioram Dei gloriam, to the greater glory of God.

Alicia A. Willis is the author of To Birmingham Castle, the first book in a historical-fiction trilogy dedicated to revealing the truth about the Middle Ages and promoting godly ethics through its characters. When not writing or doing endless historical research, she enjoys being a church pianist, teaching her music students, and spending time with her family.

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Saturday, December 29, 2012

Announcement Saturday: End of the Year

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Announcement Saturday: More books and authors

Monday, December 17, 2012

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen