Lots of Helpers

Miss Joy in December

January 3, 2021 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

This little girl keeps herself busy, and keeps us entertained! She doesn’t like hats, but kept this old fireman’s hat on long enough for someone to grab a photo.

She was engrossed in the movie everyone else was watching! Can you see what she chose as a seat? It’s a 10-liter paint bucket on its side. She was actually sitting on it, though it’s hard to tell from this picture.Her daddy helped her walk in this empty potato bag.

We found her one evening diligently scrubbing her foot with a cloth. I couldn’t quite capture her scrubbing on her foot, because she moves too fast, but she worked at it for about five minutes.Does she like pudding?

Tired baby!

She loves brushing her teeth. Any time she sees the toothbrushes, or someone brushing their teeth, she wants to do hers, too. That’s Mr. Imagination brushing his with Daddy and Miss Joy.

This is a “canoe” that Mr. Imagination built for her.

Miss Joy spent a long time carefully putting her blankie into this bucket, and then climbed in on top of it.

One evening we went to the park across the road from us. Several of us played a game, and Daddy took the younger ones to the swings. Miss Joy loved the gravel under the swings!

She loves to feed the cats. Then, she helps herself, too. Esther caught her eating with them one day—putting her mouth down to pick pieces up just like the cats do. She’s such a mimic—but this is one thing I’d rather she not do!

She went into the milking shed one day and found the jar of salve we use on the cows’ teats. She had it spread liberally all over her face, arms and legs. She had pulled her pants up so she could get it all the way up to her knees. What a mess!

Here’s a short video clip Esther got of her one evening when Mr. Diligence was playing with her. I laugh every time I watch it!

Around Our Yard

December 27, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

The flax bush just outside our windows is blooming this year, and we’re enjoying the tuis that come to drink the nectar! Sometimes, there are as many as three at once, and then there are fights over the blooms.

See the fluffed-up feathers? These tuis did not like the competition.

One afternoon, the little girls spent at least an hour, maybe two, playing together in the sandbox.

Another day, Mr. Imagination and Little Miss created hammocks for themselves from old feed bags and baling twine, after hearing about some children who did it in a story I was reading aloud.They enjoyed their hammocks for a couple of days, till the stitching at the bottom of the bag came apart.This happened on still another day—Mr. Imagination gave Miss Joy a ride on a boogie board!

Quick Trip to Blenheim

December 21, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 3 Comments

A dear friend of ours died the end of November, so a few days later we went to Blenheim for his funeral. It’s a four-hour trip, but because of work and cows, we decided to make it there and back in one day. It meant leaving early in the morning, eating breakfast on the road, and getting home late in the evening, but we did it. It was well worth going. The man who died was the first person we met when we moved to New Zealand 11 years ago (almost to the day of the funeral!), and he and his wife had virtually adopted us. We spent a lot of time with them the first five years we lived in Cheviot, until they moved to be nearer their family. He loved the Lord, and was ready to go, so although we’ll miss him greatly, the day carried an undertone of rejoicing that was wonderful to experience.

I was intrigued by the huge vineyards around Blenheim. While I wish the fruit orchards they replaced were still there, because I like fruit much more than wine, it was fascinating to see the long rows of vines and the enormous wineries.

This view up a riverbed was gorgeous, too.

On our way home, going through the Buller Gorge, we had to stop because someone was carsick. These flowers were beside the road there.

Gayle took a few of the children on a very short walk to the edge of the cliff going down to the river, and when they got back, Mr. Diligence, who was stuck in the van because of his injured knee, took a few pictures. Miss Joy had found a few little rocks, which she clutched in her fist, saying, “Ock! Ock! Ock!”

Mr. Sweetie

Simon took his knee brace off, after having been driving for a couple of hours, when he moved to the back of the van.

08-IMG_7009

Book Review—Ghosted at the Altar

December 17, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 2 Comments

About the Book

Book: Ghosted at the Altar
Author: Chautona Havig
Genre: Christian fiction, Christmas romance
Release Date: September, 2020

He’s goin’ to the chapel and he’s gonna get… ghosted?

Guys don’t always “get into” the whole wedding thing, but there’s one thing Mitchell Bogaert has been anticipating for the last two years–that first glimpse of Brenna coming to meet him at the altar. So, when the back doors open to reveal a missing bride, he’s shocked, disappointed, hurt, angry–pick your negative emotion. It probably fits.

Brenna Kinsey didn’t know she’d bolt at the last minute, but now she’s trying to figure out what happened and how to prevent it happening again before Mitchell decides she’s not worth the emotional trauma–or the town drama!

Lauren Kinsey, on the other hand, is more than just the kid-sister bridesmaid. She’s a self-proclaimed sleuth and determined to ferret out the problem, arrive at a solution, and get things back on track before broken hearts shatter into more pieces than Humpty Dumpty.

Time’s running out, only the bride and groom don’t realize it. How will Lauren fix this mess before the “clock strikes midnight” and there isn’t a ghost of a chance to save the marriage that never got a chance to be?

My Thoughts:

Some books are a given—I know before they are even written that I will read them, and like them. Ghosted at the Altar is one of those. If Chautona Havig writes a book, I will read it, and I will like it. There is just no question about that. A couple of years ago, she wrote The Ghosts of New Cheltenham; this one is a sequel, telling the story of what happened to Mitchell and Brenna two years later.

Mitchell couldn’t wait to see Brenna coming up the aisle to him. Imagine his shock when the doors at the back of the church opened—to nothing. Where was Brenna? What happened to her? As for Brenna, she had no idea she would bolt from the altar until she found herself running desperately through the streets. What could have happened? What could fix this?

Enter Lauren, kid-sister, bridesmaid, and amateur sleuth. She set herself to finding the “why” of her sister’s flight, and fixing the problem. Brenna had to get married to Mitchell—she just had to! And time was running out. How could Lauren and Mitchell get everything solved so that Mitchell and Brenna could still get married?

This is a great story. It isn’t a deep one; I would consider it more fluffy than otherwise. It is a good glimpse into what effect past trauma can have on your life, and the need for forgiving yourself for dumb mistakes and moving on, accepting other people’s forgiveness for what you’ve done. If you enjoy light romance and second chances, give this book a try.

I received a free copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

About the Author:

Chautona Havig lives in an oxymoron, escapes into imaginary worlds that look startlingly similar to ours and writes the stories that emerge. An irrepressible optimist, Chautona sees everything through a kaleidoscope of It’s a Wonderful Life sprinkled with fairy tales. Find her at chautona.com and say howdy—if you can remember how to spell her name.

More From Chautona:

How Did One Silly Story Become a Favorite Series?

Dickens and his revival of the “ghost story” at Christmas inspired the kick-off book in a series I’d planned almost twenty years ago. The little village of New Cheltenham first appeared in None So Blind and Thirty Days Hath…. However, the touristy village with its obsession with all things English was actually conceived almost twenty years ago!

That first book… still isn’t in print. I’ve reimagined it, and it will be coming out soon. However, Dickens… well, that guy has a way of getting under your skin, and what better place for a Dickens Ghost Storytelling Contest than in a village that looks ripped from England’s countryside?

The Ghosts of New Cheltenham was born. I actually thought it would be a great way for me to force myself to finish that book I’d started so long ago. But then Amanda Tru sent me a message that said, “We’re going to do one about wedding dresses,” and Something Borrowed, Someone Blue became the second book instead. I wanted more of Mitchell, Brenna, and the loveable Lauren, so I concocted a story that would give me just that.

Is it any wonder, then, when Amanda messaged again with our next collection theme of jilted brides or grooms, I immediately thought, “Oh, dear! What if Mitchell got ghosted at the altar?” That is the fastest title I’ve ever come up with!

Because one more Christmas story in New Cheltenham wasn’t quite enough, I set a third one there this year! The Bells of New Cheltenham. In that one, Mitchell is done with this ghost storytelling stuff and starts a contest of his own!

While you can read these books as stand alones (both mine and the ones within the collections), mine will be a richer reading experience if they are read in the following order

The Ghosts of New Cheltenham (read the companion short story free on Kindle Unlimited HERE)

Something Borrowed, Someone Blue (in The Wedding Dress Yes CrossRoads Collection)

Ghosted at the Altar (in the Five Gold Rings CrossRoads Collection)

The Bells of New Cheltenham. (in the Melodies of Christmas Love Collection)

(note, the last two really can be read in any order.)

How did my silly idea for a plasmaphobic guy who had to tell a ghost story to inherit spark one of my favorite series? All things considered, how could he not?

To purchase your copy, click here.

To visit more of the blog stops on this tour, click here.

To enter a fun giveaway, click here.

A Milking Machine!

December 13, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

I have been milking cows by hand for about 12 years, and loving it. I was never even tempted to use a machine. It’s so much simpler to milk by hand. You can tie the cow up anywhere and milk her, and cleanup is so easy—just wash the bucket. However, our heifer Pansy changed my mind. When she calved in September, her teats were so small that milking became quite a chore. Try getting 8-10 liters (over 2 gallons) of milk out of a set of teats that are each the size of my thumb. That’s hard work! I managed, though, until Poppy calved in October. She’s easy to milk, with lovely, large teats, but the two cows together were giving 35-40 liters (9-10 gallons) of milk a day. My arms gave out! After just a few weeks of that, we decided it was not going to work. We solved the problem temporarily by letting Pansy feed the two heifer calves, and just milking Poppy. We also started getting set up so that we can milk with a machine! The first step was to level the floor in the shed. This is a carport that Simon built for his vintage Austin, but that has been moved to his house. He got a start on the floor before he got hurt, but then the project sat for a week or two. Then, a neighbor offered to help concrete the floor, and organized with the local concrete company to pour the floor the next day, a Saturday! Suddenly, preparations swung into high gear. It looked nearly impossible to be ready in time, but the job was finished that day!

Simon dug out too much soil, so we had to fill in with gravel, and compact it.

Some of the extra concrete got poured under the rain water tank.

Isn’t that a beautiful sight? I like it, anyway!We let the concrete cure for a week before using it for cows. During that week, Gayle and the boys built the stall and head catch. Now, the two cows are walked up to the house every morning and milking. Poppy never flinched, either at the cups going on her teats, or the noise of the vacuum pump. Pansy took a little longer to settle down, but she’s happy to be milked with the machine, too. And, it was none too soon for her. The calves were on her for just a month, but she has huge sores on three of her teats from them sucking. At this point, it’s impossible to milk her by hand, but she is all right with the machine. And, we’re overrun with milk again!

This is Pansy, waiting impatiently for her turn, while Poppy goes first.

Mr. Diligence has done most of the milking so far. He can’t bring the cows up, because of his knee, so he milks and rinses everything down. He keeps the shed and equipment spotless!

November 2020 Photos

December 8, 2020 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Esther is enjoying having goats again. This was awhile ago, not long after we got the nanny. They are now being moved over the hillside in the background, across the road from us.

Recovery: Simon and Mr. Diligence spent a few days playing Phase 10, before they both got fed up with sitting around healing. Then, they found other things to do, outside, of course, while still being as careful as possible with their knees. Simon went back to work yesterday, after two weeks off. His knee didn’t hurt when he came home last night, but his calf muscles and feet did. Mr. Diligence is still limping around.

On his 2nd or 3rd day of recuperating, Simon’s back was hurting, so he laid on the floor for most of the day. He was listening to audiobooks, and helped his baby sister listen, too.

She loves to have someone to cuddle up with!

After a week, I took Mr. Diligence to the doctor to have the dressing changed. I took this picture to show Esther how it was healing.

After several days of sitting, they couldn’t stand it any longer, and went out to do something useful. They scooped sawdust from the chicken coop into buckets, and the younger boys hauled it to the potato patch for mulch.

Ten baby turkeys hatched the day Mr. Diligence was in the hospital! I took this picture to email to Esther, who was with him.

Our young chickens started laying in mid-November. We’ve been inundated with eggs! The chickens are selling, though; there are only four of the young ones that aren’t spoken for yet.

Mr. Diligence took these pictures of the bridge construction just outside of town the day I took him in to get his stitches out. The bottom picture is our current bridge, the one that’s being replaced. It was built in the 1930s; the deck is wooden, with tarseal on top—although that is no longer being maintained, since the new bridge should be ready within a year.

Book Review—What You Said to Me

December 3, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 3 Comments

About the Book

Book: What You Said to Me
Author: Olivia Newport
Genre: Christian Fiction
Release Date: November 2020

Book 4 in the Tree of Life Series: A Father-Daughter Genealogy Team Link Faith Journeys on Family Trees

When 15-year-old Tisha Crowder gets caught shoplifting, attorney Nolan Duffy tries to protect her from consequences that could rattle her already troubled life. His daughter, Jillian, feels like she’s the one being punished instead—by having Tisha assigned to work with her on a backlog of genealogy files. Tisha doesn’t seem interested in taking the job seriously, and Jillian’s patience wears thin. Besides, everyone in Canyon Mines knows the Crowder family has experienced generations of brokenness. Then a sliver of hope turns up in long-ago words in plain sight, challenging shrouded assumptions about Tisha’s family. Now Jillian is the one who can walk with Tisha back to 1893 and uncover where everything went wrong in the first place—and save her from the past.

What You Said to Me is the fourth book in the Tree of Life series by Olivia Newport. You’ll want to return to the lovely Colorado mountain town of Canyon Mines again and again to explore and celebrate unforgettable family stories that will inspire you to connect with your own family histories and unique faith journeys.

My Thoughts:

I’ve been reading the Tree of Life series since the first one was published. I have enjoyed all of them, but they keep getting better and better. Each one features Jillian, a genealogist, who meets a troubled person and unravels their family tree to find out why they react the way they do to things that happen. In the first two books, it felt somewhat forced, but the third and fourth felt a lot more natural. I especially liked this fourth book, What You Said to Me.

Jillian is stunned when Nolan, her father, informs her that she needs a helper—and furthermore, the helper is arriving now. Yes, she knows that the dining table is buried under piles and piles of old folders that need to be organized for the project she’s been hired to do—but surely she can handle this without 15-year-old Tisha Crowder’s help? And Tisha’s attitude doesn’t make it any easier. What is behind the girl’s attitudes and actions, anyway?

The story flips back and forth between Jillian, Nolan and Tisha, in Canyon Mines, Colorado, in the present, and a family in 1893 Denver. I found myself caught up in both stories, eager to see how the two intersected. I also wanted to see if there was any way that Jillian could help Tisha out of the generations of bitterness, anger, and distrust that plagued her family and caused her problems. Nolan was sure she could—but how?

One thing I really like about this series is that there isn’t a lot of romance. There is a little, in the third book and also in this one, but it’s a very minor element. A few kisses were alluded to, but not much more. I also enjoy Nolan and his cooking and opera singing! He’s a very fun character. There is not a strong Christian message, but the story is very clean and reflects a Christian worldview. As I said to begin, I really enjoyed this book, and I’m looking forward to the next one. There are loose ends from books three and four that have not been tied up yet!

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and CelebrateLit, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

About the Author:

Olivia Newport’s novels twist through time to find where faith and passions meet. Her husband and twentysomething children provide welcome distraction from the people stomping through her head on their way into her books. She chases joy in stunning Colorado at the foot of Pikes Peak.

More From Olivia:

Careful Words

“You didn’t just say that.” Or, “I can’t believe you said that.”

Have you ever said that in retort to someone whose comment offended or wounded? I know I have. But what cuts me even more deeply is when I say to myself, “I can’t believe I just said that.”

The words of a parent at wit’s end, a spouse harboring hurt, a friend saddened by misunderstanding, an employee feeling undercut—they have all been my words. And they came out too fast to swallow back before they did their damage.

I hope I have also had the words of a parent who set aside busyness to listen, a spouse offering loving encouragement, a friend checking in with someone going through a tough patch, a coworker curious to see how I could help rather than compete. Those are the kinds of words I’ve never regretted, never had to repent of, never had to do rebuild from.

I certainly didn’t write What You Said to Me because I think I get it right all the time or even most of the time. Far from it! In our culture of rushing and achieving and—let’s face it, sometimes just getting through the demands of the day—sometimes our words are the last thing we are careful with. Yet they have the longest lasting consequence in our relationships and families—sometimes for generations. The dual-timeline story traces how words that injure became a pattern in one family line until one girl finally fought back to find healing for her future.

My challenge for myself, and all who read What You Said to Me, is to be the person who speaks healing words of hope so that “I can’t believe you said that” becomes “Thank you for saying that.”

If you have a particularly poignant experience of how another’s words impacted you, I’d love to hear from you.

Olivia Newport

To purchase your copy, click here.

To visit more of the blog stops on this tour, click here.

To enter a fun giveaway, click here.

Miss Joy in November

November 30, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 1 Comment

Miss Joy is as busy as ever! Almost everything she does is awfully cute. We love watching her running around investigating things—although the times when she’s getting tired and, as a result, gets into everything she shouldn’t have, are rather annoying. She’s learning to talk a little; she knows where the chocolate buttons are kept and when she thinks about them or sees that cupboard open she starts enthusiastically asking (with sign language) “Please!” Sometimes she even says “Chocolate!” She also knows how to say “Up,” and “Mom.”

I walked into the living room one day and found Mr. Sweetie and Mr. Imagination laying down playing with their animals, and Miss Joy had just flopped down to play, too.

I found her on the couch last night, reading her book.

She loves to eat!

Books and babies—her two favorite things to play with!

She sees everyone else writing in school books, so she wants to, too. The problem is that sometimes it isn’t a schoolbook, but a library book…or the wall…or….

I don’t remember what she was laughing at here, but it must have been funny!

This Week

November 22, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 4 Comments

Some weeks are uneventful and everything happens as normal. Other weeks—we kind of wish we could hit a “redo” button.

Wednesday afternoon Esther, Elijah and Mr. Diligence went up the hill across the road to move the goats’ fence. An hour later, I went into the house for a minute to grab a couple of tools to transplant seedlings. I stopped for a moment to grab a drink before going back out, and the phone rang. It was Esther. She asked me to grab her car and come up the hill to pick Mr. Diligence up because he had cut his leg with a machete. I got up there, took one look at the size of the cut, and made the decision to take him in. It was much too big for us to patch, and right over the center of his knee. I expected to get stitches and bring him back home. However, the cut had gone all the way to the kneecap, and when they did an xray they saw air in the joint, which meant that there was a big risk of infection in the joint—not a good thing. There is no orthopedic surgeon over here, so he had to go to Christchurch. He spent the night in the Greymouth hospital, and then went to Christchurch in the morning in the ambulance that goes over every day. Esther followed him in her car.

He arrived in Christchurch around 2:00 in the afternoon, and waited until midnight to go into surgery to patch his knee up! Esther got this picture of his wound soon after arrival, while they were waiting to go to his ward to wait for surgery. The blessing in this injury is that he missed both tendons and all the major blood vessels around the knee cap.

Esther spent the night with a friend, and then came back to the hospital in the morning. This was the view from his window. The river in the third picture is the Avon.

They played Phase 10 a couple of times.

Mr. Diligence was able to come home Saturday afternoon. He was happy to be out of the hospital, although he has to take it easy for a few weeks. Here he is showing pictures to Mr. Sweetie and Little Miss.

Sunday afternoon: The next act? Soon after some of us came home from church, Elijah called, asking Esther to pick him and the younger boys up. She asked why. “Simon just dislocated his knee!” Gayle was on his way to the hospital with Simon. It turned out to be his kneecap, and it was easily replaced, but he’s wearing a brace for a couple of weeks, and supposed to take two weeks off work—when they are overwhelmed with vehicles to fix! He’s in a lot of pain tonight, though, so I think it’s wise to take time off. Ironically, it was the same knee that Mr. Diligence injured. And how did he do it? Jumping over a low fence that he has jumped over dozens, if not hundreds of times before.

This was when Simon had just gotten home and was on his way into the house. Can you imagine—two boys on crutches at the same time!

Once both boys were settled on the couches again (we now have a shortage of seating in our living room!) their brothers tried out the crutches.

Book Review—Bells of New Cheltenham

November 20, 2020 by NZ Filbruns 2 Comments

About the Book

Book: The Bells of New Cheltenham
Author: Chautona Havig
Genre: Christian fiction, Christmas romance
Release Date: October 15, 2020

Who knew that Christmas carols were love songs?

Justine Driscoll sure didn’t. Peace on earth? She’s heard of that. Holy and joyful? Something about that, too. But love songs sung by a bride about the birth of her bridegroom? That’s just weird stuff right there.

Weird or not, though, once Justine decides to enter a short story contest using a Christmas carol as the inspiration, she discovers love in the carols she investigates, in the story an ex-Army guy tells, and in the little tourist town of New Cheltenham.

“But what do the words mean?”

Ken Torsney is used to fighting for causes he believes in. He just never imagined he’d go from Army “warrior” to spiritual warrior in the span of one question from a stranger. Justine is like no girl he’s ever known— hungry for the gospel even as she rejects it.

He’s falling for her, and that’s bound to break his heart.

Love is in the air in New Cheltenham this Christmas. Again.

My Thoughts:

A couple of years ago, Chautona wrote The Ghosts of New Cheltenham, which involved Mitchell being required to tell a ghost story in order to get his inheritance. The Bells of New Cheltenham has a much nicer theme! I enjoyed reading it as it was written, and again after it was all done.

Mitchell entered the ghost story telling competition two years in a row; this year he can’t bring himself to enter. What can he do instead? He has a bright idea: Sponsor a different kind of contest! His idea is simple; the contestants are to write a short story based on a Christmas carol. He prints up flyers and posters and gets the word around town.

Justine wanders into town with all her possessions on her back. She listens to the carolers going around the streets singing one Christmas carol after another, and then sees the flyer about the short story contest. It catches her attention, even though she knows nothing about the Bible, Christmas, or Christianity. Ken, one of the carolers, notices her interest in the carols and offers to tell her the story behind the one she thinks sounded quite depressing. She wants to hear the whole story, even though she is trying to reject it. Ken, finding himself very attracted to her, knows he has to be careful not to fall in love with someone who isn’t a Christian—but he very much wants to spend time with her and answer all her questions about Jesus and the whole Christmas story! Meanwhile, she must win that contest—it would solve all her problems!

This is a great story with a unique premise. Chautona has carefully woven the entire story of why Jesus came to earth into this story, without being at all preachy. You must read this story about how Justine discovered love in everything around her. It’s delightful! Oh, and the scene in Chapter 8 where Ken talks about buying weed? It makes me laugh out loud every time I read it! (About four times now, since after I read it aloud to one son he wanted me to read it to the rest. I could hardly read, for laughing so hard.)

I received a free copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

About the Author:

More From Chautona:

3 Things That Make My Christmas Heart Sing

I didn’t have a ghost of a chance.

The message popped up in my messenger at exactly the moment I sat down. This is significant, because I get dozens of Facebook messages every day, and often, they get buried when a new one supersedes it. So, as you can see, it’s a near miracle that I ever saw the message at all.

The message offered me a spot in a collection of novellas—a Christmas collection. Yep. Not a ghost of a chance.

Still, I tried to be responsible, you know? After all, I had quite a few books due at the same time already. Bookers on the Rocks, The Last Gasp, my Christmas Lights Collection “noella,” and my CrossRoads Collection “noella.” And those didn’t include anything I wanted to write in spring or summer.

Then she added another layer of temptation. This collection had a theme. That theme? Christmas carol inspired romances.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love music, Christmas, and specifically, Christmas music?

The other authors in the set had already made their carol selections. She sent a list of those that had already been claimed. I read them with great trepidation. See, I already had two carols I’d want to use in the story for this collection that I hadn’t even agreed to participate in yet.

No one had chosen “The Holly and the Ivy” or “The Bells on Christmas Day.”

That ghost slowly transformed into the ghost of my resistance.

All that remained was for me to come up with a story idea. I mean, why join a collection if you can’t even decide what to do with it?

That’s when it happened.

There’s always this moment when the first idea germinates, sprouts, and pushes up through the fertile soil of my imagination. My favorite moment. And it hit me. What if the theme for the collection was my story idea? My character could enter a contest that requires a short story based on a Christmas carol.

And once I had that idea, the rest came in a whoosh! Mitchell, from The Ghosts of New Cheltenham could be sick to death of this annual ghost storytelling contest and decide to create his own contest. And then… well…

The Bells of New Cheltenham was born.

If you’ve not read The Ghosts of New Cheltenham, you’ll follow this “noella” just fine. It is meant to be a stand-alone. However, if you want a richer reading experience, I recommend reading The Ghosts of New Cheltenham, followed by the companion short story, “The Ghastly Therapist” first. Both are available through Kindle Unlimited. Additionally, if you send your receipt (or a screenshot of the final page of the eBook from Kindle Unlimited) for the Melodies of Christmas Love collection to chautona@chautona.com, I’ll send YOU the bonus short story—the one Justine Driscoll writes in this “noella.”

But I promised to tell you three things that make my heart sing at Christmas.

The way people are often just a little kinder and a little more giving and understanding.
The joy that seems to fill every part of life—family, friends, parties, presents, church services, reading, singing…
The music that plays everywhere—and often sings of a Savior’s love.

What makes your heart sing at Christmas?

To purchase your copy, click here.

To visit more of the blog stops on this tour, click here.

To enter a fun giveaway, click here.

About the Book

How Did One Silly Story Become a Favorite Series?

About the Book

About the Book

3 Things That Make My Christmas Heart Sing

That’s when it happened.

But I promised to tell you three things that make my heart sing at Christmas.

Thank you!