Here is my Christmas post, and here is a lovely song for you.

Blessings to you all!

–Renae

May the coming year bring you more blessings than you can measure.

Love,

Renae

Hey, friends! If you’d like a chance to win a free copy of my book, Morning Coffee with James, head over to my friend Vonda’s blog. She was gracious enough to interview me there. Leave a comment, and you’ll be entered in her drawing for a free book!

In other news . . . I have the flu. Went to the doctor Friday and got a steroid shot, but it’s not working. I’m also on heavy antibiotics.

I’m accepting prayers and pity.

–r

Well, I’m back. I actually never left. I’ve just been buried under piles of seventh grade English papers and life circumstances. I’ll fill you in on the life circumstances another time. As for the English papers . . . let’s just say it’s been very eye-opening to glimpse into the lives of today’s twelve-year-olds.

But in the midst of it all, my book has released, and I’ve done nothing to announce it! Nothing, I tell you. Unbelievable. Shame, shame, shame. I know.

But here it is! Now available in hard copy . . .

A box of these arrived on my porch a couple of weeks ago, and I think they are beautiful!

Please order a copy for everyone you know. You can have all your Christmas shopping done with the click of a button. If you want to get really fancy, include the book in a gift basket with coffee, tea, flavored creamer, a couple of mugs . . . and you’re good to go.

James is one of my favorite books of the Bible. He was Jesus’ brother, but he didn’t believe Jesus was really God’s Son until after His resurrection. I mean, really. If YOUR brother or sister claimed to be God’s gift to the world, how would YOU respond?

James’ simple, home-spun wisdom is easy to read, easy to understand, and filled with practical life application. I’m so excited to share His words with you. Plus, he’s fun. He probably short-sheeted his brother’s bed. And I’ll bet he drank coffee, too. Don’t ask me how I know; I just have this feeling . . .

Blessings to you all!

Renae

P.S. I have an article in Charles Stanley’s In Touch Magazine - the November issue. Just saying.

The talented Andrea McCarthy of Drive Home Productions created this trailer for me, and I am so pleased. Let me know what you think.

Also, I had some good news this week. I was offered two new book projects – both in the same day! God is so good. One of them is for a devotional gift book titled Christmas Prayers, and the other is for a children’s read-aloud called Christmas Bedtime Stories. Both will be out in 2010, both by Barbour.

In other news, I have made it through the first two weeks of school, and am more than ready for my first three-day weekend. Sorry the Morning Coffee posts have been sporadic. I’ll try to do better, as I adjust to this new schedule.

Blessings to each of you!

–r

Don’t miss it! www.MorningCoffeeWithRenae.com

(P.S. Yes, I wrote the song. Yes, that is me singing it. No, you can’t buy a copy, unless you have access to a cassette player. I do have a shoebox full of these cassettes in my closet, though, which I will sell you for next-to-nothing. While supplies last.)

Psalm 66

¹ Shout with joy to God, all the earth!

² Sing the glory of his name;
make his praise glorious!

³ Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power
that your enemies cringe before you.

⁴ All the earth bows down to you;
they sing praise to you,
they sing praise to your name.”
Selah

⁵ Come and see what God has done,
how awesome his works in man’s behalf!

⁶ He turned the sea into dry land,
they passed through the waters on foot—
come, let us rejoice in him.

⁷ He rules forever by his power,
his eyes watch the nations—
let not the rebellious rise up against him.
Selah

⁸ Praise our God, O peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard;

⁹ he has preserved our lives
and kept our feet from slipping.

¹⁰ For you, O God, tested us;
you refined us like silver.

¹¹ You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs.

¹² You let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance.

¹³ I will come to your temple with burnt offerings
and fulfill my vows to you-

¹⁴ vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke
when I was in trouble.

¹⁵ I will sacrifice fat animals to you
and an offering of rams;
I will offer bulls and goats.
Selah

¹⁶ Come and listen, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.

¹⁷ I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.

¹⁸ If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;

¹⁹ but God has surely listened
and heard my voice in prayer.

²⁰ Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me!

I have been offered a job as a 7th grade Language Arts teacher at our jr. high school. Yes, I know. We’ve always homeschooled our kids. But I taught public school for seven years before becoming a full-time mom. And Mark and I have felt led to put our children in school for a while now. For various reasons, we just feel that’s the right thing for each of them at this time.

Charis and I will be at the same school. And my parents have agreed to be on-call for Foster. His hours aren’t that different from mine; I’ll be home less than an hour after Mimi or Poppy picks him up from school. And the wonderful thing is, we’ll have insurance. You never realize how valuable health insurance is until you go without it. And get really sick with bronchitis and laryngitis and everything else under the sun . . .

Actually, we did have a type of catastrophic insurance, just in case we had a major catastrophe, so don’t go hyperventilating on me. But we are excited about having better coverage.

Now I know you are wondering if I’ve lost my ever-lovin’ mind. But believe it or not, I have taught jr. high kids before, and I loved it. Strange, I know. And as far as my writing goes, I will be teaching writing. And I was taught that modeling is very important. In other words, I will write when the students write. We’ll see how it all works out.

Please pray for my family, as this will be a major change for all of us. But truly, I feel that this is the direction God is leading right now, and I’m excited to see what will come.

I love you all!

–r