When God Turned Off the Lights book give away

Cecil Murphey has written many books and I am pleased to offer a free copy of his newest book to one of you, my dear readers.
The book "When God Turned Off the Lights" is about helping us face dark despair, doubting that God could love us because we fall short as Christians, and being disappointed with God for not fixing things as we want.
The author describes three times in his own life, when he was suffering and in deep despair, while pretending to be a cheerful Christian, and teaching Sunday school, writing Christian books and advising others.
Most of us have probably kept up a happy facade at times, so that when suffering and someone asks how we are we smile and say "Fine, fine."
He shares here his insights from his new perspective of happiness, and tips for changing so that God will turn on the lights. One thing he began to do was to thank God for 10 things before getting out of bed in the morning. This set a better tone for his day.
I began doing this and find it is enjoyable to find ten good things in my life, before starting my day, and each day I find a few new things that make me smile to add to my list.
Midway through his journey and this book, the author writes "God's provision is based on unconditional love - not on my faithfulness. I was getting closer to the light." He explains that God knows us and our faults, and loves us anyway. He loves us even when we are flawed, which is a great relief, and accepting this is part of the journey out of the darkness and into the light.

For a chance to win a free copy, leave a comment here. If you become a follower or are already one, you will have two chances to win. I use random.org to select the winner.
http://www.amazon.com/When-God-Turned-Off-Lights/dp/0830751556/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254346707&sr=1-1

one free copy of Cecil Murphey's new book

"When Someone You Love Has Cancer: Comfort and Encouragement for Caregivers and Loved Ones" by Cecil Murphey.


Cecil Murphey is a gifted author and generous in his help to other authors. I know this first hand, and am happy today to participate in his book's blog tour. One person who leaves a comment on my blog will receive a free copy of his book, and one commenter on one of the blogs on the tour will receive a wonderful prize (see below).
Here is what Cecil shares with readers about how he came to write this book. "When Shirley walked in from the garage, she didn't have to say a word: I read the diagnosis in her eyes. I grabbed her and held her tightly for several seconds. When I released her, she didn't cry. The unshed tears glistened, but that was all.



I felt emotionally paralyzed and helpless, and I couldn't understand my reaction. After all, I was a professional. As a former pastor and volunteer hospital chaplain I had been around many cancer patients. I'd seen people at their lowest and most vulnerable. As a writing instructor, I helped one woman write her cancer-survival book. Shirley and I had been caregivers for Shirley's older sister for months before she died of colon cancer.



All of that happened before cancer became personal to me--before my wife learned she needed a mastectomy. To make it worse, Shirley was in the high-risk category because most of her blood relatives had died of some form of cancer. Years earlier, she had jokingly said, "In our family we grow things."

In the days after the diagnosis and before her surgery, I went to a local bookstore and to the public library. I found dozens of accounts, usually by women, about their battle and survival. I pushed aside the novels that ended in a person's death. A few books contained medical or technical information. I searched on-line and garnered useful information--but I found nothing that spoke to me on how to cope with the possible loss of the person I loved most in this world.



Our story ends happily: Shirley has started her tenth year as a cancer survivor. Not only am I grateful, but I remember my pain and confusion during those days. That concerns me enough to reach out to others who also feel helpless as they watch a loved one face the serious diagnosis of cancer.



That's why I wrote When Someone You Love Has Cancer. I want to encourage relatives and friends and also to offer practical suggestions as they stay at the side of those they love."

Leave a comment here for the chance to win the free copy of this book. Also, a grand prize gift worth $300 will be given to one person who leaves a blog comment on one of the blogs participating in this tour, July 20-31, 2009.

Friendship Online

Online friendship

Have you made friends that you have “met” only virtually, on the Internet, through emails? Can these friends be truly life affirming, trust worthy, and an important part of your life?

Some of you, like me, already have found that the answer to this question is “yes.” Can you successfully collaborate to write a book together? YES indeedy.

I have five close friends, living in three states, in an online writers group, that began very informally in the fall of 2005. As we each reached out, carefully, we began to know and trust each other. Sometimes I could share a heart ache with my virtual sisters that I didn’t care to share with my coworkers. Since, for us, our initial common link is that we are all Christian writers, we share both faith and writing concerns with each other.

Being a writer has a lonely aspect to it. We six gals are all married with children, but when we sit down to write, we are alone. We feel sweetly connected as we write in our homes in Texas, Ohio and California. Others that love us are supportive, but writers share a special bond. We know how rejection stings, and acceptance sings! In our stalwart band, we commiserate about having editors say harsh no, and cheer lead for each other when a much more discerning editor says yes.

In the world of freelance writing, both for magazines and newspapers, and for books, the number of rejections is overwhelmingly more than the number of acceptances (except for Stephen King or John Grisham or Cecil Murphey, of course).

We have taken the group name of Word Quilters, and our members are Cathy Messecar, Karen Robbins, Leslie Wilson, Brenda Nixon, Trish Berg, and myself, Terra Hangen. The book we wrote together, under the leadership of Cathy, is A Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts, to be published by Leafwood in October 2008.

Excitement builds for me as the contract for our book is headed to my home, via the U.S. mail. It was mailed to me yesterday, January 11, 2008, for future historians wanting to track the history of this brilliant (smile) group. The topic of the book is Christmas and bringing the joy of the holy day to your house, and leaving out any stressful aspects.

My husband promises to take a photo of me signing my very first book contract. Hey, Karen, Leslie, Cathy, Trish and Brenda, I love you babes!