Get your copy of Courage Times Three, a #1 best seller on Kindle in the month of May, 2014

Get your Kindle copy today of Courage Times Three for only 99 cents and your paperback copy on Amazon.com for just $8.81 for a limited time. The novel is selling off the wall. Don’t miss your chance to get this story which reveals the strength in three Christian women who survive the Holocaust, moving onward in life with the determination they receive from the Lord. Kindle sales are rocketing at only $.99. Below, Lilly May’s big day!

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The Accidental Purpose by Mrs. Gina Quarles on Amazon.com

About Gina Quarles
I am recovering from a near-death auto accident I had in January 2012. I am still recovering to date and awaiting another surgery. After my accident, I have had to work out many of my feelings along with plans being suddenly interrupted. I went to what I could do and that was was my writing. Writing provides me with a healthy escape including a creative outlet for expressing myself, and at the same time spreading kindness and some encouragement to the rest of the world. The rewards from doing that are what fuel my passion for writing. I write for healing purposes and pleasure. It is mainly though that process that I find myself caring about the non-tangible things in life. My passion lies within encouraging others, inspiration and hope. That is the main theme of my website. The accident changed my perception of life. My website contains messages of kindness, inspiration and hope for others, along within it, many movements I respect that do the same. I first discovered my passion for writing back in the late 90’s after the birth of my first child. I had worked since my twenties and staying at home was brand new for me. I have published articles on the web back in the 2000’s. Some were on Momscape.com. They were under “Thoughts from our readers” under the articles, “A Mother’s Epiphany”, “Towards Compassion: Understanding the Pressures on Your Husband”, “Serenity Now!” and “Mother Matters: Affirming a Mother’s Role.” I have published poetry works in the Library of Congress edition, “Echoes of the Century” by Pen Publisher and poetry in a local Northwest publication, “Spiral Journey” located in the Pacific Northwest. I was forced to take a break from pursuing my bachelor’s degree in Education due to my recovery. I am a stay-at-home mom and writing once again:).

Sudan Judge Sentences Christian woman to death with apostasy

Sudan judge sentences Christian woman to death for apostasy

Reuters: Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

Worshippers attend Sunday prayers in Baraka Parish church at Hajj Yusuf, on the outskirts of Khartoum, Sudan, on Feb. 10, 2013.

6 hr ago By AFP

 

A Sudanese judge on Thursday sentenced a Christian woman to hang for apostasy, despite appeals by Western embassies for compassion and respect for religious freedom.

“We gave you three days to recant but you insist on not returning to Islam. I sentence you to be hanged to death,” Judge Abbas Mohammed Al-Khalifa told the woman, addressing her by her father’s Muslim name, Adraf Al-Hadi Mohammed Abdullah.

Her Christian name is Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag.

Khalifa also sentenced her to 100 lashes for “adultery”.

Ishag, who rights activists say is pregnant and 27 years old, reacted without emotion when Abbas delivered the verdict at a court in the Khartoum district of Haj Yousef.

Earlier in the hearing, an Islamic religious leader spoke with her in the caged dock for about 30 minutes.

Then she calmly told the judge: “I am a Christian and I never committed apostasy.”

Sudan’s Islamist regime introduced sharia law in 1983 but extreme punishments other than flogging are rare.

After the verdict about 50 people demonstrated against the decision.

“No to executing Meriam,” said one of their signs while another proclaimed: “Religious rights are a constitutional right.”

In a speech, one demonstrator said they would continue their activism with sit-ins and protests until she is freed.

A smaller group supporting the verdict also arrived but there was no violence.

“This is a decision of the law. Why are you gathered here?” one supporter asked, prompting an activist to retort: “Why do you want to execute Meriam? Why don’t you bring corruptors to the court?”

Summer of 73

It had to be in the summer of 73 or 74 when my new husband and I ventured into a lifetime trip in our little cream colored Toyota Corolla, 5-speed.  Deciding to do Florida in mid summer wasn’t exactly the wisest choice with the intense heat to deal with and not having any air conditioning in the car.  Daaahhhh@  Young and silly.  Capable of withstanding just about anything at that age, still be as invincible as we were in our teen years.  (At least Ken and I were).

I remember seeing dilapidated, decrepit shacks of homes located off to the sides of the principal highway and seeing a pink Cadillac crusing along with a big smiley man driving with a big, fat stogie in his mouth and his equally big beautiful woman riding next to him.

So when I saw how poorly the people lived who actually inhabited those shacks with missing windows and no paint, front porch falling apart with two rocking chairs on it.  I felt a bit like I was at the movies.  It was one of the first life lessons I was witness to that taught me of how different people are in the land I lived in.  Maybe not in the northern woods of Minnesota but in many other parts of the country for sure.   Moving right along, seeing Florida’s terrain as entering the north-western pan-handle looked nothing like what I expected beautiful Florida to look like.

Within an hour of entering the state, the common afternoon shower descended upon us like hail from the skies.  I had never been witness to such hard and heavy rains.  Torrential is what they called it and still do.  With “Bread” blasting on the 8-track player in the Toyota, we ended up  pulling off to the side of the road and helped ourselves to a rain shower in mid summer with short shorts and a tank top on.

We sudzed up our hair a bit, washing our faces and let the rain rinse us off.  It rained that hard for that long, we were able to get good and clean.  I don’t totally recall how long we laughed along that side of the road, but it was a good long time.  Once the rains let up enough and we were void of nasty sweat, we carried on until reaching Panama City along the coastline.  Now, I  was in heaven.  Now, I saw the beauty of the beaches, palm trees, sand dunes, city lights at night fogged in by the 150% humidity it must have been.  We were literally in the clouds it seemed.

This was my first venture to any oceanic beach in the USA and coming from freezing cold Minnesota, the sheer joy of jumping into that salt water, boyant as an inflated toy, water as warm as bath water in MN and oceanic ships and boat slips, marinas all along the waterways.  It was fantastic and I knew life here would be grand.

It was for about six months.  We found jobs and an apartment in St. Pete Beach.  Ken did marine construction and I worked in the escrow department of a large bank with fourth floor views from windows that were glass from floor to ceiling.

Life was great in Florida until I developed kidney stones.  (now I know I was de-hydrated to the max.)  But after numerous trips to the ER and losing my job from missing so much work we made our way back to MN to remain for another few years.  All said and done we remained in Minnesota  until 1978 when Ken was killed in an auto accident and left behind were myself and our two young daughters, Mel and Tel.  This is when I first begin reaching out to God but it would be many years before I would find Him as a born again Christian.

Life throws us many ups and downs, the downs certainly not easy to withstand.  But one thing I have learned from dealing with the BIG downs in life, is that once you have overcome the pain of it, be it a month or five years, you usually come out of it a wiser and better person, no worse for the wear.

There were more catastrophic events that took place in my life over the years and we will go there one day.  Only to be able to explain to you in depth how and why we need to experience the tough times in life to grow.  When God wants us to NEED Him, He means it.  And the sooner we learn how to take His hand and give our lives to Him, the better off we are.  I wouldn’t trade my Christian life now for anything else in the world.  Let’s chat again later.  Do you have a story to share with us that brought you to God?  If so, please share it.

Humbly content!  Brenda

Serenity

The essence of calm, peace and joy!

Courage Times Three. A Novel

GOD AND MINNESOTA

On the sixth day God turned to the Archangel Gabriel and said: “Today, I
am going to create a land called Minnesota. It will be a land of
outstanding natural beauty; a land of 10,000 beautiful lakes, each
one full of fish. It shall have tall majestic pines, peaceful flowing rivers,
landscapes full of buffalo, tall grass, and eagles, beautiful blue
skies, forests full of bear, elk and moose, and rich farmland.” God continued,
“I shall make the land rich in resources so as to make the inhabitants
prosper and they shall be known as a most friendly people, people who
practice being Minnesota Nice every day.”

“But Lord”, asked Gabriel, “don’t you think you are being too generous to
these Minnesotans?”

“Not really”. replied God. “Just wait and see the winters I am going to
give them.”

Paperback – $11.66
Kindle – $2.99
at Amazon.com

Christmas Aura

With Christmas just around the corner it seems it’s time to wish everybody on WordPress, my Website, Facebook and the other social media groups I have attached myself to online this year.

2013 has been a year of rejoicing in many ways. My mother is still healthy enough and with us at 82 years of age. My children are all healthy and 12 grandchildren are all doing extremely well. I am blessed to have the world’s best husband who tolerates my illnesses and moods that go along with them. It’s not always easy for him as he’s going through his schooling now in his late fifties for a computer technician. Only one semester left and he will graduate with high honors. I’m very proud of him and his accomplishments. I guess I kind of live vicariously through him these days, which is okay.

God has given me the blessed peace and joy that all of His children receive when they totally accept Him in their hearts. His son, Jesus Christ, is our celebratory reason for claiming salvation to be our own, through Him. If you want to receive this same salvation, reach out to Him. Ask Him to take you into His arms. He will embrace you and never let you go if you always believe. May His blessings overcome any hardships in your pasts or futures.

On Air Radio author Interview

I just finished listening to my third radio author interview for my book, “Courage Times Three. A Novel.”  It was a good interview except for the fact that my voice was so raspy.  Grrrr!  Now I must get some writing done on the new novel and soon I will be reviewing my book cover being made as we type.  God is so awesome.  When I wasn’t sure if I wanted to proceed with another Christian book or make this new one more of a romance novel, He jumped right in there and sent this other author to me, who only will be making covers for Christian fiction or non-fiction stories.  I couldn’t pass up God’s nudging.   I love it! 

An Interview With My Christian Counselor

A Journey With My Counselor

 INTERVIEW PART II coming no later than Thursday, Sept. 26.  Stay with me as I venture down unknown territory doing these author book signings, radio interview, and busy life again.  Please pray that God will give me the strength and energy to fulfill these commitments with my illnesses.  Thank you all for following my blog here.  Your support means very much to me.  Please don’t hesitate to share yourself with me…..

 

The world’s best counselor!!!

Since becoming chronically ill nine years ago I have found it necessary to see counselors for psychological help.  I certainly do not fear any kind of throwback towards me if others know of my needs in that sense.  I am not embarrassed about needing her.  In fact, we even share the same first name.  Ironically!  She is my third counselor, however, and does work as a Christian counselor which I need now more than in the distant past.

 I am starting this blog segment to be run once a week based upon my visits with her.  Although my husband is very generous with his patience and understanding of my inability to function as a normal wife, he knew I was sick prior to  marrying me two years ago.  He was familiar with fibro and that was a reassurance for me.  I really didn’t believe I would marry again or love a man again because I cannot fulfill many needs regarding the house and cooking meals, doing laundry.  I keep up with it but I no longer have to be perfect.  I have been known to have OCD throughout my lifetime and many of us do share in that challenge who have these ugly immune and neurological syndromes.  Mine are ME/CFS and FM.  That is a simple way to say I have numerous physical, mental and psychological deficiencies in my daily living.

Brenda helps me to understand that I need to get myself out of my home more often.  I tend  to stay hidden inside and remain content with having no social life.  My husband gets me out to eat occasionally and we’ll pick up a few groceries together but he generally does the shopping for food.

I have started a blog of sorts including discussions between Brenda and Brenda (lol  myself) and what her advice has been about.  This week I will create a new set of questions for us to go over.  Next week I will share with you once again some of our conversation.  I would be hard hurt without having another woman, and a counselor at that, to help me sort out my emotional frustrations.  When I feel the need for Bible references she finds just what works for me in Scripture.  If you have any questions you could use some advice about, let me know by emailing me at   couragetimesthree@bbelliottvpweb.com and I will keep your name anonymous of course.  Sometimes we just need some outside advice to help us understand our feelings and I urge anyone who has been hesitant to see a good Christian counselor, to keep up with my segment here, helping you recognize the good it will do for you.

Interview with Brenda H and Brenda E

Do you recall what my personality was like when you first saw me?  Was I forlorn, lost, unhappy, depressed, in pain?

 You wanted “improved interests, social life, energy improvement, and a better attitude.”  

 You report symptoms of depressed mood, fatigue, low energy low self-esteem, difficulty with concentration, feeling helplessness, guilt, worthlessness, muscle aches, headaches, sweating, nausea, hot flashes and pain in extremities.   You lived in your chair with the conveniences around you so you didn’t have to get up. 

I responded very well to you from the beginning.  You have said I seem to have this gift of being uplifting regardless of my challenges.  Is that healthy for me?

 For sure….

What were the initial reactions you got regarding what direction to take witih me in aiding my frustrations?

 Understanding and validation of the pain and difficulty you have endured.  The message to “Not to give up, try new things, take small steps, keep looking for God in all of it.”  Reach out for support.  Get out of the house-connect with others.  Allow others to serve you and also you to serve others. 

Did I respond to your advice on the whole?  Or not?  Please explain thoroughly.

I believe you took what I had to offer and made it work for you in your own way.

 You see other people who are dealing with chronic illnesses or even fatal perhaps.  Are you trying to lead me ahead in the same way you do them?

We all need to feel understood and validated.  We all need to do things to better our lives.  Together we figure out the needs.  It’s different for each individual.  Client whom have a strong faith connection and a sense of belonging, have greater hope and strength that provides contentment no matter what the obstacle.  When we share out loud our struggles and feel validated and understood by another individual we start to feel more connected, we start to feel okay about ourselves and no longer sit in isolation.  This is how God works.  Be constant in prayer.  Keep connected to the great healer.  

I feel I am in a much better place now than when we started together……do you agree?

 You didn’t give up!!!!    You have more life and energy! 

Goodreads | Photos of Women\’s Fiction authors – Brenda Brown Elliott

Goodreads | Photos of Women\’s Fiction authors – Brenda Brown Elliott

via Goodreads | Photos of Women\’s Fiction authors – Brenda Brown Elliott.

via Goodreads | Photos of Women\'s Fiction authors – Brenda Brown Elliott.