An oldie but a goodie. When aren't these commercials fabulous? Love their beauty.
Lord, the sacred birth of our Savior can be celebrated in a multitude of ways. Every good and perfect gift comes from you. Thank you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."
"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
Luke 1:26-38 (NIV)
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You might remember my posts about the summer replacement on CBS titled Reckless. It debuted around the same time as the Halle Berry vehicle Extant pictured above. The first season of the sci-fi/cyborg Extant had a few fans but the consensus declared it "boring" (and it was), but CBS chose to renew it over Reckless (which they failed to adequately promote and moved around to different nights with little warning). The second season of Extant was equally bad, a melding of The Body Snatchers, Alien, and any other sci-fi idea which sets one or two people against a bunch of alien invaders impregnating human women to further their brood with full knowledge by certain areas of government. Ho hum. Guess what? Canceled after two short seasons.
Secondly, with the full use of Stephen King's initial concept and writing, Under the Dome (lower picture) survived the ratings for three short seasons and was cancelled.
I watched a few episodes of Extant to see if it was a worthy effort. The writing was sub-par, the characters mostly unlikable, and the concept tired. It shouldn't have lasted for a second season where it became even more cliché. Under the Dome never got my attention so I can't speculate on its durability. To me, it seemed like the stories would run out of gas and apparently it also ran out of enough viewers.
Reckless had great writers with perfectly cast intriguing characters, both good and evil and in between, superb direction and production. The sound tracks were amazing and neatly adapted to each scene. The overall storyline contained it all: corruption where good was expected, a turning from evil ways in unexpected characters, tremendous romantic chemistry, fascinating court cases, and a shocking conclusion which unfortunately ended in a cliffhanger with expectations of being renewed. Instead CBS went with the big names and failed miserably. Viewership is supposed to be the determiner of successes and failures, but the two shows shown above received much heavier marketing and promotion and stayed with a steady schedule. Reckless received "evening soap opera" type promotion and CBS moved the show around to the little watched Saturday nights. Many viewers never found Reckless until it appeared on Netflix and then they began to write CBS and ask for more, but it had been a throwaway for them.
In the end the creator and producers of Reckless encouraged fans to write CBS and then pursue the Netflix possibility but to no avail. Such quality at every level of production, it was difficult to see it end after just getting started.
Father, there is a purpose in all you do and allow. Too big for me to understand. I thank you for your endless creativity shared with your creation. Every good and perfect gift is from you – whether we know it or not. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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Christmas shopping for love stories? There you have them. If you'd like a paperback Breath of Life, contact me at the email on this page and it's yours for $10 which will include shipping and handling (USA only). It's overpriced at Amazon – I have nothing to do with that. This will be my one and only "puff piece" of self-promotion this Christmas. Hopefully, you will not regard the novels themselves as "puff pieces".
Merry Christmas!
Father, not one word would be available to me without you. Not one. You provide the inspiration and the words. As always, thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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My favorite version of this astounding song. A wonderful way to welcome the Christmas season. Love this. So much.
God, thank you for selecting the perfect young woman who chose obedience to you above all else and the earthly father who chose obedience when everything pointed against it. You always know. Jesus, you came to save me along with the world. Too much to fathom. Holy Spirit, that you have put up with me is beyond my ability to comprehend. I love you. Thank you, God. In the Name of Jesus, the Name above all names, Amen.
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Still in rustic mode. This one fascinates me. With the high windows it almost feels like it's below ground level. I do love the rock chimney fan. Double oven. Probably more counter space on the island. I'd need a ladder for the dishes.
Lord, so much imagination in design. So many designs. Again, thank you for them all. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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Kristen Heitzmann is one of my favorite authors, but I must admit I would've never guessed her to be the author of Told You So until the final few chapters when her familiar voice finally showed up. And until that time Told You So read like a sweet little romance with a southern twang displaced in New York City. The sweet tea and the drama queen novelist Grace Evangeline (Pratt) literally made a splash when seeking out literary playwright Devin Bressard to convert one of her novels into a piece for Broadway. She's the tick to his tock, the yes to his no, and the sass to his blasé.
With a devoted following of fans for her stories of happily-ending romances featuring faith and purity in relationships, Devin Bressard finds the very thought of her books something less than skilled writing with more than enough hilarious melodrama even though he's never read one and has no plans to do so. Through an attempted "research project" on the man, she establishes herself as trouble but manages to entice a friend of his to coerce a collaboration between Devin and Grace for an off-Broadway script. Dressing in their full-on stubborn ways, they attempt to do this favor and be done with each other. Of course that would be too easy.
Told You So is a full-blown romance novel with some effective sidetracks along the way. An angry successful hero with a grudge against anything "faith" opposite a sassy southern belle with a successful career that doesn't afford her a lot of time for the kind of romance she writes spar and travail to create together. What takes place surprises them both and leads to a place they never intended to go.
With interesting characters and a couple of twists for Devin he could never imagine, Told You So keeps to the romance formula with more novels on the way in the Told You Series featuring minor characters from this first novel.
Lord, please continue to supply the stories you have for Kristen. Bless all she does to honor you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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"And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the
Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way
for him;
to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace."
Luke 1:76-79 (NIV)
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I'm a sap for these commercials. I love them, but they make me cry. Can't help it. Love the Christmas spirit. Well done, Wells Fargo.
Lord, we honor you for bringing us Christmas. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
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Interesting look. Rugged. With that unfinished wood appearance. What do you think? Strange that when I glance at it, the two words that come to mind are "Steam punk". I know: weird.
Such an amazing variety of creativity, Lord. Thank you for it all. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
