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Therefore, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also get rid of every weight and entangling sin. Let us run with endurance the race set before us,

focusing on Yeshua, the initiator and protector of faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame; and He has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1, 2

Intentional Living

By John C. Maxwell

We all have a longing to be significant. We want to make a contribution, to be a part of something noble and purposeful. But many people wrongly believe significance is unattainable. They worry that it’s too big for them to achieve. That they have to have an amazing idea, be a certain age, have a lot of money, or be powerful or famous to make a real difference.

The good news is that none of those things is necessary for you to achieve significance and create a lasting legacy. The only thing you need to achieve significance is to be intentional. And to do that, all you need to do is start. You can’t make an impact sitting still and doing nothing. Every major accomplishment that’s ever been achieved started with a first step. Sometimes it’s hard; other times it’s easy, but no matter what, you have to do it if you want to get anywhere in life.

In INTENTIONAL LIVING, John Maxwell will help you take that first step, and the ones that follow, on your personal path through a life that matters.

ISLAND BREEZES

Are you living a life of significance or are you just trying to do your best? Are you content being the person you are or do you want more? Are you living intentionally or just living?

Everyone has a story and a why. John C. Maxwell shows you how to find yours. You then can start doing something of significance – something that makes a difference. This will lead to a life of anticipation.

Thank you, Mr.Maxwell, for leading us towards a life with a great story.

***A special thank you to Sarah Stringer of the Hachett Book Group for providing a review copy.***

John C. Maxwell is an internationally respected leadership expert and author who has sold more than 21 million books. Dr. Maxwell is the founder of EQUIP, a non-profit organization that has trained nearly 6 million leaders in 177 countries worldwide. Each year he speaks to the leaders of diverse organizations, such as Fortune 500 companies, foreign governments, the National Football League, the United States Military Academy at West Point, and the United Nations. A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Business Week best-selling author, Maxwell has written three books that have sold more than a million copies: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Developing the Leader Within You, and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. His blog can be read  here.

Now this is His commandment – that we should believe in the name of his Son, Yeshua the Messiah, and love one another, just as He commanded us.

The one who keeps His commandments abides in God, and God in him. We know He abides in us by this – by the Ruach He has given us.

1 John 3:23-24

Hebrew

Mars with Venus Rising

By Hope Toler Dougherty

A meddling horse, paper bag floors and a flying saucer on the town square. The little town of Mars has it all—including a brand new resident who might spell heartache for one of its own.
Twenty-something Penn Davenport yearns for an exciting life in the big city and wants to shed the label of orphan that she’s worn for years. To achieve that dream, she must pass the CPA exam then move away from the two aunts who reared her after her parents died in a plane crash.
When John Townsend—full of life and the joy of living—moves to town, he rattles Penn’s view of herself, her life, and her dreams . . . which isn’t such a bad thing until she falls for him . . . and discovers he’s a pilot.

ISLAND BREEZES

Penn has her life planned out. She’ll pass the CPA exam and move out so that her aunts can move back to their home.

Then along comes John. It seems as if he’s moved to her small town of Mars just to irritate her. All poor John wants is to make some friends in his new home town.

Penn starts softening up and maybe even falling for him until she learns he’s a pilot. Then all bets are off. No way, Jose. She’ll stick to her car and wayward horse.

Is there no way at all for John to work himself back into Penn’s heart? It doesn’t look like it.

Thank you, Hope, for this fun book. I’ll look forward to reading your next novel.

***A special thank you to litfuse for providing a review copy.***

Hope Toler Dougherty holds a Master’s degree in English and taught at East Carolina University as well as York Technical College. A member of ACFW, RWA and SinC, she writes for Almost an Author. Before writing novels, she published non-fiction articles on topics ranging from gardening with children to writing apprehension. She cheers for the Pittsburgh Steelers, ACC basketball, and Army West Point Football. Hope and her husband, Kevin, live in North Carolina and have two daughters and twin sons.

Travel to the small town of Mars, where you’ll find a meddling horse, paper bag floors, and a flying saucer on the town square—in Hope Toler Dougherty’s book, Mars . . . with Venus Rising. Penn Davenport dreams of passing the CPA exam and moving away from the two aunts who reared her after her parents died in a plane crash. When John Townsend—full of life and the joy of living—moves to town, he rattles Penn’s view of herself, her life, and her dreams . . . which isn’t such a bad thing until she falls for him and discovers he’s a pilot.

Celebrate Hope’s Mars . . . with Venus Rising blog tour with a Kindle Fire Prize Pack giveaway!

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A copy of Mars . . . with Venus Rising
• A $25 Amazon gift card
• A Kindle Fire

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry! The giveaway ends on May 18th. The winner will be announced May 19th on Hope’s blog.

The Inheritance

By Michael Phillips

The death of clan patriarch Macgregor Tulloch has thrown the tiny Shetland Islands community of Whales Reef into turmoil. Everyone assumed Tulloch’s heir to be his much-loved grandnephew David. But when no will is discovered, David’s calculating cousin Hardy submits his own claim to the inheritance, an estate that controls most of the island’s land. And Hardy knows a North Sea oil investor who will pay dearly for that control.
While the competing claims are investigated, the courts have frozen the estate’s assets, leaving many of the locals in dire financial straits. The future of the island—and its traditional way of life—hangs in the balance.
Meanwhile, Loni Ford enjoys a rising career in a large investment firm in Washington, D.C. Yet, in spite of outward success, she is privately plagued by questions of identity. Orphaned as a young child, she was raised by her grandparents, and while she loves them dearly, she feels completely detached from her roots. That is, until a mysterious letter arrives from a Scottish solicitor. . . .
Past and present collide in master storyteller Michael Phillips’ dramatic new saga of loss and discovery, of grasping and grace.

ISLAND BREEZES

The Laird of Clan Tulloch is dead without a will. Now it’s between two grand nephews as to who will be chosen the next to claim that title. Which one will it be?

Underlying it all are financial problems. Until the inheritance is settled, money is not available to run the mill and pay it’s employees their wages.

The two cousins are widely divergent in their plans for the community. Hardy wants to sell out to the oil industry while David wants to continue Whales Reef’s traditional way of life.

The big surprise comes when American Lori Ford shows up.

Mr. Phillips, please write rapidly. I can’t stand not knowing what’s happening. I want to come to your house to help you write so I can read the second book in Secrets of the Shetlands.

***A special thank you to litfuse for providing a review copy.***

Michael Phillips is a bestselling author who has penned more than seventy books, both fiction and nonfiction. In addition, he has served as editor/redactor of nearly thirty more books. Over the past thirty years, his persistent efforts have helped reawaken interest in the writings of nineteenth century Scotsman George MacDonald. Michael and his wife, Judy, spend time each year in Scotland, but make their home near Sacramento, California.

Do  not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you.

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brethren. The one who does not love remains in death.

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer – and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

We have come to know love by this – Yeshua laid down his life for us, and we also should lay down our lives for our brethren.

But if someone has material possessions and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

Children, let us not love with word or talk, but in deed and truth!

1 John 3:13-18