today through Sunday (9-21 to 9-23)!
!
A widowed father.
A homosexual son.
Brad Miller, small-town newspaper writer, is numb to the sensation of love. Since his wife died, his once thriving relationship with God has degraded to a distant acquaintance. The only solace he finds is writing anonymously at his blog, a place where invisible readers offer him a safe sounding board to express his detached emotions.
But after he finds out his son is homosexual, he is forced to ask himself, and his readers, how can homosexuality be reconciled within the Christian faith? Mixed advice from two very distinct church cultures makes him a central point for division among his Christian brothers and sisters. Confusion and distrust abound.
To save his relationship with his son, Brad must surface his long hidden wounds and emotions and make himself vulnerable to both his church family, and to God.Here's a bit of what Dudek has to say about his subject matter (for more, see his blog):
Homosexuality is one of the primary “sins” preached against in the Christian church. It is a very taboo topic, but it is not one that should be considered through one-dimensional glasses. Any issue of sexuality is deeply complex and emotional. Christians should realize that even people with whom they hold disagreements are still real people with real hurts, wounds, fears, needs and joys.I think we can agree that those of us who claim to be Christ followers are often adept at "hating the sin" but struggle with "loving the sinner," and Dudek does a great job of addressing this topic through fiction.
. (And remember, you can also get Dudek's fantasy novel City of Prophecy—which I loved—for just $2.99.)
and Amy Grant's Home for Christmas
) on the list, but there is an album that made my inner giddy teenager come out, and I bought it as soon as I got home from work. Which album, you ask? *N Sync's Home for Christmas
! I have wanted this album since I was 17. It has always hovered around $10, and I have a hard time justifying spending that much on music I only listen to 30 days out of the year. But $5? Totally worth it!
of $5 Christmas albums. There's so much Christmas goodness here I hardly know where to begin! I recommend the following albums because I have (and love) them: A Charlie Brown Christmas
(Vince Guaraldi Trio), Peace on Earth
(Casting Crowns), What a Night!
(Harry Connick, Jr.), Let It Snow Baby ... Let It Reindeer
(Relient K), and Christmas Cheers
(Straight No Chaser). But there's a ton of other good music out there, too—albums by Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Avalon, Mandisa, and many more.
, are some of my new favorites, and Merry Christmas
is actually Amazon's mp3 Deal of the Day today. I know by the time most of you read this, it'll be tomorrow (or later), but sometimes Amazon's mp3 daily deals last a bit longer than a day. Merry Christmas is definitely worth your $3.99! (And yes, I know that Merry Christmas came out in 1994, so it's not exactly "new." I'd never listened to the whole thing until last year, so it's new to me!). Each day, a new free Christmas song is added to the list. Today's song is by Celtic Woman.
. But at $11.99, I'll just content myself with streaming it through Spotify for now!a few times a week. I also signed up through ereaderiq.com to be alerted whenever new free ebooks are added (Thanks, Karen!). You have to wade through a lot of junk, but sometimes you'll find a real treasure. (Did you hear me? A.LOT.OF.JUNK. Don't say I didn't warn you!) When I'm going through ereaderiq emails, I usually just scan through the publishers; if I'm on Amazon, I click on the books that look like they come from Christian publishers. (I can almost always spot a Christian book by its cover. Strange, maybe, but when you've read as many books as I have ...) I've noticed that many of the Christian publishers will add new free ebooks around the first of the month ... and today was no exception! Here are a few that especially interested me:
Miss Match by Erynn Mangum is the first ebook I ever read ... and I read it in one sitting! I'd just downloaded Kindle for PC, and Miss Match was one of the freebies available. It has a bit of an Emma vibe to it, and it's witty and fun with lots of pop culture references. As soon as I finished Miss Match, I ordered books two and three in the series. Also, Mangum surprised me with where things ended up, something that's difficult to do when you've read as many Christian romances as I have! If you like chick lit, you should give this one a chance.
Full disclosure: I've never read anything by Stephanie Grace Whitson. However, I have heard her speak--she put on a writing workshop at the school I work at a few years ago. Plus, she's from Nebraska (you know I'm all about the Husker connection!), so I'm very excited to read Sixteen Brides! here (for free, of course).
to get it free!
every day of the month through Christmas. Of course, these are hit and miss in their quality, but it's worth checking out. 
. At that point last year, I'd already spent way too much money on Christmas music, so I didn't consider buying it, even though I love Selah. Yesterday, it popped up as a recommendation on Amazon. I listened to the 30-second preview of each song, and then I downloaded the mp3 album. Phenomenal! I highly recommend it. 
I love drama competitions because I don't have a real job to do--I just go along because I'm state certified and our drama director isn't. So I get to enjoy the play without the stress that comes with being in charge! The play is called "Searching for Happily Ever After." It is, as one of our judges so aptly put it, "Walt Disney meets the Bible."
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