#WednesdayWordswithFriends Welcomes Kathy Bailey

Good Morning!

All Christmas till Christmas continues today with Kathy Bailey with her new novella, The Widow's Christmas Miracle but first let's congratulate our November gift card winner......

Anna Taylor Sweringen! 

Congrats Anna...take it away Kathy.....

My husband Dave and I are “Lightniks,” a term I coined about five minutes ago. We will drive miles out of our way to gaze at an over-the-top Christmas lights display, and we were doing it well before it became a thing. For years we sought out a home in a nearby town where a family named Hamer filled their yard with elegant lighted vignettes. They had a Nativity cluster, a snowman cluster, a Santa cluster, and, my favorite, a lighted deer on the snowy back hill. A few years into this, there was no display one Christmas. That summer I saw most of the decorations in a yard sale, and shortly after, happened upon Mr. Hamer’s obituary.  With his passing, the lights went dark.

Dave and I bought LED lights on sale a few years ago, with the determination of hanging them on our eaves and being done with it. I dragged him outside one warm fall day to Get It Over With, which involved him spotting me on a shaky ladder as I pulled down our old lights and put up the new ones. Which didn’t light. Came down from the ladder, threw the defective lights away, and bought a brand-new strand of LEDs. Repeated the process of Dave spotting me on ladder, and held our breaths as he plugged them in. These lights lit, and continued to light in our own rather modest holiday display. They’re LED, we told each other, so they’ll go on for practically ever. Until we were forced to replace the roof, and the eaves came down along with the lights. But it would have been the same if somebody else bought the house and tore them down, or there was a tornado, or a hurricane, or this world ceased to exist. Which, LED or no LED, it will at some point. Our efforts were worthy, but they were for this life only.

               Contrast this with the Light that comes at Advent.

Luke 1:79, “To give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace.”

John 1:4. “In Him was light, and that light was the light of men.”

John 1:5, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness knows it not.”

John 1:9. “The true light that enlightens every man was come into the world.”

John 8:12. “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Acts 13:47. “For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.”

2 Cor. 4:6, “For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

1 Pet. 2:9, “That you may declare the wonderful deeds of Him Who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

I John 1:7, “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

This is the light that never goes out

So true Kathy, thanks for sharing!

Kathleen Bailey is a journalist and novelist with 40 years’ experience in the nonfiction, newspaper and inspirational fields. Born in 1951, she was a child in the 50s, a teen in the 60s, a young adult in the 70s and a young mom in the 80s. It’s been a turbulent, colorful time to grow up, and she’s enjoyed every minute of it and written about most of it.

Bailey’s work includes both historical and contemporary fiction, with an underlying thread of men and women finding their way home, to Christ and each other. Her first Pelican book, ‘‘Westward Hope,” was published in September 2019. This was followed by a novella, “The Logger’s Christmas Bride,” in December 2019. Her second full-length novel, “Settler’s Hope,” was released July 17, 2020. She has a Christmas novella, “The Widow’s Christmas Miracle,” scheduled for this December as part of Pelican’s “Christmas Extravaganza,” and is completing “Redemption’s Hope,” the third and final book in the Western Dreams series.

She lives in New Hampshire with her husband David. They have two grown daughters.

For more information, contact her at ampie86@comcast.net; @piechick1 on Twitter; Kathleen D. Bailey on Facebook and LinkedIn; or at www.kathleendbailey.weebly.com.

Red Dawn's world was shattered in a single vengeful act, an act that brought her to into the home of the enemy. She couldn't love a white man, not after what they did to her people. Could she?

After losing a limb serving his country, Laban Jones has built a life from nothing. He's got more than he dare ask for, but what woman would accept a one-legged husband? Can he offer Red Dawn three-quarters of a man, and will she be content with that? 

The answer they receive on a Christmas Eve is a miracle neither will ever forget.

The Widow's Christmas Miracle is part of Pelican Book Group's 2020 Christmas Extravaganza and can be purchased at PBG and Amazon! Check out Kathy's previous posts HERE.

Hope you enjoyed today's guest friends, and that you'll check back each week for Wednesday Words with Friends and Saturday Spotlight.

Until next time take care and God bless.

PamT