Jo-Lynn Hunter is at a crossroads in life when her great-aunt Stella insists that she return home to restore the old family house in sleepy Cottonwood, Georgia. Seeing the project as the perfect excuse for some therapeutic time away from her self-absorbed husband and his snobby Atlanta friends, Jo-Lynn longs to get her teeth into a noteworthy and satisfying project. But things are not what they seem, both in the house and within the complex history of her family. Was her great-grandfather the pillar of the community she thought he was? What is Aunt Stella hiding? And will Jo-Lynn's marriage survive the renovation? Jo-Lynn isn't sure she wants to know the truth-but sometimes the truth has a way of making itself known.
The past comes alive in this well-written and thoughtful novel full of secrets, drama, and family with a hint of Southern drawl.
Felicia and Jackson Morgan are spending their first holiday apart after twenty years of marriage. But as she unpacks a lifetime of ornaments, Felicia pieces together the story of their relationship and the one mistake she made before they said ÄúI doÄù when she refused to forgive. She reflects on the grace they were shown on their first holiday together, the forgiveness that must happen, and what they'll lose if they don't find their way back to each other. Can these memory-filled ornaments reunite this family before Christmas? Only time will tell.
On July 19, 1924, Eric Liddell was on top of the world.He was the most famous Briton at the time, having just won the gold in the Olympic 400-meter race. The story of that race?and the one he didn't run?was told in the popular movie classic Chariots of Fire. But what most of us don't know is what became of Eric Liddell in the years after the credits rolled.As the storm clouds of World War II rolled in, Eric Liddell had already made decisions in his life that gave him the resilience to stand tall while others fell into despair. His strength of character led him to choose an uncertain future in China during World War II to continue helping the Chinese. He lived purposefully, even as his world crumbled and he experienced the horror and deprivations of a Japanese internment camp. Eric's story is a story of hope in the face of uncertainty, resilience in the face of unspeakable odds, and an inspiring vision of what life means, even when the final hour comes.
Samantha Crawford has a storybook life: she's happily married, lives on a ranch where she keeps her beloved horse, and the stories she has written and illustrated since childhood have become popular books. When her husband Billy is killed in a senseless act of violence, Sam loses her faith and the will to live. But a sudden death-defying encounter with two children leads to a reunion with her old friend Papa Joe Bradford. As Sam watches Joe care for and love the kids in his struggling neighborhood, she begins to realize that no matter what life's circumstances may be, the love of God is always reaching out to us.
