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“White Chair Day” by Joni Jesme

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White Chair Day by Joni Jesme
OMG! I’m Having a White Chair Day by Joni Jesme

OMG! I’m Having a White Chair Day 0r
Mouth and Brain Take a Vacation

A funny thing happened on my way to growing older. I came into my White Chair Days. One enters into the White Chair Day zone only after an amusing and sometimes painful voyage through life’s milestones. However, if you can appreciate the humor as you transition from one phase to another, your White Chair Days will defy expectations, and life will be anything but dull.

June 30, 2018
Paperback, Hardback, ebook
ISBN: 978-1-937333-44-7

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Wrong Railing

Excerpt “White Chair Days” by Joni Jesme

 

Wrong Railing, excerpt White Chair Days by Joni Jesme

Jackie owned a brokerage agency, and my company worked with her not only as our agent of record but also as our benefits administrative representative. I looked forward to our meetings because Jackie always brought entertaining updates on her life—her husband, family, grandchildren, and the numerous house moves they made. Stories of her humorous escapades lightened the otherwise serious business discussions.

Work and leisure time took Jackie to many places. One day she traveled to Kalispell in northwest Montana for a client presentation. Kalispell has incomparable beauty and sits in the Flathead Valley in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Arriving flights into Glacier Park International Airport unload passengers directly onto the tarmac where they are met with one of the most beautiful landing strip views in the country. Passengers are then taken by a shuttle to the small terminal.

Boarding the vehicle, Jackie took a seat near the rear exit door and immediately engaged in lively conversation with fellow travelers seated to her right as the remaining passengers made their way on board.

Full of life, Jackie’s conversations are always an enjoyable experience. She’s animated and does as much speaking with her hands as she does with her mouth. Hand gestures punctuate expressions, and the inflections in her voice bring a story to life.

As the shuttle started to move, Jackie continued her conversation—her right-hand gesturing along with the conversation while she instinctively grabbed the railing to the left of her seat.

As the shuttle lumbered toward the terminal, she felt the railing shift. She gripped a little tighter while continuing her lively conversation. When it moved again, she clutched even tighter. All of a sudden, she felt the rail swing away, jerking her abruptly to the left. She looked over to see what was going on.

To her horror, the railing she’d been clinging to was not a handrail at all but the leg of a very slender man standing beside her!

When Mountains Don’t Move by Diana Weinberger

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When Mountains Don't Move ~ A True Story of Faith Under Fire by Diana Weinberger

When Mountains Don’t Move ~
A True Story of Faith Under Fire

FOREWORD by Mark Hubbell, Northwest Area Director, Prison Fellowship
– – –
Betrayal, the barrel of a gun, and a jail cell. A true story fraught with drama, wrapped in humor, and filled with the miraculous intervention of God.

Because she refused to testify against her husband for actions she had already forgiven, Diana Weinberger, a former missionary, was incarcerated in an Idaho jail — a jail in which she had volunteered for a year in prison ministry!

Diana’s marriage was on the rocks. Years of wandering from her Christian roots had led this former YWAM missionary down paths she would later regret. She and her husband, both successful career professionals, divided their time between the world of work and the world of play — a world of bikers and wild parties. By day, Diana was a respected court reporter, her husband, Larry, the owner of a flourishing dental laboratory. But weekends had them on the road with questionable companions and too much alcohol. Lonely and desperate, Diana made a choice one night that would haunt her and lead to catastrophe a decade later.

Now she found herself in a courtroom on the other side of the bench from where she had tapped out court proceedings, and then in a cell within the very facility where she had led women’s Bible studies. She would not testify against Larry when he was arrested for domestic violence, and, to her dismay she learned that “spousal privilege” did not necessarily apply in this case.

Her career and her ministry were in jeopardy, as well as her personal safety behind bars. Would God bring good from the choice she had made from her conscience? Would her forgiving heart win mercy for herself, her husband and her future?

Join Diana as she struggles through the dark days that led to incarceration and redemption. Follow her as she learns that God can turn the direst circumstances to His glory.

March 2018
Paperback, ebook
ISBN: 978-1-937333-51-5

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REVIEWS:

Living for Christ is not easy. In a world that pursues other values, following Christ requires one to make difficult choices. Diana’s story is a very candid account of an early life devoted to Christ, poor choices, and then the courage to stand with Christ while under tremendous pressure.  This book will prompt the reader to ask, “Could I do that?” and to ponder what is truly important in life. WHEN MOUNTAIN’S DON’T MOVE is a thrilling account of redemption and purpose.  It will inspire and challenge readers to live a life of courageous faith! —MARK HUBBELL, Northwest Area Director, Prison Fellowship

This book was hard to put down. It made me cry sometimes and laugh other times. I don’t remember another book that ever affected me like that. Diana has a gift with words. I could feel her feelings. I would highly recommend this book!  — SHIRLEY ALONZO, Legal Secretary

An intriguing and riveting real-life account of Diana’s roller coaster journey through a nightmare of circumstances and choices. Diana’s ability to paint a picture of her experience in prison had me feeling as though I were right there with her, in the jail cell. Her recorded thoughts are raw and transparent. It left me amazed at God’s faithfulness and power to change the human heart and bring His children through unbelievable trials. —MICHAEL HENDRICKS, Pastor, The Life Church, Hailey, Idaho

What a triumphant story of redemption and God’s intervention. I am deeply touched by the way Diana reveals God’s character in so many facets, His mercy, His tenderness, His ability to answer prayer and to know your every need even before you ask. I believe that people who read this book will find themselves touched and challenged to walk with God in their own lives, and perhaps to remember Hebrews 13:3, “Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself…” — FAY WILLIAMS, Currently with Youth With A Mission, former M/V Anastasis Leader, Diana’s Discipleship Training School Leader aboard the Anastasis in 1981

Diana writes with candid honesty about her journey through life–the good, the bad, and the ugly. This is a story of grace, of how someone can turn their life around by being real, by persevering, and by taking the time to listen, obey, and walk in humility with God. Diana demonstrates both the courage to do what is right, and the willingness to count the cost. This is a great read that I’m sure will be a blessing in your life. I know that it has blessed and challenged mine!  — MARIE TYLANDER PEREZ, Former Activities Department Head, M/V Anastasis

“Where is Bear? ~ Let’s Play Hide and Seek” by Sumi Fyhrie

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Where is Bear?- Let's Play Hide and Seek by Sumi Fyhrie
Where is Bear?- Let’s Play Hide and Seek by Sumi Fyhrie – Available Where books are sold.

CHILDREN’S | AGE: 3-8

Bear loves to play Hide and Seek.
While Adam is counting. Bear says “Don’t peek.”

Adam looks in a forest of tall, green trees.
“Woof, woof,” says Bear. “He can’t see me.”

Adam explores Bear’s cave that is dark and small.
“Woof, woof,” said Bear. “Why are their bats on the wall?”

Help Adam find Bear in this fun, playful adventure. Delightful illustrations and rhyming text engage young readers. Perfect for pre- and emerging readers.

Hidden inside are things in threes. Can you find them all? Look inside and see.

Available from: Barnes & Noble, Amazon

UPDATED Release Date:  September 2017
ISBN: 978-1-937333-34-8
Published by: White Parrot Press (imprint of First Steps Publishing)

 

“Two Ghostly Tails” A brother and sister adventure by Sumi Fyhrie

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"Two Ghostly Tails" A Brother and Sister Adventure by Sumi Fyhrie
“Two Ghostly Tails” A Brother and Sister Adventure by Sumi Fyhrie

CHILDREN’S | AGE: 3+

Brother and Sister do not get along. Brother likes to dig holes in the yard and drool; Sister likes to preen herself on a pink pillow and sleep. When a midnight intruder disrupts their life, the unlikely duo must put aside their differences and protect home and family from the unwelcome thief.

– – –

It’s Halloween night, on Simple Town Lane,
Brother’s a hot dog, Sister’s a princess, again.

The street is buzzing with kids looking for treats,
Brother wags his tail at every costume he greets.

And after a long day filled with kids, candy and fun,
It’s time for some sleep . . . but not for every one.

A strange shadow appears at the window outside.
Brother and Sister are scared.
Should we run? Should we hide?

“No!” cries Brother, he has plan.
And whispers to his Sister
how they’ll get rid of the man.

A Simple Town story
that is sure to delight,
and perhaps the real reason
for those bumps in the night!

Available from: First Steps Publishing, Barnes & Noble, Amazon

ISBN: 978-1-937333-45-4
Published by: White Parrot Press (imprint of First Steps Publishing)

“NAM, The Story of a Generation” a novel by Mel Smith

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It was war… not the kind waged in the 21st century, with terrorists; but war with armies and uniforms and borders and national interests. It’s all encompassing, conscripted, waged, politicized, and lied about. It’s cruel, bloody, noisy, messy, rife with mistakes, deadly, gross, inhuman, and unfair. It is never played on an even plain, righteous, warranted, or clear-minded. Every war is mankind’s biggest mistake and what makes it worse is that the men caught up in it are the innocents; the losers, in this case, sold an unrealistic ideal, a patriotic slogan, a vision of greatness in sacrifice they eventually found wanting.

War has a face that’s different depending on your vantage point. Who wins and who loses may not be right, or virtuous, and those who fight are always on the losing side.

In the Vietnam War two ideologies met with predictable results.

The Vietnamese fought not for communism, but for nationalistic goals. Vietnam had been occupied by foreigners for a thousand years, since before Ghangis Kahn. The latest to occupy were the French, then the Japanese, then the French again. The Vietnamese national who led Vietnam’s rebel forces in dispatching the Japanese, also fought the French and the Americans. He was a true Vietnamese patriot; and he was a communist.

Through the Americans, readers will see the conflict of serving and going to war with little understanding of the consequences their commitment would have. Most of these young kids served without a clear vision of America’s interest in Vietnam or a strident reason for putting their lives on the line. Of course, the draft made service mandatory, but our American characters joined the service of their own accord.

NAM (a novel), The Story of a Generation deals with the fallout that happens to both sides of the war and asks questions that never can be truly understood: Why did we fight and what was gained and lost from the war?