ONLY TWO MORE WEEKS! ARE YOU READY FOR CHRISTMAS?

Years ago, people talked about having traditional Christmases, but today, Americans celebrate Christmas in many ways.

My family celebrates with a big dinner, but we bypass expensive gifts. Instead, everyone brings a wrapped gag gift with a cost ceiling of usually $10-$20. Before dinner, we select from the pile and form a circle to watch the unwrapping. I’ll never forget the year Uncle Aaron received a mullet wig and wore it while playing charades, and Grampy received a joke book and read about twenty of them while we held our abs and roared. We’re pretty confident this Christmas is going to be a hoot too.

After the joking dies down, we usually head to the table and focus on the birth of Jesus. I love this time of reflecting on the vast love of God for mankind. Through the years, we’ve placed Scripture verses by each plate and gone around the table, having family read them. When our children were little, we put verses on their packages with clues about the contents, e.g., a verse about Jesus being the Light of the World might have been a clue that the gift was a glow-in-the-dark watch, or lamp, or flashlight. The kids had to guess what was inside. We had a great time.

Our Christmas day involves relationship building and the unity of love which we learned from Jesus. We’re grateful to God for sending His only Son so that all who believe in Him will not perish but have eternal life—my paraphrase. John 3:16.

So what does this kind of love, agape love, have to do with romance?

EVERYTHING! Love is what holds relationships and families together. Learning to love one another builds the foundation of a long-lasting romance.

How do you celebrate Christmas? Contact me on my website,

Now, let’s concentrate on romance.

When many people think of finding romance, they become antsy because they don’t have a clue how to meet the person of their dreams. For a few weeks, my blog/newsletter will show ways to find dates. I’ll also include brief stories from different romance writers on how they met the loves of their lives, and we’ll get to see the interesting ways God orchestrated matches. So keep reading to learn how others connected! Here’s the first one below–

How Does One Find True Love?

My story is sort of weird.

One day during my stint in the Navy, I was sitting under a sprawling oak tree, cramming for an exam the next day, when something unusual happened. The oak’s broad, leafy limbs shaded me from the intense rays of the sun, but still, I had my head down, deep in thought. As usual, I was so obsessed with wanting an “A”, I shut out the world around me. So, I didn’t see him at first—the young man who walked around the corner of the nearby barracks.

“Did you see a squirrel run by?” He barely glanced at me.

Irritated at the interruption, I peered up at his face. He had the most adorable part between his front teeth when he smiled. My first thought was hubba hubba–he’s dripping with cuteness. He was the hunkiest guy I’d ever seen. But what was he doing looking for a squirrel of all things? “Why’re you searching for rodents?”

“Rodents? Nah, just one. I was feeding him before he took off.”

After chuckling, I invited the tall, goatee-sporting owner of winsome teeth to have a seat because I’d never met a guy in this way. Soon, I discovered he was in the Corps School class ahead of mine, getting ready to graduate.

An instant connection sparked between us. We had many things in common. It wasn’t until a couple of months later when he asked me to marry him, that I learned about his visit to his youth pastor the week before we met. The pastor had prayed and asked God to help Brian find the right mate.

God is amazing.

I’ve been married to this wonderful man since Noah built the ark—well, almost that long—but God knew what He was doing in bringing us together. We had so much in common.

So pray for a mate while doing everyday activities like attending church, going to

coffee shops, malls, libraries, parks, grocery stores, college classes, and even under sprawling oak trees—because you never know when your true love will appear.

And now, let’s meet one of my favorite romance authors, Susan Tuttle.

Susan’s modern-day romance novels are about situations in everyday life. I’ve read two of her books and fell head-over-heels in love with the stories. They’re fun as well as inspirational. Here’s a snippet of how she found her true love:

Susan: I met my hubby for the first time in junior high. It wasn’t until high school that we became friends, though. I remember my girlfriends saying I should ask him out based solely on the fact that he was a boy and taller than me. However, I couldn’t see him as anything other than a friend.

Fast forward to our college years. By this time, we had become best friends. Over the years, we had attended many major events together, including our senior prom, high school graduation (we walked the aisle together), and friends’ weddings. Although I didn’t think myself attracted to him, love slowly grew under the surface for several years.

One night, that love grew large enough to crash over me. I suddenly realized I loved my best friend. He challenged me. Encouraged me. Made me laugh. And he was always supportive. At the same moment, the very man whom I denied feeling drawn to in “that way” became the most attractive person in the world to me. Twenty-five years later, he still holds that title.

It’s easy to see how God worked to find Susan and me our true loves–mine under a tree and hers right under her nose. I’d venture to say there are hundreds of stories of God answering prayers for love.

I asked Susan to share a little bit about one of her books:

This one is her favorite: Love You, Truly: Harlow Tucker has given up on love, and Blake Carlton doesn’t believe it exists. But when the skeptical small-town girl, Harlow, is thrust into a reality dating show, starring Hollywood’s favorite son, the pair of polar opposites discover common ground—and that love is not only real, but worth fighting for.

I don’t know about you all, but I’m going to have to purchase this one!

Other Books by Susan Tuttle: **Along Came Love Series: At First Glance, Then Again, Maybe, Never Too Late.

Thank you, Susan. I think our stories illustrate how God orchestrates finding our soul mates if we ask Him and have the patience to wait.