Books

Refresh: Spiritual Nourishment for Parents of Children with Special Needs is now available to pre-order! This devotional book near and dear to my heart. A special thank you to all of you who have been part of this project, whether you prayed for us as we were working on it, or whether you were one of the many parents I had the privilege of interviewing for the book! My co-author Kimberly Drew and I are so excited about this upcoming release, we are going to offer some FREE bonuses to those who pre-order at Amazon, BarnesandNoble,ChristianBook, DeeperShopping, etc.  Here's the book blurb: Packed with encouragement from parents who understand this complicated balancing act, Refresh guides readers to spiritual truths that can be applied to the demands they face every day. It offers perspective and hope through the varying stages and phases families experience, from diagnosis to loss and grief. Each day's devotional includes a reading from Scripture, as well as stories and testimonies from parents who intimately know the struggle readers face. Their children represent a wide range of special needs, including autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, genetic disorders, chronic illness, and more. Drew and Green show how the truths of God's Word are relevant, regardless of the diagnosis. Their devotional illuminates the unique lessons and perspectives to be gained as a result of raising a child with special needs.  Insightful and powerful, Refresh will help weary parents grow spiritual roots and turn toward the Light that never fades. Now let's talk about the FREEBIES! After you place your order for the book, just email your receipt to me (jocelyn[at]jocelyngreen[dot]com). Upon receiving that from you, I will send YOU the following items for free! List of Family Friendly Activities for children with special needs, courtesy of Kimberly (PDF) Refresh with Quick & Easy Recipes, a brief collection compiled by me (PDF) A coupon code to use for $5 off Laurie Wallin's EXCELLENT book: Get Your Joy Back: Banishing Resentment and Reclaiming Confidence in Your Special Needs Family I hope to see you in my inbox soon!

Today in 1863, Gettysburg shuddered beneath its second day of battle. Yesterday, I shared housewife Sarah Broadhead's perspective of hiding in the cellar during the July 1 fighting. Today, it's teenaged Tillie Pierce's turn in the spotlight. The following is excerpted from my nonfiction book, Stories of Faith and Courage from the Home Front: A Field for Profound Thought [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"677", "attributes":{"class":"media-image alignleft wp-image-228 size-full", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"124", "height":"179", "alt":"BB-homefront-cover_125"}}]] When fifteen-year-old Tillie Pierce fled to a neighbor’s farmhouse a few miles away, she thought she would be safe from the battle. Instead, she was right behind the Union lines on the eastern slopes of the Round Tops for the second and third days of the battle. She and her neighbors passed out water to the soldiers in blue as they proceeded into battle, and watched in horror as they came back wounded or dead. After tearing all the muslin and linen in the house into strips for bandages, Tillie finally looked up. I was looking out one of the windows facing the front yard. Near the basement door, and directly underneath the window I was at, stood one of these [amputating] benches. I saw them lifting the poor men upon it, then the surgeons sawing and cutting off arms and legs, then again probing and picking bullets from the flesh. Some of the soldiers fairly begged to be taken next, so great was their suffering, and so anxious were they to obtain relief . . . To the south of the house, and just outside of the yard, I noticed a pile of limbs higher than the fence. It was a ghastly sight! [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"1285", "attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-3305", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"300", "height":"316", "alt":"Tillie Pierce"}}]] Tillie Pierce   After the battle ended, Tillie and many other women in the town threw themselves into whatever they could do to bring comfort to these strangers, who by now felt more like family. They brought lemons, oranges, cakes, jellies and rolls. The women also spent hours reading to the wounded and participated in their religious services at the hospital. Though the Battle of Gettysburg certainly left a mark on Tillie, she chose to dwell not on the human suffering now forever linked with her hometown, but on God’s sovereignty. What in my girlhood was a teeming and attractive landscape spread out by the Omnipotent Hand to teach us of His goodness, has by His own direction, become a field for profound thought, where, through coming ages, will be taught lessons of loyalty, patriotism and sacrifice. . . . we cannot fail to learn that: “The God of battles” is ever present, that on those memorable days at Gettysburg “The hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy.” Prayer: Lord, help me focus on You and learn the lessons you have for me. “The hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy.” ~Ezra 8:31 ___________________________ [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"771", "attributes":{"class":"media-image alignleft wp-image-891 size-full", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"125", "height":"193", "alt":"Widow cover 3 125"}}]]Tillie's diary, At Gettysburg: Or What a Young Girl Saw and Heard of the Battle, is a wonderful eyewitness account, and one I used in my research for Widow of Gettysburg. It can be read online in its entirety for free at Google Books or purchased in paperback (or 99 cents for Kindle). Tillie's house is now the Tillie Pierce Inn, where you could lodge during your next visit to Gettysburg! (Also be sure to check out the home of Tillie's neighbor, Hettie Shriver. The Shriver House Museum is on my list of 9 Must-See Sites of Gettsyburg!) If you liked meeting Tillie Pierce and Sarah Broadhead, you may also enjoy 3 Heroines of Gettysburg. Learn more about Widow of Gettysburg here, or view the one-minute trailer below for a taste of the story.

  In honor of Memorial Day, I'd like to share the following excerpt from Stories of Faith and Courage from Home Front.  A knock at the door early one January morning in 1943, brought Thomas Sullivan face-to-face with three men in naval dress uniforms. “Which one?” Thomas asked. “I’m sorry,” replied one of them. “All five.” George, Francis, Joseph, Madison, and Albert Sullivan had enlisted in the Navy upon hearing that a friend had been killed at Pearl Harbor. The one condition of their service was that they be allowed to serve on the same ship. Their request was granted, and all five served on the U.S.S. Juneau. And now the Navy declared all five missing in action in the South Pacific after a torpedo sunk their ship on November 13, 1942. The following week, a letter arrived that answered all their questions of their sons’ fates. The letter, reprinted in the Waterloo Courier shortly after it was received, read: All hope is gone for your boys being found alive. George got off the ship, as his battle station was on a depth charger, but he died on a life raft I was on. The other four boys went down with the ship, and were killed immediately, so they did not suffer . . . I know you will carry on in the fine Navy spirit. The surviving Sullivans did carry on. Their sister Genevieve joined the Navy Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) on June 14, 1943, and by 1944, Thomas and his wife, Alleta, had spoken to more than a million workers in war-production plants in sixty-five cities, urging them to maximize production so the war might end sooner. “People ask me and Mother and Father too, ‘How do you manage to keep your chins up and keep going?’ We just do,” Genevieve told a reporter for the Waterloo Courier. “There’s a job to be done, a big one that means the lives of many. So we must keep working hard.” The Sullivans were carrying on for the cause for which that their sons had given their lives. In the same way, we as believers must carry on for the cause for which Christ gave His life, as well. Christ died so that we might be truly free, not just from other men, but from sin itself. Our job is to share the Good News, and it “means the lives of many.” Prayer: Lord, help me to carry on your kingdom work. “We must do the work of him who sent me. ” ~John 9:4 May you have a meaningful Memorial Day!