Facing Fear With Faith by Peggy Cunningham

We all face things we fear. And, perhaps, children's fears may be more intense. How do
we help them through their fears and teach them to trust God? My children’s book, Really
Rare Rabbits Book 2: Giant Green Ghosts and the Secret at Peppermint Pass is a tool to
help children overcome their fears and trust God. These rare, adorable rabbits take you on
a dangerous journey with them to meet their grandfather. On the way, they face their
fears and learn to trust God.

As a writer, I reap the benefits of researching Bible principles for my children’s books. I
spend time praying and searching verses to incorporate in my stories. Those verses
inevitably cause me to dig deeper for spiritual nuggets to help children, and in the
process, my soul gets stretched. My walk with God grows more intimate as I strive to
impart God’s truth that will impact young lives for Jesus. I love writing for children
because I know how their little minds and hearts quickly soak up God’s Word.

We all go through storms in our lives or face giant obstacles in our paths. Maybe they
aren't the giant green ghosts that my rabbits encounter, but all the same, we cringe when
our giants appear. Children also face their giants. Fi Fi trembles when she meets the
giants, but she remembers a Bible verse tucked away in her heart. "Do not fear; I will
help you" (Isaiah 41:13 NIV).

How about you? Are you facing giants today? Don’t tremble, trust God to slay your

giants. Maybe you aren’t a children’s writer, but just as I wrote how God’s Word helped
Fi Fi, it will help you overcome your fears. And, who knows, maybe you’ll discover God
wants you to write for children.

About the Author

Peggy Cunningham and her husband, Chuck, have been missionaries in Bolivia, S.A., since 1981. They have a children's ministry and work with national churches. In addition to her children's books, she writes devotionals for women like her DANCING LIKE BEES, and her new SHAPE YOUR SOUL, coming in spring of 2018. Also coming in the spring is a new series of Holiday stories for children, using the animals at her ranch in Bolivia as her main characters. Watch for HOORAY FOR HOLIDAYS, beginning in January of 2018. Learn more about Peggy and her books at her author page at WriteIntegrity.com.

My Wondrous Cow by Peggy Cunningham

Have you experienced an undeniable God moment? For me, one such moment came in a phone call. The proof of this call is visible upon entering my living room because there she stands—a cow. You can’t miss her. She claims her corner spot––ten years and counting. At every glance her way, she reminds me of God’s incredible love. Proof of His love—a cow in my living room. Her story is recounted to curious visitors frequently.

How did she end up at my house? Love––God’s love.

I first saw the likes of her at a friend’s home and immediately fell in love with her. So, I set out to find a cow just like her to travel to Bolivia with me. We’ve carried many things back to Bolivia after furlough––but a cow?

My quest began in my hometown area in the beautiful mountains of western Pennsylvania where ski resorts welcome visitors from near and far. Little specialty shops lure visitors with their crafts and homemade delicacies. The aroma of freshly baked cinnamon rolls seeps into the rows of novelties as you walk the stores’ aisles. That’s where I found her standing in a corner. Just one problem stood in the way of the purchase—her price. Her delicate material and hand stitching by a local lady explained the exuberant price. No, my cow doesn’t have bristly hair and a cold rubbery nose or give milk. Her soft material invites caressing, and her button nose—literally a button nose––is pure cuteness.

She’s a vacuum cover.

I walked away after checking the price tag––$70. My prayer, “Well Lord, if you want me
to have a cow, I will.” I started down the stairs to the main level of the store––glancing
back a few times wondering if I could sew her myself.

At the bottom of the steps, my phone rang. It was my friend, Alice. She only spoke a few
words, “You have your cow; don’t bother looking for one.”

Stunned, I glanced at my husband. With tears dripping, I mumbled, “I have a cow!”

God loves me that much to care about a vacuum cover–– my wondrous cow. He provides
our needs and our wants. He loves us all that much. “To him alone who does great wonders, His love endures forever” (Psalm 136:4 NIV).

My cow testifies to His love and great wonders for me.

About the Author

Peggy Cunningham and her husband, Chuck, have been missionaries in Bolivia, S.A., since 1981. They have a children's ministry and work with national churches. Peggy's children's book series, Really Rare Rabbits, volumes one, two, and three, released by Pix-N-Pens Publishing in 2013, and her recently released devotional book, Dancing Like Bees, are all available on Amazon in print and on Kindle. You can learn more about Peggy at her author page on WriteIntegrity.com and also Amazon.com

Highlights of ICRS 2013

My heart is so full, my brain so stimulated, and my body so wiped out that it’s taking me a few days to process our experience at the International Christian Retail Show 2013. I had hoped to recap the event nightly during our stay, but the night before leaving for St. Louis, we discovered my computer was fried from the two tornadoes that hit in the four days prior. I had to leave home without it.

So now, I will share many of the highlights in random order as they come to me. I'm sure I'll probably forget something, but maybe some of the authors will remind me in the comments.

My own travel plans changed at the last minute due to the two tornadoes and some major family issues that still are not resolved. Tim stayed home to deal with some of it, and I rode to ICRS with Fay Lamb – we met for the first time at Catch the Wave last year where we both taught workshops, and both friendship and professional relationship developed. I’m honored to be publishing several of Fay’s books, and thrilled we had the opportunity to spend more time together during ICRS. Fay is hilarious, fun, curious, courageous, passionate, creative, intelligent, has a heart made of gold, and loves the Lord with all her might. (She’s all that, and I didn’t even have to tell you she considers herself a klutz, too!)

There were 10 of us representing Write Integrity Press and Pix-N-Pens Publishing: Fay Lamb, Vicki Tiede, Peggy Cunningham and her husband Chuck, Dianne E. Butts and her husband Hal, Marie Wells Coutu and her husband Ed, volunteer assistant Suzy Moore, and myself.

Highlights:

Peggy Cunningham and Marie Wells Coutu
at Bailey's Range - what a fun place!

Meeting some of our authors for the very first time and getting to know them personally. When we offer contracts, I talk to most of them on the phone, and we exchange e-mails regularly, so I get a good feel for their personality, but until we’re face-to-face, it’s impossible to know if my impressions are on target. Many times during ICRS, I marveled at how special these ladies are – professionally and personally. Hardworking, dedicated, passionate, creative, intelligent, fun. And just so lovely, inside and out. Their smiles, laughter, joy are contagious and if I ever get stranded on a deserted island, I’d want every one of them with me. I’m truly grateful to God for bringing all of us together.

Hearing Peggy Cunningham’s voice for the first time. Peggy and Chuck are missionaries in Bolivia so our contract negotiations all took place by e-mail. From looking at her headshot, and reading her words, my brain thought she had a soft, Southern, genteel voice – and I was so WRONG! Peggy’s voice is bold with a Pennsylvania accent – and every word she speaks is filled with such fun I’m sitting here smiling at the memory of it.

Dianne E. Butts during her booksigning

Seeing with my own eyes that Dianne E. Butts’ voice and mannerisms are as soft as they seem in phone conversations yet her body and spirit are tough as they come. Dianne is a walking miracle, and I say that in awe of our Mighty God. A week or so before ICRS Dianne had a motorcycle accident that could have been much, much worse. She was traveling 60 mph on the interstate with her husband (riding in front of her) and a friend (riding behind her), when her front tire went flat. She sideswiped an RV before going down, rolling over and over. The good Lord gave her the ability to process everything as it was happening, and she realized she was in the middle of the highway and could get run over, so she dragged herself (by damaged elbow) to the side of the road. She has a chipped ankle, a cut requiring stitches on her elbow, and lots of road rash on arms and legs. Later, after viewing her full-face helmet, they discovered she may have landed on her face during the initial fall. Her face is beautiful and blemish-free. Dianne’s presence and active participation at ICRS was an inspiration to us all, and a reminder to take nothing in this life for granted.

Storms outside St. Louis, just before we arrived.

I continue to marvel at the very presence of all of us in attendance at ICRS. The weeks leading up the event were mind-boggling with crazy events occurring for all of us. The enemy obviously didn’t want us there, but we all persevered. In those weeks before the conference, we experienced the motorcycle accident, two tornadoes and a tree in a house, major health issues, major plumbing problems, major car problems, book and marketing issues, travel ordeals, food poisoning, trips to the ER, fried computer, fried modem, and major family issues. And 30 minutes outside St. Louis, Fay and I encountered another storm that looked like it had a funnel cloud. When her phone started blasting out warnings of flash floods we pulled over to wait out the storm! With the battles each of us went through, it’s a wonder any of us are still standing, and a great testimony to God that we all made it to ICRS. [After we left St. Louis heading home, we learned of the underground explosions across the street from the convention center. All of this is a bit overwhelming, don’t you think?]

Marie Wells Coutu during her booksigning

Discovering that Marie Wells Coutu and her husband Ed know EVERYONE. She works for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and has attended ICRS in previous years. But it was amazing and fun to discover just how many people know them.

Hanging with Vicki Tiede twice in the same year! What a blessing. But I keep wondering if she set any records with the number of media interviews she had? Wow! And she never lost her voice at all! (Keep an eye out – we’ll be sharing some of those interviews in the coming days and weeks.)

Vicki Tiede and Shaun Tabatt

Meeting Shaun Tabatt, owner of Cross Focused Media. What a special man. He interviewed so many people – including all our authors. Watch for those too! (Shaun is also one who knew the Coutus – Ed was his Boy Scout leader years ago!)

Meeting in person for the first time several precious prayer warriors I’ve known online for years: Pam Meyers, Laura Hilton, Martha Rogers, Bonnie Calhoun. These precious ladies have been a blessing to me for years, and meeting them in person was an honor and a heart blessing.

Visiting with Cecil Murphey for the second time this year, and FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY meeting the incredible Twila Belk.

Discovering how special the husbands truly are – Chuck Cunningham, Hal Butts, Ed Coutu – supported, participated, assisted, encouraged, prayed. The ones who weren’t – Marc Lamb, Mike Tiede, Tim Ruckman, Lanny Moore – held down the forts at home, at times managing some pretty difficult situations yet also provided support, encouragement, and prayers for all of us in our absence. (Marc and Fay lost a beloved pet during our trip, Tim dealt with all the storm mess I left behind, and Mike dealt with a houseful of kids – in addition to all their regular responsibilities.)  The support and love I witnessed between all the couples just brings me to tears as I write this. What a blessing.

Left side, front to back: Hal and Dianne E. Butts, Vicki Tiede, Suzy Moore.
Right side, front to back: Chuck Cunningham, Hal Coutu,
Marie Wells Coutu, Peggy Cunningham, and Tracy Ruckman. Fay Lamb is behind the camera.

Suzy Moore. My goodness. I only met Suzy online a few weeks ago, through Dianne. Suzy lives in the St. Louis area, and volunteered her services to assist us any way we needed while we were in town. She is incredible – and such fun. She fit right in with all of us, and instantly became part of the WIP/PNP family. Suzy, thank you for all you did – you went above and beyond every step of the way, and we all appreciate you so much.

I find it interesting that I’m already at 1000 words on this post, and I haven’t even mentioned the book signings, which is why we were there in the first place! Each author had one hour to sign and give away 60 books. (I realized sometime between the 4th and 5th signings that we were actually giving away 65 books each, because I’d taken 5 extra copies of each book to get the authors to sign them for the FaithFunder campaign. I’ll be gathering and sending those out in the coming weeks!)

Our book signings were brisk and fun, and we met book buyers from Nigeria, Finland, Scotland, Australia, New
Zealand (Debbie Roome, you’ll be proud to know I recognized their accents!), the UK, Canada, Mexico, and all over the United States. A representative from one of the large publishing houses told one of our authors that the only way we’d give out all of our books was if we offered chocolate – but we didn’t need to do that! One of our authors gave away 65 books in 28 minutes! Talk about a fast signing! We averaged about 40 minutes for each of the signings – what a blessing.

Teamwork. I’ve never experienced a group of people acting as a team as much as this group at ICRS – and it wasn’t even intentionally done. We all seemed to operate in sync – and it was so remarkable I know it was truly God’s hand directing us. At one point, several of us were walking down one of the aisles – surrounded by the big guys like Zondervan and Harper Collins. I heard someone we passed say, “There goes Write Integrity.” Only God could have made that happen!!

One personal note about the trip. On Monday, I had brunch with a dear friend I haven’t seen since I graduated high school. Maggie Madonia showed me around St. Louis – the town really is incredible and I hope we can go visit and play there some more! The architecture is beautiful! I just don’t understand how Maggie hasn’t aged a bit in all these years!! Maggie, thank you for the awesome bag of St. Louis goodies. And for the recommendation of Bailey's Range - the food, atmosphere, and service were awesome.That gooey butter cake made it home to Tim safe and sound – and we love it!! Pete – I’m so sorry we didn’t get a chance to meet.

A special, public thank you to all those who contributed to the FaithFunder campaign. None of this would have happened without you – we’re truly grateful to you for making the book signings possible. You’ll be hearing from me in the next couple of weeks!

When I returned home, I had a check waiting to replace the computer that was fried. It arrived just moments ago. The check came from a friend who believes in our mission, believes in our company, and wanted to bless us in a tangible way. I’m grateful beyond words.

Fay and I returned to North Carolina on Wednesday, Tim's birthday, so I was able to spend the rest of the day with him, celebrating his special day.

Hopefully, from this massive list, you’ll see why my heart is so full – overflowing, actually – with God’s goodness and mercy. I am encouraged by our authors and challenged anew to publish, support, encourage, and promote their books with my whole being – and I encourage YOU to support and encourage them too. How? Buy their books for yourself and to give as gifts. Leave reviews. Visit their websites and blogs – leave comments. Send notes. Invite them to your church or local bookstore, writer’s group, civic group, for a book signing, reading, or even a Skype session. Talk about their books with your family and friends. Pray for them. Our books are our mission field, and the more people we encounter, the larger our field – and potential to impact more lives – grows.

A grateful heart, indeed.

Favorite Childhood Summers - Part 3

The Beach Party continues. Thanks for your patience as we weathered a tornado and loss of power and internet for a few days.

Last week, we began talking about our childhood summers (Part 1, Part 2). And Ann Knowles provided a helpful blog on writing book reviews.

Today, we'll finish up the childhood summer posts, and we invite you to share some of your own memories with us! If you want to share a photo, send it to me at editor [at] writeintegrity [dot] com and I'll share them on our Facebook page!

Now more of our authors share their favorite childhood summers:

Maria (Mariska) and J.A.

J.A. MARX - Estes Park, CO, where the population fluctuated by the millions. During the winter, we claimed about 5,000 residents (’70s). But once summer hit, we swelled to a million, and not all were tourists. Many were families who’d bought second homes so they could escape the sweltering south.

Several of those families lived in my neck of the woods (literally). My parents were both real estate brokers and therefore knew every resident in the development. They had become good friends with the Peers who lived just over the hill. Lucky for me, the Peers’ grandchildren routinely visited from California. The youngest, Maria, and I played every summer throughout our grade school years.

My favorite thing to do was put together performances for our families. We did great during rehearsals, but when show time came, Maria giggled our act out of business. Talk about frustration! I don’t recall us completing a single performance.

Maria apparently gained some confidence during secondary schooling because every once in a while I catch her, Mariska Hargitay, playing Olivia on Law and Order, SVU.

Maybe today we could pull off a decent performance—without her tittering. She definitely made my summers memorable.

PEGGY CUNNINGHAM - My grandparents owned a summer home in the country. My times with them are by far my most wonderful memories of my childhood. They would take me with them on weekends, and most of my summers were spent at this place we called The Farm, even though it wasn’t a farm––more like a setting from a storybook. My collie dog, Nellie became my best friend as we hiked through the woods and the meadows daily. My grandparents cooked the most delicious Italian meals, and relatives visited on the weekends. My cousins also stayed with us at times, and family bonds were cemented at The Farm every summer of my childhood.

STEPHANIE CRAIG - It's hard to remember what summer of my childhood was the greatest.  While in elementary school, they all were great.  We had a swimming pool, the only one in the neighborhood, so all the kids wanted to be at our house during the summer.  We rode bikes, had sleepovers, and played backyard games.  My family never took any summer vacations, but I never felt like I missed out on anything because spending time with my friends in my backyard was better than a vacation.

VICKI TIEDE - My childhood summers all blur together as they were all much the same. We lived in the country only 3 miles from town, but you would have thought we were 20 miles out. We would say "goodbye" to our school friends on the last day of classes and wouldn't see them again until the fall. Our days were filled with wild, imagination-filled adventure on the farm, camping in a pick-up camper, walking beans, often painting something (fence/barn/etc.), 4-H, and the county fair. I loved every minute of it.


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Beach Party Bingo
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 1
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 2
Let's Play Bingo!
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 3
Authors' Childhood Summers - Part 1
Authors' Childhood Summers - Part 2
What is a Book Review?

Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 2

Print version is ready ahead of schedule
so it's available TODAY! 

Before we get started with the Beach Party Bingo, I thought I'd let you in on a little secret! Marie Wells Coutu's debut novel, For Such a Moment, is ready ahead of schedule! You can order the print version as of TODAY! The Kindle version will be here soon!

Revealing her secret could save lives … or change hers forever. In this book that re-imagines the story of Queen Esther in a contemporary setting, Ellen Neilson enjoys her comfortable life as the wife of an American CEO. Having lived in America since the age of ten, she has forsaken her mixed heritage and kept aspects of her childhood secret. Her husband has become engrossed in his job, and she believes having a child will salvage their troubled marriage. When her cousin Manuel, whom she hasn’t seen for twenty years, shows up as one of her husband’s managers, Ellen fears that her past will be revealed. The company buys a banana plantation in her native country of Guatemala, and Manuel informs her that illegal pesticides have poisoned the water. People are dying, but she doesn’t know who’s to blame for the cover-up.

Wouldn't this be a great book for the beach? Let's get back there!

As I compiled the list of all the various questions and answers, I didn't read them - just scanned. When I got ready to create this post, I realized we had TWO favorite vacations that occurred on 40th wedding anniversaries! Love that!

Readers, share with us your favorite vacations for a chance to win! Did any of your favorite vacations fall on an anniversary? 

More of our authors share their favorite vacations.

MARIE WELLS COUTU - February 2012 when we took our children and 3 grandsons on a week-long cruise to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, and Grand Cayman to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary (which was actually in December). We also celebrated four birthdays that actually occurred close to or during the trip.

RUTH O'NEIL - Atlantic Beach weekend with my sister. No one called me “mom” or needed me for any reason for three whole days! The sharks were a bit disturbing, but let’s be honest; I hardly ever go in the water anyway, except to pee.

PEGGY CUNNINGHAM - It was only a short get away, but memorable and just what we needed. We were on furlough and made it a point to block out two days for our 40  ^th anniversary. It was September. When we arrived at the lakeside resort hotel, it was apparent tourist season had ended. The silence in the lobby calmed our stressed mood. We had a lakeside view from our room. The misty air with the fragrance of pine trees set the mood for relaxation. For two glorious days, we listened to the rain pounding on the deck outside the sliding doors while we huddled by the crackling fire and watched movies and ate take out from the nearby restaurant. Did I mention the hotel was owned by a man from our hometown who invented the Big Mac?

LYNDA SCHAB -  Definitely the All-Inclusive resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. There's nothing like lounging by the pool with umbrella drinks, with nothing to do except read a good book.

STEPHANIE CRAIG - After three long and tiring years of a pediatric cancer battle for my son, we were fortunate enough to go to a resort called "Give Kids the World" in Kissimmee, Florida.  It's a place exclusively for wish kids (from organizations like Make-A-Wish) and their families.  They gave us tickets to all the major attractions in the area.  But the resort itself was amazing.  It had a pool with the best splash pad we've ever seen.  The playground area was a life-sized game of Candy Land.  It had a magical Castle with a merry-go-round for the kids.  Every day, they left gifts for the kids and every night they had a themed party such as Christmas, Pirates and Princesses, or Candy Land night.  Plus they had so much more.  Any family would be thrilled to stay at a resort like that, but after spending years in treatment and in and out of the hospital, it was absolute paradise.  It was the first time we really were able to dream about what life could be like after treatment. 

[Ed. Note: Shannon Vannatter is running a special series all month long on her Inkslinger blog with the authors of Heart Bouquets. Be sure to check it out - I know they're giving away some prizes!]

DIANNE E. BUTTS - Hmm. Hard to pick a favorite.

Maybe it was last year in 2012 when we drove from Colorado to Orlando and got to see a large part of the U.S. we hadn't seen before. In Orlando we visited the Holy Land Experience, which was very awesome and memorable. Then also rode a bunch of rides at Universal Resorts and spent a day on the beach at Cocoa Beach. Or my favorite might have been in 2010 when I spent two weeks in Los Angeles at the Act One: Writing for Hollywood seminar. That was definitely the longest trip (time-wise) I've ever been gone from home, but was more work than vacation. But then my husband drove out and picked me up and we took a vacation. We spent some time on a beach near Malibu.

If you haven't picked up your copy of Destiny Defied - grab it now! The Kindle version is FREE through tomorrow!


Answer this question in the comments for your chance to win!

Bingo cards aren't quite ready - I'll post them and the rules to that portion of the game on Friday!


Readers, share with us your favorite vacations for a chance to win! Did any of your favorite vacations fall on an anniversary? 





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Read More:

Beach Party Bingo
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 1
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 2
Let's Play Bingo!
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 3

Today's Special Valentine: Peggy Cunningham

We wrap up our Special Valentine's with a new-to-us author. Pix-N-Pens will be releasing Peggy Cunningham's children's book series Really Rare Rabbits, with the first book coming out next month.

(Heart Bouquets is still only 99 cents!)

I'll let Peggy share her favorites in her own words:

Peggy's Favorite Romantic meal:

When we were on home staff for a few years in FL, we would go to Steak n Ale on Valentine's Day for their afternoon Prime Rib Special. When we travel to and from the States on our furloughs we tried to always visit that restaurant in Fl, and it is always a romantic afternoon for us and such special memories.

Two individual romantic foods:

Caramel Cashew Sundae

In our hometown, there was an ice cream shoppe we went to everyday after school. It fits in the story because Chuck was always there too, and  always managed to sit with my friends and me—even other boyfriends I had allowed him to sit with us. We always ate Caramel Cashew Sundaes. Such sweet memories!

McDonalds' small hamburger, fries and root beer

This goes back to our first year of marriage in 1966. Chuck was in the Air Force, we survived on an airman's meager salary. McDonalds was new and we could afford the 19 cent hamburger meal. It is still our favorite restaurant in the States. When we arrive at the Miami Airport from Bolivia, the first thing we do is head to McDonalds for that little hamburger.

Peggy's Favorite romantic song:

You Light Up My Life by Debbie Boone

This has been our special song for many years. Our daughter began singing it too when she was three years old. She would sing it over and over everyday–– making it even more special to us.




About Peggy:

Peggy Cunningham and her husband, Chuck have served as missionaries in Bolivia, South America, since 1981. In 1999, they founded Rumi Rancho Ministries. Rumi Rancho is their ministry base and home outside the city of Cochabamba where they work with the Quechua people and have a children’s ministry, teaching practical skills to underprivileged children in rural areas of Bolivia while reaching them for Christ. They also work with national churches, equipping them to take the gospel to their own people. Peggy is also a writer and contributes to several Christian publications regularly. She’s also been published in several anthologies and recently signed a contract with Pix-N-Pens Publishing for a three-book children’s series. The first book of the series will be released in March, 2013.

Visit Peggy's website.

 

If you missed all the fun last week, check out these links:

Marji Laine - Special Valentine, Top 5 Romantic Couples, PINK Party (Marji had a PINK party all last week, with lots of special guests and fun, so check them all out!)

Jennifer Fromke - Special Valentine, Top 5 Romantic Destinations

Lynda Schab - Special Valentine, Top 5 Romantic Comedies

Peggy Cunningham - Top 5 Romantic Movies

Stephanie Craig - Top 5 Romantic Songs

Traci Tyne Hilton - Top 5 Romantic Gifts on a Budget

Today's Special Valentine: Marji Laine

This week, we're doing something fun to celebrate the release of our latest book, Heart Bouquets, a collection of six romantic short stories. Each weekday through next Wednesday, we'll feature one of the authors as our Special Valentine of the Day.

(As an added bonus, Heart Bouquets will be FREE this week only, Wednesday to Friday, so grab your copy NOW!)

Today, our Special Valentine is author Marji Laine. She's one of our bestselling authors in The Christmas Tree Treasure Hunt that released in December.

All this week over on Marji's blog, she's having a "Pink Party" and I have it on good authority, she's not NORMALLY a pink person, but romance is in the air, so you'll have to check out all the fun things going on there. Today, she's sharing a list of Top 5 Romantic Couples.

We asked the authors to answer two questions, and this week we'll share the answers in a variety of ways.

Marji's favorite romantic meal:

Roasted Cornish Hen, fresh strawberries, and spinach artichoke dip. We dug up some recipes, and have linked a couple of them for you, if you want to make some of these foods for your own romantic meal. There were so many good recipes, it was hard to choose, but I chose ones I might try myself. Hope they'll meet Marji's approval! (On the Cornish hen recipe - this one had me at SAGE. The other ones scared me off with rosemary - I'm not a fan.)

Marji's favorite love song:




Be sure to check out the blog of another Heart Bouquets author - Lynda Schab is sharing her Top 5 Romantic Comedies today!

Tomorrow, we'll feature another author, so we hope to see you here.

More about Marji Laine:

Marji is a home-schooling mom of four with the oldest at UT Dallas. When she can't indulge in her passion for story-telling, she's transporting teenage volleyball players, teaching writing classes at a local co-op, and directing the children’s music program at her church. She loves acting in musical comedy, has directed many stage productions, leads a worship team, sings in her church choir, coordinates high school classes for a large home-school group, scrap-books, crochets, and designs Love Story books for newlyweds. She invites readers to unravel their inspiration, seeking a deeper knowledge of the Lord’s Great Mystery that invites us all.