Is There An Organist in The House?

The bride’s mother stepped to the microphone. “Is there an organist in the house?” she laughed.  “Our organist is lost thirty miles away. If you can play, please step into the pastor’s office.”

I knew someone who could fix this mess. “Honey, you can play,” I whispered to my husband. “Go help them.”

“Oh, Jeanette, I’m only a pianist. The organ is a totally different instrument.”

 I couldn’t give up that easily. “You can do this, Kev. Just don’t use the foot pedals, and they’ll never notice!”  My elbow may have slipped into his ribs; I don’t remember.

With a desperate look around the room, he stood up and moseyed to the door of the pastor’s study. As he pulled the door shut behind him, I sighed.

When he took his seat on the organ bench, a collective smile embraced all 200 guests. He played the processional like the first snowfall, sprinkling each bridesmaid with music. 
He gained more confidence for The Wedding March, and the bride received a full-scale storm of Wagner. By the recessional, organ music avalanched from his fingers. While the guests filed out, he bounced on the organ seat like a kid on a toboggan, playing original compositions, carols, and classical pieces.

Guests lined up at the reception to congratulate the wedding superhero. He grinned and said, “I was happy to help,” and, “No problem at all!” 

I stared at him, hard. “Did I come with the right man?”

 “I just didn’t want to steal the show from anyone else who could play. Everyone might think I was showing off.”

“No way would they think that about you, hon. Everyone could see you only wanted to help some friends out of a jam.” I jabbed him in the ribs one last time and straightened his halo.

The above is part of a chapter from my book Two Scoops of Grace with Chuckles on Top, which just reached the 3,000 mark in sales. 

Have you ever been to a wedding where a disaster took place? What was the outcome? 

My Valentine to You, Even Those of You Who Dislike Valentine's Day

I'm giving away FREE kindle downloads of my humorous devotional book, Two Scoops of Grace with Chuckles on Top. Click on the book title to go to my Amazon page and get a free copy today and tomorrow only!

Don't forget to enter the I Love My Blog Buddies drawing for a basket of office supplies! Tomorrow is the last day to enter.

And just in case you dislike Valentine's Day, I'm sharing the Five Places I Go to Beat Depression on Wendy Love's blog, Depression Getaway today. Please join me if you can!

Grace and Chuckles,

Christmas Wedding Hero

How can you top first graders singing Away in a Manger accented by lisps from missing teeth as a wedding prelude? No one noticed the ruby poinsettia sprays draped over the end of each pew, or the candelabras’ reflection on stain glass windows. We were too busy peering around heads to catch those six-year-olds singing. And singing. And singing.

After the third round of Silver Bells, even the grandparents in the crowd started suspecting a glitch. The bride’s mother stilled our curiosity when she stepped to the front. “Is there an organist in the house?” she half shouted, half laughed. “Our organist is lost in Casey, and can’t be here for forty-five minutes. If you can play, please step into the pastor’s office to the left of the sanctuary.”

Gasps and nervous chuckles shot through the crowd. But I knew someone who could save the day. “Honey, you can play,” I whispered to my husband. “Go tell them you’ll help.”

“Oh, Jeanette, I don’t play the organ—only the piano. It’s a different instrument altogether. Surely in a crowd of this size, there’s someone who’s trained on the organ.”

 

Not to betray my German heritage, I persisted. “No one is moving, Kev. You can do this; I know you can. Just don’t use the foot pedals, and they’ll never notice!”

 

His eyes skimmed the room with a nervous gaze.  “No, I don’t think I could.”

 

“Yes, you can, now just go do it.” My elbow may have slipped into his ribs; I don’t remember.

 

With one final desperate look around the room, Kevin rose from his seat.  He moseyed to the door of the pastor’s study, eyes on the carpet. As he pulled the door shut behind him, I sighed in relief. Thank you, Jesus.

Five minutes later, when he took his seat on the organ bench, a collective smile embraced all 200 guests. He played the processional like the first snowfall, sprinkling each bridesmaid with music as they glided down the aisle.  He gained more confidence for The Wedding March, and the bride received a full-scale storm of Wagner. By the recessional, organ music avalanched from his fingers. As the ushers dismissed each row, he bounced on the organ seat like a kid on a toboggan, playing original compositions, carols, and classical pieces.

No need for stairs from the platform to the sanctuary floor. He floated down and out to the parking lot, his halo glimmering in the afternoon sun.

At the reception, guests lined up to congratulate the wedding superhero. He grinned and nodded between bites of cake, “I was happy to help;” “It was the least I could do;” and my personal favorite, “No problem at all!” 

I finally snatched his wallet and held up his driver’s license next to his face. “What are you doing, Jeanette?”

“Checking to see if I came with the right man.”

He grabbed the wallet out of my hand. “I just didn’t want to steal the show from anyone else who could play. Everyone might think I was showing off.”

“No way would they think that about you, hon. Everyone could see you only wanted to help some friends out of a jam.” I jabbed him in the ribs one last time, and straightened his wings.

The above is a chapter from my book, Two Sceoops of Grace with Chuckles on Top. Just in time for Christmas, we've reduced the kindle price to only $3! Click on the link above to order

 

 

 

 

I Love Freebies Day--Get up to 17!

 

I'm so glad you asked about I Love Freebies Day and how you can receive up to 17 freebies today!

Simply by purchasing my humorous inspirational book, Two Scoops of Grace with Chuckles on Top at Amazon today, November 13--paperback or Kindle version, you will receive a code that takes you to a special gift page where you can download books and other freebies, then sign up to win more books, including those below...



...up to 17 freebies!

Chuckles has already made the #1 spot on Amazon's Bestseller list in its category several times, but I wanted to offer these free prizes for one day, when you may be thinking of Christmas shopping, and need some great Christian books for Aunt Lois, Cousin Jane, and the hair stylist who makes you look ten years younger!


To get your freebies, please go to the Two Scoops of Grace Amazon page and order before midnight tonight, then go from there to your passle of prizes!

And since I know you'd like to share with your friends, here are sample tweets and FB posts you can use:

Tweet 1: Need Grace? Got Laughter? Buy Two Scoops of Grace w/ Chuckles on Top TODAY ONLY for 17 free downloads and books drawings! http://ow.ly/f32MV

Tweet 2: Find God's heart for you. Buy 2 Scoops of Grace w/Chuckles on Top for 17 downloads and drawings for free books today only http://ow.ly/f33qf

FB or other post: Need to laugh more, like yourself better, and experience the bottomless heart of God? Two Scoops of Grace with Chuckles on Top will help. Purchase TODAY ONLY for 17 downloads and chances to win free books! Go here: http://ow.ly/f32MV

Thanks for helping get more grace and chuckles into the world. And thanks for just being you. Because. I. Heart. You.

What About You? Shopping Habits

So... Black Friday is fast approaching. Do you shop then, or...

not?

What do your Christmas shopping habits look like?

If you'd like to make your Christmas shopping easier, please return here next Tuesday, Nov. 13, when I will tell you how you can receive up to 20 free downloads and gifts with the purchase of my book, Two Scoops of Grace with Chuckles on Top, which, come to think of it...

makes a wonderful Christmas gift!

It's a CHUCKLES PARTY! With plenty of giveaways!

Welcome to my Un-release Party! Although today is the official release date of my book Two Scoops of Grace with Chuckles on Top, I haven't any to give away as prizes. Evidently the printers didn't see the red letters on their calendars for today, and failed to put every other project on hold to make mine happen. But I refuse to hold the party up for that minor detail. So...

BRING ON THE GOODIES!!!

 

ONE winner will receive their choice of the following three books:

• Girl in the Gatehouse novel by Julie Klassen;
• No Greater Love novel by Kathi Macias;
• Breaking Free Day by Day devotional by Beth Moore 

FIVE winners will receive a CHUCKLES candy bar!

All you have to do is leave a comment at the end of this post saying what makes you chuckle, or share a clean joke for the other party-goers here today, and your email addy.

We will celebrate until midnight, Thursday, April 12th. I will pick the winners on Friday the 13th and post on Saturday the 14th, the day Barnes and Noble and Amazon say it will be out. BTW, Barnes and Noble has Two Scoops on sale to pre-order for only $7.55, which is a savings of 49%!

Or if you'd like to buy it on Amazon, go to the Two Scoops of Grace with Chuckles on Too page here.

And in case you've not already heard, I am offering Ten free downloads of Two Scoops of Grace at my download contest here,

and

a $100 gift card of your choice at my gift card contest here! (So far, no one has signed up for the $100 gift card, so you have a huge chance to win).

Now, here's a joke that makes me chuckle: A little boy stood at his teacher's desk one morning before school started, and said, "Teacher, I hate to worry you, but my daddy says if my grades don't improve soon, someone is going to get a spanking!"

Thank you for coming to my party today; I've loved having you here!

Win a download of Two Scoops of Grace!

I know, I know, I said I was unplugging for a week while I flew to Spokane to speak , but I am so excited about a contest I'm having, I just couldn't wait another minute to tell you about it:

You can win one of ten free downloads of my debut humor devotional, Two Scoops of Grace with Chuckles on Top for your eReader.  

Here are the Very Simple rules: 

For each share of this post link on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog, you will receive one entry. 

For each like on my Author Page or my Two Scoops Book Page on Facebook, or follow on my Twitter page or this blog, you will receive one entry. If you already like and/or follow me, mention that and I will count it.

Please send me ONE comment at the end of this post to tell me how many times you shared, liked, or followed, so I can give you the correct amount of entries. I reserve the right to verify all information given me, and disqualify anyone from the drawing who falsifies information.  

Contest starts today and ends midnight, May 10, 2012. I will announce the winners in a blog post Sunday, May 13.

But that's not all, folks! In a couple of weeks, I'll be announcing a 2nd contest--a drawing for a $100 gift card for your choice of one of the following: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, CBD, Hobby Lobby, Chick-fil-A, Wal-Mart, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, or Ruby Tuesday. Please check back for details...

And now I really am unplugging for a week...

The Sweetest Title

It's here, it's here, it's finally arrived! Wrapped in a soft, silky blanket of pink, with lavender rosettes... wait, that's not the bundle I mean. Let's rewind a minute.

After pulling half my hair out, losing hours of sleep, and calling twenty prayer meetings (that was an exaggeration), the perfect title for my book arrived at the doorstep of my overtaxed brain yesterday as I was blogging* and eating lunch. And here it is...

TWO SCOOPS OF GRACE WITH CHUCKLES ON THE TOP

I am so thankful to the Lord for the ideal, sweet handle that depicts the spirit of my grace-filled, humor-laced devotional book. Can you imagine the fun I'm going to have marketing it? Bring on the Raspberry Dark Chocolate Chunk Surprise, and a tiny spoon, so I can make it last!

*Never underestimate the value of blogging

Have you had any lovely surprises from God lately? What is your favorite ice cream flavor?