By
Andrea Renee Cox
It’s
been a wild and crazy year that swept by without giving me a chance to catch my
breath. Even though 2014 is winding to a close, my proofreading job is picking
up speed. I started last January, by proofreading Dianne Price’s Broken Wings.
The
publishing company that released it—Ashberry Lane—had put a rush on the job to
try and beat death. Dianne succumbed to cancer one week before the release of
the first book in her Thistle Series. Because Dianne’s journey had touched my heart,
I felt moved to help promote her books. So I bought a copy of the first one as soon as it released and
let the publisher know I would help spread the word about it. When Christina Tarabochia emailed me back, she asked me to keep my eye out for typos along the
way. I took her seriously … and earned a spot on her staff.
Throughout
this year, I’ve worked with her and a few other clients, and word is still
spreading about what I do. Currently, I’m working on back-to-back-to-back jobs,
with two overlapping a smidge. I’m thrilled to be so busy and to have the privilege
of juggling my schedule to have Christmas off. Not only that, but the last one
I’ll receive this calendar year will be my twelfth official proofreading job,
which means that I had one for every month of the year. They may have been
spaced out at first and bunched together at the end, but I think it’s really
neat that, in my first year of this work, God chose to bless me with exactly
twelve jobs, which matches the number of months within the year. This new
career is such a blessing to me, and I thank God every day that He gave me a
job I love and can do from home.
Now
that I’ve summed up my whirlwind 2014, let’s take a look back at some of my
favorite quotes in books I read in my free time. All of these books I enjoyed
very much. If you’re looking for last-minute gifts for those book-lover friends
or relatives of yours, I’m certain this list should get you started.
“In a
period of only a few minutes, my life had been turned upside down.”
“Jesse
was making a studied effort to let patience have its perfect work in him.”
“My
head is full of ideas and thoughts, and my mouth is never reluctant to share
them.”
“But
what was a girl to do when the memory of a kiss stalked her?”
“Who
knew a dream potentially coming true could feel so … scary? And yet, how long
had she prayed for an open door?”
“Restaurants
may have been my first love, but that didn’t mean we were meant to be.”
“Getting
lost hadn’t been part of the plan.”
“Lord,
how much more does my heart have to bleed?”
“… it
seems that as we plan to teach others, God often makes us the pupil first, just
so we get the lesson real deep within before we try to share it.”
“Sometimes
you had to know when to leave so you could fight another day.”
“I’ve
got a scream could peel the paint off the Titanic,
you know.”
“She’d
managed to wring an address out of the postmaster, now all she needed to do was
convince a madman to hire a female secretary before he blew her to bits.”
Marc:
“I started to [pray], but it’s not like I can expect God to perform a miracle.”
Abe: “Why
not?”
“Faith
isn’t just a matter of what you believe; it should be seen in the way you live
and the way you treat others.”
“A
man’s horse dropping dead in the middle of nowhere left a man with few options.”
Phillip:
“There’s a baby in here, buddy—not a bomb.”
Erik:
“I’d rather handle a load of dynamite.”
“God
made you with unique skills and talents. Ask Him how to use those for Him and
His glory.”
White Christmas
by Cara C. Putman
“I
guarantee no woman has ever fallen in love with me after one kiss. It takes at
least twenty. I happen to be quite resistible.”
“Could
her choice to be joyful make that big a difference to all the men around her?”
Have Yourself a
Merry Little Christmas by Tricia Goyer
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
What were some of your favorite books of
2014? Care to share any quotes that stuck with you? What books are you looking
forward to reading next year?
Thanks for stopping by today! I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comment section below. And don’t forget to drop by next Monday for my latest article.
I'm still on deadline this week. It's crunch time now! Any prayers you'd like to offer for concentration, focus, determination to cross the finish line... those are definitely much appreciated. Thank you, dear readers!
