Songdove Books Presents:

Welcome to the February edition of Songdove Books Newsletter!

First off, let me welcome all the new faces since January!  Songdove Books held an impromptu Valentine's Week Giveaway February 7th to the 14th, with one special name picked randomly on the 14th to win an ePub version of "Dressed for Eternity".  Any entrants that granted me their email address, were added to the monthly newsletter.  As usual, if you don't wish to receive this newsletter, you are free to unsubscribe at the bottom of the newsletter.  New subscribers are given the opportunity to receive my ebook, "Practical Thoughts on Becoming an Author" for free as a thankyou for signing up for this newsletter.  The coupon code for Smashwords is in the welcome email itself.

Second, let me say a HUGE THANKYOU to everyone praying for my financial situation!!!  January and February have seen more income come in than I've had for most of the past 6 months!  The prayer now is to have that continue into the coming year and beyond.  The great thing about the current income is that it only takes a few hours to meet my desired daily minimum or more, and I can call my own hours.  So needless to say, I'm feeling very blessed and filled with thankfulness and gratitude for how God is providing right now!


Love Month Promotion

As mentioned above, we held an impromptu Valentine's Week Giveaway for an ePub copy of "Dressed for Eternity".

Each day for 7 days, excerpts, a video and a slideshare presentation were shared.  You can find the slideshare presentation in the blog post link here (http://songdove.fa-ct.com/wordpress-mu/songdovemusings/2015/02/13/welcome-to-the-valentines-week-giveaway-for-dressed-for-eternity-day-seven/).  Clicking that blog post will show you more of the week's postings as well in the lefthand sidebar of the site.

The paperback version of the book generally sells for anywhere from $49 - $68 at online retailers.  However, if you order directly from me (http://songdove.fa-ct.com/wordpress-mu/songdovemusings/store/) or New Christian Books (http://songdove.fa-ct.com/wordpress-mu/songdovemusings/new-christian-books/), you get the paperback for $36.00, roughly $20 off the regular retail price.  The ebook sells for $9.99 at the various online retailers carrying it.


Make a New Habit for Lent and Beyond!

If you're looking for a new way to spend your quiet time this year, let me suggest picking up your own copy of "A Year in Prayer With Jesus" whether in paperback, PDF, mobi or epub formats.

This is an undated book so that Day One can begin literally on any calendar date of the year!

Check out this video (http://youtu.be/q2DhnE5f7QU?list=PLsfmoQFz615pJIdjL-3_429_cSbSNQkXA) to get a feel for how to engage with The Lord's Prayer at a deeper level this year.

 
Grad Season is Approaching!

In just three month's time, another big milestone is going to be upon us!  Graduation season!!!  Why not consider beating the rush, and getting one or more copies of "Mom's Little Black Book: Godly Advice for the High School Graduate" now instead of later?  It goes for roughly $12.00 at most online retailers.  Eight graduates received it as gifts last year.

BECOME A SONGDOVE BOOKS AFFILIATE!!!

Had to share this with my newsletter readers!  I just had a student recently take the course through their own JVZoo affiliate link.  When I paid them their commission, they were surprised, and sent me this gorgeous handmade bookmark!  This student is an author as well, and she makes these bookmarks to sell on her website.  Her husband recently made her raise the price from $3.00 to $4.50!  If you want one, let me know and I'll get you in touch with her!

The Songdove Books Affiliate Program, which is aimed at getting word out about the two e-coourses that are offered through the website, now includes both the Click2Sell affiliate network, and the JVZoo Affiliate Network.  Earn $3.50 per sale of either course sold through your own affiliate-tracked link.  I've begun a separate newsletter for Songdove Books Affiliates and waiting for those currently signed on, to add their names to this newsletter (http://songdove.fa-ct.com/wordpress-mu/songdovemusings/sign-up-for-the-sap-newsletter/) so I can start keeping them in touch every month just as I keep you in touch with all that goes on in the world of Songdove Books.  So if you want to get in on the act and help me promote these two e-courses, go to the affiliate program page here (http://songdove.fa-ct.com/wordpress-mu/songdovemusings/become-a-songdove-books-affiliate/), pick your preferred network, then grab the related links and media to help you get started.

---
Wrap-up

We've reached the end of "the love month", and now we look forward to St. Patrick's Day in March, and on to Resurrection Sunday in April.  We are on our way, entering the month leading up to Christ's betrothal of the Church, otherwise known as The Last Supper.

Did you tell Christ you love Him this month?  Did He get a valentine's gift from you?  How did you go about showing Him that more than anyone or anything else around you, He has your heart?

For myself, I decided to make an adjustment to how I go about my days.  Due to my health being what it is, I endeavour to ensure that I get in 8hrs of sleep every night.  This generally means starting my day by 8:30am or 9am depending on how well I slept the night before and how many times my sleep was interrupted either by washroom stops, or the kids getting up and around to begin their day.  My son begins his day around 5am and my daughter begins her day 45 minutes later.  She wakes me up to drive her to work, and then I come home to return to bed for another hour or two so that I can add up 8 actual hours of sleep.  Nights when I'm dead to the world will see me begin my day by 8am, but those night's don't come often enough.

So the adjustment I chose to make, was that when I turn my computer on and take my morning natural antihistamine, instead of opening my browser and checking messages and such right away, I will also open e-Sword, and engage in morning quiet time with just me and the Lover of my soul, Jesus Christ.  I'll spend some quiet time in gratitude and prayer and just "being" in His presence, then turn to e-Sword to ready the next chapter as I go through the Bible again from beginning to end.  I read Exodus chapter 31 today.

The danger of making my devotional time first thing in the morning, is that if I journal/blog about what I read, it can be an hour or more before I get to my work for the day. . . and that includes making time for breakfast too.  It's a good thing I can work in my PJ's, because I can push off "washing up" till I have to go out, allowing me to be more productive right after my devotional/breakfast time than I otherwise might be.

I began this change when I realized that for now, that time of day is relatively unchanging for me.  It is a time of day that I can set aside and engage with God on a more regular basis than if I waited for a more ideal time later on.  I believe in giving God a portion of the most productive part of my day, unfortunately, that equals times of day when everyone else wants a piece of me too!

Mornings  honestly aren't the best time mentally or physically, and sometimes that translates into emotionally either, but mornings are currently the only regular time of day I can offer.  God appears to be honouring this sacrifice too, and doesn't seem to mind holding me as I wake up in His presence.  Usually by the time clients begin calling me, at least my devotional time is largely wrapped up, whether or not I've had breakfast yet.

So I'm doing what I can regarding the needed rest my body requires, engaging in the newfound time frame for deliberately setting time aside with God rather than fitting it in whereever I can, and engaging in techsupport for my day job's clientelle as well!  God is bringing in the work, and whether that is a result of all of your prayers on my behalf, or whether God is honouring my desire to spend time with Him regardless of my mental/emotional/physical state at the time, either way, work is coming in and I am incredibly grateful!

We show God we love Him by choosing to spend time with Him, by following Christ's example to set ourselves apart every day to be just with Him alone, and by our obedience to His commands as He directs in John 14.

Have you made changes to show God your love for Him?  Care to share?

---
View past newsletters.http://songdove.fa-ct.com/wordpress-mu/songdovemusings/past-newsletters/