Fall into Love: Melanie's story

When Hearts Connect
A Falling in Love story by Melanie D. Snitker

It amazes me how imaginative God is, and how He exceeds our expectations. This is especially true when it comes to answering our prayers.

Growing up, I hoped to eventually get married and have a family. When I went to college, I put all my efforts into my classes. But in the back of my mind, I wondered when I’d meet “the one” guy I’d eventually marry. I prayed God would help bring us together, and that He’d give us the wisdom we needed when He did. I sometimes wondered if I’d meet that guy in a class. Or maybe in the café when I stopped to grab a muffin for breakfast.

As it turned out, I did meet the man who would eventually become my best friend, my soulmate, and my husband. It was even during my college years, but not quite the way I expected.

October 27 of this year marked the twentieth anniversary since the day Doug and I first spoke—by e-mail. At the time, he lived in Texas, and I lived in Oregon.

Our moms were e-mail friends and discovered they both had kids in college the same age. It wasn’t long after that when I received a message from him. He introduced himself, and our friendship took off from there. We e-mailed and instant messaged back and forth for over a year and a half. During that time, we became best friends and talked about nearly everything.

In July of 1999, our families decided that we should all meet up. We chose a place in Arizona and went on a camping trip. I can still remember the jumble of nerves and anticipation at the idea of finally getting to speak to Doug face-to-face. Would we still get along? Would we be friends like we were online, or find out we didn’t have nearly as much in common as we thought we did?

To our amazement, there were no awkward moments. We didn’t have to spend time getting to know each other. It was as though we’d been sitting in the same room talking for a year and a half instead of sending e-mails and instant messages back and forth.

Before going to Arizona, I was pretty sure I was already in love with him. But sitting there by the campfire, content just to be in the same space together, I knew he was “the one” for me.

I married my best friend on June 9, 2000. Since then, we’ve had over seventeen years of adventure. We’ve faced life’s challenges together and came out stronger on the other side. Looking back, I recognize all the little things that fell into place. If even one of those hadn’t happened, I may have never met my husband. Praise God He can look at our lives and see the big picture.

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Author Bio: 

Melanie D. Snitker has enjoyed writing for as long as she can remember. She weaves together faith, love, and family to create memorable stories with a happily-ever-after. 

She and her husband live in Texas with their two children who keep their lives full of adventure, and two dogs who add a dash of mischief to the family dynamics. 

In her spare time, Melanie enjoys photography, reading, crochet, baking, and hanging out with family and friends. 

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Book Blurb for Calming the Storm: 

A marriage of convenience isn't exactly what she had in mind. 

After a rocky start, Rachel Peters finally has her life on track. Then a tragic accident takes away her sister and leaves her to raise her niece, Kendra, alone. About to lose custody of her last blood relative, Rachel is desperate to prove she can adequately care for her niece. On the verge of running away to keep Kendra, a new friend offers Rachel an opportunity she can't refuse.

Brandon Barlow has long admired Rachel. When her world begins to fall apart, he feels led to help. A marriage of convenience would enable him to provide Rachel and Kendra with a stable place to live, proper health insurance, and a viable shot at staying together. Once Rachel gained full custody of her niece, the marriage could be annulled.

His plan provides the perfect solution, until Brandon realizes he's fallen in love with Rachel. Through love and patience, can he help Rachel realize that, even when she experiences storms in her life, she's never alone?

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Buy Melanie's book on Amazon

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Connect with Melanie:
Website - http://www.melaniedsnitker.com/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/melaniedsnitker
Twitter - https://twitter.com/MelanieDSnitker
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/melaniedsnitker/
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/author/melaniesnitker
BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/authors/melanie-d-snitker

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Enter this book giveaway contest for your chance to WIN a copy of this book by filling out the entry form on the Rafflecopter widget below:

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A Prelude to Christmas: Christina's story about snow globes and divine connections

Welcome Christina Lorenzen to the blog today! She's here to share a personal essay/guest post based on her Christmas story, Snow Globe Reunion which is available for purchase on Amazon. Her book is part of the Snow Globe Christmas Collection published by Forget Me Not Romances.

Here's the blurb for Snow Globe Reunion:

Stranded by a snowstorm, Carrie Sanders is left holding a bag an old woman she’d been talking to left behind in the airport coffee shop. Mystified by the woman’s disappearance, she sits on the bench staring at the snow globe that was in the bag. 

Inside the glittery snowy world it’s Christmas during the 1940s. Fighting sleep, the next thing she knows she’s in the arms of the soldier she last saw skating on the pond in the snow globe. He’s no stranger, but the boy next door who never forgot her.

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Fill out the book giveaway contest entry form on this Rafflecopter widget for your chance to WIN a copy of Christina's book:
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A Snow Globe Moment
A guest post written by Christina Lorenzen

I believe in divine connections. I believe that God leads us to the right people, and in this case, the right projects. In my heart, I think nothing makes our God happier than giving us the things that light up our hearts. I saw it happen again months ago when I spent an afternoon with an author friend, sharing some coffee and writerly chat. After talking about our current projects, she mentioned a new publisher who was looking for novellas for several collections she was putting out. Curious, I took a look at this publisher’s website and stopped at the call for Snow Globe stories for a Christmas collection. As soon as I read she was looking for stories centered on a ‘special’ snow globe I knew this would be my first Christmas book, something I’d been wanting to write for years.

I have been enchanted by snow globes since I was a young child. My earliest memories are the snow globes at my great aunt’s house. Every year she would decorate with what seemed like dozens of snow globes, strategically placed throughout her quaint craftsman style house. I think I spent most of my visits there shaking each and every one. We had one or two snow globes at home, but when I grew up and had my own house to decorate, I knew I had to own a few of my own. I have numerous snow globes—those with snowmen, ice skating scenes, carolers beside a tree, wildlife scampering about in the snow and, my favorite, the nativity. There’s something magical about holding up that glass globe, giving it a furious shake, and watching the glittery flakes fall from the sky and blanket the objects in the globe.

Though life changes, and sometimes rapidly at that, there are some traditions that we all cling to, holding near and dear. For me, seeing these familiar globes of miniature figurines and glitter water are like getting together with lifelong friends. We may not see them often, but when we do it’s like nothing has changed. I’ve come to believe that these snow globes offer comfort in a sometimes turbulent, rapidly changing world. Perhaps you’ve felt as I’ve often felt—that it would be lovely if we could freeze the special moments in our lives so they would stay as they are forever, just like the tiny scenes frozen in time inside those snow globes.

But life marches on, both the happy and sad times, and we learn to accept the sad and cherish the happy. And each year when I pull out those globes filled with glittery water, I feel a hopeful flutter in my heart as I eagerly reacquaint myself with old friends. And just for a season I get to enjoy joyful, sweet scenes forever frozen in time.

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Author bio: Christina Lorenzen started writing as a young teen, jotting stories in wire ring composition notebooks. Her first typewriter made it faster to get all those stories out of her head and down on paper. Her love of writing has sustained her through a myriad of jobs that included hairdresser, legal secretary, waitress and door-­to-door saleswoman.

Luckily for her, writing proved to be successful and a lot less walking than going door to door. Harvest Blessings, a sweet small town romance, is Christina's fourth book. She is also the author of A Husband for Danna, its sequel, A Wife for Humphrey and her recent Christmas release, Snow Globe Reunion. She is busy working on a modern retelling of the classic tale, Rapunzel. 

When she isn't writing or reading, she can be found walking her dog, talking to her herd of cats and spending time with her family.

To find out about Christina's upcoming releases, visit her website at http://christinalorenzen.com/.

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Connect with Christina:
Email - carp119@aol.com
Website - http://www.christinalorenzen.com
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ChrisFoxLorenz
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ChristinaLorenzenAuthor/
Visit her Amazon Author Page
Instagram -  https://www.instagram.com/christina_lorenzen/
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/chrisfoxlorenz/

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