My Latest Book~If Oak Trees Could Talk

26 Jun

If Oak  Trees Could Talk BookCoverPreview

This is the cover of  my latest book…If Oak Trees Could Talk

 

If Oak trees could talk, what stories would they tell? If she was the old Oak tree that loomed over Henry William Tyler’s side yard for well over a century, she would have more than enough interesting stories to tell.

Maybe she would tell a humorous story about the time that Henry as a little boy helped himself to some fireworks from Mr. Harper’s truck that turned out to be explosives. That was one Fourth of July that Mason Creek didn’t soon forget! Henry ran like a scared rabbit and climbed up into the Oak tree’s outstretched branches until the smoke cleared.

Or, maybe the Oak would tell more of a sweet romantic story of a nine year old Henry meeting Helen Elaine Myers. He knew at nine years old when he pushed her in his swing that hung from the Oak tree that he was going to marry that little blue eyed, blond haired gal someday!

Unfortunately all stories told by the old Oak tree cannot always be humorous or romantic. When Helen, the love of Henry’s life winds up in a nursing home, Henry becomes heartbroken and lonely. Unfortunately, in order to deal with his emotions, he develops temporary amnesia and winds up in the same nursing home. The couple, determined to leave Glenview’s Residential Home for the Elderly will do anything to resume their passionate pursuit of love and reclaim their lives.   Henry discovers a key to unlocking his memory bank by revisiting the old Oak tree in his mind, as well as a few other unexpected ways. Who better to help him find his way home than the old Oak who knew all there was to know about Henry?

 

This is my first Inspirational Romance/Suspense novel and I am really excited.

Now Available on Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Christine+Hornback

Bittersweet!

26 Jun

Bittersweet!.

Bittersweet!

26 Jun

Bittersweet!
June is always a month of activity! It is usually the first month of summer vacation for many school aged children, mine included. For many young couples in love it is often the start or the beginning of their new lives together as they have planned their June weddings. For Dad’s it is a time to be recognized. Yet for others it means that the year is half over already and they began planning for the fast approaching holidays.  Bittersweet is the word I have for my June months!
The month of June is one of my sweetest months because I have had the most wonderful miracles to happen to me. I gave birth to my  son after longing for and praying for children for twenty years! Yes, my husband and I were married twenty years before we conceived and had our first-born son. June was the most precious month as his birthday is June 5th ! As we celebrate my son’s birthday it is such a sweet time and remembrance that God blessed me with my heart’s desire. But wait, God wasn’t finished yet, four years later, He blessed us again as on June 12th, I found out that I was pregnant with another miracle baby! So as you can see, June is especially sweet to me because I have precious miracles to celebrate!
Proverbs 13:22 (KJV) A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.
Okay, to the bitter part of my June months. Unfortunately both of my parents passed away in June. My Dad passed June 22, 1997 and my Mom on June 13, 2008. My heart becomes heavy when I think of not having them with me on this side of Heaven. I long for my “old home place” to go back to and to see them, as my parents lived in Kentucky and I in Georgia. We talked on the telephone long distance every week without fail. We made Kentucky our vacation place at least twice a year, once in the summer and then at Christmas. We loved to go to Kentucky where we spent such wonderful times at “Home” with my parents. My parent’s loved the outdoors, so in the summer time we usually took fishing trips and Dad usually always planned a huge BBQ to bring the whole family together, it was wonderful. Dad was the head of our family that brought us all together. At Christmas time, everyone met at my parent’s house to visit, open gifts and to partake of the best Christmas meal you could have as my Mom was an awesome cook! I can still hear my little 128 pound Daddy with a Santa hat on yelling “HO.. HO.. HO” as he walked through the house where we were all gathered in. Those were the good ole days that I carry with me.
Unfortunately, I can’t live in the good ole days, so I try to live after my parent’s example. I want to be like my Dad. He was a giver. He sowed into lives all the time. He was always grinning and was a prankster. He loved to tell stories, which Is where I am sure that I get my storytelling ability for my books. He will never die as I see so many of his character traits like a thread running through each family member. My Mom was creative. She loved to sew clothing, design quilts, crochet, and cook wonderful meals without recipes. She also had a green thumb and could grow anything. When she would become tickled we call her “Precious Pup” which was a cartoon character that was on television when I was a child. She would try to do the deep belly laugh out loud but instead all that would come out was this funny noise as she laughed until tears rolled from her eyes. I smile just thinking about them. I thank God that I inherited wonderful genes from my parents. Although they were not rich by the world’s standards they possessed treasures within that money could never buy. I miss them so much, but I can still see them living on in my family as they have deposited little bits of themselves in each of us.
So I used the word bittersweet as this is what real life is all about. Life is good times and bad all rolled up into one life. How we let it affect us is what counts. I choose to glean from everything that happens whether good or bad. Because of my faith in God, I know that I will see my parents again, so I choose to guard the treasure that they deposited in me and use it to make them proud and for God’s Glory. My children are living examples to God’s goodness to me. The fact that I am here writing this blog to whoever may choose to read it, is a testament as to how God’s grace has been my enabler through the sorrow and pain of loss. The most important thought that I want to leave is that every day we deposit into other lives. I, like my parents, want to have deposited treasure that my children and others that I’ve touched can use to for their generation and even the next. M hope is that when I am gone, that I am remembered with a smile!

Small Beginnings!

18 Jun

Small Beginnings!.

An Act of Kindness!

17 Jun

One act of kindness to one person a day would add up to 365 acts of kindness in a year!

Free Promotion of My latest book “Tell the Enemy to Scat”

17 Jun

Free Promotion of My latest book “Tell the Enemy to Scat”.

Free Promotion of My latest book “Tell the Enemy to Scat”

17 Jun

Today is Amazon is running a free promotion of my Ebook  Tell the Enemy to Scat!

I hope that you will get it and be encouraged by it!

 

In Memory of My Mom!

13 Jun

In Memory of My Mom!.

In Memory of My Mom!

13 Jun

 

This is actually an excerpt for my latest book “If Oak Trees Could Talk”

 In loving Memory of my Mom that went on to be with the Lord  6 years ago today,  June 13, 2008!

“Why should I even want to remember my Momma’s funeral?”  Henry questioned.  “I would much rather remember how loving and kind she was. It makes me sad that I can hardly remember what she looked like.  It’s been so long since she passed.  I remember she always smelled like vanilla, or lemon or one of those spices.  Bless her heart she probably had no choice as she lived her life in the kitchen cooking for folk.  I remember she was usually the first one to take food over to a neighbor if they needed something.  She was a Godly woman, she truly loved everyone.  I don’t recall her ever saying an unkind word about anybody.  These are the things old friend that I want to remember. Not the pain of my heart shattering into what felt like a million pieces when she left us.

Do you know what I remember old friend? One time I fell and scraped both of my knees up so badly that they bled and bled.   Every time I would bend them they bled even more.  My dear Momma carried me around for probably a week, with my Dad telling her all the while to let me down and let me grow up.  She took a lot because of me and my brother Gerald.  Gerald, I wonder where he is? I remember folks kept telling me to get her a wheelchair when she got so weak, but I insisted on carrying her where she wanted to go.  I guess it was because she carried me.  Anyway, yes old friend, I remember when we put my Momma in the ground, right underneath one of your outstretched branches.  God love her heart,  I ached all over with pain of missing her.  Yep, I came running to you over and over again just like I had always done. I was heartbroken and didn’t know how to deal with my Momma’s passing away. Do you know what old friend? I think I’ve always come to you because you’ve always been like my Momma.  You never done anything but listen to me regardless of what trouble I got myself into.  I always found comfort by telling you my thoughts when I was hurting.  It felt almost like the kind of comfort that my Momma gave me when I scraped my knees.  After we buried her beside you, I sort of felt like she was there every time I came to you. ”

Weekly Online Paper

13 Jun

 

via Weekly Online Paper.