Golden Keyes Parsons's Blog

Dear Readers,

It is with immense sorrow and sadness that we tell you that our dear wife, mother, grandmother and friend went to be with Jesus on February 16th, 2017. It is unbelievable that something as common as a car accident could take such an extraordinary life from us, but we are left with such an incredible legacy that in the midst of mourning, we are grateful as well. Grateful for her life of loving and pouring into us and that she lived so vibrantly. What a role model she was for us!

We are also so very grateful for you who read her books and articles. She had a life-long dream to become a writer and each of you reading this played a part in making that dream a reality. She loved writing, speaking and teaching and, in our opinion, she was the best at it!

There have been some beautiful articles written about her life and we wanted to share two of them with you. Our local channel 10 did a nightly news segment and an article that you can watch and read HERE and the Waco Tribune Herald did a story about her that you can read HERE.

We’ve heard from many of you and appreciate your kind words about her. They have been a great comfort to us. We think if she had a chance to say a final word to her readers, it would be Thank You and always seek Jesus first; His plan is always best.

 

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Caring for Golden’s husband, Blaine

Finally, we wanted to share with you an update on our beloved dad, Blaine. His memory loss has continued to decline and our family made the very hard decision just last week to place him in a memory care home. He is being so tenderly cared for in the absence of our mom, who had provided the round-the-clock presence and attention he needs. It’s been a heart-wrenching process and yet we’re grateful for these new caregivers who are helping him.

As you can imagine, the expenses and transition of all of this has left our family in a really rough spot. For those of you who have asked how you can help us during this season, we would point you to consider contributing to a GO FUND ME account that has been set up for him. And pray for him as he settles into his new home. Every day he asks where Golden is, and steps through the hallways with his big smile offering to pray for his new friends. His pastor’s heart is a blessing and light to those around him. Always has been.

If you make a contribution through the Go Fund Me account of $15 or more, we’d like to send you a copy of Golden’s final Christmas novel, The Gift of the Inn, as a thank you. You can make your donation HERE. We truly are so grateful and our family will be signing each copy on Golden’s behalf.

– The Parsons Family

 

Set against the backdrop of the Second World War, this final novel from beloved writer Golden Keyes Parsons is an engaging story of love, loss and reunion on a snowy Christmas Eve.

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Golden’s Final Novel

In honor of her life, Whitefire Publishing released Golden’s final novel, The Gift of the Inn on November 1. Golden truly enjoyed writing this story and was so excited to announce that it was under contract for publication in her Christmas newsletter last year.

She had completely finished writing the novel, but we would like to thank Linda LaRoque for stepping in on mom’s behalf to complete the final edits. Linda is a highly respected author and has been a close friend of mom’s for many years. They were in a critique group together as The Gift of the Inn was being written, and therefore, we consider it a great blessing, and very appropriate, that Linda be the one to help make the novel available to everyone. Once again, we will send a copy of the book, signed by the family, to everyone who makes a donation HERE of $15 or more for Blaine’s care.

Thank you, and God bless!

German Freethinkers and the Hill Country

This month on Heroes, Heroines, and History, Golden has written about the settlers of the Texas Hill Country and how the Civil War affected them.

Click HERE to read this interesting piece of Texas history.

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Secession – Texas Divided

This month on Heroes, Heroines, and History, Golden has written a blog about the secession of Texas just before the Civil War. This decision tore the state apart. To read the blog, Click HERE.

Secession – Texas Divided

This month on Heroes, Heroines, and History, Golden has written a blog about the secession of Texas just before the Civil War. This decision tore the state apart. To read the blog, Click HERE.

The post Secession – Texas Divided and A GIVEAWAY! appeared first on Golden Keyes Parsons.

 Humble Homes and Opulent Castles

On Heroes, Heroines, and History this month, Golden has written a fascinating blog about the homes and castles that her Darkness to Light series is based on.

Leave a comment on the blog and be entered to win a free book!

Click HERE to read about these beautiful homes and castles, rich with history.

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Tornado in Waco, Texas – 1953

This month on Heroes, Heroines, and History, Golden has written a blog about the famous F5 tornado that hit Waco, Texas and destroyed much of the downtown. Click HERE to read the accounts from eye witnesses to this historic event.

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RESCUE!

All of us dream of dramatic rescue–a handsome prince on a white horse sweeping in to take us away from the drudgery of our mundane lives. Just like Cinderella and Snow White … sigh.

When I was five or six years old, I wandered into a friend’s back yard and let myself into her charming playhouse. I entertained myself for a bit, and then decided to go home. But when I tried to get out, the door was jammed. I panicked. I started screaming and broke a window trying to escape the playhouse turned prison. Mark, the telephone man, heard my screams and rescued me. We lived in a very small town, and everyone knew each other. I don’t really know how handsome he really was, but to me he was the biggest, strongest, most handsome fellow I’d ever seen. He got that door open and carried me home in his strong arms. He didn’t come to sit down and play tea with me. He came to my rescue.

Christmas has come and gone once again in a flurry of parties, gift giving, and family togetherness. Children are playing with new toys; men are watching football; women are tired. I come to the completion of the Christmas holiday every year and ask the same question, “Where was Jesus in all of this?” But this year all the glitz and bling surrounding the season has bothered me more than ever. Jesus and the manger scene are simply appendages to Santa Claus, gift buying, parties, and family gatherings. He came as a baby, but he didn’t stay a baby. We have relegated him to a hay-filled trough once a year, only to be put away until next Christmas season when we’ll unpack him, dust him off, and put him on display. But Jesus didn’t come to entertain us. He came to rescue us.

We attended a kindergarten program with precious darling children singing probably about a dozen songs. They had been well trained and were dressed appropriately in red and green, but not one song about Jesus. My husband is a Christmas movie addict. He loves the “happily ever after” endings. For two months we’ve watched them one after another. Not a one contained the Gospel message. It’s like Jesus is an afterthought of the Christmas holidays.

I love the game of Santa Claus and being with family. I love the beauty of Christmas trees and the gifts piled high underneath the tree. I love the beautiful musical productions and pageantry. But shouldn’t our holiday celebrations be more than that?

Our God is a God of Rescue. He came to rescue us from the evil that claws at us. This is a season which proclaims the Good News of the rescue of mankind from the power of evil. Why have we buried it underneath a sea of red and green and an army of Santa Clauses? Why can we not even wish someone a “Merry Christmas” without concern of offending them?

Jesus stands ready to move into the New Year with us–with power, not as the helpless, impotent baby in the manger, but as the One who came to rescue us. What do you need Jesus to rescue you from? Financial stress? Marital issues? Children in trouble? Maybe you’ve never allowed Him to rescue you from your sin, the reason for which He came. He wants to rescue you if you’ll let Him. Let Him lift you up in his strong arms and take you to a safe place. Will you continue to try to manage your life on your own, panicking every time you feel hemmed in, not able to figure a way to escape? Why not start the New Year safe in the arms of Jesus? He’s a much better rescuer than a knight in shining armor on a white horse or even my personal telephone man  rescuer. He’s the rescuer of our souls. Oh, and by the way, one of these days, He will come to the rescue riding on a white horse. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!

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Christmas Celebration During WWII

On Heroes, Heroines, and History this week, Golden has published a fascinating blog about her personal memories of Christmas during WWII.

Click HERE to read the blog post.

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Forgotten Prayers

Do you have forgotten prayers in your repertoire? Or perhaps prayers you’ve been praying for years with no answer?

I reached between the cushions of the recliner trying to retrieve the bottle cap I’d just dropped. As I felt around the metal spring mechanism, I gasped. What my fingers touched was not a bottle cap, but what felt like the temple piece of a pair of glasses. I gently pulled on it, but it was stuck. I maneuvered it around and pulled out the pair of glasses I’d “lost” almost a year previously. A sizable gouge was on the top of the frames on the right side, but the lenses were not scratched at all. The frame wasn’t even bent out of shape.

The night I lost them, I’d been sitting in our recliner showing a friend of our grandsons some pictures on my phone. I was wearing my glasses. After she left, I went to bed. The next morning I couldn’t find them. I hadn’t been anywhere. I knew I’d had them looking at the pictures. Didn’t go anywhere but to bed. Where could they have gone? We looked everywhere. We turned the recliner upside down not once, but half a dozen times, but no glasses. We prayed. Our Life Group prayed. Neighbors came over and prayed. A few days went by, we kept praying. My Mah Jong friends prayed. “Lord, you know where those glasses are. Please, help us find them.” I am legally blind in one eye, and although the vision in my right eye has served me well through the years, as I get older I find I need to wear my glasses all of the time now. I needed them. Had they fallen in our friend’s purse? No. Had she picked them up by mistake? No. This was a unsettling event for us, as we are on a fixed income and a new pair of glasses is a big budget item for us. Where were they? Lord, help!

When the first of the year passed, our insurance instituted a program whereby I could afford to get a new pair of glasses. I didn’t like them as well as I did the original pair, but I was grateful to be able to get another pair. Occasionally I would think about those glasses, but didn’t continue to dwell on the loss.

And now they show up almost by “accident.” What is this about, Lord? What am I supposed to glean from this? What are you saying to me? As I thought about the incident, I believe God wanted to teach me in this simple example about trusting him when it seems he’s not answering.

Even when God doesn’t answer our prayers right away, it doesn’t mean he’s not going to. I just need to trust him in the meantime. He provided the new insurance program by which I was able to get a new pair until the old ones were found, so I could see. There are situations in our family we’ve been lifting to the Father for years with no apparent answer. Does that mean he’s not going to answer? I don’t think so.

I found an account of one of my ancestors when the family was clearing land in Pennsylvania after fleeing religious persecution in France in the 17th century. He fell to his knees in a freshly plowed field and begged God to use his descendants mightily in the kingdom. I believe I’ve seen the answer to that to some extent in the lives of the descendants on that side of the family and my own family. Even though not all of our family is walking with the Lord, they will. They may be caught in the ironclad vise of a sinful lifestyle, but I am praying. They may have gouges and be scarred from that lifestyle, but I am praying. I may be gone by the time the prayers are answered, but he will answer. He promises he will. I simply need to trust his faithfulness.

Forgotten prayers? Nope, no such thing. God never forgets, and he is faithful. We can trust him.

For I will pour water upon him who is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground. I will pour My Spirit upon your offspring, and My blessing upon your descendants (Isaiah 44:3 Amp).

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Women of Faith Interview About Hidden Faces

On the Women of Faith blog this week, Golden has been interviewed about her compilation of novellas based on the most famous nameless women in scripture…

“You’ve probably wondered about them, too: the women who encountered Jesus and had their stories—but not their names—preserved in the Bible. Wouldn’t it be great to know the rest of their story?

Author Golden Keyes Parsons thought so…so she created a series of four novellas (short novels) about these “nameless women.” We caught up with Golden recently to talk about her stories, now available in one volume called Hidden Faces.”

Click HERE to read the interview in full.

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