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When God Calls the Heart to Faithfulness

by Heartie Michelle S. Cox in Leading Hearts Magazine

I just returned home from a week in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. My husband and I enjoyed some sightseeing while we were there, but the main purpose of our trip was for the Hearties Family Reunion. 

I’ve been blessed to co-author the When God Calls the Heart devotional books with Brian Bird. He’s the executive producer and co-creator of When Calls the Heart, Hallmark’s #1 show. 

Each year, the fans of the show — the Hearties — are invited to a family reunion in Vancouver. 

The event sells out in minutes when it opens for registration, with hundreds of more folks on a waiting list. It’s a fun weekend with panels from the cast members of When Calls the Heart and the spin-off series When Hope Calls, sessions with the production crew and Hallmark executives, opportunities for photos with the stars of the shows, and time to bond with other Hearties from around the world. 

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Don’t Be So Hard on Yourself

by Debbie W. Wilson in Leading Hearts Magazine

BEFORE I’D EVEN PULLED OUT OF MY DRIVEWAY, THE WAZE GPS APP ON MY PHONE SAID I’D ARRIVE FIVE MINUTES LATE.

Groan. I was on my way to a group that had invited me to visit after discussing my book Little Women, Big God. My cheeks burned at the thought of walking in late.

Why can’t you leave on time? What’s wrong with you? My thoughts chided me.

This line of thinking wouldn’t make up for lost time or prepare my heart to encourage these women. I’d recently finished reading a novel with an imperfect heroine. When she ran late, I empathized with her. So, why was I so hard on myself?

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Is God Waiting On You?

by Amber Weigand-Buckley @barefacedgirl, editor of Leading Hearts Magazine

The funny thing about leadership is that it takes far less faith to TALK about your CALL than it does to WALK OUT your CALL. Why?

Because you have to put feet to your faith before you can allow God to SHOW UP and perform the MIRACULOUS.

Joshua and the Israelite priests leading their people into the Promise Land knew that if they followed God’s direction, they were going to hit the Jordan River (Joshua 1:1-9). It didn’t take a genius to realize that when they hit the water, they didn’t have the necessary provisions — no boats or life jackets.

All they had was the faith that when they got there, God would show up — and He did.

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Chanukah Dreidels and Christmas Dirt Plus Recipe for Traditional Chanukah Donuts

By Amber Weigand-Buckley  @barefacedgirl in Leading Hearts Magazine

I NEVER GREW UP GIVING MUCH REVERENCE TO PLACES AND ICONS, BUT FOR SOME REASON I FOUND MY KNEES WEAK.

It was the third day of Chanukah and I was in Israel for the very first time standing in the city of Nazareth. We had made our way past the shopkeepers and traffic lined streets to the Church of the Annunciation, which sits in the side of the hill of the city. The church was supposedly built on the spot where Mary was visited by the angel announcing her as the highly favored woman to give birth to Jesus Christ.

“Emmanuel: God with us.” In that spot, I understood the power in that statement—the power in that name.

Under the church, you can see the excavated remains of the old city…

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