Life Palette: God Made a Masterpiece…and it's you! by Jeffrey Allen Love

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact author directly: Jeff Love Website: www.lifepalette.com Email: jeffreyallenlove@gmail.com Phone: 520-907-1434

Life Palette God Made a Masterpiece…and it’s you! Do you see yourself as a masterpiece? God’s masterpiece? Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Yet you may see yourself as anything but a masterpiece. Is there a better way? Yes! In Life Palette, Dr. Jeffrey Allen Love takes the concepts he’s learned as a successful painter and as a longtime pastor to teach you that God is the master artist—but you give Him the palette to dip His brush in and paint a masterpiece on the canvas of your life. Each chapter gives you practical, biblical insight you can immediately apply to create a personal Life Palette (comprised of your decisions and lifestyle choices) that’ll pave the way for God to paint your life as the masterpiece He created you to be. Discover your endless potential and priceless value! Take out your Life Palette and make it all it needs to be. The master artist is waiting for you. About Dr. Jeffrey Allen Love Jeffrey Allen Love serves as the lead/teaching pastor of Alive Church in Tucson, AZ. With success at an early age as a painter, art has always been a big part of his life. While pursuing art and music in college, Jeff felt compelled to go into church ministry and has served faithfully for over 25 years. He has a B.S. in Theology and a Doctorate in Ministry from PHX University of Theology. His passion in life is to be all that God created Him to be and to help others be all that God wants them to be. Jeff and wife Kathy have three girls and one boy. Jeff loves being a husband and father and centers many of his goals and desires around being successful in these two key areas of his life. As a couple, they have taught many seminars on successful marriage and raising children. Kathy spends her time focusing on selling Jeff’s artwork, allowing him time to paint, write, and lead his church. Find Jeff at LifePalette.com *The following excerpt, from the book Life Palette, is available for placement in your publication or as an interview topic providing proper byline or bio is attached. The Maker of the Masterpiece  If I asked you to describe a masterpiece painting, the first one likely to come to mind is Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Hanging in the Louvre behind bulletproof glass in a controlled environment to preserve the pigment and the canvas, the Mona Lisa is well protected.   What makes the Mona Lisa a masterpiece? It’s certainly not the subject matter. There have been millions of portraits of beautiful women painted throughout the centuries that would never be considered masterpieces. Did da Vinci have some secret paint or brushes no other artists knew existed? Actually, the material available to every art student today is much more advanced than what was available to da Vinci and his peers. The Mona Lisa is a masterpiece because of da Vinci’s extraordinary skill and intellect.   With that in mind, it may be hard to describe yourself as a masterpiece. It somehow feels vain, arrogant, and even haughty to look at yourself that way. Maybe the opposite of self-pride is the problem. You don’t believe you’re beautiful enough on the inside to possibly be considered a work of art. You know who you are and what you’ve done. You know the ugliness of it, to the point that it even defines you.   But here’s the key. It’s not about your extraordinary skill, intellect, or lack of both. Nothing can change the fact that you’re already created as a masterpiece. Nothing you think or do can undo that truth. Why? You’re not the creator of the masterpiece to begin with. You’re not the artist. God is. Life Palette: God Made a Masterpiece…and it's you!  Retail: $12.99 Paperback: 204 pages Publisher: Write Works; First Edition edition (November 13, 2013) ISBN-10: 0989205738 ISBN-13: 978-0989205733 Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches Success = Living daily as the masterpiece God created you to be Jeffrey Allen Love Want to find out more about Life Palette and see some of Jeff Love's artwork? Connect with Jeff! Facebook Twitter Website Email LinkedIn YouTube Pinterest What Others Are Saying I teach principles of “Intentional Living” and my wife is an accomplished artist, so my interest was piqued when I saw Dr. Love’s book Life Palette. The principles Dr. Love teaches speak to me, and I think they will speak to you as well. Our God is an intentional God, who intentionally loved us so much that He died for us. His intentionality is also proved in how He has gifted each of us to serve Him and one another as we live out our faith. Jeff is a regular contributor to my radio program, and I’m happy to recommend his book as I believe it will help you navigate your own faith journey.          Dr. Randy Carlson  President, Family Life Communications, and Host of the “Intentional Living” radio program For a couple of years, I’ve carried a piece of art canvas around in my wallet where I’ve written, “God wants to create a masterpiece on the canvas of my life.” Not until reading Jeff’s book was I able to recognize exactly what that meant or how it would transpire. Jeff Love has led me to discover what my unique life masterpiece looks like, and provided the tools and insight to begin to shape my life into the ultimate design. You’ll find Life Palette beyond inspiring. Steve Lacy Founder and CEO, JSL Solutions and creator of StreamingChurch.tv, ChurchApplive.com and MyFlock.com

Aunt Crystal's Scones

I had cooked oatmeal with butter and about a half-teaspoon of cloves instead of cinnamon as planned (don't ask). We didn't want to eat clove oatmeal, so I set out to find a recipe to salvage the bleary-eyed concoction. I came across this recipe for cooked oatmeal scones by Jenny Sanders and thought it'd be a good foundation for the morning's experiment. I'm happy to report that the experiment seems to have been a success, and I have a new recipe for lovely, hearty scones.

Fresh from the oven

Aunt Crystal's Scones
(adapted from Jenny Sanders' Cooked Oatmeal Scones)

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked oatmeal (3 servings' worth per package instructions)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup honey
1 1/3 cup milk (divided)
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins

Ready to go into the oven

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F
2. Mix butter into slightly cooled oatmeal
3. Sprinkle cloves and cinnamon over oatmeal and mix thoroughly
4. Add milk, half at a time, and incorporate well
5. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt
6. Add flour mixture to oatmeal mixture
7. Turn dough onto floured surface and lightly knead in raisins
8. Form dough into a disk approximately one inch thick
9. Cut disk into 8-10 wedges
10. Place wedges onto a buttered and floured baking sheet
11. Bake 15 minutes until toothpick inserted in center of a wedge comes out clean

Cool according to preference:
- on wire rack for crusty top and bottom
- on pan for crusty top and soft bottom
- on pan with clean tea towel over scones for soft top and bottom


Warning: These are not your dainty party scones for low tea. These are hearty and filling - good for breakfast, elevenses, or high tea.

This is one of the "little" scones!

BLOG TOUR: Texas Wildflowers 4-in-1 Novella

Texas Wildflowers "A romance assortment of petits fours, and as dreamy sweet." —Harold Wolf  From the Back of the Book: The four McBride sisters risk their hearts for love in the islands, canyons, mountains and bayous of Texas. Deserted at the altar, a devastated Rosy McBride heads back to Galveston Island and begins working at her mother’s scrapbooking business. Will spending time with Larson Brookfield help mend her broken heart, or will she merely wind up pasting away? Christian counselor Lily McBride relies on her quirky common sense and God’s wisdom to help her clients. Will she be successful at her new career or break the most solemn of counselor/patient vows by falling for the handsome, eccentric, and impossibly irresistible Rubin McCall while hiking the Palo Dura Canyon? In the mountain town of Alpine, Violet McBride owns Romantic Images, a business that teaches people how to live romantically. Will Morgan Jones, a geek she meets online, show her the real meaning of romance and the art of love? Heather McBride’s picture-perfect life has unraveled in the bayou. Will the free-spirited Evan Finch not only reawaken her artistic passion but also give her the courage to fall in love—without her day-planner? Will God help give these women the pluck to love the least likely of soul mates? Read Chapter One at: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/137142510/TexasWildflowers_ChapterOne

An Interview with Anita: Tell us a bit about Texas Wildflowers. Texas Wildflowers is a 4-in-1 novella collection through Barbour Publishing. Each novella is set in an exotic location in Texas. They are lighthearted romances, and they’re all tied together with the four McBride sisters. Which of the four novellas was the most fun to write? They were each fun to write in their own way, but my favorite character was Lily, the counselor, in Forget Me Not Lily. She was quirky and fun, relatable and loveable. At least that’s what I hope readers will feel. All these novellas are set in Texas. Are the towns and parks real? Yes, in fact one of the novellas is set in Big Bend National Park, where my husband and I went on vacation. So, when you read about the characters on certain trails, they’re real, and we hiked them! Did you have a favorite book when you were a child?I loved fairytales. Cinderella was my favorite. Do you have a vacation spot you’d love to visit? I’m dreaming of Ireland. My husband and I plan to travel there next summer. Can’t wait! Then I’m going to use the emerald isle as a setting in one of my novels. What are 5 things that your readers might not know about you? While I was in college I tried working in a pillow factory. I was terrible at it. I got so weary with the repetition I started yakking with the woman next to me. We got reprimanded over and over until I quit. I discovered one thing from that college job—talking is something I excel at. I once won a hog-calling contest at a banquet. I was not embarrassed, but I should have been. I have a bird phobia, and yet I love birds! (That is, from a distance.) My house is filled with the fake kind—prints on the walls, statues, and general bird doodads. Go figure. I keep some interesting treasures near me when I write—a wooden jewelry box my son made me when he was in school, a candle from the 1960s, a hat once owned by a famous mystery writer, the inner parts of a music box, a birthday card that plays The Twilight Zone theme song, and an old family toy helicopter that says, “Going up.” Thirty-four years ago I rappelled off a cliff alongside the man I was dating. We kissed in mid-air while dangling off that cliff. I ended up marrying that man, and we've celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary! What awards have you won? I’ve won two book awards. One of my co-authored books entitled, A Tribute to Early Texas, won a San Antonio Conservation Society Citation as well as a Westerners International Book Award. Also, I was given three honors by readers: I was a Favorite New Author in the 15th Annual Heartsong Presents Awards, and my co-authored novel, Castles in the Air, was a Favorite Contemporary Romance in the 16th Annual Heartsong Presents Awards. My most recent award is a 2011 RWA Readers Choice Award (first place) for my novella, Once Upon a Christmas Eve. When readers finish the last page of Texas Wildflowers, what do you want them to come away with? I would love for them to be inspired, challenged, and entertained. If I accomplished even one of those things I would feel my writing time wasn’t wasted. Where can your readers connect with you online? Please drop by my website at www.anitahigman.com, or visit my Reader Page on Facebook and chat with me there at http://www.facebook.com/#!/AuthorAnitaHigman.

Anita Higman Author & Speaker About the Author: Bestselling and award-winning author, Anita Higman, has thirty-two books published (several coauthored) for adults and children. She’s been a Barnes & Noble “Author of the Month” for Houston and has a BA degree, combining speech communication, psychology, and art. Anita loves good movies, exotic teas, and brunch with her friends. Please visit her online atwww.anitahigman.com. Giveaway: Every blog that gets comments from at least 10 different commenters (besides the author and the blog tour host) will offer a free book to one of the commenters. Be sure to tell your friends to come read this blog and leave a comment! Share on facebook, twitter, linked-in or wherever you hang out!