Fact: Author's grandfather ran away at 13 in 1875. Family's oral tradition: He had issues with his wealthy stepfather. Fiction: That's "Elizabeth's Prodigal." Set in the mid-1870's, Albert has a mother, Elizabeth, who loves him, a stepfather, Matthew Redding, who provides more than adequate opportunities for lads his age. He has seven siblings and step-siblings, some more tolerable than others. He's won the county award in academics, so school's behind him and he believes he's ready to take on the world. There's a matter of his Kelsey inheritance, though, which would make going easier....

Do you wonder if this Christmas will fly past without making time to celebrate its true meaning? That happens too easily. We have to become intentional when it comes to recognizing how Christmas was God's idea before it was humankind's. What if this year, we truly welcomed Christmas Day because we had fully prepared our hearts to celebrate? What if we remembered the thoughts we had when we let our minds contemplate Mary's preparation to birth God's Son? What if somehow we more completely felt Joseph's uncomfortableness at marrying a young woman who was with child? What if our knees knelt with...