Christian Combinations: Short Stories; The Little Candle: The Ugly Cygnet & What’s In Your Bag?

Christian Combinations is a ＂type of book＂ that creative, faith-based author, Melanie Schatzel, M.Ed. is using to identify a combination of work that is already published in an Ebook format for her beloved readers. Addressing some of her devoted reader’s requests to offer these stories in a paperback copy edition, Melanie has embarked to combine works that follow certain themes, together, to offer her readers. In ＂Christian Combinations: Short Stories; The Little Candle: The Ugly Cygnet & What’s In Your Bag?＂ Melanie has focused on the influence one heroic woman has on a young woman. In ＂The Little Candle: The Ugly Cygnet＂ a teenaged granddaughter receives a special invitation from her grandma. She is asking her granddaughter to end her current employment and come spend her summer vacation with her as she transitions from being married to being a widow, and from living on a farm to living in town. The granddaughter seriously considers the offer after doing her best to fulfill other obligations with her family and with her church. And spends the summer being of service for, and beside, her cherished grandma. In the process, she discovers that it is not her plain looks or ordinary quarks that people desire of her, but her good heart and sincerity in kind acts. In ＂What’s In Your Bag?＂ the story is written by a grown woman who shares the most pivotal moment in her teen life. She shares of a lesson in her teen years by a volunteer young woman’s leader who is dying from cancer. The teacher comes toting three bags; a diaper bag, a grocery bag, and her purse. She then asks the girls to divulge the contents of each bag and to share what the contents tell them about her, and her character. The writer discloses that she accidently discovered a hidden pocket in the diaper bag. In the pocket was a business card with an appointment reminder on it for an Oncologist. She suddenly realized that the appointment was for her teacher, and the teacher, noticing her mistake, quickly asks her to keep the secret private between them. Discover how this activity, and the lesson, change who she is from that day forward and why she feels that knowing who we are should be evident in what we represent to the world, and in our bag. Both stories are the author’s new favorites for young women, teens, and teachers in a position to influence the teen daughters of God in the world today.