Our Blogiversary celebration continues with another free read by Isabella Alden!
As missionaries, John and Mary Randall and their daughter Rachel live hard lives. So when Rev. Randall is asked to speak at a conference of churches, he welcomes the chance to make a case for more support. His only regret is that he must leave Mary and Rachel behind.
But Rev. Randall’s speech touches more than a few hearts, and one lady in particular takes steps to ensure he and his family have all the support they need.
In Isabella’s novel Making Fate Miss Marjorie Edmonds accompanies Leonard Maxwell as he makes New Year’s Day calls on some of the poorest people in town. One of their calls takes them to a small tenement apartment belonging to an elderly woman who is severely disabled.
Poor old Mrs. Baxter can do little but sit beside her window and watch the world go by until her son Jim comes home from work at night. She tells Marjorie:
“Yes, he’s my only one. I buried the others when they were babies; but Jim lived; and what I should have done without him, I can’t even guess; it makes me tremble sometimes, merely to think of it. You see, ma’am, I’m a cripple. I have to be lifted from the bed to the chair, and from the chair back to the bed again. It is going on four years since I’ve taken a step. He fixes me up like this every morning before he goes away; and here I sit until he gets back at night. Jane, next door, comes in at noon and gives me my bit of dinner, and she fixes it almost as nice as Jim could. She works nearby, so she can run home at noon, but Jim doesn’t. I don’t deny that I get pretty lonesome before six o’clock sometimes. Still, my eyes are a good deal of use, for I can see the folks passing, and I can watch the sun setting. We have beautiful sunsets out of this window. Oh, I’ve lots of blessings.”
Hearing Mrs. Baxter joyfully count her mercies was something Marjorie had never experienced before. It gave her an entirely new understanding of how even a small act of kindness could be a blessing to others. That’s the theme of today’s give-away.
The Giveaway:
We’re giving away three “Be a Blessing to Others” prize packages to readers of Isabella’s blog!
Each prize package includes:
A lovely “Be a Blessing to Others” journal, where you can write about the blessings you’ve received, the different ways you’re a blessing to the people in your life, Bible verses that uplift you, or anything else you feel inspired to write …
… a set of coordinating fine-tip pens …
… and a booklet of notepads and stickers you can use to decorate your journal, write reminders, and highlight important entries.
To enter the drawing, just leave a comment below or on Isabella’s Facebook page no later than 11:59 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday, September 14.
The three winners will be announced on Friday, September 15, 2023. Good luck!
You can read Isabella’s novel Making Fate by clicking here.
This post is part of our 10-Year Blogiversary Celebration! Join us every weekday in September for a fun drawing, giveaway, or Free Read!
Thank you to everyone who entered the Links in Rebecca’s Life paperback giveaway!
We’re happy to announce the winners are:
Susan Mene
Evalina Irish-Spencer
Debby Bishop
Evalina, you’ll receive a Facebook DM; Susan and Debby, you’ll receive an email from Isabella Alden. Please respond with your mailing address so we can send your book out right away!
(Note: We do not receive an affiliate commission for providing this link, but we do receive a small royalty for every book sold. Your purchase helps support this website.)
This post is part of our 10-Year Blogiversary Celebration! Join us every weekday in September for a fun drawing, giveaway, or Free Read!
Thank you to everyone who entered the “Promises from God” giveaway!
We’re happy to announce the winners are:
Rosie Tapp
kjw810
Pamela Hesseltine Freeman
Pamela, you’ll receive a Facebook DM; Rosie and kjw810, you’ll receive an email from Isabella Alden. Please respond with your mailing address so we can send your “Promises from God” card pack out right away.
In past blog posts we’ve share some of Isabella’s advice columns that appeared in Christian magazines in the early 1900s. Sometimes humorous, sometimes serious, but always straightforward, Isabella answered reader questions on a variety of topics, from unwanted marriage proposals to a fear of praying in public.
Cathy and Elaine—two longtime readers of this blog—mentioned they would love to be able to have a booklet that contained all of Isabella’s advice columns.
What a great idea!
Thanks to Cathy and Elaine, today’s giveaway is an e-book collection of Isabella’s most popular bits of advice.
Isabella Alden’s classic Christian novel Links in Rebecca’s Life is now available in print, and we’re giving away 3 free copies!
Rebecca Harlow is an eager and tireless worker for the church. She never misses a prayer meeting, and even schedules social calls to encourage friends to attend church. But when her careless words spread like wildfire through town, Rebecca must learn that it’s her everyday actions that have the power to influence others for Christ.
One of Isabella Alden’s most popular novels, Links in Rebecca’s Life is a wonderful book to have on your bookshelf or to give as a gift to someone you love.
The drawing is open to all U.S. residents. To enter, just leave a comment below or on Isabella’s Facebook page no later than 11:59 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday, September 7.
The three winners will be announced on Friday, September 8. Good luck!
This post is part of our 10-Year Blogiversary Celebration!
By the early 1900s Isabella’s career as an author began to fade. After forty years of writing Christ-centered novels and countless magazine and newspaper articles, the American reading public began to label her writing style as “old-fashioned” and “narrow.”
Magazine editors cut ties with Isabella; they cancelled her regular advice columns and declined to publish her serial stories.
After her book publisher, Daniel Lothrop, died in 1892, his publishing company changed ownership, and the new owners declined to publish any more of Isabella’s novels.
But Isabella was still writing at that time, and she did her best to find a publisher willing to accept her stories. In 1911 she submitted two novels to Gorham Press in Boston, Massachusetts. The titles were:
Her Own Way
Nell Jenkins
Today, we would call Gorham Press a “vanity publisher”; meaning, they printed and distributed an author’s book at the author’s expense.
Gorham’s owner, Mr. Richard G. Badger, immediately accepted Isabella’s submissions and sent her contracts to sign.
Ultimately, Gorham published Her Own Way in 1912, according to this entry found in the Cumulative Book Index of American Literature dated 1913:
However, there’s no record to indicate Her Own Way was ever distributed to stores; nor was it ever reviewed in newspapers or Christian periodicals from that period. It’s possible Isabella paid to have a limited number of copies printed, which she distributed herself.
Fortunately for us, Nell Jenkins (the second novel Isabella submitted to Gorham) was one of the last serial stories Isabella had published in a Christian magazine. Even more fortunate, all the magazine issues survived so we can piece together the chapters and enjoy the entire story!
Rebecca Kent finds herself in a difficult situation when her best friend’s husband asks her to keep a secret. It doesn’t take long for Rebecca to realize something strange is going on, and the secret she vowed to keep could very well ruin her best friend’s marriage.
If you like a bit of mystery in your Pansy stories (as in her novels Pauline and Wanted), you’ll enjoy Nell Jenkins!
Or you can select BookFunnel’s “My Computer” option to receive an email with a version you can read, print, and share with friends.
REMEMBER: There’s still time to enter the Promises From God Giveaway drawing. Just leave a comment below or on Isabella’s Facebook page no later than 11:59 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday, September 7.
The winners will be announced on Friday, September 8. Good luck!
This post is part of our 10-Year Blogiversary Celebration! Join us tomorrow for another fabulous giveaway!
Isabella often wrote about God’s love and His promises to protect and guide those who follow Him. In her stories and novels, she regularly included short Bible verses, like this:
Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. (Matthew 28:20)
And she often shared God’s promises in the pages of The Pansy magazine, as she did in this poem:
As a teacher and a minister’s wife, she probably had a lot of experience in seeing the positive impact such little reminders could have in the life of a person who needed encouragement.
In fact, she—as well as the characters in her stories—handed out calling cards or pieces of paper on which was written a “promise verse” meant to encourage someone who was facing challenges in their life.
People don’t often use calling cards today, but those Biblical words of encouragement are still important to those in need!
The Giveaway!
We’re giving away sets of “Promises from God for Women” cards to three U.S.A. readers of Isabella’s blog!
The front of each card has a beautifully illustrated Bible verse of promise.
Each card has room for you to add your own personalized message of love or encouragement.
To enter the drawing, just leave a comment below or on Isabella’s Facebook page no later than 11:59 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday, September 7.
The three winners will be announced on Friday, September 8. Good luck!
This post is part of our 10-Year Blogiversary Celebration! Join us tomorrow for another fun giveaway!
Isabella’s husband, the Rev. G. R. Alden, was a prolific poet, and many of his works were published in The Pansy magazine. He was adept at sharing humorous stories, childhood memories, and Biblical truths through rhyme. In the following poem he writes about anticipating the change of seasons in a long-ago, and much simpler time.
The fields and meadows paling
Lie ’neath the hazy sky;
The thistle-down is sailing
By zepyrs slowly by.
The stalks of stubble, bleaching
Beneath September’s sun,
Seem silently now teaching
Of rest when labor’s done.
The goldenrod, bright gleaming
Above the parched sod,
Is surely sent, the seeming
Of the golden things of God.
The katy-dids are calling,
In a social sort of way,
To learn what is befalling
The neighbor ’cross the way.
Communist like, the blackbirds
Hold meetings every night,
As though the world went backwards,
And they must set it right.
The apples fast are falling
From heavy-laden boughs;
The milkmaid’s faintly calling
’Cross the meadows for the cows.
The milking-stool is ready
Astride the barnyard gate;
The cows come slow and steady,
Like messengers of Fate.
And soon, in silence sleeping,
Master and maid and herd
Beneath God’s kindly keeping
Will rest—as on his word.
So may this mild September,
With its pictures passing fair,
Make each of us remember
God’s mercies, rich and rare.
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