Writing Portfolio
BOOKS
Social Medial Post Samples
The Voice of Love by Connie Ruth Christiansen; Inspirational Nonfiction, Tate Publishing 2014; BudBooks Publishing 2017
BOOK REVIEWS:
"Open, vulnerable. honest, insightful, transparent and life changing!" ~Jim McIntosh, KPDQ Night Life Talk Host "So Transparent and honest that the reader is infused with hope, and invited on your journey towards intimacy with the Voice." ~ Larry Kennedy, Author, Pastor "To say that it impacted my life would be an understatement. I want to share the Voice of Love with everyone I meet!" ~June Rodman, Retired RN "This little book is power-packed!" ~ Mary Jo McIntosh, Event Attendee
BOOK EXCERPTS:
The Voice of Love is filled with exciting true stories, and with words of wisdom and teaching from the author who lived these stories
BOOK EXCERPT #1
A Story SAMPLE:
“Follow that car” said the Voice -- Not audibly, but from deep inside and to the listening ear of my spirit. I dutifully, quickly swerved my car to the left, and pulled behind an old blue four door sedan. Peering ahead I saw back of the driver’s head, rising just barely above the top of the front seat. He appeared to be a short scrunchy middle aged man, wearing a brown felt hat which would have been right at home in an old black and white photo. I trailed a short distance behind the blue car as it turned off the highway and traveled along several miles of winding road, past lovely homes with manicured lawns, past a graveyard which momentarily triggered a melancholy, quickly forgotten as the two cars glided past a vast field of incredibly bright spring tulips, past a small women walking a very large dog, up a steep hill and finally into a quiet parking lot that paralleled a long, low brick building, with a sign out front designating it as an elder care home. The blue sedan pulled into a parking spot directly in front of the building’s entrance. I pressed down on the gas pedal to quicken my pace a bit, determined to catch up with the man in the brown felt hat, who had stepped out of his car and seemed to be moving unusually fast. I parked, braked, and bolted out of my car to hurry down the cement walk way; always several steps behind the tiny person whose legs were much shorter than mine, and shouldn’t be able to move so quickly. A few feet on the other side of the entry way the little man stopped. I stopped also; waiting to see what he would do. I couldn’t see his face as his back was to me, his coat collar tipped up to his ears and his brown felt hat was pulled down to the top of his upturned collar. He turned his head slightly to the left, slightly to the right and then he disappeared. Yes, disappeared! He was there, and then he wasn’t. “Poof” was the only word that came to mind, but actually there was no “poof.” He was just gone! Before I had a chance to think much further, around the corner to my right came a frail old woman, shuffling her walker and her oversized pink fluffy slippers across the shiny brown and white linoleum floor. Her softly permed white hair showed a hint of color that matched the faded purple bathrobe hanging loosely from her bony bent frame. When she saw me she quickened her pace. A huge toothless smile spread across her worn wrinkled face, and twinkled in her grey-blue eyes as she said, “You are to see me! I knew you would come!” The little lady, whom I had no doubt I was there to meet, led me back to her room, perched herself atop the edge of her hospital bed and motioned me towards an uncomfortable orange chair just across from her. She began to tell me her story....... This exciting, heartwarming true story is the beginning of Chapter 1 (Angel in the Brown Felt Hat) of "The Voice of Love" book by Connie Ruth Christiansen Learn more at https://www.connieruthchristiansen.com/the-voice-of-love-book
BOOK EXCERPT #2
Words of Wisdom
SAMPLES:
"We are but imperfect jars and jugs of clay formed by the Eternal Hand, for the ultimate purpose of communicating with Love, and to carry around bits and pieces of Love within us, to share with other jars and jugs...." Wisdom SAMPLE #2: "The Voice speaks from an infinite realm of Truth which is more real than our finite understanding; The Voice is a Love abundant, more real than our overwhelming circumstances; The Voice is a Goodness greater and more real than the evil and sadness all around us." Wisdom SAMPLE #3 "Their may be mystery in Love's Voice, but there is no darkness..."
Click "Video Sample" to watch a visual adaptation of an excerpt from The Voice of Love
Take The Thank You Challenge (Thank You 1095) by Connie Ruth Christiansen, Motivational, Inspirational 365 Devotional, BudBooks 2012, Tate Publishing 2014, BudBooks 2017
BOOK REVIEWS:
"This book is so much fun. I'm buying one for my friend also." ~Fran Newham, Writer, Retired Nurse "I'm reading 'Take the Thank You Challenge' each night with my kids. A great family activity." ~ Tina, Stay-at-Home Mom Take The Thank You Challenge! promoted by '80 Acres and a Book ' BLOG http://80acresandabook.blogspot.com/2012/01/thank-you-challengepraise-journal.html Take The Thank You Challenge Promoted on 'Marilyn's Musings' http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/2012/01/thank-you-1095-take-thank-you-challenge.html
BOOK EXCERPTS:
Click "Video Sample" to watch a video that contains excerpts and also highlights
the easy-to-use format of
Take the Thank You Challenge
I Am a White Girl ( and Black Lives Matter!)
A Facebook Post with 542 'Likes', 42 Comments, and 70 Shares
I love your dark skin. But I don’t live in it. I am a white girl. I want to feel what you feel, to know what you know. But I can’t. I am a white girl I do know what I feel. I feel sorrow that brings me to tears, brings me to my knees; I feel like a caged mama bear who wants to rescue her dear ones from harm, but is powerless to do so. Throwing myself at the bars to come to you. I am a white girl who wants to make it stop! To my dark skin family, and my dark skin friends; to all of you dear ones crying yourself to sleep tonight and many nights before this; crying out for justice, for safety, for peace, and to be heard I am a white girl who cries out with you “Black Lives Matter!” I say it loud! I say it bold! In spite of who may throw stones. If they do throw stones enough, and if those stones may hit me, and hit my loved ones, and beat me down year after year, for generations, for no other reason than that my skin is pale, then, maybe then, maybe I will understand just a little bit of what it is like to live in your dark skin. As I write these mere words, with tears rolling, I know they are not enough. But I am still compelled to write them. And I hope that you can hear within them, that same cry of your heart, for hate to die, and for love to win. ~Connie 6/4/2020 Connie Ruth Christiansen, Author, Speaker
Earth Angel and Heaven Angel Working it Out (and me on overload, not having a clue)
A Facebook Post with 81 'Likes', 42 Comments, and 5 Shares
Sitting for a moment in my car, in a parking space, I opened my purse to make sure that all of my required documents were in order. And that’s when I noticed my wallet, phone, credit cards, and cash, were missing. I frantically emptied my purse (3 times) and tore my car apart looking. But none of it was there. My very-important-appointment would have to wait! We headed back across town to the last place I remember for sure I was using my phone (which was attached within my wallet.) Traffic was (of course) moving snail-slow, and I was stopped at literally every red light. My mind and emotions bouncing all over the place, trying to figure out where my lost things might possibly be, somewhere in the great, big, huge park/middle school area that Jackson and I had walked all around - and the busy street I had been parked on. All the drive over and as we pulled up to the park, I was trying to hold onto hope and praying … “Jesus help!” ... “Angels of God please surround my wallet and phone until we are reunited.” …"Help!" More than an hour later, doing our best to retrace our steps, Jackson and I had looked under every bush, behind every tree, and dug in the dirt (Jackson); and kindhearted strangers had joined in our quest. Wallet and phone were nowhere to be found. Walking back to the car, disappointment swallowed up hope, frustration turned to anger about how could I have been so careless, and about how God apparently had not been paying attention, and how angels had not been listening. And paranoia that maybe that (apparently) very nice man in the park from this morning was probably a con-man, and now my ID was in the hands of a thief. And thinking about having to cancel all my cards and to change dozens of passwords, and re-find multiple phone contacts. And anxiety about all of the cash that was now lost forever. And sadness about my recent photos that had not been backed up yet, and they were surely gone forever. I picked Jackson up and plopped him into his seat-belted-booster chair, and we drove just a few minutes back to home. As I was forcing my very weary self to climb out of the car, I heard a peaceful, calm, reassuring Voice, “look in the mailbox.” And so, I did. And there it was – all of it. My phone had apparently been run over by a car, the glass was completely shattered, but internally nothing was damaged – it somehow still worked. And not a single item was missing from the wallet. Money, cards, ID, all of it, just as if it had never been gone. BUT WAIT!! …. That’s not the best part! A few minutes later, someone pounded on my front door. Jackson began to bark– not his low loud bark of “stranger alert!” but his bouncing up and down, higher pitched, hyperactive bark of “a friend is here, a friend is here, a friend, a friend, friend, hurry up mom!!! A FRIEND!!” I opened the door and Jackson wiggled and waggled his happy self out from behind me, to greet his very best-friend-forever! his beloved mail-carrier. “Did you find your phone?” he asked. “That was you!?” I was so surprised! “It was really weird,” he continued. “I was delivering mail down by the park and the middle school when suddenly I saw all of this cash spread out across the ground, and credit cards, and a phone. And a bunch of people were walking around it and past it, and through it, like they didn’t even see it. Like I was the only one who noticed it……. this neighborhood NOone walks away from money and cards! ...It was just SO weird… So, I gathered it all up. I found your ODL and recognized your photo, and brought it all back here. When you didn’t answer my knock, I plopped it into your mailbox…I came back again just now, after work, to make sure you found it.” Then I told him my side of the story. We were both so amazed to realize how all the pieces of this mystery puzzle had come together to create a very happy ending, Angels-unseen had obviously been standing by and somehow directing traffic, waiting patiently until just the right earthly angel came along to finish the task. How cool is that? Me, back inside again, smiling, no worries … And then ... sheepishly, “oops, sorry God, sorry angels, for the human overload and faith meltdown. I guess you WERE paying attention after all……thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!! Jackson and I did a little happy dance. And for my earth-angel – Come tomorrow morning, when he stops by to deliver my mail, he will find a thank you note, attached to a box filled with yummy homemade chocolate chip cookies. ~Connie 2/11/2023 Connie Ruth Christiansen
Contract Work Samples
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Hired by Good Catch Publishing to Interview clients and then translate those interviews into inspirational short stories. These short stories from various writers were gathered together and published in book format:
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'Daddy's Little Girl - The Story of Bonnie' , Written by Connie Ruth Christiansen, published in the book 'Strength for Today, Hope for Tomorrow, Good Catch Publishing 2009 https://bookscouter.com/book/9781934635445-strength-for-today-hope-for-tomorrow?type=sell
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'A Song for the Brokenhearted - The Story of Jessie', Written by Connie Ruth Christiansen, published in the book Real People, Real Impact, Good Catch Publishing 2009 https://bookscouter.com/book/9781934635483-real-people-real-impact-our-true-bottom-line?type=sell
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Rare Treasure - The Story of Violet', Written by Connie Ruth Christiansen, published in the book 'Journey', Good Catch Publishing 2009 https://bookscouter.com/book/9781934635469-journey-searching-for-peace?type=sell
Article Featured in 'Living Better at 50', an online magazine, 2014; 'Too Big For Me', by Connie Ruth Christiansen https://www.livingbetter50.com/too-big-for-me/#google_vignette
Hired by ShareFaith Media to write 114 online subject specific articles, 2010-2012 http://www.sharefaith.com/author/connie-ruth-christiansen.html
![Connie Ruth Christiansen_edited.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/89dd08_4b1e63f54d0b42ad9cf1a2ffe8783d42~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_207,h_206,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/Connie%20Ruth%20Christiansen_edited.jpg)