Sprinkles of Sugar

After a haunting event, she found her way to faith and now shares sweetness for the soul.

Linda Kozar is the author of six devotional books informed by her experiences growing up in the South, where greetings always included hugs and kisses, and “Gimme some sugar” still means “Come give me a kiss.” Her most recent book is Gimme Some Sugar: 90 Devotions to Sweeten Your Day in a Godly Way. Kozar’s family was always warm and affectionate, and in a brief introduction, she highlights the importance of expressing care for the ones you love—without prompting.

She introduces each of the 90 daily devotionals with an insightful or amusing quote from a wide range of sources, from Christian writers to untraceable memes (“Be ye fishers of men. You catch them; he’ll clean them”). The quotes are paired with short, God-focused, sometimes fun, and always thoughtful essays based on scripture gleaned from Genesis to Revelation, from a variety of respected Bible versions. For each verse, she provides engaging context and ends with a “Sweet Spoonful” of down-to-earth advice or inspiration.

A haunted house

In an interview with SAconnects, Kozar revealed how growing up in a “haunted house” in New Orleans helped shape her faith. She recounted a terrifying incident involving a Ouija board and the family’s journey to Christianity after her father faced a life-threatening medical condition.

“My mother played the Ouija board. When I was little, everybody played with those things,” Kozar said. But one day while her mom played the board, a strange wind blew through the house. “It came out of that board. People say, ‘You know, demons aren’t real.’ Well, they are real. It was real.”

Kozar, who is now born again, vividly remembers how her family came to believe in the Lord. “My dad almost died. He had an aneurysm, a damaged heart, and a leaking valve.” Her brother, who was the first person in the family to become radically saved, was able to lead their father to the Lord.

“The night before dad was to have surgery, we all got together and prayed,” Kozar said. “It wasn’t anything that shook the world, but my brother prayed that God would give him an extra 15 years, as He did Hezekiah in the Bible” (Isaiah 38:1–5).

Her dad survived the surgery. “But not only that, when the doctors came out, they said that my dad’s aneurysm was gone, and his artery was no longer leaking. So that was a miracle, right?”

God’s providence

Kozar then related another sign from God. “Dad lived exactly 15 more years before he died,” she said. “The operation took place on Valentine’s Day, 1989. Then, 15 years later in 2004 on Valentine’s Day, he died. My brother asked, ‘Why didn’t I ask for more time?’”

She and her sister checked out the church their brother was attending. “I felt something I’d never felt before. I felt there was almost like an electricity in the air. I said to my sister, ‘God is here.’ I didn’t even know if I believed in God, but I knew my soul had recognized God.”

Her shy but wide-eyed sister felt something too and would also become born again. For Kozar, it took a little while yet.

“When I decided I wanted to give my life to Jesus, I was driving home to the apartment I shared with my sister. I pulled up in the driveway and I got through the door, and I didn’t even walk past the threshold. I just got down on my knees and asked Jesus into my heart. And I felt a weight off my shoulders right at that moment. I was delivered from cigarette smoking. I was trying to quit, and I couldn’t. I didn’t even realize I was delivered until a couple weeks later when my sister said, ‘Hey, I noticed you’re not smoking.’ I’ve never touched another one since.”

Kozar had always been a voracious reader. “And if I didn’t like the way a story ended, I would just rewrite it,” she said. Her life experiences catapulted her interest in writing, and besides devotionals, she is the author of numerous cozy mysteries, romances, and other books. She wrote Gimme Some Sugar to encourage people and give them a few laughs.

“I think there’s a lot of fear these days. Fear about everything,” Kozar said. “And you know, I feel like we’re in the end times, and I have a lot of company believing that. We’re called to have faith over fear.

“When you have humor, it kind of disarms you and you’re more comfortable. I learned that from my father. He could walk into any room and crack a joke, and everybody would be his friend and hang on his every word. I think that’s a big part of it.”

Gimme Some Sugar: 90 Devotions to Sweeten Your Day in a Godly Way, in Kindle and imitation leather editions, 201 pages, is published by BroadStreet Publishing Group and available on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.