He lived in an alcohol-induced haze, riddled with guilt for the dreadful things he had done to his family and his role in his wife’s untimely death. Estranged from his children and penniless, he was in and out of jail and hopping freight trains for transportation.

Realizing he needed a drastic change, Jacob embarked on a journey to find his children and seek their forgiveness. After meeting a pastor, Jacob became a Salvation Army bell ringer. While ringing his bell one snowy day, he met a girl who, through a series of strange coincidences, led him to his children and facilitated Jacob’s forgiveness just in time for Christmas.

Author John Snyder sets his story in Chicago and Baltimore in 1944, with flashbacks to the 1920s. John is an EnergyUnited member and lives in Mocksville.

Hardcover, $18.19; audio, $16.41; e-book, $2.99.