Redeeming Love

I have a confession to make.  Right here, right now.  

I consider myself to be a reader.  I read a lot of books.  But here it is...I've never read anything by Francine Rivers before.  Yes, it's true.  After reading "Redeeming Love" I'm pretty well kicking myself for not having the pleasure of enjoying her work for the past twenty years or so.  

This novel captured me within two pages.  Carrying it with me on a plane trip, several people commented to me, "That's a good one.  You'll love it!"  And they were each absolutely correct. Taking the story from the book of Hosea and placing it in the Gold Rush era sounded a bit cheesy.  But it worked beautifully!  

If you've ever felt unworthy, wondered why God permitted your birth, if there's an ounce of redemption possible for you ~ this book should be in your reading basket.  The only drawback or possible negative thought I had was that the closure happened too quickly.  The story ended.  I wanted to keep reading about Sarah and Michael.  I wanted to follow the other characters through to their new lives, as well.  Perhaps there's a sequel.  I certainly hope so.

You can check out Chapter One here: Read Chapter One  

"I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review."  I give it a two thumbs up!

Greater by Steven Furtick

 

Preview Video with Steven Furtick

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this quick read by Stephen Furtick.  His writing style keeps the reader’s attention with simple wording; yet very profound truths are shared throughout the book.  The story of Elisha is woven throughout the book and relayed for any reader’s benefit in a beautiful manner. 

Pursuing a “Greater” life rather than settling for a mundane existence is a choice we can all make.  However, Mr. Furtick gives wonderful examples of ways in which God can use our time in such existences for a greater future.

There is no better time than today to start seeking God’s Greater for your life.  The practical applications presented in this book will help you in your search.

 I received a free copy of this book to read and review by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, for my honest unbiased opinion.  If I didn’t like it, I would tell you!

Deadline by Randy Alcorn

 



I have to confess.  Starting this book, I wasn’t at all sure I could make it to Chapter 2.  It seemed wordy; the pages were very full with hardly any space outside the margins.  I found it to be slow and thought the author was giving me far too much information on each of the central characters.  However ~

I’m extremely glad I stuck with it.  I can liken it to taking the car up the ramp to Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Once it started moving, it was a ride with every bit of excitement.  The plot was phenomenal, the characters completely needed the depth that they had been given. 

Randy Alcorn’s work was completely new to me, although I was aware of his writing on heaven.  I encourage you to visit his site here http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?work=1663 and get to know his work.  You will not regret it.

“Deadline” was a long read for me, and I highly recommend it.  Many moral debates are included and are handled with the utmost grace, tact and courtesy.  "I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review."

Regardless

Can you see it?

Can you?

What in the world kind of a crazy photo is this, anyway??  I took this a while back from my kitchen window.  Or maybe it was the sitting room, not sure.  Regardless, there is a huge owl right smack in the middle of the picture.  Do you see it now??

This morning I gathered up my Bible (I'm trying out the Bible-in-90-days and after three months or so, I'm into Deuteronomy.)  my coffee, Max and the phone just in case it might ring.  The sun was ever so beautiful after a most gloomy day yesterday.  Of course, just after I'd gotten the chair just right, convinced Max to curl up in the lounge chair and opened up to read about poor Moses' 2nd attempt at meeting God on the mountain~ the sun went behind a large cloud.  Of course.

Is there a point to all this rambling?  I certainly hope so. 

Mr. Owl was in the tree all along.  The sun is still there, even when it disappears behind a cloud.  No matter what I, or you, may be feeling today, God's love, faithfulness, kindness, goodness, mercy and peace are all still here.  They - He never disappears.  Mr. Owl may leave our yard.  The sun may be covered by clouds.  I may lose hope.  But Hope is always present.  Always.

And thankfully, God keeps His Word.

Courage, Friends.  Courage.

Wednesdays

What is it about the average Wednesday? There's a tendency to get lots of laundry done hoping you won't need to do any more until the next Monday, but that rarely works out. If you shampoo your hair, you might not need to do it again until Saturday, but who can seriously wait that long. If you had Taco Tuesdays, well, what will it be for dinner. How can you possibly top Taco Tuesday?

And for those of us who put in a 40 hour work week, well Wednesdays are full of glimmers of hope that the weekend is just aroung the corner. You've made it through Monday, Tuesday was a breeze and now it's time to watch the clock each afternoon dreaming of the family fun ahead.

Growing up there was Youth Group on Wednesday night. That was awesome. You got to see all your friends who attended other schools. You didn't have to hang with the weird friends you saw every day. (I say that because all my friends were weird. But very, very awesome!) And if we were lucky, Youth Group was over early enough to go for a burger afterwards even on a school night.

But now, Wednesdays are just Wednesdays.

I can't wait for heaven. None of this will matter. We can hang with all of our favorite people; keep meeting new friends forever, and work on whatever projects are the absolute best ones around. But seriously. I do hope we still get the occasional Taco Tuesday now and again...

A Wreath of Snow

A Christmas Novella, this book was a delightful treat, even though I began reading it on a dark January day. Set in Victorian Scotland, it's a beautiful trip across time and the pond to immerse the reader in another era.

This is an easy read compared to the average work by Liz Curtis Higgs. Not to imply that any of her work is average, by any measure. She has a way of captivating an audience quite quickly and keeping them spellbound until the final page is closed.

With a beautiful setting, this book raises a question. When we have hurt someone, either intentionally or not, what is our moral obligation to make amends and ask for forgiveness? If "making it right" will cause more pain for those involved, how do we go about the process of doing this?

This book would be a great gift for friends and family who may not be Christ-followers but are interested in knowing more about the love, grace and mercy of Christ. At just about 200 pages, it is an easy read, but each page is packed with beauty.



I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

The Girl in the Glass

A delightful read over the holidays ~ I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Susan Meissner. Set in San Diego and Florence with a storyline that combines the two locations beautifully, I highly recommend this work to you. It's a love story with many branches. Fully expecting a surprise ending, I was taken by an entirely different sort of closure than I imagined.

If you've ever felt like you simply didn't fit in to your place, time or world, you will completely relate to the heroine and perhaps a few other of the characters. Mrs. Meissner has woven a beautiful tale of love together for the pages of this novel. It is a refreshingly honest look at relationships in our modern day, as well as contemplating some issues that have been faced for many centuries, and will be faced for many years to come.

Good Tidings

It's been a good week here in Sunny so far. On Monday I had breakfast with a friend named Patti. Yesterday, I had lunch with a friend named Patti. I may need to form some sort of club as I realized I have quite a few Patti's in my life. That's a good thing, as they are all wonderful women.

The traffic has been horrid here since we've had a smidgen of rain. Southern California does not handle rain well. We go a bit loopy. And it's so stinkin' cold! Down in the 60's no less...

O such trivial matters... This past week has been so heartbreaking with the tragedy in Connecticut. First being spellbound to watch the news, now it's almost unbearable. Knowing children died was hard enough ~ but seeing their faces and hearing their names is sadness beyond belief.

Our prayers have been and will be with all the families affected for many months to come. Their pain is unimaginable. Their grief will follow different paths and eventually they will work through it. But that is not the same as getting over it. How does a parent ever get over losing a child? Or realize it was your cousin or brother who was responsible for all the devastating horror?

In the midst of it all we have Christmas. God with Us. The Prince of Peace.

No Whining Zone

If you've eaten at this restaurant, you'll recognize it immediately.  If not, well, I'm not going to get caught up in the whole advertising-on-a-blog debate...

I'm here with my cousin Bob and my very good friend, Claudia.  We've each had some fairly rough years recently.  But in the midst of it ~ look at those smiles!  Just look!  Some seasons of our lives are like that.  "Like what?" you may be asking.  Times when you're just not sure if getting out of bed is worth it.  If making dinner matters.  If wearing clean clothes is a good idea, because you can save time & effort on laundry if you wear those jeans just one more day.

Life has its ebbs & flows.  (The only person I knew who ever used the phrase "ebbs & flows" now resides in heaven.)  Good seasons come and bad seasons follow.  But regardless, God is with us.  There's never a better time to remember that than during Christmastime.

Long ago, God came to Earth in human form.  Mary wore pale blue.  The angels sang and the cows moo'd.  And then far too few years passed, and the Baby was hung on a tree.  Not a beautiful Christmas tree with garland, lights and ornaments. It was a rough, dirty, scandalous tree.  And on our worst days, in our worst seasons, during our worst times, none of us can imagine what it was like.  The pain, the agony, the horror.  All to give us a future and a Hope.

And because Christ came, because He loved, because He Is ~ We can make it.

~



Angels on the Tree

An amazing lady came over to see me yesterday to check in and enjoy a cup of coffee.  She's been there for me - for years.  And now I want to be there for her.  Her son is facing a rough battle, but we're confident he'll make it.  That's probably enough said at this time.  Will try to keep you up-to-date as he walks through it all...

Regardless ~ we were discussing angels and worship and music and dance... O it was such a wonderful afternoon!  Then we began looking at my Christmas tree.  I realized that above all, angels are the most common type of ornament on the tree.  I wonder why that is?  Is it like that in your home? 

Music is and always has been a huge part of my life.  You'd think I'd have a lot of instruments, treble clefs or singing elves.  They're there, of course, but not like the angels.  There are short ones, fat ones, skinny, heralding, ceramic, glass, tin, homemade, Precious Moments, cheap-o from the drug store ones.  All helping to announce the birth of Christ.  Just think.  That's right.  A lot like us.  We come in all sizes, colors, types, varieties and such ~ but to Baby Jesus, we were all the reason for his journey.

That's kind of hard to wrap my head around.  Some days (and today might be one of those days)  I can't imagine being worth much of anything to anyone, especially Baby Jesus.  But I am.  And. So. Are. You.  Imagine. 

You are loved.

Merry Christmas!