Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Beautiful Biblically based love story

Judah's Wife #2   -     By: Angela Hunt

Leah has lived her life with an abusive father and a mother who will not stand up to him.  When Leah's father decides it is time for her to marry, Leah prays that God will answer her prayer to allow her husband to be the Levite, Judah, the young man and the only man who had ever defended her.  God answered her prayer as Judah was quite suitable in her father's eyes, not for Leah's benefit but his own.

One might think this marriage Leah prayed for would lead to a "happily ever after" ending but the nation of Judah is under attack by their very king and the sons of Abraham are threatened if they do not turn from their God.  Resisting, Judah's father and others are prepared to lose their lives for their faith.

Written in first person, the chapters toggle between the perspective of both Leah and her husband Judah.  Judah's Wife is a beautiful story of love, redemption, and courage. Angela Hunt never disappoints and this book is no exception.  The novel was easy to read, flowed smoothly, and was one I hesitated to put down.   While this book is published as part of a series entitled The Silent Years: A Novel of the Maccabees, I had no difficulty picking up and reading this novel without having read any others in the series.  There were no holes in the storyline so I am uncertain if it is particular characters or simply the time period that binds them together.  Whichever the case, I can highly recommend Judah's Wife if you enjoy historical fiction based on Biblical characters as much as I do.  As with any Biblical fiction, just remember that this is an author's interpretation and not The Word itself.

I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and am in no way obligated to leave a positive one.

Loire Valley love story

The Lost Castle   -     By: Kristy Cambron

The Lost Castle opens with Ellie Carver in the Loire Valley of France searching for answers.  Throughout the novel, the chapters change time periods ranging from the French Revolution in the late 18th century to World War II to current day, primarily with the Loire Valley as the setting.  All three time periods are separate stories tied together through a now crumbling castle.

The 18th c. character, Aveline Saint-Moreau is slated to become the wife of Philippe and mistress of several estates. However, she secretly wishes she could escape the life she is expected to live.  With a soft heart, she can't ignore the revolution in her beloved France and feels for its people, torn between them and her very life.

Ellie's grandmother, Viola, finds herself in the very same area during WWII as a fugitive.  Her time there changes her life.  As Alzheimer's strips her of who she is, she is able to share with Ellie of her experiences, driving Ellie to a quest of her own.

This is my first Kristy Cambron novel and I enjoyed it, particularly the 18th c portion because of my love of 18th c. history, but I found I needed to devote a bit more attention to the reading than many other authors.  The language stumbled me a bit.  It isn't that I am an ignorant person, but I have students who tend to use flowery language to impress and I felt that way at times when reading The Lost Castle.  I also had some difficulty with background knowledge.  Cambron does a nice job with filling the reader in on important history but I would have liked to have more in by toolkit.  While the story does switch regularly between time periods, Cambron does a nice job of helping the reader understand which storyline she is in.

Initially, I chose this book simply for its setting, the Loire Valley.  It will forever be one of the favorite places my family has ever visited.  Thank you, Kristy Cambron, for selecting this setting for your first installment in your split-time romance series.  This book also comes with discussion questions for personal reflection or book club use.

I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and am in no way obligated to write a positive one. 

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Perfect book for third child

God Bless My Family  -     By: Hannah Hall
    Illustrated By: Steve Whitlow

Families are one of God's most precious gifts and Hannah Hall has provided a new board book to introduce that concept at a very early age.  From brothers and sisters to grandparents to  aunts and uncles and cousins, each are mentioned in this short easy to read book for young children.

Anyone who follows my blog knows I love board books because of their durability and the fact that little hands can turn the pages without threat of being damaged.  This softly padded book is no exception.

Steve Whitlow, as illustrator, used precious little puppies as the characters.  While the looks of each set of puppies changes with the turning of each page, I still think this book perfect for a third child, particularly one that has an older brother and sister since both are mentioned in the story and this will allow the child to related a bit better. 

I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and was in no way obligated to write a positive one.  Great value and a fun way to talk about how each family member is related and how precious they are to one "big heart".

Saturday, January 13, 2018

Praying for your adult children

Product Details

As Christian parents, we strive to do everything in our power to ensure our children are "trained up in the way they should go" and that, when they leave our care, are making Godly choices but they are each beings of free will and from Adam's seed so they are going to mess us....just like we did.  When my children were young, I thought parenting was hard and it was.  What I never dreamed of was how difficult parenting an adult child would be.  As I have gotten older, God has given me the wisdom and strength to relinquish the control to Him as He has pointed out how very little control I do have over my children.  So, how am I to accomplish that surrender and peace that God's got this?  Only through prayer.

Jodie Berndt in Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children: Trusting God with the Ones You Love, has written an excellent resource in helping those of us with adult children know how to pray for them.  She has broken down the book into sixteen different eras of adulthood including relationships, health, career, temptation, and home just to name a few. 

Since much of mine and my husband's prayer life is focusing on careers right now, both ours and our children's, that particular chapter caught my attention and will be the basis for my examples.  Berndt fills the chapters with real life examples, several of which are just how I have reacted and really doesn't bring out the best in me so the book was easy for me to relate to.  Each chapter contains several prayer principles such as "We can make all the plans we want--and so can our kids--but God is the one who directs our paths", all wonderful and pertinent reminders of who God is and to wait on His timing and will for our lives.  She also includes specific scripture that will guide our prayers as well as prayers that we can pray for ourselves and our children, straight out of scripture.  Wow! 

The book is much easier to read than to put into practice.  It won't solve all your worrying issues over your children but if you follow Berndt's suggestions, it will put your focus on the One who loves your children more than you do and has a brilliant plan for him/her.  I strongly recommend it for any parent of adult children as a resource to keep with your Bible and use daily in your prayer time.

I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and am in no way obligated to write a positive one.

Saturday, January 6, 2018

Created to worship

We were made/created to worship.  Period.  "That's why you and I are going to spend our lives declaring the worth of something." There is a hole in us that we seek to fill in a number of ways but there is only One way.  Through Christ.  Take a moment to look around you or think of those in your daily contact group.  Each and every one of us, as humans, spend our days worshiping what we love.  Whatever you love, you WILL worship.

In The Air I Breathe: Worship As A Way of Life, Giglio reminds us that God reveals himself to us each and every minute of the day if we will only observe.  The maker of the universe is right beside you and me, every moment of every day.  He made creation to be enjoyed but not worshipped.  He gave you the ability to do your job and do it well, but not to worship.  Your family, financial resources, health, etc. are all gifts from above but are not meant to  be elevated to the highest place in our hearts.  Many worldly things are going to battle for your heart.  Determine today to allow God to win that battle.

I originally chose this book for my son who has attended several Passion conferences and has loved listening to Louie Giglio.  What I found in this book were pointed reminders for myself that weren't all new but a wake-up call about how I am spending my time and resources.  The book was easy to read and digest (can be done in a few hours but wouldn't recommend doing so in order to give you time to ponder Giglio's words) and gave me a goal for the new year to allow worship to be my day, not simply a part of my week.  As I read, I could almost picture myself standing before God as he asked me questions about all the times I was distracted in my life and my worship proved what was most important to me and I simply lowered my head in shame.

Is what you are worshipping and declaring to be of greatest value going to be worthy in the long run?  "Don't waste your worship on a little god."

I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and am in no way obligated to write a positive one. While not typically a non-fiction reader, this is a book I can recommend without reservation.

The Air I Breathe: Worship as a Way of Life

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Probing

Probing #3

Probing is the third in the series of books written by friends, Bill Myers, Frank Peretti, Angela Hunt, and Alton Gansky.  For me the word third presented a bit of a problem in reading this volume as this is the first in the series I have read and I felt like I was missing a lot of background information.  However, I will attempt to write the review without dwelling on that fact.

Honestly, I chose this book simply because I loved the series Peretti wrote in the 80's or 90's on the supernatural even though it is definitely not my typical go-to genre.  I was unfamiliar with two of the other author but Peretti had impressed me enough as a young adult that I wanted to give this series a try.

Each of the four authors write a novella with the same main characters who have unique supernatural gifts that, when put together, creates this novel.  Myers writes about a new reality TV show that deals with how the world shapes our morality and how much darkness there is in the world.  Peretti continues to deal with hidden evil.  Neither of these stories captured my attention and I felt both jumped around a bit causing me to go back and see if I had missed  a page.

I think the way the characters interact and use their gifts are a good reminder that we all have gifts God has given us to use for His glory and for good.  I can't locate on the book anywhere if there are plans for another installment but this one left me with several questions so perhaps it is simply leaving the door open for that possibility.  While not a big fan of fantasy or sci fi, I can recommend this book to those who are simply because of my experience with the authors prior to this book.  While not in my taste, it would appeal to those who do enjoy that type of reading but I would definitely recommend starting with the first one rather than picking up "cycle three" as I did.

I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and was in no way obligated to write a positive one.