The widow of Saunders Creek

Corrie Saunders had grown up having all the world could offer and married the man of her dreams, Jerrod Saunders. She always dreamed of becoming an artist but laid that dream aside to marry. Jerrod was always a bit impulsive and proved he was such the way he died in Iraq, hailed as a hero. For months after Jerrod's death, Corrie lives with her mother in Dallas then decides to move to Missouri to the old home place Jerrod inherited from his grandmother. Jerrod's cousin, Eli, is hired to fix up the old place. When Corrie arrives, she experiences some strange things around the house. The small town is deep into mystic, including Jerrod's aging aunt who assures Corrie that Jerrod hasn't truly left her. Eli, a strong believer in Christ, realizes that in order to save Corrie from falling into trap of believing in such thing, the battle for the Truth has just begun. If I need to sum up my initial thoughts on this book, I might have to say "strange". While I am fully aware that spiritual warfare exists and that mountain people may have some odd ways of thinking, I must say that I have never met anyone like Jerrod's extended family and people of Saunders Creek believing in ghosts and haunted houses. Even Eli, who is the strongest Christian in the book says in his mind that there is no evidence from the Bible or from reality.....Isn't the Bible and reality the same thing? Since those wonderings occur on page 15, it left me wondering about the theology of the whole story. Overall, I did enjoy watching the friendship develop between Corrie and Eli but all the supernatural thinking sort of got in my way. This probably won't be a title I will add to our church library. I did receive this advanced copy free from the publisher, Waterbrook Press.

Feeling like an outsider

Author Ken Gire, like all of us at times throughout our lives, has spent much of his life feeling like an outsider. Why? He isn't quite certain but he did grab my attention when he mentioned that he thought part of the issue might be that he was a redhead and wore glasses. For those of you who are not a redhead, that blessing isn't perceived as such until much later in life. And being a child with glasses, well that can really make you stand out so having both those characteristics is a recipe for insecurity. Anyway, I have long wondered if I were the only one with those feelings of being on the outside looking in. Why do we tend to feel that way? We are flawed and don't feel worthy of love and belonging. However, we all long for a place to belong, where we fit in and are valued. Well, the wonderful news is that God wants us and He will go to whatever measure necessary to get us to turn our hearts toward Him. Need a still small voice? He can be the gentle breeze. Need to be shaken? He can be the roaring lion. Regardless, God is persistent and patient. Just as in Jesus' parable of the one lost sheep, the Shepherd will leave the safely kept 99 to find and bring into safety the one that is lost. If 99% of your life you have given to God, he loves you enough to pursue the 1% you haven't turned over to Him. Perhaps you don't find that comforting but I certainly do! So what happens after you turn to God? Does He cease to pursue? Not at all! His purpose for pursuit is just different but His pursuit has actually just begun. He works in our lives in ways we often can't see to help us become the person He created us to be and making us more like Christ. Using examples from his life as well lives of several well known Christians such as CS Lewis and Francis Thompson, Gire demonstrates how God loves us too much to allow us to be on the outside looking in. He is gentle and loving in His pursuit but He doesn't give up. Each relatively short chapter is followed by several discussion questions perfect for personal reflection or small group discussion. This is my first read by author Ken Gire but I don't plan for it to be my last. He was able to uncover for me why I have those feelings of being on the outside looking in but he didn't stop there. Through his examples and testimony, he helped me discover how much I am loved by my heavenly Father. I did receive this book free from Bethany House Publishers and was not required to leave a positive review.

Through Rushing Water

Sophia Makinoff has the perfect teaching job and dreams to match.  She is certain to become the wife of Congressman Montgomery.  Her world crashes around her when the Congressman proposes—to her roommate.  Unable to bear what she knows will be (the pity of her acquaintances and Annabelle’s prattling about the wedding she thought would be hers), Sophia signs up with the Foreign Mission Board to be a missionary to China.  In order to escape, she takes the first available position and begins her journey to teach in the Dakota Territory—not exactly China!  Her charge is to teach and bring Christianity to the Ponca Indians and others are already in place to “Americanize” the Indians and make them into farmers.  When she arrives at her destination, there was no one to greet her and the landscape showed little but a few run-down buildings and sparse vegetable gardens.  How soon could a replacement be found?  Sophia isn’t certain this is the place for her.  Is there anything that might keep her here?

But the Ponca Indian children and their families begin to pull at her heartstrings.  Their need for the basic necessities of clothing and food is so great and the government doesn’t deliver anything they promised.  Combine the children with the local Agency carpenter, Will, and perhaps Sophia can stick around and pour her life into making a difference here.  Will teaches her to “ignore the rushing water” that could completely suck her in because there are so many needs and simply focus on the issues that she can change and improve.  Could there be a lesson in that for me?  I think so!

Author Catherine Richmond does an excellent job capturing the time period and forms a story not so familiar in the bookstores and to readers.  Having read several novels set in the same era, most that I have read are more the mail order bride, searching for riches kind of story.  Not so with Through Rushing Water.  Sophia was a well developed character you can’t help but love.  Through all her experiences, her faith becomes more than head knowledge and memorizing prayers.  Just as God uses the circumstances in our lives to draw us to Him,  Sophia’s position and the people she has been placed with are used to make her more into the person God created her to be.  I also had never had such a clear picture of how the Indians were treated when white European descendants began moving into their homeland. Your heart will be moved to compassion if not anger for the way they were cheated and ignored.  I look forward to reading other books by Ms. Richmond.

I did receive this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for an honest review.  I was not obligated in any way to leave a positive review.

Cleaning House--getting rid of the Me generation

As parents, we long for our children to be the best they can be but are we hindering them from becoming that by doing things for them and giving things to them constantly?  Why do we try so hard to make their lives easy?  How can they grow up to be strong adults if we are consistently treating them like children rather than helping them find the strengths God has gifted them with to use serving the world which includes their very own family? Our role as parents is to teach, not to do for.  If we don't change our ways as parents, giving our children more responsibilities, not rescuing them every time things don't go exactly as hoped, allowing them to determine our family schedules, and manipulating circumstances to insure our children's success just to name a few, we are simply raising a generation who wishes to be served rather than serve nor ever reaches their full potential.  Who is at fault?  In the instance of my own children, I am! 

I don't know about you, but I want my children to be productive, responsible citizens with a strong work ethic and think of others first rather than thinking the world revolves around them.  I hope I have been successful but only time will truly tell.  Kay Wills Wyma in Cleaning House:  A Mom's 12-month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement offers good, practical suggestions to help me (and you if your goals are similar) accomplish my goal.  There were no earth-shattering WOW kind of suggestions.  Just good practical tips and reminders. Mrs. Wyma decided there were twelve essential skills her children needed before leaving home, and she was determined they would have those skills by introducing a new task each month that would help them reach their full potential. While she doesn't consider her job complete after the 12 months passed, she feels that her "experiment" was well worth her time and gained her far more than her children simply knowing how to cook and clean, run errands, get a job,  complete odd jobs around the house, and host a party.  The book isn't at all about her children learning to do things for themselves so that she didn't have to.  She desires to prepare them for adulthood and the real world.  The added benefits of having a more close knit family, confidence, creativity.... perhaps even outweigh the essential skills.  To read the first few pages, see
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307730670/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img#reader_B007WKFM7C.
I thoroughly enjoyed Mrs. Wyma's book.  Her humor and wit are evident and makes it an easy and fun read.  I do wish I had the opportunity to employ some of her ideas years ago but perhaps it isn't too late.  After all, my kids are home for the summer!  We might just have to complete the crash course and introduce one task a week!

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

The Fiddler

Amelia Devries wishes so much to please her father who had an early ending to his career when he was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's disease.  He wants only what he feels is the best for her and pushes her to be the best violinist she can be.  Amish born Michael Hostetler feels the same pressure from his family.  They too want what is best for him and, for him, that means joining the Amish church.   Both are struggling for answers regarding what is truly the path they need to take rather than the path others think they need to take.   As a pleaser myself, I found it very easy to relate to both characters.

When a flat tire on a mountain road throws the unlikely pair together, they find a very comfortable friendship.  Even though raised worlds apart, there is an ease in their conversation and perhaps the opportunity to help each other find who God made them to be.

I have been reading Beverly Lewis books for almost twenty years and none of them have failed to leave me with a sense of  "all is right with the world".  While some readers may find that a bit frustrating to have a simple story without a long rise in action, I don't mind it at all.  Life is full of conflict and stress and so, when I read, I prefer something that doesn't make me tense but has a sweet interesting story as presented here.

For over ten years, Ms. Lewis has authored books based around the Pennsylvania Amish.  Having visited there, I could almost see some of her fictional characters working in the shops and restaurants we visited.  Nothing in my visit surprised me because Ms. Lewis has done an amazing job of painting an accurate picture of the Amish lifestyle.  The Fiddler is no exception.  While this book does appear to begin a new series, this story is completed in The Fiddler which I love.  I rarely enjoy reading a series that leaves the reader hanging to see what happens to the  main characters, sometimes having to wait more than a year before the next volume in published.  I suspect that Amelia and Michael may appear in future Home to Hickory Hollow stories but only as minor characters.

I did receive this book free from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review and was not require to leave a positive review. 

The Girl's Still Got It

Well, the first question has to be, what is "it"? "It", as defined by author Liz Curtis Higgs, is value, significance, worth. Not only does she claim Ruth still has "it" but so do I and every woman. God formed us, picked us up when needed, carries us when necessary, and loves us unconditionally and knows every detail of this story we refer to as life. He finds us worthy. Why do we, as women, find that so difficult to accept? So, what does God intend for us to learn from Ruth's life? Higgs claims that through studying about Ruth and the other everyday people in scripture, we can learn of God's character--steadfast, compassionate , patient, faithful, and merciful. Walking the reader through the book or Ruth (a short book of only four chapters), Higgs reveals to the reader all of God's traits listed above and then some. Ruth certainly didn't live an easy life so perhaps she really isn't so different from you and me. God simply chose her and included her by name in Scripture to demonstrate His character. Just like Ruth, we are "never alone and have Someone powerful in charge and looking out for us". I am typically not a big fan of non-fiction but I am a big fan of fellow Louisvillian, Liz Curtis Higgs so my love of her previous fiction pieces led me to order this book. Was it what I expected? No! This book reads so much like a work of fiction that it is hard to put down and grabs you as early as the introduction. It is almost as if written like a conversation, as if Mrs. Higgs was sitting here in my family room talking to me. Or perhaps it is Ruth and Naomi that are the ones that seem as if they have been brought to life in a way I've never seen them before. Higgs has such a sense of humor which is seen throughout her writings on Ruth. I guarantee you won't be able to read this book, even the first chapter without at least a chuckle. Included in the book are discussion questions if you are part of a book club, a chapter by chapter study guide sufficient for a 12 week book study, and suggestions for further reading. I will be recommending this book to my book club and also think it an excellent book for a more in-depth Bible study group whether it be a Sunday School class or a multi-age group of women getting together for a book study. Perfect for adult women of all ages. To read the intro, go to http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product_slideshow?sku=564484&actual_sku=564484&use_onix=1. I did receive this book free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review and was, in no way, obligated to leave a positive review.

The Messenger

Hannah Sunderland was raised a Quaker in Philadelphia.   Quakers are peacemakers and, therefore, don't believe in war or conflict.   She and most of her family were quite content to remain neutral even though most around them were taking sides as a Patriot or Loyalist, even her own twin brother when he chose to side with the Patriots.  When a British officer makes the Sunderland home his headquarters in 1778, the officer forces them to move into a relative's home because of his unacceptable behavior.  When Hannah's twin, Robert, is thrown into prison, she can no longer sit idly by and do nothing.  She will stop at almost nothing to save her brother from the fate of death that surely awaits him if he remains in General Howe's prison.  The circumstances Hannah finds herself in during these days of British occupation cause her to question everything she has known as "truth".  

Jeremiah Jones, a Colonial spy, wounded war veteran, and local tavernkeeper, has a plan but he can do nothing without access to the same prison Hannah's brother is in.  He needs a messenger.  Jeremiah is able to convince Hannah that she can aide her brother and help him pass information into the prison. What Jeremiah isn't prepared for is Hannah's level of moral truth and honor toward her parents and her faith.

Jeremiah and Hannah make an unlikely pair.  Hannah's Quaker faith is ingrained in her and Jeremiah has long ago surpassed his need for God. However, they find in each other just what the other needs.

Ms. Mitchell has tackled a time period where very few historical novels have been written. I chose this book for this very reason.  Colonial history is fascinating and yet I find few fictional books written around the time period.  The Messenger opens from Hannah's point of view and Jeremiah's point of view follows in the next chapter.  The entire book is written in the manner and makes the transition from the two perspectives wonderfully woven together.

I must admit, that at first, I found the book a bit difficult to get into.  I reread the first two chapters a couple of times because I would read them and not be grabbed by the storyline and put it down only to pick it up weeks later to reread.  However, once I got past the first couple of chapters, the characters of Hannah and Jeremiah begin to endear themselves to me and I didn't want to put the book down.  As Jeremiah struggles with the man he has become and grieves the man he once was, you can't help but love him and feel for him as his insecurities surface.  Hannah, longing to be the faithful and dutiful daughter, struggles with her choices and decisions.  Her feelings, both loathing and kind toward Jeremiah, make her a woman you want to keep reading about.  Watching their friendship and attraction toward one another slowly unfold was beautiful.  I loved the fact that it was gradual and not another love at first sight kind of relationship and that both of them made the other a better person.  Isn't that what love is about?

I did receive this book free from the publisher and was, in no way, obligated to leave a positive review.  If given the opportunity.  I would love to read another of Siri Mitchell's books.