Book Review: Glamorous Illusions by Lisa T Bergren

About the Book: It was the summer of 1913, and Cora Kensington's life on the family farm has taken a dark turn. Not only are the crops failing, so is her father's health. Cora is carrying on, helping her mother run their Montana farm until a stranger comes to call, and everything changes. Cora then learns a secret that will radically change her future: she is the illegitimate daughter of a copper king who has come to claim her.

Cora is invited to take the "Grand Tour" of Europe, a journey intended to finish a person's education, to solidify an understanding of ancient culture and contemporary refinement. As she travels from England to France with half-siblings she's never known, Cora encounters the blessings of the Kensington family name, as well as the curses. But when an unbidden love begins to form, she realizes the journey is only beginning.

Faced with the challenge of accepting her father, new family, and the identity that comes with it, Cora also struggles to accept that she is also the daughter of the one true King-a Father who is the only One who can truly heal.

My Thoughts: I absolutely loved this book. Bergren's writing simply transports you back in time and you can just picture yourself there.

Something I particularly liked was how authentic Cora seems. Though I'm sure there's no "right" way to react to her situation, her reactions were completely believable, and in keeping with her character and the faith her parents instilled in her. I love how her faith is a natural part of her life and how integrated it was into the story without it being too much.

The only part that was disappointing was the fact that the book ended before the story did. Good thing there's a sequel. One I will definitely be reading.



Thank you to Litfuse Publicity for organizing this tour and providing me with my complimentary review copy.

Suffering - in vain, or for the gospel

A friend of a friend posted this on her blog and I had to share it with you.  This was written by Laura about 10 days ago - she's been battling breast cancer for the past 5 years, and very intensely over the last two months.  She wrote this as a letter to her children... (her youngest is 5)

Dear Will, Gracy and Caroline,

This is what I want you to know about suffering for the Gospel:

No one tells you that perhaps the hardest part of living is dying.  Since April 23, my body has continued to fail me.   I can no longer breathe on my own without the assistance of oxygen.  I can only walk short distances.  My back locks up sometimes.  I’m tired.  Things that used to be so simple seem quite difficult.  It breaks my heart to not be able to take care of my family or even myself.  Oh, how I would love to drive carpool one more time.  How I long to be able to sit with all of you at a restaurant and share a meal without coughing or being attached to an oxygen tank.  To just be able to take you to the pool for an afternoon and watch you swim would be delightful.  This is certainly the most difficult thing I’ve ever faced. 

Will, this morning I woke up to the sound of you crying as you were lying beside me in bed.  When I asked you what was wrong, in an attempt to protect me like you always do, you just said, “I had a bad dream.”  But I know you, and I knew what you were thinking.  Even though we haven’t talked about it, you see it.  You and Gracy can see what is happening before your very eyes.  By the grace of God, I think Caroline is still too young to understand. Watching me breaks your hearts, and that breaks my heart.  I simply held you and said, “It’s okay to cry.  I’ve cried.  Daddy has cried.  It’s very sad. But we’re not going to give up hope.  We’re going to keep asking for a miracle.”  Then you and I prayed together.  And then, you slept. 

Yes, my body is dying.  There is no hope in medicine.  There is no hope in anything, but a miracle.  But that is enough.  God is enough.  I will hope in Him.  My prayer is exactly the same as Christ’s was before He faced the cross.  “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”  As hard as it is for me to pray for God’s will to be done, because I really want to live, I dare not finish that prayer, because I believe that to ask for anything other than God’s will would be to ask for second best for all of us.  I love all of you too much to ever ask for God’s second best.  I don’t understand how me dying could be what’s best for all of us, but I trust if that is what God decides, then it is best.  That’s just part of walking by faith and not by sight.  Whatever the outcome, we will praise God for it knowing that it is His good and perfect will. 

Before I got really sick, I was asked to give a testimony at the Briarwood women’s summer drop-in study about suffering for the gospel.  After I got sick and realized I probably wouldn’t be able to deliver it myself, I decided to write it and have someone read it aloud.  Then I decided that the concept was so important, I wanted to include it in one of your letters. 

In 2 Timothy, Paul tells Timothy to “share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do.” (Chapter 1 verses 8-12).  Then in 2:3 Paul says, “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” 

The first question you might ask is, “Why?”  Why would a loving God even allow His precious children to suffer let alone ask them to suffer?  I mean, God can do anything.  Why can’t the Gospel be, “Come to Me and when you do I will give you health, wealth and happiness?”  That could be the gospel.  Some false teachers say that is the gospel.  Nothing could be further from the truth. There is a health, wealth and happiness element to the Christian walk, but it sure doesn’t happen this side of heaven. 

The problem is that we’re created with finite minds.  We are limited in our thinking because that’s how God created us.  None of us can really fathom eternity.  We can try.  We can get close, but we can’t really understand it. So here we are on earth with our finite minds trying to grasp a concept we can’t really understand and so we fail.  And when we fail, we begin to focus and concentrate on what we do know, on what we do understand – this life. And when we focus on this life in a vacuum, it makes all of our suffering, all of our pain, all of our problems seem so hurtful, so wrong, so abandoned by God.  When actually, suffering should be no surprise to us.  Not only does God tell us to expect suffering, He wants us to count it a privilege to suffer for Him.  Why?

Suffering adds to the Kingdom.  Nothing grabs someone’s attention like seeing someone suffer and living out the Christian life during it.  Let’s face it, you can sing the Hallelujah chorus when you just won the lottery, your first grandchild was just born on your birthday, or you just got a huge promotion, but who cares?  I’m not saying it’s not good to praise God for those things. Of course you should praise God for those things and rejoice in them.  But that doesn’t point people to the cross.  When you rejoice and praise Him in the good times, that is expected.  However, when you rejoice and praise God in the middle of the suffering, that points people to the cross.  The fact that our family has gone through five years of cancer and is now watching my body slowly fail and yet we still praise God and rejoice in His plan, that points people to the cross.  There’s no way we could ever do that.  There’s no way we would ever choose to do that.  When people see us do that, they know it’s nothing but the blood of Jesus.  Only the love of Jesus, only the faithfulness of the Father, could bind our hearts so closely to Him during these times.  That is why suffering for the Gospel is such a privilege – it gives us a chance to point people to Jesus.  And isn’t that what this life is all about?  We have all of eternity to live with Jesus in health, wealth and happiness.  But we only have a brief blip on the timeline of eternity to point people to Jesus.  And that’s the only chance we have of making any type of real impact during our lives – to point people to Jesus.

If God would have said, “Hey, Laura, want to have cancer for 5 years and let your sweet children watch your body fail and worry about losing their mother and there will be nothing you can say to comfort them because you, yourself, won’t know if I’m going to heal you or take you, but it will lead people to Me -- what do you say?”  I don’t know what I would have said.  I would like to think that I trusted God enough and have enough faith that I would have said, “Anything for you, Lord,” but I don’t know.  But God didn’t give me a choice. Likewise, in life, you won’t have a choice as to whether or not you suffer.  You have already been exposed to suffering through this journey.  We live in a broken and fallen world, and you will suffer.  The question is, will you suffer in vain or will you suffer for the gospel?  Choose to suffer for the gospel.  All that means is that whatever circumstances are brought into your life, you will choose to remember that God always loves you and God is always good.  If you can truly believe those things, then you will have the faith to walk securely in the middle of the darkness.  If you have the faith to keep walking, you will see Him along the journey and find places that are worthy of praise and thanksgiving.  When you find places along the journey that are worthy of praise and thanksgiving and share those moments, then you will point people to Jesus.  If you point people to Jesus, then you have suffered for the Gospel. 

God didn’t give me a choice on whether I would walk this walk, but He has given me the mercy, compassion and grace to walk this walk.  I have found it to be true that His mercies are new each morning.  His compassions are never failing.  His grace is truly sufficient.  Even this hard, broken path has been filled with countless blessings. There are many, many others that have suffered for the Gospel and never see the reward of that suffering until they get to heaven.  God has been gracious to allow me to see some of the good that has come from this suffering.  People have told me that they have come to know Christ because of my suffering, they they’ve deepened their faith because of my suffering, that their faith is greater because of my suffering. That they’ve decided to give their marriage another shot because of my suffering.  That is enough.  I hope that will be enough for you.  If God chooses to take me home, please know it was not in vain.  Please know that God allowed our family’s suffering to point people to Him.  I hope you will rejoice in that.  I’m so, so, so sorry for your suffering.  I don’t even have the words to adequately express how sorry I am.  But I pray that God’ glory will be greater than your pain.

I love you all so much.  Thank you for walking this path with me.  Thank you for loving me, supporting me, praying with me and for me, and being there for me every day.  You have no idea how much you have helped me.  I am forever grateful.

I love you!

Mama

Laura passed away yesterday evening.  Though we fully believe the verse that says "to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21), though we know that she is celebrating in the very presence of the God she loves, her gain is loss to her husband (Bill), children and friends. And though that loss is temporary, it is felt deeply.  Please pray for them all as they walk through this dark valley. Pray that they will not suffer in vain, but rather suffer for the gospel.

Book Review: Wish You Were Here by Beth K Vogt

About the Book: Allison Denman is supposed to get married in five days, but everything is all wrong. The huge wedding. The frothy dress. And the groom. Still, kissing the groom's brother in an unguarded moment is decidedly not the right thing to do. How could she have made such a mistake? It seems Allison's life is nothing but mistakes at this point. And pulling a "Runaway Bride" complete with stealing, er, borrowing her best friend's car doesn't seem to solve her problems. Can Allison find her way out of this mess? Maybe she just needs to stop orchestrating everything. Allison prefers being the one in control, and giving it up is not going to be easy. But to find her way again, she will have to believe that God has a plan for her and find the strength to let Him lead.

My Thoughts:  This is the author's debut novel and I'm already looking forward to her next work of fiction.  This was a fantastic and entertaining read - managing to deal with serious issues and still remain quite light at the same time.

I cringed at the thoughts and feelings she was having about her wedding and her groom and was reminded again how crucial the decision of who to marry is and how many times people make a huge mistake in that choice for a myriad of reasons, none of which are worth the heartache that is sure to follow.

The runaway bride might be a cliche but this book was anything but!  Delightful read.

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity for organizing this tour and providing me with my complimentary review copy.

Book Review: My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade

About the Book: Kate Donovan is burned out on work, worn down by her dating relationships, and in need of an adventure. When her grandmother asks her to accompany her to Redbud, Pennsylvania, to restore the grand old house she grew up in, Kate jumps at the chance.

Upon her arrival in Redbud, Kate meets Matt Jarreau, the man hired to renovate the house. Kate can't help being attracted to him, drawn by both his good looks and something else she can't quite put her finger on. He's clearly wounded--hiding from people, from God, and from his past. Yet Kate sets her stubborn heart on bringing him out of the dark and back into the light...whether he likes it or not.

When the stilted, uncomfortable interactions between Kate and Matt slowly shift into something more, is God finally answering the longing of her heart? Or will Kate be required to give up more than she ever dreamed?

My Thoughts:  I thoroughly enjoyed this book!  I was entertained from start to finish.  I was enthralled by all the characters, and it didn't hurt that Matt was an ex-NHL player as we are huge NHL fans in this house!

One of the hardest things in our walk with God is finding that line between waiting for the next step to revealed in faith, vs barging ahead assuming we know what God wants for us or on the other extreme, doing nothing without a hand writing on the wall what our next step is.  This book explored that in a very realistic way.  We also see that sometimes a choice can be wrong only because it's the wrong timing.  But God's timing is always perfect and trusting in that timing is a difficult choice, but something every Christian must do if they want to live their life to the fullest that God has planned for them.

Fantastic book, I highly recommend it!

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity for organizing this tour and providing me with my complimentary review copy.

Book Review: Forever Hilltop by Judy Baer

About the Book: The charming and often hilarious Forever Hilltop series follows the experiences of former city dweller Alex Armstrong as he settles into his new role as pastor of a Scandinavian community in rural North Dakota. Alex is sometimes baffled by his parishioners and their colorful ways, but he comes to appreciate their simple wisdom. One thing's for sure -- life in Hilltop Township is never dull! This new two-in-one format features An Unlikely Blessing along with its sequel, Surprising Grace.

In An Unlikely Blessing, Alex Armstrong is a former city dweller who has just accepted his first parish assignment to a small community in the wilds of North Dakota. In Hilltop Township, Pastor Alex becomes familiar with the residents and their odd traditions, from julebukking to King Oscar's fish balls. And then there's the excitement the single pastor creates among the unmarried women in the community! Alex soon discovers that his new church home has as much to teach him as he has to teach them.

In Surprising Grace, Alex Armstrong is settling into his new role as pastor of Hilltop Church, and he's even starting to understand the strange ways of the people who populate this barren stretch of North Dakota prairie. But he also finds that his flock needs help and counsel like he never imagined. In this cozy and entertaining read, Alex must choose between the woman he once loved -- and the home he's come to love.


My Thoughts:  I have to admit that this book did not fully capture my attention.  It definitely took me awhile to get into it at all, I think because there were so many characters to keep track of.  I also sometimes found Alex's thought process to be somewhat off for some reason, I'm not even sure exactly what it was.

And yet, on the other hand, I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of the rural countryside and small town lifestyle - both of which I'm very familiar with.  There were definitely some quirky and endearing characters and by the second book I was definitely more drawn into the storyline.  I just didn't like the fact that it took that long for me to get into it.

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity for organizing this tour and providing me with my complimentary review copy.

Disney Trip 2012 - Days 1-3

Saturday, April 21 - flying day
We decided that we would meet Shaun & Linsay at Mom & Dad's house at 8:30am Saturday morning.  Dad came with us in our van, while Mom went in Shaun &Linsay's vehicle and off we went to the airport.  After dropping us off, Shaun drove our van home for us and Linsay drove their vehicle.  Saved us a bundle on leaving our vehicles at the airport for 2 weeks!

We left on a Delta flight at 11:35am.  Our flight left on time and arrived in Minneapolis shortly before 1pm.  We were supposed to take a connecting flight to Detroit, leaving at 3:30pm and arriving at 6:16pm with a quick layover before our final flight at 7:35pm set to arrive in Orlando at 10:13pm.  We decided that we'd check if there happened to be a direct flight from Minneapolis to Orlando that we could switch to instead.

We found some very friendly gate agents who checked and found room on a direct flight that was set to leave at 5:35pm with arrival in Orlando at 9:45pm.  It would only save us 30 mins, but it would also save us the hassle of another connecting flight - especially with 4 kids!  The only snag was that only 6 of the needed 8 tickets were in coach, 2 of them were in first class.  The gate agent was training a new agent and was willing to change the coach tickets for free, waiving the usual $50 fee for training purposes, but would have to charge $100 per ticket for the first class tickets.  We decided it was worth it.  We figured if we had known ahead of time that we would have an option for a one stop connection with these times, for $25/ticket more, we would've done it.  So we went ahead and made the switch.  Then we headed to Chili's for lunch.  After that we wandered the airport a bit, let the kids play at a play place, picked up some ice cream, looked at a bookstore and then headed to our gate.  The original, friendly gate agent had said that when they assigned the seats, they may upgrade us all to first class for free - so we were really hoping for that!  But when we got to our departure gate, that agent wasn't quite as friendly so we weren't overly hopeful.  Sure enough, they left us in coach and originally we were seated in 3 different rows, 2 seats in each row with 1 stranger beside us.  But when we boarded I asked 2 of the strangers if they would mind switching so we could sit with our kids and they more than happily agreed - I think they were together so it actually worked out better for them too!  The flight ended up being delayed by almost an hour and we left Minneapolis at 6:25pm and arrived in Orlando around 10:30pm.  We had to pick up our luggage at our original flight carousel but it all worked out!

We had found a great deal on a van rental for $429 (for 2 weeks!) with Alamo.  That was only guaranteed to seat 7 of the 8 of us, but previously they had always let us pick virtually any vehicle (including SUV's) so we were hoping it would work out like that again this time, if not we'd either pay for an upgrade to a larger vehicle or Nathan's parents would rent their own vehicle.  When we got there, they let us know they had an 8 seater van that we could use which was actually perfect - less gas than an SUV and smaller for parking.  we squeezed all our luggage in and headed to our house rental at 7708 Comrow Street, Kissimmee, FL with Romancing the Mouse, the same rental company we used on our previous 2 trips, and the exact same 5 bedroom/5 bathroom house we stayed at the first time.  After a late lunch at the Minneapolis airport, we had only eaten snacks on the plane (except for Nathan's parents who had meals offered to them in first class!), we were a bit hungry.  Thankfully the home owners had left muffins and juice for us so we all had a quick snack and unpacked.  It was almost 1:30am (12:30 our time) by the time we got to bed!

Sunday, April 22nd

Today we slept in a bit (around 8:45) and went for breakfast at IHOP.  Then we all walked to the castle playground in our Windsor Hills community to let the kids play a bit - we ended up taking the scenic route on the way there as we couldn't quite remember where it was (we went 4 yrs ago, but not 2yr ago so it had been awhile!), and it rained just a little on our walk back.  Then the kids, Mom and I went swimming while Nathan and Dad went to the grocery store and, after dropping off some groceries for our lunch, to Target to pick up stuff to stock the house.  We had a light lunch of sandwiches and fruit followed by more swimming.  Emma & Sophia's flip flops were bothering both of them so we decided we needed to get them better sandals before heading to the Disney parks the next day.  So, we headed to Prime Outlets (Sophia, Olivia and Jacob all fell asleep on the way) and found Emma a pair of sandals at UnderArmour.  We went to Red Brick Pizza Oven for supper at the outlets (it's kind of a cross between fast food and a restaurant.  It's a large restaurant, but it's counter order and then they deliver it to you when it's done.  They made a mistake on our order (1 large pepperoni, 1 large half meat lovers, half hawaiian, but they forgot the pineapple on the hawaiian) so they brought us an extra medium size hawaiian pizza - good thing cause it wouldn't have been enough otherwise!  We found Sophia some sporty and very comfortable flip flops at New Balance and got Emma some new dressy sandals.  Nathan and Dad had taken Jacob and Olivia with them (Olivia got a sucker as a "consolation gift" for not getting to go with the ladies), while Mom and I took Emma and Sophia.  As soon as we found all our shoe purchases we headed back to the house so the kids could get a decent night's sleep before our first Disney day tomorrow.

Monday, April 23rd

Today Mom and Dad stayed back at the house while we went to Epcot, chosen based on the crowd level predictions from Touring Plans (highly recommended resource!).  We had a bit of a slower start in the morning then planned, but we managed to arrive at Epcot just after the 9am opening time.  We first stopped in a gift shop to pick up their autograph books and headed over to the Epcot Character Spot for the character meet n greets.  Nathan left to ge fast passes for Soarin' and made it back just as we made it to the front of the line.  We saw Mickey, Pluto, Minnie, Donald Duck and Goofy at the Character Spot.

Then we headed to The Land where we rode Living with the Land (it's an educational boat ride describing innovative faming techniques.  It seems a bit boring and something kids wouldn't like, but for some reasons our kids really liked it - Olivia rode is last time and it was one of her favourites).  Then we saw The Circle of Life - it's a combination of the Disney cartoon characters Simba, Timone and Pumba and a documentary about taking care of the environment - yup, Epcot is educational!  Then we waited about 10 minutes for our Soarin' fast pass return time to arrive and road that.  Jacob was a little bit scared on this one - but it's definitely one of the favourites for the girls.

It was about 11:15pm by this time and we decided to start heading around the worlds looking for princesses.  Canada is the first land (going counter-clockwise) and we walked around there a bit.  Next we hit the United Kingdom and took pictures at a red phone booth.  We happened upon Marie (the cat from Aristocats) and just missed Belle (in her street clothes) in France as she went on her break.  The girls wanted to wait for her so we walked around France a bit, and then let the kids play at a playground nearby.  We then spotted Aladdin in Morocco so went to meet him, then back to meet Belle and then back to United Kingdom to meet Sleeping Beauty.

We decided to head back and ride Spaceship Earth on our way out of the park.  Spaceship Earth is a slow moving ride that takes you through a history of the world and our advancements in technology and includes an interactive portion where you input where you're from and answer a few questions which personalizes the ending of the screenshow on your individual car.

After leaving the park we picked up from Chick Fil A and then swam in the afternoon.  Our van key was missing a key fob with keyless entry so Nathan tried phoning Alamo to see if we could get one.  They said we'd have to trade vans but we could do that at a location nearby.  So Nathan, Dad and Jacob went to trade it in at a nearby Alamo.  When they got there they said they had nothing left but that the one at Disney World always had lots and to go there.  When Nathan got there he asked if they had the Sienna vans and they said they did.  But they insisted that he fill up gas first even though we had prepaid that originally.  So he went to a gas station and went through the rigamarole of going in to prepay, filling up and returning to the car rental agency.  At which point they said they didn't have any Siennas.  Even though they had just said they did.  Ugh, so frustrating.  An hour's waste of time.

So, they came back and joined us for more afternoon swim and sun.  Then we all got ready to go out but before we left we surprised the girls with American Girl dolls!  We had originally assumed we'd be driving to Minneapolis and flying from there (like our previous 2 trips), but flight prices changed and we flew from Winnipeg instead.  We had originally planned to go to the American Girl store in the Mall of America and let the girls pick out a doll, but obviously, that would no longer work.  The girls were disappointed but I got them to show me which dolls they would order if we just ordered them from home sometime, and then I ordered them, delivered to the house in Florida for a surprise.  They were thrilled!

We went to Carrabbas for dinner, at the suggestion of Lorne and Arla from church and it was fabulous!  Then we did some shopping at Target and came home to get to bed before our day at Magic Kingdom tomorrow.



Stay tuned for "the rest of the story".

Book Review: Baroness by Susan May Warren

About the Book: Lily and Rose, daughters of an empire coming of age in the roaring twenties, can have anything they want ... except freedom.

Expected to marry well and to take the reins of the empire, they have their lives planned out for them. But, Lily, Esme's daughter longs to return home to Montana, to adventure outside the confines of New York City. And Jinx's daughter Rosie dreams of the bright lights of the newly emerging silver screen. But following their dreams - from avant garde France, to Broadway, to the skies in the world of barnstormers and wing-walkers will take all their courage.

And if they find love, will they choose freedom or happily ever after?

My Thoughts:  After reviewing Heiress last fall, I was thrilled to have the chance to review this second book in the Daughters of Fortune Series by one of my favourite authors.


This was another dramatic work of historical fiction - a whirlwind story of two very different girls and their life journeys.  I like that the book took place over a large time span to really give you an idea of their unfolding stories and what brought them to each turning point in their lives, how their past affected their choices and how their present choices affected their future in ways they couldn't imagine.  A great reminder to us that even seemingly insignificant choices can have huge consequences.


As always, Warren is a fantastic storyteller and you are truly swept into the drama of all the characters in the story as you're transported back in time to the roaring twenties. 


Definitely looking forward to the third book in this series and sure hope I have a chance to review that one as well!  




Thank you to Litfuse Publicity for organizing this tour and providing me with my complimentary review copy. 

Re-examining Psalm 23's "green pastures" and "still waters"

I've been listening to and learning some amazing things from Ray Vander Laan and his Follow the Rabbi lectures (though Focus on the Family).

I remembered learning about the actual meaning of "green pastures" from the famous Psalm 23, and since that's the psalm we're memorizing now at my scripture memory blog, His Word in My Heart, I was reminded of it again and needed to share it with you.  In fact, I googled it and found this great video that explains it - and the video imagery makes the point even more than words ever could.

The green meadows were actually rocky hills, and with the very small amount of moisture available in the area, small tufts of grass grow by these small rocks, and the Shepherd leads His sheep to those tufts of grass, and every day the sheep eat them, and there is just enough for what they need for that day.

In other words - God gives us what we need for the day, or even for the moment, when we need it.  This verse is not promising us a happy-go-lucky life with no problems along the way.  No, it's promising us that God will provide what we need when we need it, and not before - if we follow Him!  The grass is sparse and we can't find it on our own.   But we can trust Him, because He was faithful yesterday and the day before that and He will continue to be faithful today and every day.

Anyway, here's the video.....



And the still waters?

In the deserts, wadis can quickly kill. In fact, in that part of the world, more people die in the desert from floods than from starvation or dehydration. When it rains in the hills, water rushes through the wadis, creating flash floods that can’t be seen or heard until it’s too late to escape.

Sheep without a shepherd go to the wadis to find fresh water and have no hope of escaping the floods. It’s the shepherd’s job to find “still water,” that is, water that doesn’t risk death.

Again, it's not referring to a beautiful placid river running through lush meadows that you lounge beside.  It's about God leading you to water that refreshes and does not lead to death.

For more about the Shepherd - click here.

 

Book Review: By the Light of the Silvery Moon by Tricia Goyer

About the Book: Amelia Gladstone's hopes are tied up in the Titanic--hopes for a reunion with her sister and an introduction to an admirer. But when she offers a spare ticket to a down-and-out young man, her fate is about to change.

Quentin Walpole is stunned when a sweet lady secures his passage to America--and even more surprised to find his wealthy father and older brother on board the ship. Suddenly Amelia finds herself caught between the attentions of two men, but who should she entrust her heart to? As the fateful night arrives, will Amelia lose everything to the icy waters?

My Thoughts: I've always been fascinated by the Titanic, I loved the blockbuster movie (and am going to see it again now that's out for the 100 yr anniversary), and we love cruising - so when I  heard that Tricia Goyer was writing a work of fiction that takes place on the Titanic - I jumped on board immediately! :)

I was not disappointed.

Goyer does an excellent job describing the ship and what it was like, without it feeling like boring commentary, but being detailed enough that you can almost see yourself on board this ill-fated vessel. And yet, despite the opulence and wonder of the ship, it was simply the background to a fantastic story.  I found myself reading faster and faster, knowing (obviously) about the ships impending demise, and anxiously wanting to find out what happens to the characters in the book.

A variation of the prodigal son parable, the storyline deals with family estrangements, misplaced guilt, loyalty, discernment and wise life choices, forgiveness and second chances, and, of course, love.

Two thumbs up from me!


Thank you to Stephanie and Amy from Litfuse Publicity for organizing this tour and providing me with my complimentary review copy.

Scripture Memory - easier than you think

Memorizing the Bible just might be the most "misunderstood" way of growing closer to God through His Word.

I always thought memorizing took too much time and was too difficult.  Until I read some articles by Janet Hope on Revive our Hearts, and then her book, "His Word in my Heart".  I highly encourage you to read the articles, you will be inspired!

Anyway, what I loved most was the fact that she acknowledged that we simply just don't have any more time in our days.  (That could actually be an arguable point - we have time for the things we want to make time for - the amount of time we spend online or watching TV are great examples of the fact that we DO have time.  But I digress).  In depth Bible study, and even short devotions, do take time, and sometimes it seems too overwhelming and so we don't even bother doing anything.

Janet's point is that we spend a lot of time during our day on mindless tasks.  Tasks that keep our hands busy but our minds otherwise unoccupied.  Perfect opportunities to redeem the time!

What better way to do so than by memorizing scripture?

while in the shower
while blow drying our hair
while brushing our teeth
while making breakfast or school lunches
while doing dishes
while waiting at the dr office
while driving or running errands
while cleaning or folding laundry
the options are almost endless!

It doesn't take more time, it redeems the time otherwise spent on mindless tasks.  What a fabulous idea!  And totally practical, feasible, realistic and doable.

Anyone can do it.  You don't have to have a good memory (I don't!).  Do you know the words to your national anthem?  Why?  Because you repeated it over and over and over again until it was in your long term memory.  After learning a passage of scripture, you will review once a week, so it becomes ingrained in your long term memory - and you will never lose it.

And the benefits of scripture memory are incredible!


Charles Swindoll: I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding, practically speaking, than memorizing Scripture. That's right. No other single discipline is more useful and rewarding than this. No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! Your prayer life will be strengthened. Your witnessing will be sharper and much more effective. Your counseling will be in demand. Your attitudes and outlook will begin to change. Your mind will become alert and observant. Your confidence and assurance will be enhanced. Your faith will be solidified.

LeRoy Eims on the importance of Scripture memory: "I think two of the master strokes of the devil have been to convince people he doesn't exist, and that Scripture memory is only for children. He remembers the humility of defeat when Jesus Christ, who was tempted in all points like as we are, met him with the Word of God." (What Every Christian Should Know About Growing; p. 26-27)

Still need more motivation?  See what John Piper and Tim Challies have to say about the benefits of scripture memory.

I was convinced.

I definitely wanted to do this but wanted some accountability, so I created a facebook group and a blog dedicated to scripture memory.  I started this journey in the middle of January and so far, using Janet's "method", I've memorized Psalm 1 and the entire book of Titus. (That sounds a bit more impressive than it actually is - it's only 3 chapters, or 46 verses).  Now we're going to start memorizing a few psalms - smaller projects that are a great starting point for anyone wanting to try it out.

Today we start with (the first verse of) Psalm 121, a very familiar and beautiful psalm.

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

If you want to join me, check out my blog, His Word in My Heart (especially this post that explains the "method"), and type your email address in to receive all the blog posts with the day's verse.

Here are the links to the articles I read (you can listen to them or read them, whichever you prefer)
How Busy People can Memorize Scripture
You can Memorize More than You Think
You Need Hunger

Some quotes from Janet's book.....

No, the Bible does not command us to memorize Scripture. But here are some of the commands and exhortations we do find:
Know God’s Word.
Remember His Word.
Do not forget His commandment.
Have His Word ready on our lips.
Meditate on His law day and night.
Dwell on Christ’s words.
Store up His words.
Keep God’s Word within our hearts.

For me, memorizing Scripture is just a vehicle for accomplishing those objectives.

Janet encourages memorizing passages, chapters or even entire books of the Bible, instead of just "random" verses.  One benefit is less references to remember!!  Another is how important it is to memorize verses in the context in which they were written.  Here's another point Janet had about this....

The focus was definitely on me. I’m not saying we shouldn’t memorize these verses, but if we will memorize them in their context, we will keep the focus on God and greatly enhance our learning in the process. God put His thoughts and His words in a particular order within each book, and this is how God intended for us to learn them.


One last encouragement from the book.....

When we get into God’s Word, it becomes our pipeline to God’s way of thinking and doing things. As I stay in God’s Word, abiding in God’s Word, drinking in God’s Word, letting it go deep, it will do its work in me, the work it was sent to do. It will accomplish God’s desire and achieve His purpose, which is to cause growth in me by bringing my thoughts and my ways into alignment with His. Memorizing Scripture is never unproductive time.

God bless you as you take this journey with me!