Word Sabbath- Mia's 8th Birthday Party

The Broken Token

It has been an incredibly hectic week. Mia had her birthday party today (she turns eight on Monday), and Jesse came home after two weeks away yesterday. I wanted the house to be perfect for both him and the party, so between working on that, work, shopping, and taking care of other tasks, I've been running steady for four days.    It was kind of funny. The last of the kids were gone by 4:10. Jesse took Doogie and Brian to Shawano to pick up a few things, and Mia was quietly playing with her new gifts. And it suddenly hit me: a bad cold. It must be because I finally had more than five minutes to sit down and rest, but now I'm running a low fever with a terrible head cold. I'm so glad that it waited until AFTER everyone was gone, lol, but I could have done without it at all. Hopefully I'll be better by Monday because life is about to get very crazy busy again. I don't have time to be sick!

The Broken Token by Chris Nickson is the first book in a new historical mystery series starring Richard Nottingham, the sheriff of Leeds, England in 1731. Nottingham is awakened early one morning by the discovery of a pair of murder victims who have been posed rather shockingly. One is an itinerant pastor who had been stirring up controversy with his preaching. The other just happens to be Nottingham's former serving girl, Pamela, who had turned to prostitution after the death of her husband. Pamela had been like a member of the family, and Nottingham had given her necklace, half a token on a blue ribbon, that is missing from her body. Just when he thinks that he has figured the murderer's identity out, another pair of bodies shows up, and the new mayor starts pressing Nottingham for immediate results, especially with a cutpurse in town who is quite successful, but Nottingham has troubles at home as well when his younger daughter decides to seek her independence at the most terrible of times. Nickson has written a thoroughly compelling and engrossing historical mystery that depicts a hardscrabble existence in a gritty town. Nottingham is not a romantic hero, he isn't addicted to opiates or in love with a married woman, nor does he have a tragic past in the military like other English historicals, but he is a solid family man, devoted to his wife and children, trying to make the best life for him that he can while negotiating the tricky waters of politics and keeping his city safe. Nickson brings him to fully-fleshed life. Some secondary characters like his deputy John Sedgwick, villain Amos, and the young boy he hires promise to keep future books in the series interesting. I think this historical has somehow missed the radar of readers, but hopefully readers will discover it soon and decide, like I did, that they can't wait to visit Nottingham and Leeds again soon.

Rhythm of Secrets

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Rhythm of Secrets Kregel Publications (December 22, 2010) by Patti Lacy





ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Patti Lacy, Baylor graduate, taught community college humanities until God called her to span seas and secrets in her novels, An Irishwoman's Tale and What the Bayou Saw. She has two grown children and a dog named Laura. She and her husband can be seen jog-walking the streets of Normal, Illinois, an amazing place to live for a woman born in a car. For more information, visit Patti's website at www.pattilacy.com, her blog at www.pattilacy.com/blog, and her Facebook daily Artbites.







ABOUT THE BOOK

Sheila Franklin has masqueraded as the precocious daughter of avant-garde parents in colorful 1940s New Orleans, a teen desperate for love and acceptance, and an unwed mother sent North with her shame.



After marrying Edward, Sheila artfully masks her secrets, allowing Edward to gain prominence as a conservative pastor. When one phone call from a disillusioned Vietnam veteran destroys her cover, Sheila faces an impossible choice: save her son and his beloved…or imperil Edward’s ambitions.



Inspired by a true story, The Rhythm of Secrets intermingles jazz, classical, and sacred music in a symphony trumpeting God’s grace.



Endorsements:

“A vibrant journey across time in search of the greatest truth of all: grace.”—Tosca Lee, author of Havah: The Story of Eve and Demon: A Memoir

“No longer a ‘well-kept secret,’ Patti Lacy is a master storyteller who speaks to the soul with a powerful and unique rhythm, weaving a tale so emotionally rich that story and reader become one.”—Julie Lessman, author of The Daughters of Boston series and A Hope Undaunted

“Patti Lacy pens another beautifully written story in The Rhythm of Secrets. I couldn’t put it down!”—Melanie Dobson, award-winning author of The Black Cloister

“The Rhythm of Secrets is a stirring story of faith and endurance that will keep readers turning the page until every last secret is revealed.”—Tina Ann Forkner, author of Ruby Among Us and Rose House



If you would like to read an excerpt of Rhythm of Secrets, go HERE.

The Rhythm of Secrets of Patti Lacy is a poignant look at how racism and prejudice can affect a life. Sheila Franklin’s life is shattered when she receives a phone call from the son, Samuel,  she gave up as an infant twenty –two years ago.  Now the wife of a prominent pastor, she has much to lose from the secrets Samuel’s appearance will bring to light. But her son has an reason for approaching Sheila now, one that could destroy them both, and who they love, forever. Lacy has earned a reputation as a powerful historical novelist unafraid to deal with the brutality of racism with her novel, What the Bayou Saw. In Rhythm, she tells the tragic story of a woman held down by prejudice. From her life as Sheba in New Orleans, to Sheila Alexander as a teenager attending a private school, to Sylvia who faces the worst humanity has to offer because of a single mistake, to Sheila Franklin, the composed and perfect wife of Edward,  Lacy portrays her as sympathetic, yet haunted by her misunderstanding of the nature of God. The story is compelling, yet difficult to read, because Lacy forces readers to see the real face of prejudice. Whenever it appears, she writes it without whitewash, even when it is incredibly ugly. Lacy creates an ongoing theme of music throughout the story that carries Sheila through even the worst of times and ultimately helps her to find the God she so desperately needs. The ending is almost too pat, but the last fifty pages are incredibly tense and action packed. Lacy will deservedly expand her audience with this novel.

The Athena Project

I came within 100 yards of President Obama today, not that I actually saw him, but it was still pretty cool. Doogie and I were on our way to pick up his friend, Brian, when the President's motorcade drove by on the road just below us. A little while later, we saw Airforce One flying over our heads. That's probably the closest I will ever get to a President!

The Athena Project by Brad Thor is a follow-up to his novel Foreign Influence which introduced readers to the women of the Athena Project. Four women: Gretchen Casey, Julie Ericsson, Meghan Rhodes, and Alex Cooper have been carefully chosen by the government to do jobs that most men could not. Each has specialized abilities, but all are strikingly beautiful, because their beauty is part of their formidable weaponry. When the women are ordered to capture an arms dealer in Venice, the case takes them into strange territory as forces from around the world fight to control a secret power once utilized by the Nazis and beyond most people's imagination. The women will be forced to work together as never before to stop the bad guys from using a monstrous device that would change the world. Thor's writing is action packed and highly suspenseful. Much of the book is building the plot and getting readers caught up on the past, but the book really takes off when Thor allows the women to take charge. Their banter elevates the book above standard American espionage/thriller/military fare. And the women are more than just the sex objects most authors relegate them to. Each woman has a unique personality and voice, and that should carry The Athena Project through several more books with these fascinating characters.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for providing me with a copy of this book for review!

Made to Crave

Today I am at the library to post. God bless free Wi-fi! Yesterday it took several tries, along with several restarts of my computer, modem, and router to get my blog posted. Today I can't stay online for more than 5 minutes, so I guess my modem really and truly is dead.

I'm in the process of planning Mia's birthday party for Saturday afternoon. She'll be eight, and we plan on having eight children (counting her) over for the party. Between Jesse coming home on Friday, getting the house ready for the party, an important conference at work on Thursday, and normal other drama, I was starting to completely breakdown under the stress of it all. I felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things I needed to do in four days. I am very grateful for good family. Doogie is going to help me get the house ready, and my mom volunteered to make the cupcakes for the party. Two huge burdens taken from my shoulders. I know it's a lesson from God. I often try to do everything myself and then panic when I realize all that I've undertaken, but when I delegate I'm far more successful. Successful on His terms, not mine. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what that means, but today's lesson helps me get a little bit better idea of what it looks like.

Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeurst is an inspiring devotional for women trying to end their addiction to food. Terkeurst realized that she was really putting on too much weight and that she was using food for all of the wrong reasons; it was a comfort and reward, instead of simply fuel for life. She's tried other weight loss plans in the past, but ultimately, they have all failed, so she was determined to find a plan that would work for life, a way of truly changing the way she viewed food permanently. Terkeurst focuses in on how women tend to use food for all sorts of emotional reasons when we should be turning to God. When we are depressed or stressed, instead of turning to our Comforter and Refuge, we grab chocolate and salty snacks. Terkeurst made it her goal to turn to God for those emotional needs and finally fulfill the true craving that she was trying to fill with food. She isn't alone in this battle. Many Christian women are struggling with this exact problem, and Terkeurst's book is a unique and important way to truly change our relationship with food. She doesn't pretend that this will be easy, in fact she confesses to breaking down in tears on multiple occasions about trying stop the habit, but the end result is a woman who is feeling truly good about herself and closer to her Lord. That's a goal we can all aspire to, and Terkeust puts the tools in this book. The journey will be a hard one, but she's provided the tools and support to help readers out.

Thank you to LitFuse Publicity for providing me with a copy of this book for review!

Jesus in the Present Tense

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Warren Wiersbe

and the book:

Jesus in the Present Tense: The I AM Statements of Christ

David C. Cook (January 1, 2011)

***Special thanks to Karen Davis, Assistant Media Specialist, The B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Dr. Warren Wiersbe is an internationally known Bible teacher and the former pastor of The Moody Church in Chicago. For ten years he was associated with the Back to the Bible radio broadcast, first as Bible teacher and then as general director. Dr. Wiersbe has written more than 160 books, including the popular “Be” series of Bible commentaries, which has sold more than four million copies. He and his wife, Betty, live in Lincoln, NE.

SHORT BOOK DISCRIPTION:

As Warren Wiersbe writes, “My past may discourage me and my future may frighten me, but ‘the life I now live’ today can be enriching and encouraging because ‘Christ lives in me.’” In Jesus in the Present Tense, Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe explores the “I AM” statements of God—from His burning bush conversation with Moses, to His powerful reassurances to the Israelites, to Jesus’ startling claim to be the Light of the World. Jesus in the Present Tense offers a fresh exploration of God—the I AM.

God doesn’t want us to ignore the past, but the past should be a rudder to guide us and not an anchor to hold us back. Nor does He want us to neglect planning for the future, so long as we say, “If it is the Lord’s will” (James 4:13-17). The better we understand our Lord’s I AM statements, and by faith apply them, the more our strength will equal our days (Deut. 33:25), and we will “run and not grow weary [and]…walk and not be faint” (Isa. 40:31). We will abide in Christ and bear fruit for His glory today—now.

Product Details:

List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: David C. Cook (January 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0781404878
ISBN-13: 978-0781404877

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Moses Asks a Question

Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

—Exodus 3:13



When Helen Keller was nineteen months old, she contracted an illness that left her blind and deaf for life. It was not until she was ten years old that she began to have meaningful communication with those around her. It occurred when her gifted teacher Anne Sullivan taught her to say “water” as Anne spelled “water” on the palm of her hand. From that pivotal experience, Helen Keller entered the wonderful world of words and names, and it transformed her life. Once Helen was accustomed to this new system of communication with others, her parents arranged for her to receive religious instruction from the eminent Boston clergyman Phillips Brooks. One day during her lesson, Helen said these remarkable words to Brooks: “I knew about God before you told me, only I didn’t know His name.”1



The Greek philosophers wrestled with the problem of knowing and naming God. “But the father and maker of all this universe is past finding out,” Plato wrote in his Timaeus dialogue, “and if we found him, to tell of him to all men would be impossible.” He said that God was “a geometrician,” and Aristotle called God “The Prime Mover.” No wonder the apostle Paul found an altar in Athens dedicated to “The Unknown God” (see Acts 17:22–23). The Greek philosophers of his day were “without hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). But thinkers in recent centuries haven’t fared much better. The German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Hegel called God “the Absolute,” and Herbert Spencer named Him “the Unknowable.” Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychiatry, wrote in chapter 4 of his book Totem and Taboo (1913), “The personalized God is psychologically nothing other than a magnified father.” God is a father figure but not a personal heavenly Father. British biologist Julian Huxley wrote in chapter 3 of his book Religion without Revelation (1957), “Operationally, God is beginning to resemble not a ruler but the last fading smile of a cosmic Cheshire cat.” The fantasies described in Alice in Wonderland were more real to Huxley than was God Almighty!



But God wants us to know Him, because knowing God is the most important thing in life!



Salvation

To begin with, knowing God personally is the only way we sinners can be saved. Jesus said, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). After healing a blind beggar, Jesus later searched for him and found him in the temple, and the following conversation took place: “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” asked Jesus. The man said, “Who is he, sir? Tell me so that I may believe in him.”



Jesus replied, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you” (John 9:35–38). The man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he fell on his knees before Jesus. Not only was the beggar given physical sight, but his spiritual eyes were also opened (Eph. 1:18) and he received eternal life. His first response was to worship Jesus publicly where everybody could see him.



This introduces a second reason why we must know who God is and what His name is: We were created to worship and glorify Him. After all, only little joy or encouragement can come from worshipping an “unknown God.” We were created in God’s image that we might have fellowship with Him now and “enjoy Him forever,” as the catechism says. Millions of people attend religious services faithfully each week and participate in the prescribed liturgy, but not all of them enjoy personal fellowship with God. Unlike that beggar, they have never submitted to Jesus and said, “Lord, I believe.” To them, God is a distant stranger, not a loving Father. Their religious lives are a routine, not a living reality.



But there is a third reason for knowing God. Because we possess eternal life and practice biblical worship, we can experience the blessing of a transformed life. After describing the folly of idol worship, the psalmist added, “Those who make them [idols] will be like them, and so will all who trust in them” (see Ps. 115:1–8). We become like the gods that we worship! Worshipping a god we don’t know is the equivalent of worshipping an idol, and we can have idols in our minds and imaginations as well as on our shelves.



Our heavenly Father’s loving purpose for His children is that they might be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29). “And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man [Adam], so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man [Jesus]” (1 Cor. 15:49). However, we should not wait until we see Jesus for this transformation to begin, because God’s Holy Spirit can start changing us today. As we pray, meditate on the Word of God, experience suffering and joy, and as we witness, worship, fellowship with God’s people, and serve the Lord with our spiritual gifts, the Spirit quietly works within us and transforms us to become more like our Lord Jesus Christ.



The conclusion is obvious: The better we know the Lord, the more we will love Him, and the more we love Him, the more we will worship and obey Him. As a result, we will become more like Him and experience what the apostle Peter called growing “in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). Paul took an incident out of the life of Moses (Ex. 34:29–35) and described it this way: “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18). Moses didn’t realize that his face was radiant, but others saw it! He was being transformed.



God commands us to know Him and worship Him because He wants to give us the joyful privilege of serving and glorifying Him. Commanding us to worship isn’t God’s way of going on a heavenly ego trip, because we can supply God with nothing. “If I were hungry,” says the Lord, “I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it” (Ps. 50:12). He commands worship because we need to worship Him! To humble ourselves before Him, to show reverence and gratitude, and to praise Him in the Spirit are essential to balanced growth in a normal Christian life. Heaven is a place of worship (Rev. 4—5), and we ought to begin to worship Him correctly right now. But unless we are growing in our knowledge of God and in our experience of His incredible grace, our worship and service will amount to very little.



Salvation, worship, personal transformation and loving service are all part of living in the present tense and depending on our Lord and Savior. “And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).



Preparation

Moses spent forty years in Egypt “being educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians” (Acts 7:22). Then he fled for his life to Midian, where he spent the next forty years serving as a shepherd. Imagine a brilliant PhD earning a living by taking care of dumb animals! But the Lord had to humble Moses before He could exalt him and make him the deliverer of Israel. Like the church today, the nation of Israel was only a flock of sheep (Ps. 77:20; 78:52; Acts 20:28), and what the nation needed was a loving shepherd who followed the Lord and cared for His people. The Lord spent eighty years preparing Moses for forty years of faithful service. God isn’t in a hurry.



The call of Moses started with the curiosity of Moses. He saw a bush that was burning but not burning up, and he paused to investigate. “Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect,” said British essayist Samuel Johnson, and Moses certainly qualified. He saw something he couldn’t explain and discovered that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was dwelling in that burning bush (Deut. 33:16). The Lord God had come to visit him.



What did that remarkable burning bush signify to Moses, and what does it signify to us? For one thing, it revealed the holiness of God; because throughout Scripture, fire is associated with the dynamic holy character of the Lord. Isaiah called God “the consuming fire” and the “everlasting burning” (Isa. 33:14; see also Heb. 12:29). Note that Moses saw this burning bush on Mount Horeb, which is Mount Sinai (Ex. 3:1); and when God gave Moses the law on Sinai, the mountain burned with fire (Ex. 24:15–18; Acts 7:30–34). How should we respond to the holy character of God? By humbling ourselves and obeying what He commands. (See Isa. 6.) Theodore Epp wrote, “Moses was soon to discover that the essential qualifications for serving God are unshod feet and a hidden face.”2 How different a description from that of “celebrities” today, who wear expensive clothes and make sure their names and faces are kept before their adoring public. God wasn’t impressed with Moses’ Egyptian learning, for “the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight” (1 Cor. 3:19). God’s command to us is, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:6). When the prodigal son repented and came to his father, the father put shoes on his feet (Luke 15:22); but spiritually speaking, when believers humbly surrender to the Lord, they must remove their sandals and become bondservants of Jesus Christ.



The burning bush also reveals the grace of God, for the Lord had come down to announce the good news of Israel’s salvation. He knew Moses’ name and spoke to him personally (Ex. 3:4; John 10:3). He assured Moses that He saw the misery of the Jewish people in Egypt and heard their cries of pain and their prayers for help. “I am concerned about their suffering,” He said. “So I have come down to rescue them” (Ex. 3:7–8). The Lord remembered and honored His covenant promises with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the time had come to deliver His people.



It was by grace that God chose Moses to be His servant. The Lord wasn’t disturbed by Moses’ past failures in Egypt, including the fact that even his own people had rejected his leadership (Ex. 2:11–15). Moses was now an old man who had been away from Egypt for forty years, but this didn’t hinder God from using him effectively. The Lord knows how to use the weak, foolish, and despised things of the world to humiliate the wise and the strong and ultimately to defeat the mighty (1 Cor. 1:26–31). God would receive great glory as Moses magnified His name in Egypt.



Identification

If Moses was going to accomplish anything in Egypt, he needed to know the name of the Lord, because the Israelites would surely ask, “Who gave you the authority to tell us and Pharaoh what to do?” God’s reply to Moses’ question was, “I AM WHO I AM.” Moses told the Israelites, “I AM has sent me to you” (Ex. 3:14). The name I AM comes from the Hebrew word YHWH. To pronounce this holy name, the Jews used the vowels from the name Adonai (Lord) and turned YHWH into Yahweh (LORD in our English translations). The name conveys the concept of absolute being, the One who is and whose dynamic presence works on our behalf. It conveys the meanings of “I am who and what I am, and I do not change. I am here with you and for you.”



The name Yahweh (Jehovah, LORD) was known in the time of Seth (Gen. 4:26), Abraham (14:22; 15:1), Isaac (25:21–22), and Jacob (28:13; 49:18). However, the fullness of its meaning had not yet been revealed. The Law of Moses warned the Jews, “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name” (Ex. 20:7; see also Deut. 28:58). Their fear of divine judgment caused the Jewish people to avoid using the holy name Yahweh and to substitute Adonai (Lord) instead.



In nine places in the Old Testament, the Lord “filled out” or “completed” the name I AM to reveal more fully His divine nature and His gracious ministry to His people.



• Yahweh-Jireh: The LORD will provide or see to it (Gen. 22:14)

• Yahweh-Rophe: The LORD who heals (Ex. 15:26)

• Yahweh-Nissi: The LORD our banner (Ex. 17:15)

• Yahweh-M’Kaddesh: The LORD who sanctifies (Lev. 20:8)

• Yahweh-Shalom: The LORD our peace (Judg. 6:24)

• Yahweh-Rohi: The LORD my shepherd (Ps. 23:1)

• Yahweh-Sabaoth: The LORD of hosts (Ps. 46:7)

• Yahweh-Tsidkenu: The LORD our righteousness (Jer. 23:6)

• Yahweh-Shammah: The LORD is there (Ezek. 48:35)



Of course, all of these names refer to our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Because He is Yahweh-Jireh, He can supply all our needs and we need not worry (Matt. 6:25–34; Phil. 4:19). As Yahweh-Rophe, He is able to heal us; and as Yahweh-Nissi, He will help us fight our battles and defeat our enemies. We belong to Yahweh-M’Kaddesh because He has set us apart for Himself (1 Cor. 6:11); and Yahweh-Shalom gives us peace in the midst of the storms of life (Isa. 26:3; Phil. 4:9). All the promises of God find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 1:20). Yahweh-Rohi takes us to Psalm 23 and John 10, encouraging us to follow the Shepherd. The armies of heaven and earth are under the command of Yahweh-Sabaoth, and we need not panic (Josh. 5:13–15; Rev. 19:11–21). Because we have trusted Yahweh-Tsidkenu, we have His very righteousness put to our account (2 Cor. 5:21), and our sins and iniquities are remembered no more (Heb. 10:17). Jesus is Yahweh-Shammah, “God with us” (Matt. 1:23), and He will be with us always, even to the very end of the age (Matt. 28:20). “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” is still His guarantee (Heb. 13:5). In His incarnation, Jesus came down to earth, not as a burning bush but as “a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground” (Isa. 53:1–2; see also Phil. 2:5–11). He became a human, a man, for us (John 1:14); He became obedient unto death for us and became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus became a curse for us and on the cross bore the curse of the law for us who have broken God’s law (Gal. 3:13–14). And one day “we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2)!

What is God’s name? His name is I AM—and that is also the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord!

Jesus in the Present Tense by Warren W. Wiersbe is an insightful look at the I Am statements from the Bible from one of the best theologians of our time. Wiersbe wants readers to stop living in the past or worrying about the future by focusing on the Jesus who is with them today. From the light to the door to the way, truth, and life, Wiersbe breaks down each statement by discussing who Jesus was speaking to at the time He made it and why it is still relevant today. This author is one of the few for whom I always have a pen and paper handy because so many of his statements are profound and unforgettable. Wiersbe is on fire for the Lord, and he wants readers to feel the same way by getting to know Jesus, who He is for each of us today. It's a book that readers will come back to again and again for encouragement and comfort.

Apology

Sorry but I won't be posting anything for the next couple of days. Our modem died, and we are waiting to receive a new one from our provider. Hopefully I'll be back by next Monday!

In the meantime, you can see how adorable my nephew Arden is. :)

The Reluctant Prophet

The Reluctant Prophet by Nancy Rue is an inspiring story of learning to listen to God. Allison Chamberlain is settled into her life at forty-two as a horse-drawn carriage driver in St. Augustine, Florida. She attends church regularly, enjoys a good relationship with the members of her Bible study, and living alone, until she gets a very distinct message from God to buy a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. This begins a rapid change in her life as she continues to listen to "Nudges" from the Lord. She buys the bike, takes lessons to ride it, becomes involved in the local owners group, HOG, and then feels drawn toward King Street, the red-light district in town. Chief, one of the HOG leaders, introduces her to a man dying in a nursing home whose only request is to see his crack-addicted prostitute daughter Geneveve before he dies. Allison answers that request, so when he gives another, to take care of Geneveve and her son Desmond, she can't say no to the dying man. Soon Allison has two more prostitutes living in her home, along with Geneveve and charming yet troubled Desmond, and she is ministering to them however God calls her to, which turns her Bible study friends and pastor against her. But Allison has been given a mission from God, and life has just gotten very interesting. I'm a big fan of Rue's Sullivan Crisp series with Stephen Arterburn. Her fiction has an unexpected depth and some of the most three-dimensional characters I've ever encountered. Reluctant Prophet is even better than my expectations. Allison has a very complex history, and she is a bit off-putting at first, but once readers fall in love with her, the pages begin to really fly. Rue brings up some difficult issues about American Christianity: salvation is for only the right people, if a person isn't living the life we approve of they aren't saved, and what does Jesus' life tell us to do about those in need? Allison's disillusionment with her church and pastor is, I think, very symptomatic of what is going on in with Gens X and Y in their relationship with the church. Rue somehow manages to do it all with both a sense of humor and a unshakable sense of righteousness. I don't think that Allison's story is over yet, there are some storylines open with Troy and her family history. I hope that Rue writes another book using this amazing cast of characters again soon!

Thank you to Wynn Media for providing me with a copy of this book for review!

Amelia Rules: The Tweenage Guide to Not Being Unpopular

Mia and I do a lot of reading together. Last year we read over 100 books together in the evenings ranging from Beverly Cleary to the Rainbow Fairies series to graphic novels like Babymouse and Amelia Rules. We read some classics and discovered that the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder doesn't quite stand up to time anymore. At least the first book, Little House in the Big Woods, didn't. Mia kept waiting for something to happen! I read the entire series as a child, but I don't see that in her future. We did read all but the last book in the Ramona series by Beverly Cleary, and we're starting the final book tonight. Those books truly do stand the test of time. We've read the first several in the Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park and those deserve their status as a top-selling series. They are hilarious for both parents and children. I read one title aloud to Mia, and her older teenage sister and my husband both sat quietly listening to it as well, chuckling along with us at Junie B.'s escapades. The Magic Tree House isn't as enjoyable, at least for me. It's so predictable, that I recommend that as a series for children to read themselves, adults steer clear!

One of my favorite finds for Mia has been the Amelia Rules series by Jimmy Gownley. I initially purchased one of the graphic novels because Mia's full name is Amelia and it seemed like a cool thing for her to read about a main character that shared her name. We've read the other books in the series because they are some of the best children's books I've ever read. Seriously! In one of the books, Amelia's friend has a heart condition that she tries to keep quiet, and when it becomes public knowledge, the way the kids react is so true to life, I had a hard time reading the words aloud because my throat had closed so tightly. Another one that had me choking up had a girl whose father was being deployed overseas. Gownley somehow manages to perfectly portray the fear of a tweenage girl, the books feel very real, yet at the same time entertaining. I couldn't tell you who enjoys the series more -Mia or me- but we both highly anticipate reading each volume together, and when she is so regularly entertained by the Wii, her Nintendo DSi, Netflix, and iCarly, it's wonderful to have a book that brings us together each night to cuddle, to be together, and to engage in one of our favorite activities: reading!

The Tweenage Guide to Not Being Unpopular by Jimmy Gownley is the fifth book in the Amelia Rules series. Amelia McBride has settled into her life in upstate New York after the divorce of her parents. She's going into a new year of school with her old friends, Rhonda, Reggie, Pajamaman, and Joan, who recently moved to the area. They've spent the last year dealing with their unpopularity, but Rhonda has discovered the eponymous guidebook that is supposed to help them achieve every tweenage and teenage dream: popularity. The quest has Rhonda acting in more abnormal ways than even she is accustomed to. When Amelia and Rhonda team up on a school project that at first gives them their heart's desire and then goes wrong...very, very wrong, leaving Amelia labeled "bad" by the school principal and wondering who she really is. I have no idea how Gownley manages to write so accurately in the mind of a ten-year-old girl, although I would have loved her dialogue when I was her age. His books are so well-written, filled with brilliant dialogue, as thought-provoking plots that will inspire real thinking in children, and conversations with their parents. He tackles topics often thought too deep for children and handles them with true delicacy and finesse. He gives parents a view into their children's minds, while giving those kids something to laugh about while also learning lessons about life, but he never does it in a pedantic way that would turn off readers. I am unashamedly in love with the Amelia Rules series, as is my seven-year-old daughter. Gownley has created something truly wonderful in this series, and I look forward to following the series for years to come.

The Search

Suzanne Woods Fisher's latest installment of the Lancaster County Secrets, The Search,  is just out and to celebrate Suzanne is hosting The Search iPad Giveaway!

One Grand Prize winner will receive an iPad Prize Package worth over $500 and includes:

• A brand new iPad (16KB with Wi-Fi)
• Signed copies of all three Lancaster Country Secrets books (The Choice, The Waiting, & The Search)

To enter, simply click on the icons below to fill out the entry form/s, then tell 5 or more friends about the contest. Oh, and enter soon! Winner will be announced on February 3rd at Suzanne's Everything is Coming Up Roses Facebook Party. (Did you know The Search takes place on a rose farm?)

 

Facebook Party:

Join Suzanne for the Everything is Coming Up Roses Facebook Party on February 3rd! She’ll be announcing the winner of the The Search iPad Giveaway, hosting a book club discussion of The Search, giving away copies of all three books and HEAPS of other readerly prizes! Including roses delivered to your door for three months for you AND a friend! Be sure to join us on Thursday, February 3rd at 5:00 PM PST (6:00 MST, 7:00 CST & 8 EST) at Suzanne’s Author Page.

The Search by Suzanne Woods Fisher is the third book in the Lancaster County Secrets series which takes place among the Amish in the late 1960s-early 1970s. Fifteen-year-old Bess Riehl has been summoned home to Stoney Ridge where her grandmother Bertha lives for the summer to help her with her rose farm. At first Bess thinks will be the worst summer of her life, until she meets Bertha's farmhand Billy Lapp, and the summer starts to look up. Lainey O'Toole spent the first several years of her life in Stoney Ridge until a tragedy took away her mother, forcing her to make a terrible decision that has haunted her for fifteen years. Now she's returned to discover the consequences of her choice, but what she finds is far more than she ever expected, especially if Bertha has anything to do with it. I always enjoy reading Fisher's Amish lit novels, because they are a fresh breath of air in the crowded genre. I appreciate how she doesn't fall into the habit of many other bonnet fiction writers, of writing a phrase in Deutsch and then having the character repeat it in English for the reader's benefit. Nobody really speaks that way! But it's Fisher's characters that really raise her above the rest of the crowd, and Bertha is evidence of that talent in The Search. Bertha is nothing like the average Amish maami (grandmother). She's nearly six feet tall, almost as wide, mangles English unapologetically, and isn't above breaking the law if that's what it takes to get her way. Bertha is an utter delight to read because Fisher restrains her just enough to keep her from becoming a caricature, creating a thoroughly enjoyable character. The story is heartfelt and compelling. I look forward to the next in the series!

Thank you to Revell for providing me with a copy of this book for review. Available January 2011 from Revell, a division of the Baker Publishing Group at your favorite bookseller.

Room

I made three New Year's resolutions for 2011: #1 to stop swearing, #2 to play the piano more, and #3 to write a book. I'm doing fairly well on #1. I think it's been a couple of days since I cursed, and then I had been down to one a day. I'll count that as a success. I haven't touched the piano yet this year, except to get Mia to practice, so I'm falling down on that one. I've reached the point on #3 where as they say, the rubber meets the road. I've done my research. Put together some background materials and written up a plan of action. My plan of action says that it's time for me to create a working outline and then start writing. This is where I normally freeze up. I'm great at coming up with ideas for books, not so good at fulfilling them. This year I will succeed, but I have to admit, I'm terrified. This time, I'm not doing it on my own strength, but on His, no matter how scary it gets. Excuse me, Mr. Rubber? Meet Mr. Road. And away we go!

Room by Emma Donoghue is a fascinating fictional take at a story that compelled the nation in 2009. Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped and held hostage in the kidnapper's backyard for eighteen years, and when she was found, she had two children. In Donoghue's version, a five year old boy named Jack has lived every single moment of his entire life in a small twelve-by-twelve room, seeing no one other than his mother and "Old Nick" who visits her nightly. Ma and Jack fill their days with Phys Ed routines that consist of running around the room in circles and bouncing on the bed to keep up their muscles, eating carefully portioned meals, watching an hour of TV a day, and reading their nine books. He knows every story and song his mother can remember, but he believes that everything he sees on TV is make-believe because there is nothing outside of Room. Ma shatters his illusions by telling him the true story of how she came to live in Room so that they can come up with a plan for escape, but how will a little boy who has known nothing else react to the Outside? Donoghue does a remarkable job of telling the story through Jack's eyes. He doesn't always understand what he is seeing, but his narration makes actions clear to the reader, a careful balance she does very well. Readers can't help but empathize with this little boy's fears and desire to be safe again, as well as with his mother's need to reclaim her old life. Donoghue's writing reads like nonfiction; it rings so true to the heart, it's almost painful to keep reading. This book definitely earned its title as one of the best books of 2010.

No Safe Heaven

Mia is doing much better today. Her illness must have been a twenty-four bug. I didn't send her to school or dance class so she can recuperate, and she's taking a nap now (which is completely out of the realm of normal for her). I'm so glad that she's back to her normal bubbly self. It's hard to watch my baby girl hurt. I can't begin to imagine the pain Christina Green's family is facing. Just watching it on the news or reading about it, I want to reach out and pull my children close to me. My heart aches for all of those who lost someone in the Tucson shooting, but especially her parents. I pray for the parents of the shooter as well. In all of the rhetoric and blame that is surrounding this tragedy, I think the most important thing we can all do is pray. Pray for those who lost someone. Pray for the parents who are stunned by the violent act of their child. Pray for the shooter, whose mental illness caused him to kill. Pray for quiet, for those who would use this to elevate their own importance or to cast blame on their enemies would just be silent. Pray.

No Safe Haven by Kimberly & Kayla Woodhouse is a action-packed suspense novel with a lot of faith. Jenna Tikaani-Gray is finally starting to rebuild her life with daughter Andie. After the death of her husband Marc a year ago and Andie's brain surgery, the closely bonded mother and daughter are returning to their home in Alaska to make a fresh start. A mysterious stranger named Cole asks for a ride on their private plane, and when Jenna wakes up from a nap midflight, she sees Cole and pilot Hank fighting over a gun. When they incapacitate each other, she is forced to try to fly the plane herself, but it has been sabotaged, and they soon crash into the slopes of Mount Sultana. Soon Jenna and Andie are in the fight for their lives, and Cole seems to be the only one who can save them, but his mysterious past with Marc casts doubt on whether they can trust him, and Andie's severe medical problems add to the danger. The Woodhouses gained fame on an episode of Extreme Home Makeover, when daughter Kayla's illness created a need for a new home. Kayla and Andie share their illness: the inability to regulate their body temperature and to feel pain. Incorporating this illness into the story ratchets up the tension considerably. The narration in the story alternates between Jenna, Cole and bad-guy Leaper (in third person) and Andie (in first person). The change in narration flows smoothly, but Andie is the most enjoyable narrator as the authors do a remarkable job of portraying the mind of a twelve-year-old girl. The story itself is fairly standard, but the bond between Jenna and Andie, the character of Andie, and using Alaska as the setting all elevate this story to truly enjoyable and compelling.

Thank you to B&H Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book for review.

God Gave Us the World

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Lisa Tawn Bergren

and the illustrator:

Laura J. Bryant

and the book:

God Gave Us The World

WaterBrook Press (January 11, 2011)

***Special thanks to Staci Carmichael, Marketing and Publicity Coordinator, Doubleday Religion / Waterbrook Multnomah / Divisions of Random House, Inc. for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lisa Tawn Bergren is the award-winning author of nearly thirty titles, totaling more than 1.5 million books in print. She writes in a broad range of genres, from adult fiction to devotional. God Gave Us Love follows in Lisa’s classic tradition of the best-selling God Gave Us You. She makes her home in Colorado, with her husband, Tim, and their children, Olivia, Emma, and Jack.


Visit the author's website.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR:

Laura J. Bryant studied painting, printmaking, and sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. She has illustrated numerous award-winning children’s books, including God Gave Us You, Smudge Bunny, and If You Were My Baby. Laura lives in Asheville, North Carolina.

Visit the illustrator's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $10.99
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: WaterBrook Press (January 11, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1400074487
ISBN-13: 978-1400074488

Also Available:

God Gave Us You
God Gave Us Two
God Gave Us Christmas
God Gave Us Heaven
God Gave Us Love
God Gave Us So Much – a limited three book treasury


AND NOW...THE FIRST FOUR PAGES...press the pictures to better view them:

God Gave Us the World by Lisa T. Bergren and Laura J. Bryant is the most recent entry in the wonderful God Gave Us series. In this book, Little Bear and his family visit a museum where he sees other bears from around the world, and he wonders about their differences and just why God made them that way. Mama Bear carefully explains God's care for creation to her curious little cub. I truly love this series by Bergren and how she uses these bears to explain difficult concepts to children in a way they can easily understand. From love to Heaven to Christmas in previous books, to Creation here. The lesson here is that God is our Creator, and He has made each of us different for a reason, and we need to appreciate each other as special and important to Him. Even though we may look different or act differently, we are all a part of His plan. Bergren also points out that it is important to care for the world around us as well, in respect to the Lord. Bryant's artwork is charming and will draw children's interest in, while Bergren's easy conversation between Mama Bear and Little Bear will keep them turning the pages. I look forward to see what is next for Little Bear and his family in the next book.

Normally this would have been a Mia & Mommy Book Blog, but she's got a touch of the flu! So please say a prayer for my own Little Bear.