One Month 'Til Christmas, Three reviews

Oh my word, as my grandmother used to say. While I wouldn't personally categorized this as a romance novel, it is certainly full of learning to love. And even though I've never made a quilt, I could envision each step as the stories were shared. Sometimes we can only live life one day at a time, and The Christmas Quilt  by Vannetta Chapman reminds us to enjoy each day as it comes.

Back cover:

Annie's life is deliciously full as the Christmas season approaches. She helps her husband, Samuel, attend to the community's minor medical needs. She occasionally assists Belinda, the local midwife, and most days, she finds herself delivering the buggy to her brother Adam. Annie s sister-in-law Leah is due to deliver their first child before Christmas morning, and Annie is determined to finish a crib quilt before the "boppli" arrives. With six weeks to go, she should have no problem . . . but God may have a different plan. Leah is rushed to the English hospital when the infant arrives early, and Annie discovers the Christmas quilt may hold a far greater significance than she ever imagined.

Rating: 5 roses

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Sweet romances always make me sigh, and this one is no different. In The Christmas Promise by Kimberly Rose Johnson draws us into Keira and Pete's romance, and shows us how they dealt with their issues with trust and fear. Time changes things for them as they learn to release the past and move forward. I enjoyed Ms. Johnson's debut novel and look forward to her next novel.

Back cover:

No matter how lovely Keira Noble's smile, or how adorable her four-year-old son. He's been down that road before and knows it can lead to a broken heart. But that doesn't mean he can't help the pretty widow find a puppy to put under the Christmas tree for her son…. 

Pete claims he only wants to help her find the perfect gift for Cody. Yet Keira can't deny the tender feelings in his eyes whenever he looks at her. Could this handsome Scrooge have a change of heart, and create a new family for Christmas?

Rating: 4.5 roses

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After several days of busy-ness, I decided to take the day off and enjoy a good book. I picked up High-Stakes Holiday Reunion by Christy Barritt. I have read several of her books in the past and knew I would enjoy it, and I was right. I read the whole book in a single day, and even when I walked away to do something else, I couldn't wait to get back to it.

If you enjoy romantic suspense, I think you'll like this too.

Back cover:

A CHILD'S LIFE IS AT STAKE 

When Christopher Jordan sees the fear in Ashley Wilson's eyes, he knows he can't let her request for help go unanswered. Despite their tumultuous history, he's the only person his ex-fiancée can trust to find her kidnapped nephew. But how can Christopher trust her when he finds out that Ashley's "nephew" is actually his son, the one she never told him about? With a terrorist cell convinced Ashley holds the key to accessing top secret government files, time is running out. And Christopher will stop at nothing to bring their little boy home in time for Christmas. 

The Security Experts: Defenders against danger?

Rating: 5 roses

Links:
The Christmas Quilt
The Christmas Promise
High-Stakes Holiday Reunion

Blessings,
Ginger

You Need to Hear This Today.

I woke up this morning singing this song. I've shared it before, but I have this feeling someone besides me needs to hear it today.


"Holy are You God. Holy is Your name. With everything I've got, my heart will sing how I love You."

Blessings,
Ginger

Lesson from Life - God's Grace

This past Sunday, our pastor shared a sermon on grace. Before he spoke a video was shown of two little boys who woke up early and went out to the barn to play. After a few minutes, they found a mud puddle and proceeded to play in it. After a little bit of play time -- long enough to get good and dirty -- their dad showed up. He had a stern face, and both boys looked up at him sheepishly. If you've had guilty children, you've seen the look. The camera pans around to the dad's back where he was hiding a water hose. A twinkle appeared in his eyes as he started squirting his sons with water. He started a full-fledged water fight, with lots of smiles and laughter.

This is a picture of our Father's grace. We are dirty, and he takes the anointing of Holy Spirit and washes us when we ask for forgiveness. It's not something we earn or deserve, but He gives it freely.

Then my quiet time Monday was about grace. I did a little studying, and here is what I found...

Grace means favor, goodwill; a manifestation of favor; mercy, clemency, pardon

Then I found a few verses:

• Eph. 2:8-9 - God saved us by his GRACE
• Rom. 6:15 - God's GRACE has set us free from the law
• Rom. 11:5 - God's GRACE is a manifestation of undeserved kindness

What does grace mean to YOU?

Blessings,

Ginger

Lessons from Life: God, Our Cleanser and Healer

As I was washing dishes tonight, I decided to oil my butcher block table/counter. It's gotten a little dry where we cut vegi's and bread.

In order to prepare it to receive the oil, I have to scrub it to get off any excess food that's dried on there. So I got out my little green scrubby, wet it, and starting scouring the surface. When I was finished, I dried it with the white towel I had draped over my shoulder. Bad idea. The towel soaked up all the extra dirt left by my scrubbing.

After it was completely dry, I poured on the mineral oil generously and took a paper towel and spread it around. I made extra sure more oil was slathered on the dry places. Then I left the wood to soak up all the extra oil.

Where's the life lesson?

We are like the dry wood, dirty and thirsty. And God is the oil. Unlike the counter, we don't have to get ourselves cleaned up before God pours out his healing touch on our lives. If we did, none of us would experience that glorious feeling.

Sometimes, though, just like my scouring of the counter, God needs to pay extra attention to an area in our lives that is dirty. The sin in our lives clogs up the pores and won't allow Holy Spirit access. The pores need to be scrubbed.

Hebrews 12:11(NLT) says, "No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way."

Ouch!

"No discipline is enjoyable...BUT afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living..." Oh to have that peaceful harvest. It doesn't come easy however. *sigh*

Just like my counter will soak in the oil I applied, so must we too rest in his healing touch, and wait for Holy Spirit to fill all the empty and dry places in our lives.

Blessings,
Ginger

PS. If you get anything out of these little life lessons, please comment and let me know. It's hard sometimes to pour out my heart, wondering if anyone is even reading. Thanks.

Be Still

This is such a hard concept for me. Be Still. I'm not sure I know how because even when my body is resting, my brain is running from one thought to another.

Last night at our small group one of the other ladies asked me if I'm ever still. And the answer is no. I'm not. Even when I'm watching TV, I'm almost always doing something else - playing a game on my I-pad or

crocheting, or answering e-mails.

During my quiet time, I have found if I don't write in a journal, my thoughts wander. My prayer time has become a letter to God, but sometimes... if I'm honest, most times... I forget to wait for God's answer.

It's not that I don't want to hear it, I do. I just find myself moving on to the next thing because I don't know how to be still and listen to Him speak to me.

Have you ever struggled with quieting your mind enough to allow your spirit to hear God? How did you overcome the incessant need to move on?

Please share your thoughts. I don't want to miss God's voice because I have made myself too busy to hear it.

Blessings,
Ginger

Lessons from Life - God, our Protector

Every once in a while, life will give you a lesson and as I was thinking about you all this morning and what I could post, I thought about our loss last week.

We lost a member of our family. My son's teddy-bear hamster escaped, which he's done a number of times in the past. This time however, we didn't realize it until it was too late.

See, we have this other member of our family who enjoys the chase. And unfortunately, Teddy happened to be his prey. (BTW, this is the cat eating a steak bone. He thinks he's part dog.)

Teddy had camped out behind my dryer. How he got there from upstairs is beyond me, but such is the way of rodents. :) Peeta, the cat, found him back there. I found Teddy in Peeta's mouth.

Where's the lesson in this?

God wants to be our safe place, just as Teddy's cage was his safe place. When we step outside of that protection, we open ourselves up to all sorts of danger. Teddy couldn't see past the need to escape and be "free". His freedom cost him his life. How many times do we want to escape our safe place and do something daring, or say to ourselves, "just this once" when confronted with temptation?

Teddy was okay the first few times he managed to gain his freedom. No big deal, right? And yet...

Think on that today.

Blessings,
Ginger

Review: Hear No Evil by Mary Hamilton

Mary Hamilton's Hear No Evil, a YA (young adult) novel, touches on a young teenager's view of his circumstances. It was an interesting story with several applications which could be applicable to all of our lives. One that struck me the most -- and is the hardest to realize at times -- is that God loves us no matter what, and circumstances are not always as they seem to us when we are in the midst of the storm.

I highly recommend this novel to anyone aged 12 and over. Although it is written for younger readers, it has plenty of lessons for the rest of us.

Back cover:

Summer camp is no fun for Brady McCaul. The girl with the cute dimples thinks he’s immature and childish. The camp bully targets him with cruel taunts and teasing, and flips Brady’s canoe to keep him from winning the race. But worst of all, his mom won’t let him come home. She doesn’t want him living with her anymore. Brady wonders if even God cares about him.

Rating: 4 roses