Review: Wish You Were Here by Beth K. Vogt

I enjoyed Allison's journey as told by Beth K. Vogt in Wish You Were Here. Allison's need for control and yet her desire to escape the box she's managed to get herself stuck in struck a chord with me. I think we all find ourselves in situations we wish we could avoid, or hadn't agreed to.

Wish You Were Here is a challenging read...not because it was hard to read, but because it challenged me to think about why I do things, rather than just do them because it's "expected".

This book is a light-hearted look into the life of Allison Denman as she struggles with conflicting emotions about two very different brothers. We see her grow from an unsure young lady to a young woman who realizes she doesn't have all the answers, but must take a step of faith to find the happiness God has for her.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  :)

Back cover:

Kissing the wrong guy days before her wedding leads Allison to become a runaway bride. But can it also lead to happily ever after?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 "borrowing" her best friend’s car, doesn’t seem to solve her problems.

Can Allison find her way out of this mess? She prefers to be 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.

Wish You Were Here is fun and full of humor—sure to be a pleasure to inspirational romance readers.

Rating: 5 stars, for challenging me while making me laugh

Available here.

Blessings,
Ginger

Snow

Two pictures of the same road. Two different scenes.

What caused the change?

SNOW.



We don't get much of the white stuff here in North Alabama, but Christmas of 2010, it came down. My first ever white Christmas. My kids loved it. I loved it because I didn't have any place to go.


Does the snowy picture seem cleaner to you (minus the tire tracks). How about the next two?

There's just something about snow. I can bet we all like to watch it fall. We love it's beauty, how fresh it makes everything look, how clean. It changes how we see things around us.



It reminds me of the verse in Isaiah.

“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool. [Emphasis added}

Makes you think, doesn't it?

"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow."

As you contemplate that verse today, take time to express your gratitude to God for his Son, the one who came to shed his blood so you might be clean.

What are your favorite Snow memories?  

Blessings,

Ginger

What do I do when...?

A friend at church asked if I answered parenting questions on my blog. I thought about it and decided to  answer a her question today. 

Now, before I do this, I want you to know I am NOT an expert by any means. I will only be giving answers based on MY experience raising my seven children. I may be slightly biased, but I can assure you my children are well-behaved, though not perfect. :)

My friend asked me how to handle her daughter, who is 18 months old. When they go shopping, the little one screams and cries to get out of the cart. Mom complies, and the little one proceeds to run around the store. My friend wanted to know how I would handle the situation.

There are probably many ways to manage this, but here was my suggestion. Simply put, I told my friend to spank her daughter when she starts acting out.  I also warned her to be consistent. Every time her daughter threw a fit, she needed to tell her no and, even if she chose not to spank, not to let her out of the cart. 

This is for the safety of the child. A child of 18 months, or even older, has no sense of danger and there are so many perverted and selfish people out there waiting for an opportunity to do evil. I shudder to think of it.

(Note: I do not condone BEATING, but a single swat to the backside for an 18 month old gets the job done.)

So now I throw the question to you, my readers. How would you advise this mom to handle her daughter's temper-tantrums?

And if you have a question you would like answered, I have set up an e-mail BedofRosesThornsIncluded[at]gmail.com. Please replace the [at] with the appropriate symbol.

Blessings,

Ginger