Rebel Summer +

(I posted this same review on goodreads, but am adding to it on here 😊)

OK - so this book (Rebel Summer by Cindy Steel) is the ultimate hallmark cozy romance in story form.  

I have struggled with reading this summer, berating myself for reading mainly comfort and fluffy pieces, but that is all my brain can handle right now.  I am not in a season where deep reading, deep thought, or deep study is possible (beyond my morning Bible study/reading).  

Reading seems to fulfill different purposes for different seasons and I find that summer (I signed up for Kindle Unlimited this summer) tends to be escape reading for me - especially as a special needs mom - I find myself craving the distraction and escape that fluffy, clean, cozy romance and/or mysteries provide.  All that to say that this book is now my favorite cozy read.  In fact, I read it again as soon as I finished the first read through (twice in one week!)

I also wanted to include all the titles I have read since I last posted - I am not kidding when I say I basically have spent the summer using any free moments I have soaking up and reveling in Hallmark Christmas, romance, and/or mysteries that I could find.  And in that I discovered a new favorite author - Cindy Steel.

Cotswold Holiday by Kasey Stockton

An Unexpected Boyfriend for Christmas by Janette Rallison

A Cross Country Christmas by Courtney Walsh

Red Rope of Fate by K.M. Shea

and then of course Rebel Summer x2 😅

I am curious - does anyone else struggle with guilt when they read fluffy books instead of deeper, more meaningful classic type of literature, or is that just a 'me' thing?  Does anyone else also find they do not have the bandwidth to handle deep thinking when days are long and hard?  I prefer reading to watching and I like books that I don't have to worry that something spicy or smutty will spill into a scene.  Also I really appreciate the lack of language (I actually find curse words and foul language so distracting in a story).  In fact, earlier this year I started reading Remarkably Bright Creatures after hearing over and over and over again what a great story it was.  I finally put it down because the cussing became so distracting to me that I couldn't get in to the story.  Maybe someday I will be able to finish it because I am really intrigued by the Octopus p.o.v.

Romans 1

A Man Called Paul - Dr. Martyn-Lloyd Jones 

(you can access these videos from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones free - simply type in Dr. Martyn-Lloyd Jones full series on the book of Romans)

These are my observations and notes from the first video - it took me a lot longer than I expected to carve out the time to a) listen and take notes and then b) write this blog post. But, no matter how long it takes, I am praying I can work my way through the entire book of Romans.

As I listened to this sermon - this verse in Acts popped into my mind:

From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.  God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us.  For in Him we live and move and have our being.  (Acts 17:26-28a)

I never considered Paul's background before.  But in the first video Dr. Lloyd-Jones spends almost the entire first sermon examining who Paul was as a person...it is absolutely mind blowing.  Think about this - who was Paul?  He was a Jew who sat at the foot of one of the greatest Pharisees/expounders of the Law.  Where was he born?  In Tarsus, one of three leading Greek cultural hubs - (Athens and Alexandria being the other two).  What was his citizenship?  He held Roman citizenship.  These facts coupled with the incredible mind that God gave to him, when you peer through this lens and examine his life and ministry - it is absolutely God who ordained, carried Paul forward, and  prepared him for a ministry that he (Paul) had no inclination would unfold.

Through Paul's life alone we can trace the truth of those two and a half verses in Acts.  God determined where and when Paul would live.  He endowed Paul with a great mind, knowledge inside and out of the Law - so that he would be able to show Jesus to the Jews in and through their Law.  The Law that God gave them thousands of years before Jesus was born.  He provided that Paul would be educated in Greek literature and that he would be a citizen of Rome - all so that - he (Paul) would become an apostle to the Gentiles.

Absolutely, breathtakingly, mind blowing.

What I have read...

So, I have Kindle Unlimited for the summer (through the end of August) and I think (since this is the second summer I have done this) I am going to do this as a summer "treat" each year.  Because I have Kindle Unlimited, I have been able to read books that (a) my library doesn't own a copy of, (b) I don't necessarily want to buy, and (c) I can try them and not waste money because sometimes, despite all the great reviews...quite honestly they are a total flop.

SO - with that said - I kind of went on a sort of "Hallmark/Great American Family Cozy Christmas-style Book Bonanza" with my reading.

The Holiday Stand-In by Kortney Keisel - SUPER cute Christmasy book.  You know how its going to end, what is going to unfold, but you love each cozy moment anyways.

The Bodyguard's Fall by Cindy Steel - OK, so Cindy Steel has quickly become a new favorite author of mine.  I LOVED this - HIGHLY recommend it!

Cotswold Holiday by Kasey Stockton - this was a meh...ok-ish, would not read again type of book.

Later on We'll Conspire by Kortney Keisel - this one was a total flop for me.  I did NOT like it, even in suspending belief for a moment...it was a total flop.

Christmas Baggage by Deborah Hathaway - I thought this one was SUPER cute - LOVED it!

I also re-listened to Magic Forged by K.M. Shea as we drove to and from multiple appointments.

Host for the Holidays

by Martha Keyes 

I think this is a SUPER cute Christmas read.  I heard about this book on Jansen Bradshaw's website (it is full of booklists and reviews).  I LOVED it.  It is clean and sweet and I loved the main character Madi!!!

I also re-listened to K.M. Shea's Hall of Blood and Mercy (book two).  

I also just finished the book of Isaiah in my reading plan and guess what I discovered?  The book of Romans quotes Isaiah quite a bit - more than I ever realized.  It is SO cool.  Did you also know that the book of Isaiah ends with chapter 66 and in verse 8, it says this :

"Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment?  Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children."

Israel became a nation again on November 29, 1947.  The Dead Sea scrolls were discovered beginning in 1947.  The entire book of Isaiah was (eventually) found in the dead sea scrolls dates back to circa 100-125 B.C.  God is faithful. 

Romans

As Martyn Lloyd-Jones begins his exposition of Romans, he asks if we have taken the time to really study this book, do we realize the importance of this particular epistle?  

It has been particularly responsible for many conversions (he listed three people that had profound impacts on the early church development and shaping - St. Augustine, Martin Luther, and John Wesley) and as such, it is worthy of our time and attention to give it more than just a cursory reading.  

Paul - he is the one writing this letter to predominately Gentile Christians in Rome - the central hub of politics, business, trade (etc;) in the then known world.  If you read Philippians 3 (which Dr. Lloyd-Jones encourages you to do) it will be even more amazing that someone like Paul (the Jew of Jews) would be the one writing this letter.  The people he is writing to - these are the very people he was seeking to wipe out.  He hated Christians.  

What sort of man was Paul?  I never stopped to consider beyond the typical - oh he was an author of a large portion of the NT, or he was an apostle that was converted on the road to Damascus.  But Dr. Lloyd-Jones pauses here and takes an in-depth look - 

This is as far as I have gotten, the past few weeks have been bumpy.  Hoping this next week I can make more progress.  

Fixed Up

by Jessica Leigh Johnson

OK, so, for a large part of the story I did NOT like Meg (the main character)...at all.  For probably the first 2/3 of the book I focused on just getting through the book so that I could log it and move on.  But then, as the the last 1/3 of the book unfolded, I cried and laughed and finally enjoyed the story.  

After finishing it, I lay there and thought over what I just read.  Generational sin is a real thing.  Parents and grandparents rarely realize the lasting impact of their words and actions - the ripple effect that touches generations of hearts (good and bad) - and this book PERFECTLY illustrates that.  Highly recommend reading.

I also read Faking Christmas by Cindy Steel.  SUPER cute.  

Romans

I am going to start an in-depth study of the book of Romans.  I have long been fascinated by this book of the Bible, specifically chapters 6-8.  I am currently working through John MacArthur's study on the book of James and this past week, as a part of the study, he had the text of Romans 7:5-25 listed.  As I struggled through it, I realized that I really, really wanted (needed!) to dig deeply into the entire book of Romans. 

I also recalled that all of Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones's sermons (366 of them!) - his exposition of the book of Romans - are free through you-tube.  I also have two other books (one by R.C. Sproul and one by Timothy Keller) that I am going to use as a sort of commentary as I go.

I am excited and nervous (...so really nervousited 😂) to begin.  

I read a book years ago (probably have blog posts about it on here) by Watchman Nee (The Normal Christian Life) and that also led to me reading and re-reading the book of Romans.  But as I progressed in my study of Romans, I quickly spun myself into circles.  At the time I did not have a good solid foundational habit of daily reading the Word of God and that really made a big difference in my ability to discern God's voice and His Word (Scripture truly does interpret Scripture).  This time though, I have developed a (mostly) consistent habit of reading the Bible and have grown in my ability to study Scripture, so I am hopeful and excited to see what God teaches me through this.

My goal - read the book of Romans repeatedly.  

Try to listen to a sermon a day - while exercising, washing dishes etc; (so take the time that I normally devote to either letting my mind wonder (i.e. fixate on and gnaw over one problem or another) or read fluffy books - and instead devote it to Dr. Lloyd-Jones' sermons).    

I will use this blog to track my progress. 💖