Friday, April 29, 2022

The rest of what I read this week + summer reading plans...

OK - so my husband bought me the Mia Quinn trilogy by Lis Wiehl and April Henry.  I was able to find book one at my library, tore through book two (review below) by utilizing Prime Reading, and then had a slight moment of 'ought oh' when no one had book three available.  It was cheaper to buy the trilogy than to just buy book three and I am OH SO happily ensconced in Mia's world once again, chasing bad guys and trying to solve the mysteries to hold them accountable.

A Deadly Business finally, finally, answers some questions about the night that Mia's husband, Scott, died.  Please do NOT continue reading if you haven't read book one, just skip to the next paragraph.  The night that Colleen died, Mia had uncovered evidence of Scott's betrayals that had sort of just put a cherry on top of the mountain of debt he had left behind for her.  She had no idea what her husband was thinking nor what else he had lied about.  Grief is suffocating all on its own, add the shock of betrayal to it and it's the perfect storm for implosion.  With the help of Charlie (I REALLY really REALLY want Mia to choose Charlie) she uncovers layer after layer until she herself is in deadly danger.  Will Charlie and Mia figure it out before it is too late?  Will Mia be able to stand under the pressure of single parenting, Frank's (her boss) reelection campaign, and the mounting 'to-do's' of day to day life?  Not to mention the venom and hatred the accused sometimes direct directly at her?  

I know I said skip to this paragraph if you haven't read book two, but I do have to mention book three briefly, so if you are interested in my Bible reading and study plans for the summer go ahead and skip to the next paragraph 😊, if not I wish you a beautiful weekend and a lovely start to the month of May. 💖

As I said in my intro, I am happily ensconced in book three Lethal Beauty, I am on track to finish it by Saturday.  I am always afraid of giving away some detail that will deter someone from wanting to read this trilogy.  My husband is like a super sleuth...he always seems to know who did it within the first ten minutes of a movie or by the end of the first few chapters of a book, meanwhile I am happily clueless up to the very end.  So if you are a super sleuth like my husband, that is why I won't be writing a review on book three...I don't want to ruin this for you and this book seems to tie up a lot of things that have happened along the way for the entire trilogy.  So, please read this trilogy!  Join with Mia and Charlie as they race against time to decipher clues that will hopefully be the keys to finding those rocks Colleen spoke about in book one, the ones where you pull it up and bam!  you just exposed all the vileness hidden underneath.

So, for this summer, since I am over half way through the Sermon on the Mount lessons/workbook, I am going to go back through a second time.  I know there is so much I missed the first time through, although I do think Kari is writing more workbook studies to accompany the rest of the book, I want to glean as much as I can from this one.  I'm also going to be reading through the New Testament in 90 days.  Normally I try to do a Bible in 90 days at least once a year...but I really want to go slowly through the New Testament, so I am following this schedule I found online, if you are interested, I would love to have you join in!  

PS I am reading Lord of the Rings, but I decided to read it aloud, so it is going to take some time to move through this (I have the trilogy in one volume). 

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Sermon on the Mount chapters 7 & 8

WOW - this week's lesson laid me flat...again.  I cannot recommend this workbook and video study that Kari has created highly enough.  It was made to go with the application and study of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' book Studies in the Sermon on the Mount and it is phenomenal!!

I am not sure what to share, because I want as many other people as are able to participate in this study.  I don't want to turn people off from trying it by anything I say or fail to say, so just know what I share here does NOT do this study justice.  I just process and learn by writing, so this blog space is another avenue for me to get this truth into me in a way that I won't just gloss over it or jump to the next thing when it is over.

First of all, I love how Dr. Lloyd-Jones gives tests and questions for you to self-examine (and cross examine) your own heart in light of the truth he expounds from Scripture.  With that said, these questions are brutal, to the point of...actually bypassing the point of any possibility of excusing what it uncovers.  

Second of all, I love how Dr. Lloyd-Jones gives you straight forward answers, never leaving you in a desperate spot of trying to figure out how to apply the truth of what he is teaching.  Nothing, NOTHING, is more frustrating to me than going to church and hearing either a sermon or a Bible study lesson and not knowing how to practically apply it in day to day life.  What I love most about this collection of sermons is the straight forward application of God's Word.

This Beatitude - this is where we are meant to camp out and live and walk and breathe our moments.  This hunger - this thirst for righteousness is what propels us forward into His presence.  Nothing you or I can say or do will ever or should ever replace this desperate hunger and thirst.  Only He can quench this.  And that is to be the pursuit of life.  

Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied (or filled).

A Matter of Trust (Mia Quinn #1)

So...I have started reading Lord of the Rings for this week's challenge, but when I looked I discovered that our library had a few more of Lis Wiehl and April Henry's books...so I checked two out.  

And devoured this one in two days.

Oh my goodness, I love these two writers together.  I love how you pick up the book and you are immediately drawn into the story line.  The connection with the characters is spell binding.  I love when writers are so good at what they do, they make you as the reader feel like you are part of the story.

Mia Quinn's husband recently died, leaving her with a fourteen year old son, a four year old daughter, and a mountain of surprises - debts, betrayals, and lies.  Mia feels like she is going to be sucked under the teetering weight of it all.  To top it off, as the story opens she is on the phone with her colleague Colleen from the prosecutor's office, discussing bringing a case of bullying resulting in suicide before a grand jury.  As the two friends chat about various work topics they are also going through items in their respective homes trying to line up items for a garage sale (for Mia) when suddenly a gunshot sounds over the phone line.

And the hunt begins.

Mia teams up with a Seattle detective to try and unravel the mystery of murder meanwhile  successfully balancing her full work load (she also is a part time professor at the local university), single parenting her children, and still processing the death of her husband and now of a good friend.   

This book is AWESOME.  

Saturday, April 23, 2022

Eyes of Justice (A Triple Threat Novel)

I have found a new favorite author!!!!  (or I guess I should say authors, but I really want to read a book by each of them as a stand alone to be sure which one (or both!) that I like so much)

I was so hesitant to try a new book again after the disastrous I Was Anastasia.  That book had such promise, but it was TOOOOOO gory and detailed (true or fiction, it didn't matter).  I skipped portions, but the worst part of that book was that you were in the middle of something before you were aware of what was about to be said and it flipped back and forth between the past and the present (the present being relative to the story), so it became almost impossible to predict when the author, Ariel Lawhon, would be about to expose yet another sickening detail.  Anyway, I almost threw the towel in on the reading challenge and retreated back to the safety or rereads.  This is supposed to be fun, not give me a stomach ache and make me feel like I need to scrub my eyeballs out afterwards.  

But then I remembered the Crime Calendar challenge and how I had not chosen my April read (incidentally now I have TWO!!) and decided to try another mystery.  

SQUEEE...I LOVED this book!  I chose it because one of the author's names is April and that was the month I needed a book for...I only later realized that the name April needs to be in the title, not in the name of the author.  

OOPS.  

Anyhow, I found Eyes of Justice by April Henry and Liz Wiehl at my library.  I didn't realize that I should have started with a different book (this is number 4 in the series) and by the time I did, I was so hooked into the story, I could not have put it down if I tried.  

I read this book in two days and have the headache (from the lack of sleep) to prove it.  It was a phenomenal book.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE Nic and Allie and Cassidy.  Their friendship and their sense of justice, Allison's heart for God, their shared love of decadent desserts.  When one of the three is murdered, it turns their entire world topsy-turvy.  With two of their careers on the line, a lunatic running around (or arrested?) the grief threatens to overwhelm them.  Cassidy is a crime reporter, Allison a federal prosecutor, and Nicole an FBI agent.  Together they are committed to exposing the crime and getting justice and closure for the victims, never realizing just how close to home this pursuit of justice will hit.  

PS Just found out that the author April Henry's birth month is April!!!  

Thursday, April 21, 2022

Pro-Life

A lot is being said in today's world about a woman's right to choose, reproductive rights, and the privacy of such rights, but who is crying out on behalf of the baby's rights?  Who is stepping forward and saying - WAIT A MINUTE - what about the baby?  All of us, every single human that has lived, is living, or will ever live since Adam and Eve, started out in the womb.  We were once the baby encased in our mother's body, depending on her "right to choose".  Praise God, we were given the chance to grow and develop and breathe and although I know there are many horrors in life, that not every childhood was idyllic, some were horrible, life it still a gift.  

As a mom of special needs' teenager/young adults, I am horrified to think that anyone would for one moment judge their lives as expendable.  Their issues do not define them.  They were fearfully and wonderfully made, their lives have SO so much meaning and they bring so much joy.  I see other people's faces light up when they see them at Wal-Mart, or when the staff or doctor comes out to get them.  Their kindness and compassion so far out paces my own, their sense of empathy is astounding, their heart for God is so tender.  While it is true their lives will look different than most their age - I am SO incredibly thankful that they are mine and I get to love them and provide for them and protect them.  I know that the world is a better place because they are here.

I am not sure how many people have heard about the bill that is in committee in California (I do not live in California, but I agree that this is an issue that affects every single person) - it is called AB2223.  I encourage you to read this - to then listen to this sermon by Jack Hibbs.  And pray, pray, pray.  That the wisdom of God, the fear of our Creator would return to our country.  

Sunday, April 17, 2022

Sermon on the Mount Chapter 6

OK, I am not going to lie, this week's chapter and lesson was painful.  

Have you ever had those moments in life where you feel like you got a glimpse of yourself, and you see yourself as others see you and you are embarrassed - humiliated - by what you see?  By what others see?  Maybe it's that you thought you were more than what you are or at least that there was less of _______ (impatience, greed, entitlement, messy/sloppiness, gluttony, anger, gossip, criticism...) than what there actually is.  

This is grace.

Grace that God humbled you, pulled the blinders off, allowing you to see - it hurts, but it is a good hurt.  Like a surgeon cutting the disease away or operating on a broken bone or torn tissue - it hurts - but it is needed.

This week was centered on the Beatitude: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Matt 5:5, and as this was Holy Week and today is the Sunday we mark the resurrection of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, I am SO SO incredibly thankful for Jesus.  

He is truly my only hope.  

My mess is not containable, it is not fixable.  My heart cannot be covered up in the sense of just hiding it under a cover - whether that attempt is in outward appearances - from clothing and jewelry and weight loss/fitness to organizational attempts or having others think well of me or my attempts at inward work - self help, planning, reading, journaling...   No my heart does desperately need a cover - but the kind of cover that cleans out, covers the cost, and fills it with what it was made to be filled with.  And that only comes from God through Jesus.

So, this week was humbling, but I am so thankful for it.  I love being under the mighty hand of God - 

1 Peter 5:6.  When He is done, He will lift me up - I don't have to figure out how to pull myself up by my own bootstraps - thank the good, good, Lord.


Friday, April 15, 2022

Two more...

Rebellion was the reading challenge theme this week and one title and one topic came to mind immediately.  

Years and years ago my sister sent me a box of DVDs.  It was a complete surprise and in this box two of my all time favorite (at the time completely unknown to me though) movies were tucked in there :
"Anastasia" and "Quest for Camelot".  (I love, love, love cartoon movies!!)

While I knew about King Arthur and Excalibur, I was totally unfamiliar with Anastasia's story.  I immediately fell in love with it.  I've wanted to read more about her and the Romanovs, but there is always something else to read and to be honest - when you google the subject - it is a bit overwhelming.  I simply had no idea where to start.  However, after reading the post on Sunday for the reading challenge, I tried again and three titles from my library looked promising: 

The Tsarina's Daughter by Carolly Erickson 

Romanov by Nadine Brandes

and 

I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon

I ended up choosing the book by Ariel Lawhon - I Was Anastasia.  I read the introduction and was immediately drawn in.  The author begins with a "fair warning", letting us, the readers know, that she is speaking from Anna's perspective and that she is about the unwind a coil of memory, that she will tell it and then leave it up to you - the reader - to decide is this the real Anastasia, or is this just another impostor?

Most of the story flips back and forth between Anna as on old lady and Anastasia as a teenager.  She tells of  Russia sinking down into the Bolshevik revolution and of all that she had ever known, little by little, falling apart.  As you read, it is like a seam being ripped stitch by stitch until all lays bare.  And truly, as promised, you are left deciding is this story true?  Does she tell a tale, or does she tell her tale?

I did not have time to read the other two titles - but they look SO good, so my every growing TBR pile is now teetering impossibly stuffed with more than I can probably ever read. 
*edited* I would not re-read this book, ever.  It is full of heartbreak and many parts I had to skip. 

The second title is Divergent by Veronica Roth.  I have lost count of how many times I have read this book (and listened to it), yet I realized that it had been a year or more since I had visited Tris and Four.  I listened to it this week, at bedtime.  I know by now most people know this story, but just in case, if you do not and are interested in a dystopian novel about rebellion and bravery and sacrifice - this is a great story that checks all of the boxes.  

The attempt to remake the nation after it has experienced devastation, finds people being shepherded into one of the five factions (selfless, brave, peaceful, intellectual, and honest).  However it is proving to be more difficult than I think they had anticipated.  First of all, there are the outlier factionless who don't fit into any of the categories and are thus discarded like yesterday's trash.  Further more, the factions are being pitted against each other and cannot agree on how to use the limited resources available.  Then to further throw a wrench into the idea of factions, a divergence emerges that cannot be contained or controlled or manipulated.  This is a story of rebellion and resistance - people were simply not made to be just one of the factions.

With all of this said though,  neither of these two books come close to the reading of Humbled by David Mathis. That book alone was the one that was the most impactful and important that I read this week.

The theme to discuss and read about this week was 'rebellion'...

I read / listened to several things this week that I want to post about, but none so important as this book:

Humbled by David Mathis

When I saw the prompt and read the challenge, some titles came to mind, subjects that I have been so excited to either read about or revisit.  But as I sat down to make a plan I remembered this book and knew this was where I needed to start.  It is completely counter-cultural to pursue (or more accurately accept) humility.  And as I pondered what this week means (it is Holy Week) - what today means (it is Good Friday), I knew this was where God was calling me to spend some time reading, thinking, and repenting.

How do you rebel against cultural expectations and instead of the building up of and proclaiming of your voice, your accomplishments, your platform...how do you lower yourself, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God?  Realizing, accepting, living in light of the truth - I am not God.  I am helpless to fix my heart, cover my sin, extend the life of myself or anyone that I love one moment more than what their days are marked to be.  I might be able to fool some people (worst of all myself) and pretend that I am more than I am, but when I pull out the Word of God, when I quiet my heart to the truth of who He is, when life comes at me hard and fast and seasons lay me low - I can no longer pretend.  The only option is to humble myself or break against the truth of the Word of God.  

This book is a small, but mighty tool of truth.  Mr. Mathis asks so many good questions, he has a knack for saying what needs to be said.  I will be going back through this book, in fact I am writing a small study guide to help me process what he teaches (I have learned through the study Kari Denker wrote, how important it is to think about and process what we read and for me that means writing it down).  I do not want to say "Oh that is SUCH a great book" and rush off to the next one in my stack, forgetting most of what I read. But instead, I need to ponder and chew upon what Mr. Mathis wrote, letting it work in my heart.

I will end the post with this verse - someone quoted it in the comment section of Studies on the Sermon on the Mount (the Kari Denker's Beatitude study) and it has since come up over and over and over again :

Philippians 2:7 &8 - He emptied Himself.  This is what humility looks like.


Sunday, April 10, 2022

November 11, 2010 - April 10, 2022



Stuart, you were the absolute best bunny for my girl.  You loved her so much and she loved you right back.  We are going to miss you so much.  Rest in peace little guy.

Friday, April 8, 2022

Trixie Belden in The Secret of the Mansion

Impulsive, outspoken, adventurous Trixie Belden has her heart sat on one thing, and one thing only.  A horse.  She is working around the farm to help her mom out (or moms as she likes to call her) to tend/weed the garden and look after her mischievous little brother Bobby.

The book opens with someone around Trixie's age moving into the Manor House next door, the crabby, odd older gentleman (Mr. Frayne) who lives up the path in his old mansion sick and at the hospital, and Trixie in the middle of it all.  She is trying to figure out how to mount and ride a horse, navigate friendship with Honey (the new girl who moved in next door), and trying to solve the mystery of the old mansion on the hill.  

I was prepared not to like Trixie, she is the opposite of Nancy in a lot of ways, but by the end of chapter four I was hooked.  I highly recommend this story!

Nancy Drew in The Secret of the Old Clock

This week's challenge of classic children's mysteries was so much fun!  To be honest, as a child/teen I never read Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys (although between my mom, aunts, and uncles they had the entire original series for both - unfortunately they were destroyed in a basement flood 😓).  I do remember reading & loving Encyclopedia Brown as a kid, but never read Trixie Belden and until I began homeschooling, I had never even heard of, let alone read, The Boxcar Children.  Thankfully my mom was a teacher and had a set of the first ten for her classroom that she owned - she gifted them to my girls when my oldest was around ten.  We happily read through those one summer and then proceeded to buy more.  

My girls have gone through several Nancy Drew phases and one book has been their standout favorite - The Secret of the Old Lace.  I still remember the summer my oldest read this, handed it over, and said - 'Mom, you just have to read this.'  

And I did, and realized just what I had missed as a kid/teen by not reading Nancy Drew.

I also remember the summer we discovered the 70's tv show about Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys - with Sean Cassidy, Parker Stevenson, and Pamela Sue Martin.  We got it on DVD (the first two season) and absolutely love it.  We also enjoy watching the really old Nany Drew movies where Nancy is played by Bonita Granville.

So this week, my first book choice was to borrow the very first Nancy Drew from my middle daughter and read it.  The Secret of the Old Clock was everything I hoped it would be.  Nancy is such a classy girl, now that I have seen Pamela Sue Martin play her, she is exactly how I imagine Nancy: classy, smart, beautiful, and so incredibly kind and polite.  So of course as I read this, I imagined Pamela  as Nancy and William Schallert as the dad.  

This is the very first book in the Nancy series and it is written to introduce the Drew family and to solve the mystery of old Josiah Crowley's missing final will.  I loved getting to meet Hannah Gruen and detested the Topham sisters (as well as the parents).  Although this week has been full of appointments, hard days, and lots of driving back and forth on the highway to doctor appointments...I am so glad I made time to squirrel away five minutes here and five minutes there to read this.  

I cannot recommend this series enough.  And when you are done reading, treat yourself to the 70's tv show and a few of the older Bonita Granville movies!  Now, I am hoping to finish Trixie Belden #1  before Saturday...we will see.  (I did it!  I actually finished it tonight (Friday)!)

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Sermon on the Mount Chapter Four

This is the chapter that begins the deep dive into each of the Beatitudes, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is finished setting the stage and he is ready to expound upon the sermon point by point.

Before I share what I have learned, I want to say that part of me wants to guard this journey and keep it close, to treasure it in my heart, and not share it yet.  Sort of that brooding feeling you get when you are first home from the hospital with your newborn or how protective you are of new seedlings when they are first sewn into your garden soil.  But the other part wants to record this as it unfolds, because I don't want to forget a moment of it.  I guess my biggest fear in sharing it as it unfolds is that I will cheapen it, make it less than what it is.  

OK - so I cannot recommend Kari's companion workbook enough - it is SUCH a great addition to The Sermon on the Mount by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.  It is sometimes overwhelming to read the works of great men and women of God, or to hear a great sermon, and then subsequently walk away and have no idea how to practically apply it to your daily life.  This workbook and short weekly video prevent that from happening.  

This poor in spirit - do I truly grasp what that means?  I didn't, but I am beginning to.  Dr. Martyn Lloyd- Jones defines this as an utter destitution - a complete lacking of resources down to my very soul.   

One quote spoke so convictingly (this is technically not a word, but I cannot think of how else to say it) to my heart, "The man who is truly 'poor in spirit' need not worry so much about his personal appearance and the impression he makes..." found on page 38.  I don't know why, but this is a constant struggle with me - the overanxious worry of what others think of me.  That is the very opposite of poor in spirit. 

I realized as I completed this week's lesson, watched the video, and gathered my thoughts - the emptying is what I never pursued, understood, or submitted to.  I realized that it is like the mornings that I forget my cup of coffee and discover the mug after it is too late to be able to rescue it with a quick pop into the microwave.  No this cup that I am thinking of, the only thing left to do it to pour it down the drain, rinse the mug really well, and start over with a brand new cup of coffee.  There is NO way I would ever think it was ok to just pour fresh coffee on top of the yucky cold coffee.  WHY in the world would I think Jesus could just take me - full of myself and have me walk this out in my own self?!?  No, there is nothing to do but to completely empty me of the yucky contaminated fleshly worldly me and fill me back up with the fresh and pure directly from Him.  And this isn't a one time emptying and one time filling any more than I can eat enough or drink enough today to last me for the rest of my life.  No, I daily need a refilling of food and water to stay alive, how much more does my spirit need a constant refilling to stay alive?

Saturday, April 2, 2022

The Westing Game

This week I read A Catered St. Patrick's Day , am a few chapters into The Sermon on the Mount and am about half way through The Westing Game.  It has been a brutal week in our house, we have a beloved pet that is dying, medicine changes + really challenging days, and a birthday (that was the best part).  I am running behind and hope to finish The Westing Game by tomorrow, but did not get it done tonight - with that said, let me introduce it and give my initial impressions.

The Westing Game is by Ellen Raskin and tells the tale of the mysterious discovery of Samuel W. Westing (dead of course!) and his will which is subsequently read aloud by the "brilliant" attorney - Edgar Jennings Plum.  It sets forth a mystery game (between his sixteen "nieces and nephews") to discover who exactly murdered Sam Westing - winner takes all.  This reminds me so much of the first book of 39 Clues (or I should say 39 Clues reminds me of this book since this one was originally published in 1978)

This book has been on my TBR for a loooong time and I am enjoying reading it, but am bummed I did not get it done by tonight.  I will edit this post once I finish - 

*edited* sorry this has been one crazy week so far...anyway - this was the weirdest book I think I have read thus far this year.  It truly is best read in as few sittings as possible unless you have a great memory for detail and can juggle clues while at the same time keep (roughly) sixteen different people (or suspects I should say) straight in your thoughts.  I am glad I read it, but I would not read it a second time.  I can't really say much more about the story, because one small slip and the entire story would be ruined.  

Friday, April 1, 2022

Sermon on the Mount

This book by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is turning my whole world upside down.  I am trying to work slowly through it, taking one week at a time for the study, but as soon as I finish one chapter, I am thinking I want more!  I want to know more about this Sermon that Jesus preached.  I want to know how to live this life, I am hungry for more insight into what each proclamation from Christ's mouth meant.  And with that hunger I find myself also convicted of how VERY far from each Beatitude I am walking.  

Do you ever wonder what the word 'Beatitude' means?  Well - I googled it - and these are the definitions: a state of utmost bliss and supreme blessedness.  I often throw the word 'bliss' around when talking about yummy things or beautiful seasons.  But I am not sure that I have ever referred to my walk with Christ - my Christian life as being a state of utmost bliss or of supreme blessedness.  What that reveals about my heart scares me.  I want a heart that is pure, not duplicitous.  

Here comes the struggle... 

The one goal, the only goal, I have been on target to meet this year is my reading goal.  And I have thoroughly enjoyed reading - I have discovered some amazing authors, learned some hard truths, had my eyes opened to the injustice running rampant - often in the most vulnerable communities, and giggled in enjoyment in the midst of some very, very hard days.  But at the same time, have these books ushered me closer to Christ?  Have they formed my heart in way that is pleasing to God?  If I am honest, over half of the books I have reveled in have not done that.  And I have read more that 32 books this year.  Some have been re-reads, some audio, some have been pre-reads for the girls...but with 32 + books under my belt, have I developed a closer walk with God?  

On the one hand, it is not sinful to read books.  I mean clearly there are books (just like anything else) that stir things up in my heart or imagination that are sinful, but the gray area of where does the line get drawn between enjoyment and discipline is hard for me to see.   Anyway, this is where I am and what I am wrestling with as I prepare to start chapter four of The Sermon on the Mount by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.