Forgot to post my week one wrap up of NT in 90 days

Normally I like to read through the entire Bible in 90 days at least once a year, but this summer I decided in light of the Sermon on the Mount study I am doing to do a 90 day New Testament read through.  Last week was week one, and I did fine until Wednesday and then I did not pick it back up until Saturday when I did a small(ish) marathon reading session to catch up.

One thing that strikes me each time I read through the Word of God, NO matter HOW many times I have read that verse or chapter or even book of the Bible, I always learn something new.  Every.single.time.

This time it was Matthew chapter 13 verse 41 - Jesus is talking about the end of time and He says that at the end of time, the Son of Man will send out His angels and weed out of the kingdom EVERYTHING everything EVERYTHING that causes sin...this is SUCH a promise to hold on to.  

Speaking of the plan, I am behind again, so I better stop talking and start reading - 

Memorial Day

 

This weekend as we take time to remember those that gave their lives in service to our country, may we never forget to pray that their family and friends are comforted in the midst of their enormous loss.

What I read this week:

I didn't want to begin my book review without mentioning the tragedy in Texas, but at the same time I didn't want to trivialize it by just putting a small paragraph before my book review.  I write these posts as a memory book of sorts, something to leave our girls as a snapshot of our day to day life.  The good, the bad, and the ugly.  So, even though I follow up my last post with this one, I do NOT for one second want to trivialize what unfolded this past week in Texas.

I don't know if it is because our days are so hard or if it is a result of how I am hard-wired, but I love to read books and stories that almost borderline fantasy world.  Kind of like living in Disney World on the best day with no crowds, no rude or mean people, no arguments about politics - the Disney that Walt imagined.  

I do not love reality when it smacks me in the face while reading a book.  For the most part I read to escape whatever is going on in the moment, and travel and see and do things I would never actually do in real life.  Like solve a crime or live in Imperial Russia or come of age in Victorian England.  That is why I love the cartoon movie Anastasia (the one where Meg Ryan voices Anastasia and Angela Lansbury voices the Dowager Empress).  I was heartbroken, disgusted, and appalled when I tried to read a historical fiction book about Anastasia earlier this year.

I have never read a book by Michael Crichton, until this week when I checked out The Great Train Robbery from the library.  On the one hand I loved the history and how the story unfolded, almost as an aside looking back with current scenes splashed throughout.  It provided such depth into what the characters were thinking and what was the result of those thoughts and deeds...it proved to be a very effective way of detailing such a fantastical tale.  I am impressed with Crichton's talent as a writer, it is sad that he passed away in 2008.  

What I did NOT love about this book was getting an up close and personal bird's eye view of the dark underbelly of Victorian England.  I much prefer to read the gentler tales of gentlemen and ladies with the occasional scoundrel sprinkled in.  

All that to say, this was an overall fascinating read.  It really helped that the girls and I recently spent time studying about the Crimean War and the last Czars of Russia as well as the Sepoy mutiny - so the amount of research Crichton effortlessly and artfully wove into the fictitious accounts, was in short, superbly done.  It underscored the fact that this crime was truly daring and unbelievable.  If you like historical fiction, pick up this book.  Be warned though that you will get a view of Victorian England that will likely turn your stomach.

The second book that I am reading (actually wrapping it up today, tomorrow at the latest) is Teaching to Change Lives by Dr. Howard Hendricks.  I LOVE this book.  I have started it several times, but always had to lay it aside, even before getting through chapter one.  There is nothing wrong with chapter one, it just always seemed life would implode about that time, or something else more pressing would arise...anyway, a few days ago I resolved 'I am going to just read this book' - and so I am happy to report I did in fact start at page one and made it all the way through chapter one the first day I started!  YAY!  This is a book that is SO so good.  I think every single person who is responsible for teaching in any way, shape, or form should read this book.  From homeschool to public or private, from Sunday school or book clubs/Bible studies...this is a fantastic book that uses John Milton Gregory's classic The Seven Laws of Teaching as a springboard.  Make sure you have a pencil and/or pen to take notes and get a good paperback copy if you can...it is ever so much easier to flip back and forth with an actual book.

This week...

It seems like the weeks get harder as the year goes on.  The stories that are splashed across the newspaper and social media feeds are heartbreaking and appalling...the fact that there can be a mass shooting at an elementary school in modern day America is beyond comprehension.  I am so very sorry for all who experienced the horror and trauma of May 24th.  May the God of all comfort draw them close and hold them and knit their broken hearts back together.  Words seem so empty, I am just so very sorry that so many have completely shattered hearts.

Hand of Fate

by Lis Weihl and April Henry

The ensemble cast of characters in the Triple Threat series are SO, so good.  I know I have mentioned this before, but I accidentally read the fourth (and final) book of this series before deciding to go back to the beginning.  Now, after finishing book two, I am so glad that I am taking the time to read the entire series, even if I wish I had done it in order.

This book again starts off hitting the ground running.  Cassidy (crime news/prime time news reporter), Allison (federal prosecutor), and Nicole (FBI agent) team up to track down the killer of a famous radio host.  I loved how this story started, how it developed...especially learning more about Nicole and her back story, and how the ending caught me by surprise.  I had no idea the killer was the killer until it was revealed.

What makes this series so good is how seamlessly Lis Wiehl and April Henry switch from Nic, to Allison, to Cassidy, and how their personal lives mesh with the mystery.  As the stories unfold and intertwine with each other, it feels like you really get to know the characters and the story becomes more than just words on a page.

Sermon on the Mount Week Ten

This week was probably my favorite week so far in the study.  

Dr. Lloyd- Jones expounds upon what exactly is the "heart" when the Bible says things like Blessed are the pure in heart... (Matt 5:8).  (If you want to go deeper, just look up the verse in BibleHub.com and choose the lexicon)  Dr. Lloyd-Jones also teaches what exactly it means to have a pure heart, because as the rest of the verse shows, that is the only way you will see God.

I, again, urge you to not only read this book (Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones), but also purchase and use the workbook/video study by Kari Denker.  The questions, insights, and analogies that she shares are SO worth the cost!!  

I will leave off with a reminder that I read yesterday (I don't own this book, I just requested a sample for kindle - so this quote is from the foreword - which was written by Dr. John Piper)

Habits of Grace by David Mathis:

"The psalmist does not say, "You sell them drink," but, "You give them drink from the river of Your delights" (Psalm 36:8). But all of us leak.  We all need inspiration and instruction for how to drink - again and again.  Habitually."

This study teaches that very thing - that we must come and drink again and again.  Reminders that we leak all over the place.  It is not enough to be filled once.  We have to return over and over and over - habitually - to the Source of Life giving water.

Mother's Day, Muffins, and Murder by Sara Rosett

This was such a cute book.  I haven't read any of her other books in this series (A Mom Zone Mystery), but it was pretty easy to pick up with this one (#10) and keep the characters and their back stories straight.

Ellie Avery is a mom with a side organizational business that she is trying to keep afloat and gently grow while often times being the sole parent that holds down the fort at home as her husband is in the military.  When the story kicks off, it is in the midst of those crazy last few weeks of school and Ellie is heavily involved at her daughter Livvy and son Nathan's school North Dawkins Elementary.  As if celebrating Mother's Day with muffins and juice was not exciting enough, a dead body is discovered and the mayhem ensues.  Field days, teacher appreciation week, scandals and rumors keep you turning the pages to find out who did it?!?

I am so glad I found this book, I really enjoyed it.  

Face of Betrayal

Triple Threat #1 by Lis Wiehl and April Henry

I read the last book in this series first (accidentally!), and since the book proved to be a definitive end to so many stories wrapped up in this series, I waivered on whether it was worth going back and reading the first three, or if it was enough to leave it at having read Eyes of Justice.

I decided it was SO worth it.  I absolutely LOVE Lis Wiehl and April Henry together, I know they publish material separately, but I have yet to read something where either one is the sole author.

This was a great book.  You meet Nicole Hedges (FBI), Allison Pierce (Federal Prosecutor), and Cassidy Shaw (prime time local reporter) for the first time.  Together these three form the Triple Threat club.  I love how these three women weave in and out of each other's lives, how their stories give depth and insight into what they are not only investigating and trying to solve, but also how they get from point A to point B when they arrive at an arrest or indictment or both.

Katie Converse, a seventeen year old page for the US Senate goes missing while walking her sister's dog.  Literally one moment she is there, the next she is gone.  Will the three women be able to work together and pool resources and clues to solve the mystery before it is too late to save Katie?  Is Katie even still alive?  If she is, where is she?  If not, what happened and who is responsible?  

As the search for Katie gets underway, you realize that Allison and Nicole are also struggling with balancing wanting to be a mom and/or being a mom with their demanding careers. I thought it was a perfect fit to read this for the Mother's Day challenge, as it is often easy to forget the faces behind the badges and cameras and microphones are real people, who have real struggles just like you and I do.  This was such a great story, now I am off to finish Mother's Day, Muffins, and Murder and to check and see if book two of the Triple Threat is available at the library.  💝

Mother's Day Mayhem

So, when I checked out this book, I did not pay attention to the little subtitle...this was a novella.  I am not sure it actually counts for my May Crime Calendar Challenge, but it was a super cute, fun, quick read.  

I loved this little story.  I have not read anything else by this author, so I was trying to play catch-up and keep each character and their back story straight and follow along for the mystery.  I will try another one, I went back and checked and most of the mysteries under this series (tourist trap series by Lynn Cahoon) seem to be full length (200+ pgs) stories.  

PS it has a yummy meatloaf recipe at the end of the book 💓

Sermon on the Mount Chapter 9

It has taken me more than a week to pick this study back up, but even when I am not actively working on it, it is working on my heart.  

This is one of those studies that pushes a sort of stake in the ground, a marker.  You glance back at it and realize after passing this way, you will not be the same person.

This week it covers verse seven:

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."

Again, this chapter teaches how one Beatitude leads into the other, how they are stepping stones into each other, going deeper, laying more open for you to see, and always, always pointing to Christ as your one and only hope.  

God's Word is so incredibly beautiful.

And His timing is impeccable.  I watched Kari's video after I posted my last post and guess what?  It speaks directly to what I am wrestling with.  Only God can do that.

Why did I not see this before?

This has been such a difficult year.  

Brutal, in fact.

Last night though several things clicked into place.

First of all, a few weeks ago I read a book called Humbled by David Mathis.  I picked this book up in late fall of 2021 and thumbed through it (or as much as you can do that on kindle 😊) and decided that was not a book to read yet.  But, every other week or so, that book kept coming to mind or I would read an excerpt in a blog post somewhere, and I knew it was something I needed to read, I also knew that it was something that would be uncomfortable to read.   

Both were true - I definitely needed to read that book and it was definitely an uncomfortable read. 

Anyhow, yesterday I read the sweetest comment from Lauren (on Insta her handle is The James Method) and then an email reply from The Holy Mess regarding a video she posted about a new summer weight loss challenge that she is doing.  Both were encouraging in very different ways, but through both two sins that have been jockeying for first place in my heart came to light:  covetousness and self-pity.  

Have you ever gone through a season in which it appears that every single other person is being blessed but you?  The blessings can be financial, physical, health, friendship, community, spiritual, Biblical, revelation of God Himself...but you look around and cry UNFAIR!  You feel forgotten, like you are in this season all alone?  Like your life is either standing still, or worse, moving backwards.  Then to top that it looks like everyone else is displaying their accomplishments like rare jewels in a desert and you stand there with nothing to show?  Messes to hide, but no accomplishments that are worthy to draw anyone's attention to.  You want what they have, or what you think they have, or at the very least less of the mess that you see when you gaze around you at your life.  

This is covetousness.  

I always thought covetousness was something else - like you drive by a great house and deeply desire to have that...but covetousness is a hideously ugly root that digs deep into your heart and breeds discontentment and self-pity and distrust of God.  Because at its core, covetousness is that serpent in the garden asking did God really say....?  

Covetousness breeds self-pity.

The good news though, there is a way out of the hamster wheel of misery.  The anecdote is humility and repentance.

Through the years I have often told my girls that whatever they are struggling with, it loses power when you bring it into the light.  A bad dream loses its intensity as you talk about it in the light of the morning, a sin loses its grip as you confess it and shine a light onto it, fear loses its strength as you talk about it (even if you feel like an idiot saying them out loud), and covetousness loses its grip as I humble myself under God and say 'have your way' and keep me in this season as long as necessary.  I desire to be like Christ more than I desire ease and comfort and all of the 'things' that are constantly vying for my affections.

Covetousness and self-pity not only lose the strangle hold on my heart through humility, but also when I stop and look at God's Word and examine my heart, my life, and my fears through that filter.  Then I have eyes to see all that He has richly blessed me with and can cry out THANK YOU SO MUCH with a genuine heart.  

Because God has not left me alone.  SO, SO far from it.  He cared enough to get a book into my hands to prepare me for this season, He brought that post on Insta to my attention and also made sure I sat down and watched that video yesterday (was tempted to avoid Insta verse mapping posts because I dropped the ball on my maps and the video yesterday because I am struggling with weight right now).  And He has done a million other things that I am not even aware of...

God give me the eyes to see Your hand, give me the heart to sense Your presence, and give me the strength to endure.  Thank you SO much for all the blessings you have poured out over me.  Forgive me for the ugliness of covetousness and self-pity.  You are so, so good.  

Lady of Ashes

This is a historical mystery written by Christine Trent.  I checked it out from the library and I have to say, it was sloooow in many, many parts.  It covers the war between the north and south, Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort, the slums of London, and in the midst of the historical narratives, the Morgan's undertaking business in all of its detail.  

The main mystery was splintered and it took me a bit to realize exactly which one was the focal point of the book.  Which mystery was  the one that was Violet's priority to solve, the one that would provide the spine to the story?  The narrative jumped between a nameless person writing in a diary about their nefarious actions, to American politics, to a workhouse girl, and even including Graham (Violet's husband) and Fletcher (her brother in law/husband's brother) wrapped up in some sort of an illegal/unadvisable something or other.  I think the book could have been about a hundred pages shorter and a bit more to the point.

I have to say even though I would not read this again, I love history, so I found the little historical tidbits interesting.  

I am also reading Mother's Day Mayhem by Lynn Cahoon.  I didn't realize what a short book it was, but I will write a review later today about the story.