Glass Sword

by Victoria Aveyard

This is the second book in the series and to be honest, I just wasn't feeling it...that is until chapter twenty-ish. 

The beginning and middle did not draw me in like the first book did, but I kept reading because...well I want to find out what happens.  I am glad I pushed through - the ending of the book is - well let me just say this.  The last nine chapters (and the epilogue) had me literally on the edge of my seat, willing my eyes to please read faster...pure pulse pounding drama.

Of course it leaves off at a cliff hanger, leaving me scrambling to find a copy o book three to read.

Theme of this book: Anyone Can Betray Anyone.  

Favorite quote:

"I cling to Cal, Kilorn, Shade, to saving all the newbloods I can, because I am afraid of waking up to emptiness, to a place where my friends and family are gone and I am nothing but a single bolt of lightning in the blackness of a lonely storm." pg. 250

Scripture Goals for the week of September 25th

This is a post in a weekly series helping to develop the habit of consistency in my walk with God.  

Last week, I completed week one of the Bible Study I am doing with my mom, I read through Romans One (only three times though), I finished transcribing it into my Journible, and completed week one (I was already well into it) of Kari Denker I Will Meditate study on Romans One.  Oh and I listened to the very first sermon Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones gave on the book of Romans....only to realize there are thirty-one total.  On JUST the first book of Romans.  

WOW.

I think it will take me through October to make my way through the thirty-one sermons.  

So, the format for studying Romans is going to be: complete the Journible and I Will Meditate as we begin a new chapter of Romans, then begin listening to the sermons.  However many sermons for that chapter, will dictate how far between each Journible and I Will Meditate that I complete.

Oh and I thought our minister was going to start the book of Revelations today.  But I misunderstood and we are still wrapping up the life of David.  I was so disappointed.  Until, I realized, this gives me ample time to go through Amir Tsarfati's Revealing Revelations with one of my girls that have been asking to do this study with me.  It is a win-win.  

So, this week's goals are as follows :

1) Complete week two of the Bible Study with my mom 💖

2) Finish Watchman Nee's The Normal Christian Life (hate that I haven't picked this up in more than a week)

3) Listen to Dr. Lloyd-Jones's sermons

4) Start Revealing Revelations with my girl 💝

5) Hymn: 'I Need Thee Every Hour' and the more contemporary 'Lord, I Need You'

What are your goals for getting into the Word this week?  Have a great week! 🍂

Red Queen

by Victoria Aveyard

This week's challenge was to either read Fall or Spring (to celebrate the changing of the seasonal guard 💖) or to read the colors of the world.  I had a book on my shelf that immediately fit the bill...Red Queen.

The cover itself drew me in, but it is the story that kept me there.  

This is an intriguing book about a kingdom divided between the elite silver bloods and the peasant, impoverished, and conscripted reds.  Reading this reminded me of The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The False Prince and of stories passed down from the days of the Gladiator games in Rome all rolled into one.

Mare Barrows is on the brink of her eighteen birthday and with that...conscription.  She is not apprenticed to anyone and is forced (to her family's shame) to pickpockets and steal trinkets, ration papers, and if she is really lucky...currency.  She goes along to get along until her best friend Kilorn's world is upended by the sudden, unexpected death of his master (the fisherman he was apprenticing under) and as such, he is now facing mandatory conscription.

What unfolds is a fast paced story drenched in mystery, intrigue, and treachery.  Mare will stop at nothing to protect those that she loves...but what happens when she is the one who most needs protecting?  Especially when the one she needs the most protection from is herself?

Quotes that snagged my heart:

"If I fall, if I even slip, I will die.  And others will die for my failure."  The enormity of the weight she carries is uttered in these seventeen words...the last seven weigh the heaviest on her heart.

"Who would I have chosen? If none of this had happened, if Kilorn's master never died, if _____ hand was never _______, if nothing ever changed.  If.  It is the worst word in the world."  Blanked out two things so that it doesn't give away something that is best read firsthand...but how much of life has been spent asking "if" oftentimes coupled with the word "what"?  I can relate to that heartbreak, when you realize you turned a corner (often times it feels like it was turned for you) and you realize there is no going back, all that is left, the only choice you have is to either sit and drown under the weight of "if" or learn to navigate the new normal.  

This is book one in what appears to be a four part series. 

Scripture Goals:

For study:

This week I want to finish writing chapter one of Romans in my Journible (have you heard of these?  They are called the 17:18 series and are inspired by Deuteronomy 17:18...I think most (if not all) books are available on Amazon in the Journible series), I want to go back and re-do Kari Denker's week one on Romans from the I Will Meditate volume four, and I want to begin listening to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' Roman series.  

I also have week one of a Bible study I am doing with my mom to complete.  

For reading:

I am going to read and re-read Romans chapter one this week.  

For worship and prayer:

Hymn and Prayer: I Need Thee Every Hour 

Bible Reading and Study...

Feel free to read, but be warned, this is a looong post and is more for me to process what I have done/where I am versus where I want to go/what I want to do...in other words, quite boring and a bit rambling for everyone else...

I began the summer with the idea to read through the New Testament with some "friends"/acquaintances, my mom, and my girls...but this summer (much like the entire year) was brutal for my mom, for my girls, and truly I am not sure about the "friends/acquaintances" because they only responded to one or two emails, but if their summer was anything like ours - I get it.

Not only was it brutally hot (over a hundred every.single.day), but everyone's chronic medical conditions blossomed out of control...and the summer quickly became very intense.  

And quite miserable.

But...I really, really wanted to do a quick(ish) read through of the New Testament, especially after completing the first third of the Sermon on the Mount (by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones and workbook/video study by Kari Denker).  That incredible study was amazing and humbling and it made me hunger to draw closer to God and to His Word.  

But that's not all...you see, a few years ago I decided I wanted to do a deep dive into the book of Romans, especially after my first read-through of The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee.  This book is a commentary of sorts of Romans - actually more of a deep dive into the hardest concepts that Paul teaches in that book of the Bible.  But I quickly became overwhelmed and distracted by life and sat it aside...so knowing that study was still sitting on the shelf right next to where my desk is - that was also an impetus for me to do a read-through of the New Testament in 90 days.  Because, I believe, Romans is best studied in the backdrop of having just read through the the Gospels and actually the entire New Testament.

I started off well - May 22nd was the day we collectively decided to begin, and I did ok through the beginning of July (through the book of Acts).  

Then life exploded.  

And I reached Romans chapter one and that pull to dive in and dive deep hit again and I paused the reading.  I picked up The Normal Christian Life and re-read it as I studied Romans. 

Then COVID hit our house and took all five of us down, and as I lay in bed completely miserable, and the intense exhaustion washed over me and as my thoughts slowly chased each other around my brain (the brain fog is real)...I realized I still really wanted to finish the New Testament.  I had a birthday coming up and decided what I wanted most for my birthday was to finish the read-through.  

I am a fast reader.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE to read.  I prefer a book to just about anything (tv, movie, get togethers...) but when I read the Bible, I don't want to just plow through it.  I want to taste it, savor it, spend time over it.  So in order to do this, I had to make my morning reading a priority.  

And I did it.  

The morning of my birthday found me in Revelations and I read the whole book that day and it was amazing.  

I love God's Word so much, yet, ironically I struggle with making it a priority to study AND read it daily.  I have tried various study methods - verse mapping, Scripture writing, a combination of the two with doodles and colors thrown in to help, Bible studies someone else makes, in-person Bible studies, virtual and/or video studies, Bible journals with space to do inductive type study with it...you get the picture.  I have also printed off (lots of different kinds of!!!) reading plans to complete (I do SO SO much better when I have a box to check-off) and yet, like exercising or eating healthier - find it SO difficult to be consistent.  

Then I thought of my reading challenge goal.  I've set the goal to read 104 books every.single.year since I first heard about/printed off Tim Challies' yearly challenge.  And I think that was eight or ten years ago? (*actually, I just checked and it was only six years ago...apparently 2016 was the first time he posted this challenge!)  A few years ago I did well by pulling off all of the books from my shelves that I wanted to read that year and creating index cards for each book and I did read more books and more consistently that year than any other year...but still fell far, far short of the goal.  This year - this year - has been a game changer.  I joined a challenge that asks you to post and check-in and that has been enough to spur me on to read more than I have, hands down, in any years past.  I may even reach my goal of 104 books.  Which got me to thinking, if that worked for books, why can't it work for Bible reading?  Because, while books are one of my favorite, favorite things...they are not the very words I live by.  As amazing as they are, they do not impart life, they are not alive and active, they are not God-breathed.  

So...I am going to post every single Sunday - here on my blog.  I am going to lay out what I hope to accomplish in the week to come and what I did (or did not do) in the week that just passed.  My hope is that this simple habit will spur me on to consistency - the gateway habit that will finally conquer what has been standing in the way of the growth that God has called me to.

Winterbourne Home for Mayhem and Mystery

I tried.  

Honestly I did.  

I have this book pre-ordered in the paperback version which will be released later this month.  But when my youngest got the Audible version this week...I just couldn't wait any longer.  Oh well, that just means I get to re-read it when the paperback arrives. 😋 

OH WOW.

This book is a FANTASTIC follow up to book one.  (If you have not read book one, don't read any further)

Izzy is still missing  And Gabriel, now that shoe is on the other foot, is not handling that very well, not well at all actually.  Top that with Smithers being on an around-the-world cruise...and you will understand the mayhem that the title alludes to.  The mystery that unfolds is fantastic.  It keeps you so enthralled you stay up waaaaaay too late just so you can find out  'what happens next'.  

I LOVE books like this.  

I laughed out loud so many times, everyone kept asking me, 'what's so funny' and when I heard my youngest laughing...we laughed even harder.  I HIGHLY recommend both books to anyone and everyone - of any age.  I really hope Ally Carter is planning a book three, because I don't want this series to end yet!

The mini challenge...

This week, it was all about a mini challenge.  I picked a book at random from our shelves at home.  I selected which shelf, counted over one and down five and that pointed to a book I had just read earlier this year!  Ha!  So, I had one of my teens select another pile on the same shelf and count up five from the bottom.  This time it landed on Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy.  

The funniest part of this is - this is a book on managing your time effectively.  I bought it several years ago after reading 21 Days to a Disciplined Life by Crystal Paine.  And then it proceeded to sit on my shelf as year after year I procrastinated in every endeavor to just.read.the.book.  Ha!  

I an nerdy about certain subjects : like Bible study, time management/planning, and habit building for example.  I love to read about them, study them, and observe them (pinterest and bujo pages....ah!!!!)

I am so glad the mini challenge led me to read this book!  Several quotes caught my attention as I was reading along this week - but two were the most important for me to work on :

"...resolve to work all the time you work.  When you go to work, put your head down and work the whole time." (pg. 53)  

I am SO bad at this.  I try to multi-task - read while folding the laundry...this becomes an endless exercise at either picking up the clothes as the towering pile teeters because I get swept away in a particularly good section or the book falls down repeatedly (denting my paper back cover 😒 ) as I address the harder to fold articles.  Or talking on the phone/texting while I am waiting for something to cook...many a dinners have burned because of this attempt.  When it is work time - WORK on the thing that is in front of me.

"There will never be enough time to do everything you have to do." pg. 29

I am so glad he said this.  Because the to-do list is endless and I never get it all done.  I never get all of the books read or messes cleaned up or laundry conquered or topics covered that I want to cover.  And that is just life.  There will always be "more".  What I learned from this book is this : work hard and work focused on what is in front of you.  Eat the frog - the most difficult/ugly/challenging frog (task) first.  And then when work time (or school time or cleaning time or workout time...) is over - let.it.go.  Rest and know that tomorrow is a new day to pick back up with it all.  It will still be there.

I did it!!!!!!!

I finally finished New Testament in 90 days...it actually took 115 days, but I did it!  I love the Bible so much and am so glad I did not give up!!  Now...to finish my Romans deep dive 😍

Created for Commitment

by Audrey Wetherell Johnson 

I loved this book.  It is divided into four parts and is an amazing autobiography.  

God is so incredibly faithful.  

Part one tells the story of Audrey's early life, her journey away from God and then return to Him.  Part two tells the story of her time in China and as only God could arrange the timing, I was also re-reading The Normal Christian Life (by Watchman Nee - a Chinese Christian pastor) and the two together - it was AMAZING.  Part three tells of her journey to America and the birth of BSF.  And finally, part four (my absolute favorite portion) is titled "Guidelines for the Christian Life".  In this portion, she gives specific encouragement and teaching on how to truly know if you are "saved", how to  study the Bible, the importance of prayer, and the inevitability of suffering.  

As most of you who know and adore Anne Graham Lotz, you will know that this is the person who not only started Bible Study Fellowship, but also who taught Anne how to study the Bible for herself.  I have wanted to read this story for a loooooooong time and it more than exceeded all of my expectations.  

What I tried to read this week...

OK, so I tried a few books before landing on the one that I would read for this week's challenge.  Although I need to pre-read it for my girls, it was honestly a bit of a let down...and I am not even done yet.

Tried Mr. Churchill's Secretary.  Did not like it.

Re-listened to Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor.  Loved it!  I cannot wait for the paperback version of number two in the series (Winterborne Home for Mystery and Mayhem) to be available at the end of this month.

Re-read Karen Kingsbury's children's book Best Family Ever in preparation to read number three and four aloud this next week.  It has been so long, that I needed a refresher for who the Baxter siblings are as children (because although some of the character traits are unfolding as children, they change quite a bit in adulthood in Karen Kingsbury's Baxter family series).  

Pre-read Owls in the Family.  It is a sweet, short book that my girls were sad they missed when they were younger, so wanted to make sure we get it read.  But as they own rabbits and guinea pigs...they wanted to make sure the owls do not partake of those furry lovelies in the story.  

Landed on Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, because it has been in a stack of books the girls have asked me to pre-read since last spring.  We saw the Disney+ movie (and loved it!) and the book is quite different from the movie.  I am not sure why I am not particularly liking the book...but I just don't.  I am not quite through with it, but will finish it by tonight hopefully.  My favorite quote in the book is:

"Root was right to be nervous.  It he'd known how the straightforward Recon assignment was going to turn out, he probably would have retired then and there.  Tonight, history was going to be made.  And it wasn't the discovery of radium, first man-on-the-moon, happy kind of history.  It was the Spanish Inquisition, here-comes-the Hindenburg bad kind of history.  Bad for humans and fairies.  Bad for everyone." 

Does anyone else ever feel like, when upon reflection, you had a history making week and if you'd known on Monday what would unfold you would retire right on the spot?  Except, we cannot retire from life in general, can we?

I am off to finish the book, but will say this:  If someone asked my opinion regarding movie or book, this time, I would actually suggest the movie instead of the book. 

*edited to add* I finished it!  I stick with my original inclination - I prefer the Disney+ version of the movie to the book.

Her Majesty, The Queen

I am shocked and saddened at the passing of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth.  I am praying for her family and all of Great Britain.  May God comfort them, and guide King Charles as he steps up to lead the country.  

Person of Interest

by J. Warner Wallace

Mr. Wallace is a cold case detective, nearing his retirement (and ironically that of his boss and good friend).  One case really bothered both his boss and Mr. Wallace, and as such this case becomes the carrot at the end of the stick - if they can solve this case, then they can both retire is relative peace.  

The tricky thing about the case before them though is that is a 'no-body, no-evidence collected' type of case.  A husband reports his wife missing and the police believed him, and as a result no evidence is logged in the case.  This is going to be an uphill battle, trying to go back almost a decade and prove what happened.  And prove it well enough to either prosecute the case, or put the matter to rest.

Simultaneously, Mr. Wallace has been resistant to church and the Bible his entire life.  He has scoffed at it, mocked it, and generally did whatever it took to avoid showing up at church.  But his wife, she is persistent and after three years of persuading him to reconsider and please go with her, he finally gives in.

What unfolds from here is a fascinating front row instructional manual on how this cold case detective solves the crimes that seem unsolvable.  He tells you definitions in little boxes on the side, anywhere from what it means to be a 'person of interest' to why word choices matter so much to detectives,  He even addresses whether jurors can (or cannot) trust 'old memories' as they surface in court cases.  He also takes the time to  meet head-on and explain the many, many skeptical arguments about Jesus and Christianity, for example the age-old question about how if God is really God, why does evil flourish and continue? 

 

Could the Bible be, in fact, true?  Or is just a collection of stories and historical events?  Did you ever stop to wonder why Jesus came when He came?  Why not a hundred years before or five hundred years after?  What was going on in that point of history that made that time so ideal, so important?  

This book is worth your time to read, and along the way, you get a front row seat, observing (literally it feels like you are finally able to be the proverbial fly on the wall) as this brilliant detective unwinds the fuse, trying to find out:  did this man Steve, did he really kill his wife?  Or did she in fact run away and manage to stay away all this time?  

Not many people could do what they suspect Steve of doing (if he killed her, where did he hide the evidence and/or the body?)  And not many people could do what she did (if she ran away and stayed away) - sooner or later some evidence that she's still alive would pop up.  After all, it is difficult, if not impossible, for people to totally become someone else without a glance back at their old life (friends and family) and for there to be absolutely not a shred of evidence that that happened.  After all, it has been nearly ten years now...

This is an amazing book.  I highly recommend it.  I am almost done with the New Testament (in more than 90 days 😀) as well as The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee and Created for Commitment by Audrey Wetherel Johnson - but will write separate reviews for each 💖.