love to paint

This morning I finished reading Melody Carlson's annual Christmas novel.  This one has a funny name (as they usually do)-- The Christmas Joy Ride .  The story follows an 85 year old woman, Joy, and her neighbor, Miranda, as they travel in a large motorhome decorated for Christmas.  They are traveling from Chicago to Phoenix to deliver Christmas decorations to some that need cheer. I enjoyed the first 3/4 of the book, but then it turned sour on me.  The last delivery was so unrealistic. I found myself actually wanting to sit down and rewrite the dialogue between the characters.  I had enjoyed the main character for most of the book, but then that disappeared.  She was presumptuous and unkind.  The ending was extremely unbelievable for me--much more so than the average "tied up in a bow" Christian fiction ending. What's most interesting to me is what I realized after I finished reading the book.  Many Christians talk about how Christ is missi...

In our house, the reader of mystery novels is my husband.  But, every once in a while, I do pick one up.  That was the case last week when I sat down to read Ann Gabhart's new novel, Murder at the Courthouse .  Ms. Gabhart's fiction novels are all written under the name Ann Gabhart.  In a new turn, she takes the name of A.H. Gabhart for this series of mysteries she has written.  I think it's a little funny, but I do understand.  I can imagine that it can be difficult at times for authors to break out of the genre mold when they have written one "type" of book for years.  "A.H. Gabhart" sounds a lot more like a mystery author's name (ie. PD James, GK Chesterton, PG Wodehouse). As I opened up this book, I knew from the first page why I have enjoyed Ms. Gabhart's books over the years.  She is one of the better Christian writers whose books I have reviewed. The plot of Murder at the Courthouse centers around a deputy sheriff, Michael Keane, and ...

I'm nearing the end of my stack.  One more to go after the book I'm about to review.  Of the books I read this week, this book had the weakest writing.  It was a very interesting thing to sit down, open up a book, and feel that my middle school writing students could have written the essays in this book. That said, the reason people will read this book is not for the writing.  It is for the stories and the primary subject--Horses. I have a daughter who loves horses.  Honestly, it is a love that I don't understand or grasp.  I decided to read The Horse of My Heart: Stories of the Horses We Love , edited by Callie Smith Grant, with the hope that the stories would help me understand my daughter a little better.  This collection of stories did impress upon my heart something I already knew--that there are many people who love horses.  They love them the way my husband loves dogs.  They love them the way I love to take pictures and capture God's...

A few years ago, Rosaria Champagne Butterfield wrote a memoir.  Her book was about her journey from being a lesbian, women's studies professor in upstate New York to being a Christian pastor's wife and mom of four kids.  Her book was aptly titled The Secrets of an Unlikely Convert .  She was won over to Christ, not by man's words or by the four spiritual laws, but by Christ and the Word of God.  Her first book was intended to share her story--to encourage people to love instead of to preach.  There was a pastor and his wife who God used to encourage and walk alongside her quietly, listening in love, unwavering in God's Truth.  This book was not intended to be one given to someone living a homosexual lifestyle with the hope that it would convince them of the truth. But, Ms. Butterfield has now written a second book with tackles sexual sin and God's Truth.  This new book is one that can be given to one who is struggling.  It is one that address...

My oldest daughter is in that tweendom stage and my middle daughter is entering that time as well.  On Sunday as she was getting ready for church, she told me that she has her own style.  She said it sweetly with a smile on her face.  I looked at her in skinny jeans and a grey blousy shirt and agreed.  New territory. A friend of mine recently shared that her daughter and her friends--fifth graders are looking forward to the school dance that will be held at the end of the year.  Her daughter isn't into boys, but this is a girl ask boy, or boy ask girl situation.  New territory. Last week at lunch during our co-op day, I talked with the middle school girls, which included my 7th grade daughter, about what their families talked about at dinner.  We often have very humorous conversations at our table, so Autumn and I explained how my husband was interrupting Autumn's story with "in a volcano", "by a volcano", "under a volcano", "inside a volc...

Grace.  We are saved by God's grace.  And the Word calls us to show grace to others.  It is one of the most beautiful and wonderful, yet difficult words.  Over the years, I've several books about grace that I have learned from and enjoyed.   The Discipline of Grace is probably my most favorite.  A second place would go to Becoming a Woman of Grace by Cynthia Heald.  Lastly, What's so Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey is full of challenges to Christians about what Grace looks like and should look like. In front of me, sits another book about grace.  It is titled Grin With Grace by Kathy Carlton Willis.  Ms. Willis writes from her heart in this book.  It's full of stories of her life and what the Lord has taught her.  She writes with a very casual tone as if she was talking with a group of ladies at her church.  The tone of her book sounds like that of talks I've heard at various women's retreats I've gone to over the ...

Last year around this time, I commented to one of my sister in law's that I hadn't been reading much Christian non-fiction.  I had enough on my plate simply keeping my head above water.  Heavy nonfiction was not where I wanted to be spending my time. So, it is quite a surprise to me that the majority of the books (all but one) that I have to review and read right now are nonfiction.  Over the next week or two, I'm going to be plowing through them.  I'm starting with two that are a little similar. The first is by Barb Raveling, The Renewing of the Mind Project .  I often have authors email me and ask me to read and review their books.  That's the case with this one.  After emailing back and forth with Barb, I decided to read her book.  I'm glad I did. There's a whole jargon that we use as Christian.  Words we take for granted without exactly defining.  Forgiveness is one of these.  I think "renewing your mind" as the Scriptur...