Though My Heart is Torn

I recently finished reading Though My Heart is Torn by Joanne Bischof. This is a wonderful second book in the Cadence of Grace series.

Lonnie and Gideon's journey continues, filled with heartache and characters wrestling with whys and regrets. While heartbreaking, this story has its hopeful moments, and is filled with the tenderness and realness that Joanne Bischof is known for. The rugged backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains is beautifully portrayed. I can easily imagine myself there, and the struggles of life in the mountains.

I don't want to give away the story, so I won't say more. Just know that I highly, highly recommend the entire series (I just started reading book three!) and any books written by Joanne.

You can find Joanne's website here: http://www.joannebischof.com

Go Pro

I just finished reading Go Pro by Eric Worre. This is a relatively short, easy to understand guide to becoming a network marketing professional. Usually I don't read "help books", but I had to read this for a class. I actually really enjoyed it! So much so that I will read it again and again in the future.

Eric provides so many great, simple tips that really make a difference. It's not a bunch of baloney and it's not crazy difficult. You just have to work hard and probably adjust the way that you've been doing things in your business.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is part of a network marketing (direct selling, home business, multi-level marketing, etc.) company or

is thinking about starting.

You can visit Eric Worre's website here: http://networkmarketingpro.com/

Five Minute Friday - Meet

Haven't done this in a long time, and it's not Friday, but I want to write. Last week's prompt was Meet.

GO

Meeting up regularly with fellow Christians is a good way to stay encouraged and focused on God. I've definitely noticed that if I'm spending a lot of time with non-Christians, I feel a lot less peaceful, like there's a "disturbance in the force" (Star Wars reference).

When I spend time with godly people, I feel a lot more uplifted, more joyous, and more at peace. Christian friends encourage us, pray for us, and hold us accountable, and that's an awesome thing. So we need to keep doing that! We need to keep going to church, Bible study, and other places where Christians can be found. Then, when we go out into the ungodly world, we have that peace and joy within us and we can spread it to the unsaved people we encounter.

And that includes "meeting" online! Whether in a Facebook group, on a blog, or somewhere else, you can find online Christian community. And you can also spread the joy and peace online in what you say and what you share.

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another. Hebrews 10:25

That's it for today. You can find more posts about Meet here (scroll down to see the bloggers who have linked up), and you can find out what Five Minute Friday is and how it got started by clicking the button below. Have a great day!

The Wife of Noble Character

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award is an award that recognizes the unique voices of women across the world.

I want to thank Debbie Mitchell for nominating me for this Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award!

Here are the rules:
1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.
2. Put the Award logo on your blog.
3. Answer 10 questions you've been sent.
4. Make up 10 new questions for your nominees to answer.

Here are the questions I was sent and my answers:

 

1. Did you decide to start a blog or were you encouraged to do so? If encouraged, by whom?

I decided on my own, but I had been reading blogs by other women, which made me realize I could make my own. It was so long ago that I'm not sure, but it was most likely to share book reviews.

 

2. In 2014, what was your greatest accomplishment?

I think I'd have to say starting my current novel-in-progress. I wrote a good solid start, I really love the characters, I participated in NaNoWriMo with this book, and I even designed the cover.

3. What is your favorite Bible verse and why?

That's a really hard question. I have been working on reading through the Bible but I haven't read all of it yet, plus there are so many verses to choose from! The one I'm thinking of right now is Exodus 23:20. "See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared." It really helps me to know that God is protecting me and that if I follow His path, things will work out for good.

 

4. If there was a movie written about your life, what would the title of that movie be?

Wow! I really don't know. The Nerdy, Compassionate Writer or something like that. Lol :)

 

5. Do you make New Year's resolutions? Why or why not?

No, not really. I don't see a reason to wait until one certain day to make a resolution. Yes, the first day of the year simulates a fresh start, but really, I'd rather just try every day to do the best I can.    

6. If you could bring back just one deceased relative for a day, who would it be and why?

Wow. Well, thankfully, I've never lost anyone extremely close to me. I'd say my great-grandmother. She was a wonderful lady, and I feel sad that I don't remember her very well anymore. I know it would make my whole family happy to see her again. Thankfully, I know I will see her, some day, in heaven.

 

7. You are a reporter on assignment... Where are you and what's the story about?

I'm in the Galapagos Islands reporting on giant tortoises and tropical penguins! And taking lots of pictures :)

 

8. If Facebook was suddenly gone, would it upset you? Why or why not?

Yes and no. Ultimately, yes, it would upset me. Sometimes I get sick of having to check my notifications, and the fact that I often end up spending a lot of time when I do log on. BUT, it is extremely helpful with keeping in contact with friends and relatives, and making more friends! I have met a whole group of wonderful women online and we stay connected through Facebook. My business also greatly relies on Facebook to share new products, teach classes, stay connected with my team members, ask questions, etc.

 

9. There are so many colors in the rainbow. What is your favorite color and why?

Blue has always been my favorite. There are other colors that I like or used to like, but blue is the one that has stayed constant. I wear blue jeans almost every day. I love the blue sky, clear blue water, blue eyes... It's simply a gorgeous color. And it goes with a lot of other colors!

 

10. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate yourself when it comes to productivity? Is there a certain project that you've never completed?

Yikes. That one hits home a bit. I tend to be most productive on the computer. Researching things, sharing information, planning, writing, and more. With other things, I often fall behind. One thing I never finished was a pillow for my brother. I was attempting to make him this awesome Minecraft pillow for Christmas LAST year, we've now gone through two Christmases and two of his birthdays, and I haven't gotten it made. It was way more difficult than I imagined. But I really should try again. I should be able to come up with an easier version, even if it's not as great as I hoped.   

 

That was fun! Thanks for the challenging questions, Debbie :)

 

Okay, I nominate:

Jessie Gunderson, Lisa Bartelt,  Ladette Kerr,  Heather Manning, Casey Herringshaw, Tracy Finch, Sarah Penner

Your questions, ladies:

1. When did you realize you enjoyed writing?

2. What is your favorite thing to write about? (Life, books, devotions, etc.)

3. What's the best book you read in the last year and/or what book are you most looking forward to this year?

4. If you could go anywhere for a one week vacation, where would you go and why?

5. Who is your favorite Bible character?

6. Do you like to go to bed early or are you a night owl? Do you like to sleep in or are you an early riser?

7. If you could have any job you wanted, what would you choose and why?

8. What is your favorite color?

9. What is your all-time favorite movie?

10. Where do you hope to be (whether geographically, spiritually, career-related, or otherwise) a year from now?

Thank you for stopping by my blog :) I hope you enjoyed my answers, and I hope you'll check in at the other blogs soon to see their answers to my questions.

Five Minute Friday - Long

GO

The nights are long when I'm here by myself. My husband works until 2 am, and I'm bored, and it's dark, and sometimes I get scared.

When he gets home we make dinner, watch a tv show or two, or even go grocery shopping. Yes. At 2:30 in the morning, we go grocery shopping.

We do most of the same things "normal" people do. Just at a much later time. You don't go to bed as soon as your or your spouse gets home from work, do you?

So we go to sleep around 4. Or maybe 5. And then we wake up sometime later than most of you. So while the nights are long, the days are short. And that makes the nights seem even longer. Especially now, when it gets dark around 6 pm.

But the thing to remember is no matter how long or short our days seem, they are always 24 hours. 24 hours God gave us to live for Him. And I know I fall short of that, a lot.

So I'm trying not to waste the time and trying to figure out what He wants me to be doing with it.

How about you? Do you feel like you spend too much time on stuff and things and not enough on the important? How do you know what's important?

Every Friday a bunch of bloggers write for five(ish) minutes using a word prompt found on Kate Motaung's blog. Then we link up and read each other's posts. Check it out by clicking the button below. You're welcome to join us!

Food For Thought

Wolverine and a pinata...

Five Minute Friday - Paint

I haven't done this in a while. I think my last one was in November! Yikes.

Every Friday Lisa-Jo Baker invites women (men, too, I guess) over to her blog to get a word prompt. Simply start a new blog post and write for five minutes on that topic. It's that simple! Although, it's not always easy.

Today's Five Minute Friday word is Paint.

GO

I enjoy painting. It's colorful. It's a fun kind of messy. You can roll it on smooth, create some nice brush strokes, or you can splatter it all over the place like crazy. I prefer that third method.

It's amazing how a new coat or color can change so much.

A white room looks open and clean, but if the paint starts to crack, peel, and get dirty, it doesn't look great. If we put a new coat over top, it will look bright again, but there will be bumps and blemishes. But if you sand the wall first, then put on the new coat, it will look like new again.

Say you have a room that's painted dark green. Only those who absolutely love that color are going to feel comfortable there. Otherwise, it feels gloomy, dark, and small. Dark colors can be depressing. But if you change the walls in the exact same room to, say, bright yellow, suddenly you feel happier, and the room looks brighter and more open.

The same goes for us. And I'm not just talking about clothing or makeup, although it applies there, too. But ourselves. Our hearts, souls, minds.

We start out as perfect little babies, but soon we start sinning, getting hurt, getting dirty, and pretty soon we're not gonna look so great. We can act like everything's okay and try to keep the blemishes inside, but eventually it will show no matter how hard we try. Like putting a new coat of paint over the old one. Or we can just let it take over us. Become depressed and gloomy, like the dark green room.

But if we go to the Lord and ask for His forgiveness, dig into the Word, and allow the Lord to heal us first, then when we put on that new coat, there's no ugliness underneath to creep through. We'll be like the dark room after it's painted bright yellow.

Recently I had the opportunity to attend a women's conference, and one of the speakers, Sharon Norris Elliott, talked about putting on the armor of God, and how it won't fit right if we put it on over top of the other stuff we're wearing. We've got to remove our bad stuff before putting on our power suit, so that it will fit right and protect us in the way it's supposed to. You can get her book, Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame, here.

To read more posts on Paint, click here. (Scroll down a bit to read Lisa-Jo's post and then scroll down some more to see the list of other bloggers who participated.) To find out more about Five Minute Friday, how it started, and how you can join in, click the button below.

Five Minute Friday - Fly

It's Five Minute Friday. Get the word prompt from Lisa-Jo Baker's blog, and then just write for five minutes without worrying about it being just right. Today's word is Fly.

GO

Flight. I love it. I understand the desire for it.

The first time I remember being on a plane was when I was five years old, headed to a family reunion in Illinois. I barely remember it. I know we chewed bubblegum and my little brothers chewed on tootsie rolls to keep our ears from popping. I think it happened anyway.

My grandfather introduced me to the show The A-Team when I was ten. It is still my favorite show. Murdock was and is my favorite character. The crazy pilot.

My grandparents volunteered at a Wycliffe Bible Translators office for many years. And every year we went to their annual family weekend at a local airport. I still look forward to it every year. No matter if I get to fly anywhere else, I have a guaranteed chance to fly once every year at the fair. Some years I take a helicopter ride, some years a small plane. The planes vary. Everything from a six seater to an eleven. And I go all day so I can watch them fly.

I love driving past our local airport. I don't often get to see anything taking off or landing. But the planes are lined up on the side of the runway. And at night, the lights of the runway are almost magical. The anticipation of flight.

I hope to be a pilot, someday. Meanwhile, I can take at least one ride a year, and continue to dream.

As Leonardo da Vinci said, "When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."

Do you like to fly? Do you love it? Besides planes and helicopters, I love roller coasters, and totally want to go skydiving someday.

To read more posts on Fly, click here. To learn more about Five Minute Fridays, click the button below. And have a wonderful weekend!

 

Rural Wednesdays - Foggy Out There

One morning this week I let our dog outside and realized how foggy it was in the distance! I just had to go grab my camera and take some shots :) 

(Click on photos to make them bigger.)

 

Check out other rural photos by clicking the button below. And then share your own!

Five Minute Friday - Tree

It's Five Minute Friday! Today's word is Tree.

GO

Trees... So beautiful. Some are tall, some wide, some scraggly and small like Charlie Brown's :) They provide oxygen, a place to live for many animals (and even some people!), their wood can be used for so many things, and when the leaves turn colors and fall it's simply gorgeous.

My favorite are Christmas trees. Decorated, of course. I don't like them to be gaudy. I like it to be simple and pretty. I love white Christmas trees. (Although they're artificial, obviously.)

I would love to see Redwoods someday. I so want to walk or even drive through one.

 
I love climbing trees. I always wanted a tree fort, but the only tree we had in our backyard was really small, barely even big enough to climb.

Dogwoods are another one of my favorites. So pretty when they're flowering, and the way the branches reach out in all directions.

Snow-covered trees are some of the most beautiful things you'll ever see, outside of Heaven.

Well, that's all for today :) Hope you enjoyed my photos. You can check out other posts on Tree here. And for more info on Five Minute Fridays, click the button below. Have a great weekend!

Rural Wednesdays - The Wheel Barrow

Hey! I'm joining in a great blog link-up I found called Rurality Blog Hop. Every Wednesday you can link up with your photo of rural life. I don't know about you, but I just LOVE photos. I love taking them and I love looking at them. So I was so excited when I found this on Monday and was anxious for Wednesday to get here! Then I went and forgot about it yesterday. Oh well. I am doing it now!

 Click on the button below to check out other bloggers' rural photos from this week!

Five Minute Friday - Laundry

(Doing this one a bit late again.) Five Minute Friday is where Lisa-Jo Baker posts a word prompt on her blog, and a few hundred of us now write for five minutes on that topic. Not thought out ahead of time or gone back over with an editor's eye, just written and posted.

This week's word was Laundry.

GO

I started doing my own laundry in my early teens. I got annoyed when what I wanted wasn't clean when I wanted it clean, so my mom said, why don't you do your own? I got my own basket and have been doing laundry ever since.

Since I knew how, occasionally I'd help my mom with the rest of the family's. Or I'd help my grandmother when we stayed over at her house. But I always did mine.

Now I'm married and do laundry for two. He actually does his own a lot now. Mainly because his clothes have oil and metal chips and grass stains and dog hair and things that I don't want to get mixed into my own clothes, so I would do separate loads anyway. But it's funny how much bigger his loads of laundry are and how much quicker a basket fills up when it's his clothes instead of mine.

If you look at our towel pile, you can tell they're ours. Blue and green towels with our initials monogrammed on, a wedding gift. A blue striped towel that's his and a pink striped towel that's mine. Beach towels with dolphins or colorful butterflies, and beach towels with skull and crossbones or swords. Haha.

Our sheets are a patchwork, mismatched mixture of what we had before we were married and what we've gotten since. Two almost identical red blankets, multiple partial sets of sheets because who knows where the rest of the set went. Pretty pillow shams and blue plaid pillow cases and everything in between.

And that's a good analogy for marriage. You start with two separate people, two separate piles of laundry. And then you combine them. Some things stay the same and some things become different. You lose some of who you were, not in a bad way, but in a changing way. And you gain some things, too. You keep parts of yourself but other parts change and adapt for the relationship.

I like it. It's hard work sometimes (with both laundry and marriage), but it's worth it.

Well, that's it for today. You can check out other posts on Laundry here, or click the button below to find out how Five Minute Friday started and how you can join in the writing fun!

 

Five Minute Friday - Ordinary

Today's word is Ordinary. We did this word a lot earlier in the year, and my mind keeps thinking of the same things. You can read that post here.

So instead of writing my own thoughts, I thought I'd share some quotes and sayings that I think speak to NOT being ordinary.

If you're going to be weird, be confident about it.

Don't expect everyone to understand your journey, especially if they've never had to walk your path.

The woman who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no one has ever been before.

Sometimes I pretend to be normal. But it gets boring, so I go back to being me.

Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

If you are not willing to look stupid, nothing great is ever going to happen to you.

Never be content with someone else's definition of you.

If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.

Well, that's it. For more posts on Ordinary, click here. To learn more about Five Minute Fridays, click the button below. Have a great weekend!

Five Minute Friday - Write

Okay, okay, late again. But you know what? This time I have a great excuse! I have been writing... just not here. I've been working on my book :) But, although late, here is this week's Five Minute Friday post.

The word is Write.

GO

The word is Write? Perfect! Instead of writing for five minutes here and now, how about I share a sample of the book I'm working on? Sound good to you? Awesome! Here we go:

Jackson dropped her right hand and walked with her back down the aisle, the crowd congratulating them on the way. At the opening to the clearing, Jackson hesitated and looked at her, and she realized he had no clue where they were going next. She pulled him around a corner and kept going until they were well hidden behind some tall shrubs.
                “What are we doing?”
                “I’m sorry. I just need a minute.”
                “Okay.” He let go of her other hand and placed one of his on her back. “Is everything okay?”
                “I… To be honest, I didn’t expect the kiss.”
                He smiled. “Haven’t you ever been to a wedding before?”

What do you think? Are you intrigued? Or did it at least make you smile? :) I will share more samples in the future. Meanwhile, you can check out my Pinterest board for this book to meet the characters and "visit" some of the settings.

To read more posts on Write, click here. To find out what Five Minute Friday is all about and how you can join in, click the button below. Thanks for visiting!!

Five Minute Friday - She

Every Friday a big group of bloggers "meets" to write for five minutes on the same word prompt. Today's word is She.

GO

She is my best friend. I don't know exactly how long we've known each other. A year-ish I think. I met her through her mom who I met through an author we both like, and I've never met ANY of them in person.

But she is nevertheless my best friend :) We talk all the time, through Facebook, texting, and Skype. We play Minecraft together. We "know" each other's families and likes and dislikes. We still learn new things about each other often. She is the first person I've ever met who has seen my favorite movie. I seem to remember we both had a purple tooth brush when we met. Lol. How did we even figure that out?!

I live in Pennsylvania and she lives in Idaho. Couldn't be MUCH farther without being in another country. She is five years older than me and has a five year old son, who is so cute! But we can both relate to each other on a lot of things, like marriage and finding a home and our favorite things :)

And I am so glad she's my friend.

If you'd like to read more posts on She, click here. To find out more about Five Minute Friday, how it works, how it started, and how you can join us, click the button below. Thanks for reading!

$2, 2 Kids, 2 Puzzles, 2 Plane Tickets - Gunderson Adoption

You may have seen my post back in February about my friends the Gundersons who were working on adopting two kids from Ethiopia. And if you're friends with me on Facebook, chances are you've seen a LOT of posts about them over the past year.

Well, the great news is, the adoption is final!! Matt Gunderson went to Ethiopia a few weeks ago to appear in the adoption court, and got to meet their kids and spend some time with them. They've received the legal documents verifying the children's new last name. They are so close! But they still need to raise money for the VISAs, passports, and plane tickets.

So right now Jessie and her family are running a contest through her blog. An artist friend of theirs drew and donated two puzzles that look like their two new kids! For $2, you can sponsor a puzzle piece - your name will go on the back and Jessie will add the piece to the puzzle - and the money will help bring their kids home. Jessie will be posting pictures of the puzzles as new pieces are added on her author page on Facebook.

Also, whether you donate or not, if you share her blog post, you can enter to win one of six books! Check out her blog for more details: http://jessiegunderson.com/adoption-fundraising-giveaways

Meanwhile, for every person who shares THIS post, I'll donate 50 cents. Just mention in the comments that you shared.

And PLEASE pray for the Gunderson family - Matt, Jessie, their five kids, and their two new kids. Pray for them to raise the rest of the money they need, to keep them safe while traveling to bring their new kids home, and for the kids to settle in well and know how much they are loved, and for all the other changes and adjustments this family will be going through to give two orphans (no longer!) their forever home.

Five Minute Friday - Mercy

Doing this week's Five Minute Friday a little late, but hey, I'm still doing it. Each week, a bunch of bloggers get together to write for five minutes on the same word prompt, started by Lisa Jo Baker over at her blog The Gypsy Mama. Then we link up, share our posts, and encourage one another. I invite you to join us! It's challenging, fun, and thought-provoking.

This week's word was Mercy.

GO

I had to look up mercy to find out exactly what it means. And even the many definitions and sentence usages didn't make it perfectly clear. I don't think it's a word we use or hear often, and when it is used, it's not necessarily the way it was originally intended.

So I went to the Bible. (I know, I should always go there first!) And I found some verses which really helped me to understand better the true meaning of mercy.

Then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger, will show you mercy, and will have compassion on you. (Deuteronomy 13:17)

And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy; (1 Kings 8:50)

But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. (Nehemiah 9:31)

Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. (Psalm 6:2)

The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer. (Psalm 6:9)

Lord, see how my enemies persecute me! Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death, that I may declare your praises in the gates of Daughter Zion, and there rejoice in your salvation. (Psalm 9:13-14)

I won't pretend, I still don't know absolutely what all of these mean. I need to read the entire story. Context helps a great deal! But what I do know is that God cares for us, He forgives us when we don't deserve it, He protects us from evil, He heals us, He gives us little blessings to help us through rough times. His mercy endures forever! (Check out Psalm 136 KJV for a whole list of ways God's mercy endures for His people!)

That's all for this week. I hope you learned something new. I know I did! You can read more posts on Mercy here, or click on the link below for more info on Five Minute Friday.

Remembering What We Have

So many things have been reminding me today how good we have it. Yeah, life is hard. A lot of us are low on money, looking for a better place to live, and suffering from health problems. People want to tell us what to do and judge our decisions and beliefs. Christians in the United States are finally seeing some persecution and we don't like it.

But a lawsuit for refusing to take photos at a same-sex wedding or bad press and boycotts because a company's leader talked about his beliefs is nothing compared to what we're hearing about in other countries right now. Christians are being forced out of their homes, tortured, and even killed.

Today is also September 11th. I know we all remember what happened twelve years ago. So many innocent people lost their lives that day.

A friend and her family have been working for the past year to adopt a brother and sister from Ethiopia. These kids don't have a family, and they don't have the luxuries that we do in America. And the sacrifices that Jessie and her family have made to be able to adopt these kids is so inspiring and humbling.

So I've just been thinking about all of these things and realizing how lucky I am to have a brand new tooth brush, a bed that, while not always comfortable, is mine, nice clothes and books to read and good shoes, a family, a church, and a safe place to live.

This post may not be the most eloquent or well-ordered, or maybe you disagree with something I said, but it doesn't matter. The point is that we need to remember everything that we do have and praise God for it every day. And pray for those we see hurting more than us.

Thank you, Lord!

May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace as you trust in Him. (Romans 15:13)

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5:44)

You will surely forget your trouble. (Job 11:16)

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57)

It's been a long hard ride

Got a ways to go

But I won't lose hope

This is still the place

That we all call home

- Dierks Bentley