Colliding with Destiny

My mother and I have been studying Ruth.  We’ve gotten out numerous texts, movies, and have been looking into a play.  Basically we are in love with Ruth and her tale.  With that in mind, I was thrilled to receive a copy of COLLIDING WITH DESTINY: FINDING HOPE IN THE LEGACY OF RUTH by Sarah Jakes from Bethany House.  Now that I’m done with it, I am definitely sharing it with my mother.

I loved the line “We rarely hear about the collisions she faced on the road to her destiny,” from page 11.  It has stuck with me after reading it.  Oftentimes we see the end result – such as, in my case, a bestselling author – but don’t take the time to think of the struggles that individual went through.  I see the final product, that famous book, but I don’t see the numerous rejection letters and edits the author went through.  Such things help to put our lives in perspective.

The author used examples from the Bible and from her personal life to weave a narrative both insightful and enthralling.  I will be sharing some of the things I learned with people who I know are also struggling in their lives, and I highly recommend this book.

Reluctant Detective

It happened again – I read another great Christian mystery!  I received a copy of THE RELUCTANT DETECTIVE by Martha Ockley from Lion Fiction via Kregel.  It is part of the Faith Morgan mystery series, the first in the series actually.  Martha Ockley has a smooth way of creating pictures with her imagination and words.  It is almost like watching television, and this book would make a great television series. 

I did read the second book in the series and loved it, so I was eager to dive into this one.  It did not, of course, disappoint.  At all.  Faith is still an adorable, lovable character who will have the reader rooting for her.

I’m the type of person who always wants to guess who committed the crime – a murder in this case – but then gets caught up in the story or is just too mind-tangled to figure it out.  This was another of those books.  I was baffled, in a good way, right up until the end.  I’m sure other readers will be more adept at uncovering the truth.

I highly recommend this book to fans of Christian literature and mysteries.  This has a sound plot and believable characters.  Never once did I shake my head in disbelief.  

Healing Quilt

I received a copy of THE HEALING QUILT: RETURN OF THE HALF-STITCHED AMISH QUILTING CLUB by Wanda E. Brunstetter from Shiloh.  I love Amish fiction, as does my mother, so I was thrilled with this book.  I read it and have passed it on to her.  She’s a slow reader and a few Amish books behind, but she was just as thrilled to receive it.

We were even more excited because we recently stayed at the Bird-in-Hand Family Inn.  They have a restaurant on the property with a stage.  The theater was showing a production of the HALF-STITCHED AMISH QUILTING CLUB!  We haven’t gotten to read that novel, or the other installment in the series (this is the third book), but we were jumping for joy at having this one.  What a coincidence it arrived right after we returned from vacation! 

THE HEALING QUILT continues the story of Emma and Lamar, an Amish couple.  The story follows people who take quilting classes.  Their individual tales are heart breaking and humorous.  You don’t need to be familiar with the other books to enjoy this one.  For those who love Amish fiction or quilting, this one is a must.  

Dirty Faith

I received a copy of DIRTY FAITH: BRINGING THE LOVE OF CHRIST TO THE LEAST OF THESE by David Z. Nowell from Bethany House.  I love diving into religious books and being able to share them with my family, in particular my mother and devout uncle.  In this book of nonfiction, categorized as Christian Living, David Nowell shared stories about faith in action as he ministered to the “least of these” in society, and who are treasured by God.  I loved how it showed that many Christians stay “safe” in their pews while others actually do something to help the world.  It was great to read about those touching stories.  We need to follow the advancement of the Bible and actually help the misfortunate. 

This has inspired me to help others.  Recently I’ve been more involved in my community via writing programs to help authors polish their craft.  I hope to do more with that.  The greatest feeling was the thanks that came from a 6^th grade girl after one of my classes.  I realize this doesn’t compare to the work done by those mentioned in the book.

DIRTY FAITH analyzes passages of scripture and David Nowell also takes a look at the individual to scrutinize tendencies many people have.  This is another book I highly recommend.