Book Review: Faithful to Laura by Kathleen Fuller

I recently finished reading "Faithful to Laura" by Kathleen Fuller. I enjoy the Christian Amish/Mennonite genre, and so when I had the opportunity to read and review "Faithful to Laura", I willingly jumped at the chance! Fuller does not disappoint in this novel. To my knowledge, I've never read any of her writings previously, but I will keep my eye out for her books from now on. She has this great way of describing the characters, and you actually feel like you know them by the time you get halfway through the book. I adored the story of Sawyer and Laura, and how they find common ground to connect and form a relationship. Both come from outside the community, and struggle with fitting in for different reasons. They have lots of baggage, but once each can convince the other to trust, Sawyer and Laura find that they're not so different. One thing I appreciated about this novel was how respectful the author was of the characters' relationships with God. The Amish tend to have a quiet faith, from my understanding, and while Fuller certainly included plenty of tidbits and anecdotes about the character's spiritual lives, she didn't go overboard or attempt to proselytize in this story. {And, so that you understand my perspective, I am a follower of Jesus... I just get frustrated sometimes when authors make faith seem so simple and easy and concrete. It's not.} I am grateful for the opportunity to read and review this book, which was provided to me by the publisher. Any opinions expressed are my own, and I did not receive any compensation for this review.

The Choice - Robert Whitlow - A Review

Three or so years ago, when I first got an iPhone, I downloaded the Kindle app and set out to find free books that were actually GOOD. A challenge, for sure. After a good bit of searching, I found a free legal thriller {Christian genre} by Robert Whitlow. I read it in a day or two, and immediately set out to purchase the other two books in the series. It was SO good! Since that time, I peruse the free Christian fiction offerings to see if Whitlow has any new freebies, but have yet to find any others. Fast-forward to a few days ago- I was given the opportunity to read and review Whitlow's book, The Choice. Super psyched! It was a digital version, so I had immediate access to it, and managed to read it in three days. I adore Whitlow's writings, because it's deep, personal, and full of action. I always find a personal connection with the characters, and Sandy {the main character in The Choice} proved to be no exception. Whitlow is obviously no stranger to the legal world, as he is a practicing attorney in North Carolina. He infuses just the right amount of accurate information without overloading the reader with confusing legal jargon. I recommend The Choice without reservation. The only negative criticism I might offer is that the plot's a tad predictable... or perhaps I'm just intuitive? Either way, you'll find yourself hooked into the plot from the beginning, cheering for and crying with the characters, and before you know it, you'll be like me- on the search for another great read from Robert Whitlow. {This book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for a review. Any opinions expressed are original and my own.}

Outlive Your Life - Max Lucado - A Review

We only have one life to live. It's really sobering when you realize that we only get one chance at this life we've been given, and each decision you make on a daily basis is building the legacy you'll leave, piece by piece. I received a copy of Max Lucado's book, Outlive Your Life, to read and review from Thomas Nelson Publishing. To be honest, it took a while to read the book, because I knew that I could fly through the book and not allow the content to penetrate my heart and life- but that's not what I wanted! I was determined to soak in every tidbit of theological truth, as well as each great story or anecdote that so perfectly helps me to apply the theological truths. It's so helpful to realize that God doesn't just call the extraordinary to do His work on Earth... in fact, if you follow Jesus, He will use you wherever you are for His purposes. God has planted you where you are purposefully, not arbitrarily. It's a good reminder to me that nothing in this life is without purpose. God uses all of it! This book follows the same general writing style that Lucado uses in all of his other books... it's a bit, errr, fluffy, if you will, but the fluff is not without purpose. If you're looking for highly intellectual, deeply theological writings, then Outlive Your Life probably isn't for you. But that doesn't mean that the book isn't good! We all have our preferences, and I know that even my own preferences vary from day to day. As the mother of a preschooler, I don't always have the time or mental capacity for a book that requires me to figure out word meanings as I read... this book is an easy read with tons to absorb and apply. In fact, I think I'll read it again...

Great Gifts *Giveaway Link*

I don't know about you, but I love finding *THE* perfect gift. However, I am not extremely successful an absolute failure at it... So, I generally resort to the practical and necessary. Not exciting, but hey- better than forgetting, right? I happened to stumble across a new blog this morning, because they're having a giveaway for a Linksys EA4500 wireless router. This would actually be not only a great Father's Day gift for my hubby, but also a necessary one. Our router has been acting up for a while now, causing annoyances all the time! He'd be thrilled, I'm sure... He is certainly a Geek Dad! :) If you'd like to enter to win the contest, you can do so right here! May the geekiest dad win!

choices do not always equal judgment

This morning I read a blog from one of my favorite mom bloggers, and it resonated with me on many levels.  The gist of the blog {in case you don't want to read the entire thing} was about the "trend of deriding those bloggers who write anything considered "alternative". They are accused of being holier-than-thou, of judging others, of making others feel bad about their lives, of presenting an impossible image, and above all, of pretending to have the perfect life".  


Wow.  After writing a blog about "mompetition" and some areas where I needed to be less competitive, I was accused of being judgmental and making them feel bad about their parenting choices.  In hindsight, though I wrote that blog with no intention of hurting feelings, I can see how the tone might have come across as haughty.  I shared some things that I'm passionate about, and how I need to be less judgmental about  my choices.  Yet, I was still accused of judging by saying I needed to judge less.  If you can possibly understand that, God bless you. {can you send me an email and explain it to me?}


You see, after years of community in an online group of friends {we connected on a parenting website when we were all pregnant with our first children}, I decided to be really transparent about an area where I was struggling.  Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the path that conversation would ultimately take.  To make a very long, emotionally damaging story short, several of the ladies {who I would've referred to as some of my closest friends, albeit only in the virtual world} began ripping me apart, limb from limb, accusing me of being judgmental and opinionated for sharing some of my choices {breastfeeding, choosing not to fully vaccinate, attachment parenting, not taking narcotic meds after a c-section because I didn't want to endanger my breastfeeding or bonding relationship with my newborn}.  One gal even went as far as to say that I was "without tact".  I was absolutely heartbroken, and it rocked me to the core of my being.  


In "real life", I had never been accused of being judgmental or opinionated.  I really contemplated why, and determined two things: one, the written word can often be read in a different tone than it was originally intended; and two, perhaps I feel a greater freedom to share about my decisions when I'm writing {not getting interrupted every two sentences is empowering! ha!}.  


I love what a commenter wrote on the original blog I mentioned.  She said that the "crunchy" life choices tend to be more research-based.  I'd never thought about it that way.  But yes- I do tons of research about practically every decision I make {from parenting to food purchases to laundry detergent}.  So, when I make a decision, I feel a great deal of certainty {granted, any decision as a mom is subject to change at any given moment!}.  Perhaps, then, when I share about a choice I've made, it comes across as being haughty or proud {in a negative way}, because I am so certain after doing hours of research.


We all have the privilege and responsibility of doing our own research and making our own decisions.  When reading about other people {especially other moms} and their choices, we would all do well {myself included} to refrain from assuming malicious intent.  So hard.


So, what about you?  Have you been accused of being judgmental when you share a decision?  Have you ever been in a situation where you were offended by someone else's certainty?

lessons from broccoli.

One of the many things that I love about Jesus is how He related to the people of His day using stories {we call them parables}.  He used the things of everyday life, such as farming, to help people relate to Biblical truth.  All throughout the Gospels {Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John}, we see Jesus speaking in story form.  I think we all could stand to learn from His easy, conversational way of relating to others... regardless of beliefs about spiritual matters.  Instead of attempting to work so many "churchy" words and phrases into our sentences, we would have greater influence if we were just... real.  Being salt and being light {what Jesus said we should be like in this world} is less about words and more about relationships.  The most effective way to share the love of Christ is organic... it's natural, it's based on building relationships with people.

I find that God speaks to me through stories.  He uses the simplest, most ordinary things to reinforce the truths that I've read in His Word.  In the stillness, in the chaos that is my life, in the midst of laundry and dishes and potty breaks, {even as I type this, I had to pause when I heard, "Mommy... I need to go potty!"}He speaks.  Today, I want to share with you how God used broccoli.

Several weeks ago, we decided to try growing broccoli.  Let me explain how our first attempt at container gardening was a complete flop didn't go exactly as we'd hoped.  We bought tons of containers, planted all kinds of things, watered and fed the plants as we were supposed to, and harvested a crop {i.e., 3} potatoes the size of marbles.  I'm pretty sure that one pest or another {I'm learning to LOATHE snails} gobbled up any hopes of other vegetables we'd hoped to eat from our garden.  So, I suppose you could say I/we were less than optimistic about the outcome of our little broccoli-planting venture.  

Within a week or ten days, our broccoli plant began to grow... bigger, and bigger, and bigger.  On our front porch is this huge, beautiful, healthy-looking broccoli plant.  There was only one small problem... despite its huge green leaves, it lacked one single head of broccoli.  Oh, it was beautiful, and it gave me hope that we would actually get to eat the fruits... er, vegetables, of our labor.  Walt has been faithfully watering the plant and watching after it, and while it appeared to be "working", without a head of broccoli, all of his work was in vain.  What's the use in putting hours into a vegetable plant that has only leaves and no vegetables?

About 19 months ago, we started asking God to grant a specific request for our family.  While I know that God has heard my request, He has not yet answered in the way I've expected.  I am thankful that the power of a prayer is in the One who hears it, not the one who says it.  Not a day has gone by that I haven't pleaded with God for this one thing.  During an especially meaningful time with God a couple of months ago, I felt Him whisper to my heart, "I want you to want Me most."  So, perhaps, He has not answered this prayer the way I'd hoped because He just wants my heart to be completely His, completely surrendered to whatever He wants for my life.  As I poured my heart out to a friend, she imparted a bit of wisdom that wasn't lost on me.  She said, "Perhaps this is the way you learn trust. Not saying it's easy. Nothing worth it ever is."

Yesterday morning, we woke up and were going about our normal routine when Walt {who I thought had already gone to work!} came into Caleb's room.  He handed me his phone, which had a picture on it, and said, "We have broccoli!" 

Lo and behold, our broccoli plant is starting to sprout heads of broccoli!  




Oh, no, they're not huge, and we definitely have a while before they're edible.  

But we. have. broccoli.  

That's the main point.

All of Walt's hard work, all of our waiting, is paying off.  

I was thinking about our impending broccoli success while unloading the dishwasher this afternoon, when God said to me, "You know this other thing that you've been asking Me about?"  


I dried off another cup... "mmhmm?"


"Give it time.  Give Me time.  Let Me work.  What I'm doing, it's far bigger, it's so much more than you can imagine, and it's going to take time.  Trust Me."


And, so I will.  Because He. is. good.

Believe it: I have all I need for today.  The needs of our day are great, but God is greater and we call Him providence because we believe: He always provides.  {And when God provides, He should be praised, and if God always provides, shouldn't praise always be on our lips?}

Ann Voskamp

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