Contagious Joy - Devotional

Women of Faith, renowned for their unique combination of personality and truth, offer fresh new messages in their fourth series of popular topical study guides. Titles include:

• Receiving God's Goodness
• Experiencing Spiritual Intimacy
• Contagious Joy
• Understanding Purpose

Each study guide, teeming with insights and quotes from the conference speakers provides twelve weeks of Bible study, a leader's guide for small groups, and a special take-home reminder for each week's lesson.

My Review - Loved this devotion and learned a lot.

Until We Reach Home by Lynn Austin

Life in Sweden seems like an endless winter for three sisters after their mother's death and father's suicide. Elin feels the weight of responsibility for her sisters' welfare, and when circumstances become unbearable, she writes to her relatives in Chicago, pleading for help.

Joining sixteen million other immigrants who left their homelands for America between 1890 and 1920, Elin, Kirsten, and Sofia begin the long, difficult journey. Enduring the ocean voyage in steerage and detention on Ellis Island, their story is Americas story. And in a journey fraught with hardships, each woman will come to understand her secret longings and the meaning of home.

My Review - It took me a bit to get into this book because of the trip from Sweden to America but then after I got through that part I actually was happy I'd gotten through it. The book wouldn't have been as good without those details. I loved how all the girls turned out. And the story put into details how we should always trust God instead of our own abilities.

Six Word Saturday

Next week this time = vacation starts!
So next Friday is my last day at work for a whole 6 days!! We're going to Chicago and I'm so excited! I've never been anywhere north of North Carolina or Tennessee. We're flying out on Sunday then flying back on Thursday and then going to the beach til Sunday! Can you tell I'm excited??

Demon Seed by Dean Koontz

In the privacy of her own home, and against her will, Susan Harris will experience an inconceivable act of terror. She will become the object of the ultimate computer’s consuming obsession: to learn everything there is to know about human flesh.

My Review - I read about 75 pages of this book and just couldn't get into it. Part of it truthfully was the name of the book. So I'm giving up on a book which is not something I usually do. But I just couldn't get into the book and the name gave me a mental block!

A Proper Pursuit by Lynn Austin

When Violet Hayes ventures to Chicago during the time of the World's Fair, her one goal is to find her mother, who has been missing from her life since she was nine. Naïve, impressionable, and highly imaginative (having secretly ingested a diet of romance novels and true crime stories at school), Violet stays in Chicago under the care of her grandmother and her three great aunts. It is here that her perspectives on life are opened as she is exposed to the world about her--from high society to the poor immigrant families; from the suffragette movement to the security of a suitable marriage match. As Violet contemplates what course her life will take, she will discover the missing parts of her family's past--and, ultimately, Violet will discover herself.

My Review - When I first started reading this book I wasn't sure I'd be able to get through it...Quiet honestly Violet got on my nerves at first. But I was sucked into this book after reading some. But I loved the twist with Silas and Violet at the end. And I really liked the story of her mother. I thought it was amazing how different the world was back in the 1890's.

I've kind of been on a Lynn Austin kick for the past few months. I just recently decided to try to read all of her books before the end of the year. In case you didn't know I'm kind of OCD about how I read books. I want to start with the first books that the author writes and read them in the order written. I only have about four more Lynn Austin books to read. :)

A Woman's Place - Lynn Austin

They watched their sons, their brothers, and their husbands enlist to fight a growing menace across the seas. And when their nation asked, they answered the call as well. Virginia longs to find a purpose beyond others' expectations. Helen is driven by a loneliness money can't fulfill. Rosa is desperate to flee her in-laws' rules. Jean hopes to prove herself in a man's world. Under the storm clouds of destruction that threaten America during the early 1940s, this unlikely gathering of women will experience life in sometimes starling new ways as their beliefs are challenged and they struggle toward a new understanding of what love and sacrifice truly mean.

My Review - First about the ending...I usually do not think books end the way I want them to or would like them to or the way they should. BUT this book ended in a great way! I loved how the four women in the book didn't know each other but grew to love one another. I also loved how Austin didn't push God in this book but then again I would have loved to seen more of Him witnessed in it. I know that doesn't make sense but overall it doesn't matter I guess. Because I absolutely loved this book after I got into it. In the beginning it was kind of hard for me to get into it because I had just finished reading her Chronicles of the Kings series. One of my favorites from Austin.

Christmas Jars

Christmas Jars Website

I've you've been reading my blog for any length of time you've probably already heard of the Christmas Jars. Well, yesterday at church my dad preached on not letting your fear stop you from what God wants you to do. He asked the whole congregation to write down two things they would do for the Lord this week. It was hard cause I didn't want to write down the wrong thing but also I didn't want to limit myself. Anyhow all that said, I thought of the Christmas Jars. The Christmas Jars is a book wrote by Jason Wright and if you haven't read it then you should! But the story is just the beginning. What you do is take a jar (mason, pickle, peanut butter, whatever kind of jar you have around your house) and put in your spare change for however long you want to do it and then Christmas week or on Christmas Eve you take it and put it on someone's doorstep, desk, car. Just give it to someone but don't let them know who it's from.

Last year was our first year doing a Christmas Jar (My Post from before) and it was such a blessing. We started putting in change around the first of December last year but this year we upped and started putting change in a jar in June. So look up Christmas Jars, read the book (cause it's good) and then start your own Christmas Jar! :)

Friday Fill-Ins #192

Happy Labor Day weekend to all who celebrate it. And...here we go!

1. Family matters the most!

2. Going back and forth.

3. I love a good song, Bible study, kiss, hug, the list could go on and on...

4. Honey mustard chicken and oven roasted red potatoes makes a good meal.

5. I've got the best thing in the world, salvation!

6. With the heart: wth (what it stands for)!!!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to maybe hanging out with a friend, tomorrow my plans include washing clothes and relaxing and Sunday, I want to go to church and spend time with family!!