Ragamuffin...

O God I want to be a Ragamuffin... a broken person who knows your grace is the only thing I need.  I want the world to see me as loved because your love is so deep for me.. I want to be the girl who laughs at the wrong times, who rolls in the grass, who has the time of her life living for you.

The Beauty of an Ordinary Day

Sometimes we miss the ordinary... we think that life is built on these grand moments, but the older I get the more I realize that life is built on sitting around a table with your family laughing or singing along to the radio with your friend.

Today I've heard of illness and loss and joy of celebrating another year of life.  That's life... the beauty of the moment you're in and not looking always at what lies ahead.

A Technicolor World

I feel like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz when she steps into the world of Oz for the first time. How her eyes must have needed sunglasses from the yellow brick road.  But I woke up this morning and realized what a technicolor world my world has become.  So much has changed since I last posted on my blog... I'm no longer married... I'm single, divorced whatever label you want to put on it.  

As I gazed out the window at what God had created the trees gloriously coming into their own and heard the birds share their song, I thought if God could create a day as beautiful as today, what would heaven be like?

Scripture tells us that our eye hasn't seen or our ear hasn't heard the riches that God has for us.  Well on perfect mornings like this morning, I'm awed that God loves me enough that it is true.  

Often if we take the time to realize the moment we are in, it many times far exceeds our dreams. 

New Beginnings... Only a Prayer Away

Some times life take turns we'll never expect or anticipate.  My life has completely changed since my last blog post.  I've been reading Max Lucado's book Before Amen and participating in an online Bible study. 

Not that long ago, I thought that prayer was the hardest thing, but as I've learned prayer isn't nearly as hard as we make it out to be.  Max simplifies prayers in fact, Max Lucado, the prolific writer, calls himself a prayer wimp. 

I know many people who believe that prayer should have many trappings and they are not eloquent enough, they've suffered to much damage, they are too broken to have God fix their broken places.

But I'm learning that God specializes in the broken, the more I am weak, God is strong.  Max is going to give you an easy pocket prayer that will unlock your heart and allow you to put to words what God already knows... your heart.

There are so many items that go along with this amazing book including a prayer journal that I've put all of the prayers of my heart to paper. 

Take some time to be with God today and if you don't have the words you need I know this book will unlock words in your heart.

Many Blessings!

Promises... Promises....

Description
A young couple, each harboring a life-changing secret, struggle to rebuild trust and rekindle genuine love before it's too late.

My thoughts:  On our wedding day, we make promises, we think we are going to keep with all of our heart, but what happens when your world comes crashing down.

The Promise begins with Tom Anderson, the oldest son of the couple from The Dance, he’s lost his IT job five months ago, and is hiding it from everyone… and I mean everyone including his wife. His day consists of going to coffees shop to cop free Wi-Fi so he can find a job.

Tom isn’t the only one with secrets, Jean, Tom’s submissive wife, hasn’t been feeling well and she thinks they are about to add to their young family, but Tom has been acting so strange lately, could he be having an affair?

With appearances from characters from the first book in the series The Dance, this book has a full cast of characters who go through transformation. I would definitely recommend reading The Dance and then The Promise because you can appreciate the character development that much more.

The Restoration Series is a great look at relationships, and the power of God and his ability to transform us.  

Smalley who co-wrote the Redemption Series with Karen Kingsbury has found another winner, and we are blessed by great stories of people navigating life and finding their promise.

Images and description are courtesy of the publisher and Netgalley.  The thoughts are all my own.

Ray of Light

I know long time no write... life has been busy, but I'm back and I have a fantastic book to share... since this is from my personal collection I just got I don't have a picture or description instead of just got my humble opinion.  

Shelley Shepard Gray 's Ray of Light is fantastic.  This is the second story in the Days of

Redemption series and I love it.  For those of you who didn't read Daybreak (the first in 
the series) you won't be lost... I promise.  Shelley does a great job of filling us in as 
the story unfolds.

Ray of Light features Roman Keim, who is vacationing in the Amish and Mennonite 
community of Pinecraft, FL, and meets a charming widow, Amanda and 
her precious little girl, Regina.  

After a precarious first meeting, Amanda and Roman form a tentative bond so much so 

that neither of them want to see their vacations end.  

Can Amanda move past her grief and the past that's holding her back, can Roman
 balance the needs of his family (who is in the middle of their own strife)
 and his community?

Besides a great story of two souls trying to work beyond the past, we're also treated to 

Amanda's former in-laws and Roman's complicated family, who are like each of us, 
flawed creatures.  

I couldn't put this down and I promise you won't be able to either.  

Sundays in Fredericksburg

Sundays in Fredericksburg by Eileen Key, Lynette Sowell, Connie Stevens, Marjorie Vawter
Description:  From 1898 to present day, four generations of Texan women encounter love in Fredericksburg’s Sunday Houses. Amelia Bachman, who became a schoolteacher to avoid marriage, finds her determination crumbling when a carpenter keeps crossing her path. Mildred Zimmermann is nursing a patient who begins healing her heart and soul. Trudy Meier’s sense of adventure is challenged by a roving columnist. Gwendolyn Zimmermann’s world is rocked by a geologist. Will these women have enough courage to love a stranger and enough faith to trust God with their future?

My thoughts:  This is a great collection of short stories that you will fall in love with.  This is a compilation of four women of the Zimmerman family.  Each of the characters is well-crafted and you can feel the love and realities of each couple despite of the walk back in time.  

I've begun to like Historical Fiction more and more and while Gwendolyn's story is modern the stories of her ancestors that will lead you to her story will touch your heart and transport you to another time.  It will be out 4/1/2013 and is a great read.

The image and description shared are courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley; the opinions are all mine and I hope they help you find something that will inspire or touch you or your family.