The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:8–12 ESV)
Friday, June 11, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Verse of the Day
You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience . . . doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it. . . . It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. (Ephesians 2:2–5 MSG)
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
A Hopeful Heart by Kim Vogel Sawyer
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
ABOUT THE BOOK
Shy and small for her twenty-two years, Tressa is convinced she'll never have what it takes to survive Hattie Wyatt's hands-on instruction in skills such as milking a cow, branding a calf, riding a horse, and cooking up a mess of grub for hungry ranch hands. But what other options does she have?
Abel Samms wants nothing to do with the group of potential brides his neighbor brought to town. He was smitten with an eastern girl once--and he got his heart broken. But there's something about quiet Tressa and her bumbling ways that makes him take notice.
When Tressa's life is endangered, will Abel risk his own life--and his heart--to help this eastern girl?
If you would like to read the first chapter of A Hopeful Heart, go HERE
Margie's comments: Admittedly I'm a tad bit biased when it comes to Kim's books. She's not only been my critique partner for the past six years, she's also a very dear friend. Still, in our critique group we strive to keep each other true to our voices and writing styles, so I try to be objective when reviewing her books.
A Hopeful Heart has a unique feature with the Wyatt Herdsman School. The owner and teacher, a widowed rancher, is a character who will continue to occupy your attention even after you finish reading the book. Aunt Hattie's eccentricities set her apart from her male counterparts in Barnett, Kansas. But they also endear her to her female students, and she's caught the attention of a wealthy rancher. Since the main goal of the school is to match her students with single ranchers in the area, romance abounds throughout the book.
Kim's gentle style of telling a story gives the reader a quiet, refreshing read. A Hopeful Heart delivers a well-researched story, delightful characters, and a rich sense of history. I especially appreciate the way Kim incorporates a little bit of suspense and intrigue into this story. I highly recommend A Hopeful Heart.
Verse of the Day
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. (1 Peter 5:8–9 ESV)
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Verse of the Day
Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart's desires. Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you. (Psalm 37:4–5 NLT)
Friday, June 4, 2010
Deceit by Brandilyn Collins
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Brandilyn Collins is an award-winning and best-selling novelist known for her trademark Seatbelt Suspense®. These harrowing crime thrillers have earned her the tagline "Don't forget to b r e a t h e..."® Brandilyn's first book, A Question of Innocence, was a true crime published by Avon in 1995. Its promotion landed her on local and national TV and radio, including the Phil Donahue and Leeza talk shows. Brandilyn is also known for her distinctive book on fiction-writing techniques, Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn From Actors (John Wiley & Sons). She is now working on her 20th book.
In addition, Brandilyn’s other latest release is Final Touch, third in The Rayne Tour series—young adult suspense co-written with her daughter, Amberly. The Rayne Tour series features Shaley O’Connor, daughter of a rock star, who just may have it all—until murder crashes her world.
ABOUT THE BOOK
The police tell Joanne to leave well enough alone, but Joanne is determined to bring Jackson down. Using her skip tracing skills, she sets out to locate Melissa Harkoff, now twenty-two, who lived in the Jackson home at the time of Linda Jackson's disappearance.
As Joanne drives home on a rainy winter night, a hooded figure darts in front of her car. In her headlight beams she glimpses the half-concealed face of a man, a rivulet of blood jagging down his cheek. She squeals to a stop but clips him with her right fender. Shaking, she gets out of her car in the pouring rain. The man will not let her see his face. Before he limps off into the night he warns her not to talk to police.
As Joanne tries to find Melissa, someone seems to be after her. Who was the man she hit on the road. Is Baxter Jackson out to silence her? Or is some other skip she's traced in the past now out for revenge?
"
If you would like to read the first chapter of Deceit, go HERE
Margie's comments: Deceit is typical of Brandilyn Collins's trademark style. The action takes place in a very short amount of time. It is intense, relieved only by chapters set in the past from another character's point of view. And some of those also involve intense drama and action. If this is the kind of fiction you like, you will not be disappointed with Brandilyn's latest stand-alone suspense.
Verse of the Day
You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You're out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! (Ephesians 5:8 MSG)
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
The Flight That Went Nowhere
Ah, the joys of travel.
I've been doing my share of traveling, mostly by plane, in the last two years. With hubby Roger working in Phoenix, most of my recent travels have been in and out of Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport. Most of the time things go relatively smoothly. But not the last two weeks. At least on the flights I've been on.
Last Monday, June 24, was a very windy day in Denver. Now when I say very windy, I don't mean what most people think of as windy. Believe me, I've lived in many different places, but never have I encountered winds like those in Colorado. That day we had wind clocking in at 75 mph. All day.
My flight was supposed to leave around 6:00 p.m., and I checked with the airline before leaving for DIA. My flight was scheduled to leave on time. Even when I checked my baggage, all the way through security and out to my gate at the very end of the concourse, everything posted said my flight would leave on time.
Until ten minutes before we were to board. No plane. And even then, there was no announcement. I looked up from my book to see Nashville flashing above the door to the Jetway instead of Phoenix. What?
I checked the departure monitors. Now delayed until 9:15.
The plane didn't arrive from Phoenix until well after the winds died down. The day-long backlog of arriving flights were vying for clearance to land, and it was 10:15 before our plane arrived.
We finally left at 10:45. Yep. Five hours late.
However, I chalked it up to another experience in my travel adventures, and didn't think anything more about it really. Until yesterday's installment of Margie's travel escapades.
My plans were to fly to Wichita, Kansas (via Denver), to meet up with two of my online critique partners for a weeklong "retreat." My flight to Denver was scheduled to leave Phoenix at 7:00 a.m. So . . . up early, finished packing, got in the truck for the ride to Sky Harbor Airport.
Everything went like clockwork. Until we were all loaded and had pushed back from the gate. One minute the pilot came on to tell us we were waiting for clearance to get in line to take off, the next minute he's telling us they were going back to the gate to have maintenance look at a computer glitch. Shouldn't take too long.
Ri-i-i-i-i-ght. Seven went to eight, as it inevitably does. And we were still sitting at the gate. I called Roger. I called Kim. Knowing I'd missed my flight to Wichita, I debated about whether to go ahead and fly to Denver and take my chances on the airline getting me on another flight to Wichita or staying in Phoenix until the next flight.
Either option would have been fine . . . if it weren't the day after a holiday weekend. Sigh. I crawled out of my seat by the window and made my way to the front of the plane to speak with the gate agent. She told me there was another flight to Wichita that day and she would check to see availability.
So I crawled back into my seat, of course displacing my two gracious seatmates once again. Called Roger. Decided to wait a little longer.
Now it's 8:30. People are getting restless. Making desperate phone calls. Postponing meetings. Leaving the plane to make other arrangements for travel.
I kept asking the Lord what I should do. And every time He reminded me of the verse I posted here earlier that morning. Proverbs 3:5–6 from The Message:
So I sat. About 8:45 Roger called and said he'd checked the flights for the rest of the day. No available seats.
Okay. For over an hour we'd had no word on how the work was progressing. Maintenance had put in a new computer, rebooted all the systems on the plane, and they still had a glitch.
I could fly to Denver . . . whenever that would be. And arrange for a seat on a flight Wednesday from there. I could spend the night at home. Or I could get off the plane now, arrange for the next available flight, and have Roger come get me. I opted for the latter.
Grabbed my stuff, asked my long-suffering seatmates to let me out one last time, and headed down to ticketing to see what I could arrange. But first I asked the gate agent to get my checked luggage, if possible.
An hour later I had a ticket on a flight this afternoon, getting into Wichita at 9:30 p.m. And I now own a $200 voucher from the airline for any domestic flight in the next year. My luggage was waiting for me at the carousel, and Roger came a few minutes later.
Back at the condo, I had lots of time to think.
I'm a firm believer in the sovereignty of God. Nothing is too small or too big for Him to handle. Of course, living as though I believe that truth is many times a challenge. But God makes no mistakes, and somewhere there is a reason why I didn't get to Kansas as planned.
As I have mentioned before, the word the Lord gave me for this year is trust. So I knew it wasn't a mistake that Proverbs 3:5–6 appeared in my quiet time yesterday. Nor was it a mistake that He directed me to put those verses here and on Facebook. I couldn't get away from those verses.
God wants my full, unquestioning trust in every area of my life. He wants me to plunge deep into His promises (Romans 4, The Message), never doubting that He has my best in m ind. I don't understand why He didn't want me to get to Kansas yesterday. He doesn't have to share with me His reasons. He just wants me to trust Him . . . in everything.
I'm to trust Him knowing He always has my best in mind. He is teaching me, step by step, how to trust Him fully, unquestioningly, constantly listening for His voice in everything. He wants me to follow Him closely, not lagging behind asking a bunch of skeptical, whiny questions that reveal my lack of faith in His sovereignty, goodness, and love. He doesn't want to look back and see me fainting by the way unsure of my ability to do what He's already said He would enable be to do. He doesn't want me to rush ahead of Him, confident that I know best how He wants to accomplish His purposes in and through me.
All He wants is my complete, constant trust.
And then this morning He gave me today's verses: "By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward--to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision--you'll see it yet!" (Philippians 3:13–15 The Message)
I've been doing my share of traveling, mostly by plane, in the last two years. With hubby Roger working in Phoenix, most of my recent travels have been in and out of Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport. Most of the time things go relatively smoothly. But not the last two weeks. At least on the flights I've been on.
Last Monday, June 24, was a very windy day in Denver. Now when I say very windy, I don't mean what most people think of as windy. Believe me, I've lived in many different places, but never have I encountered winds like those in Colorado. That day we had wind clocking in at 75 mph. All day.
My flight was supposed to leave around 6:00 p.m., and I checked with the airline before leaving for DIA. My flight was scheduled to leave on time. Even when I checked my baggage, all the way through security and out to my gate at the very end of the concourse, everything posted said my flight would leave on time.
Until ten minutes before we were to board. No plane. And even then, there was no announcement. I looked up from my book to see Nashville flashing above the door to the Jetway instead of Phoenix. What?
I checked the departure monitors. Now delayed until 9:15.
The plane didn't arrive from Phoenix until well after the winds died down. The day-long backlog of arriving flights were vying for clearance to land, and it was 10:15 before our plane arrived.
We finally left at 10:45. Yep. Five hours late.
However, I chalked it up to another experience in my travel adventures, and didn't think anything more about it really. Until yesterday's installment of Margie's travel escapades.
My plans were to fly to Wichita, Kansas (via Denver), to meet up with two of my online critique partners for a weeklong "retreat." My flight to Denver was scheduled to leave Phoenix at 7:00 a.m. So . . . up early, finished packing, got in the truck for the ride to Sky Harbor Airport.
Everything went like clockwork. Until we were all loaded and had pushed back from the gate. One minute the pilot came on to tell us we were waiting for clearance to get in line to take off, the next minute he's telling us they were going back to the gate to have maintenance look at a computer glitch. Shouldn't take too long.
Ri-i-i-i-i-ght. Seven went to eight, as it inevitably does. And we were still sitting at the gate. I called Roger. I called Kim. Knowing I'd missed my flight to Wichita, I debated about whether to go ahead and fly to Denver and take my chances on the airline getting me on another flight to Wichita or staying in Phoenix until the next flight.
Either option would have been fine . . . if it weren't the day after a holiday weekend. Sigh. I crawled out of my seat by the window and made my way to the front of the plane to speak with the gate agent. She told me there was another flight to Wichita that day and she would check to see availability.
So I crawled back into my seat, of course displacing my two gracious seatmates once again. Called Roger. Decided to wait a little longer.
Now it's 8:30. People are getting restless. Making desperate phone calls. Postponing meetings. Leaving the plane to make other arrangements for travel.
I kept asking the Lord what I should do. And every time He reminded me of the verse I posted here earlier that morning. Proverbs 3:5–6 from The Message:
"Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for GOD's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track."So I sat. About 8:45 Roger called and said he'd checked the flights for the rest of the day. No available seats.
Okay. For over an hour we'd had no word on how the work was progressing. Maintenance had put in a new computer, rebooted all the systems on the plane, and they still had a glitch.
I could fly to Denver . . . whenever that would be. And arrange for a seat on a flight Wednesday from there. I could spend the night at home. Or I could get off the plane now, arrange for the next available flight, and have Roger come get me. I opted for the latter.
Grabbed my stuff, asked my long-suffering seatmates to let me out one last time, and headed down to ticketing to see what I could arrange. But first I asked the gate agent to get my checked luggage, if possible.
An hour later I had a ticket on a flight this afternoon, getting into Wichita at 9:30 p.m. And I now own a $200 voucher from the airline for any domestic flight in the next year. My luggage was waiting for me at the carousel, and Roger came a few minutes later.
Back at the condo, I had lots of time to think.
I'm a firm believer in the sovereignty of God. Nothing is too small or too big for Him to handle. Of course, living as though I believe that truth is many times a challenge. But God makes no mistakes, and somewhere there is a reason why I didn't get to Kansas as planned.
As I have mentioned before, the word the Lord gave me for this year is trust. So I knew it wasn't a mistake that Proverbs 3:5–6 appeared in my quiet time yesterday. Nor was it a mistake that He directed me to put those verses here and on Facebook. I couldn't get away from those verses.
God wants my full, unquestioning trust in every area of my life. He wants me to plunge deep into His promises (Romans 4, The Message), never doubting that He has my best in m ind. I don't understand why He didn't want me to get to Kansas yesterday. He doesn't have to share with me His reasons. He just wants me to trust Him . . . in everything.
I'm to trust Him knowing He always has my best in mind. He is teaching me, step by step, how to trust Him fully, unquestioningly, constantly listening for His voice in everything. He wants me to follow Him closely, not lagging behind asking a bunch of skeptical, whiny questions that reveal my lack of faith in His sovereignty, goodness, and love. He doesn't want to look back and see me fainting by the way unsure of my ability to do what He's already said He would enable be to do. He doesn't want me to rush ahead of Him, confident that I know best how He wants to accomplish His purposes in and through me.
All He wants is my complete, constant trust.
And then this morning He gave me today's verses: "By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward--to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision--you'll see it yet!" (Philippians 3:13–15 The Message)
Verse of the Day
Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward--to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. (Philippians 3:13–15 MSG)
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Verse of the Day
Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for GOD's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track. (Proverbs 3:5–6 MSG)
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