'Lillies in Moonlight' by Allison Pittman

Lilly Margolis is a door-to-door sales girl for Dalliance Cosmetics. After a landing at the front door of the extremely rich Mrs. Betty Ruth Burnside, she promptly sells the whole batch and is on her way. A few nights later, Lilly 'lands' at the Burnside residence again, this time sprawled face down in the back yard. Mrs. Burnside's son, Cullen, brings her into the house to recover, and their journey begins.

Lilly Margolis and Cullen Burnside are each lost in their own personal pain. Lilly, a 'flapper' who has dared to cut her hair short (gasp) and set out on her own, struggles with self-worth. Cullen, scarred from the Great War and battling his feelings of emptiness, fights memories lost opportunities. They both have issues with their mothers. Cullen's mom suffers from dementia, but immediately falls in love with Lilly and insists she stay with her. Her gentle spirit and love of the Lord is a drastic change from the mother figure Lilly is used to, as Lilly's mother sees has twisted God's word into ugliness and sees nothing but evil in her daughter. As Cullen and Lilly learn to get along due to the mutual love for Cullen's mother, the journey begins.

Review:
This book began very slowly. I had a difficult time connecting to the characters, or even caring how they would turn out. The beginning was confusing, especially when the Burnsides allowed a complete stranger to live in their lavish house. However, the author did an outstanding job of portraying the feel of the 'roaring 20's', right down to the use of the language of the time ("Well, don't you look the bee's knees").

The second half of the book picked up considerably, and I ended up enjoying a few parts of it. Several scenes were improbable however (Cullen's mom suddenly becoming coherent) and the ending was very, very predictable, but sweet. I did love the tale of redemption through God's love woven into their lives, and how His grace and love are enough. The scene where Lilly faces her mother was the most realistic in the book, and also had me the most emotionally involved. Overall, if you are interested in this time period, you will enjoy the details if you can get past the first half of the book.

I received a copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah, but the opinions expressed in this review are honest and completely my own.

Crying Fowl

I was recently standing by the ocean, listening to the music of the waves sing the glory of God as they gently caressed my feet. The breeze was blowing, my childrens' laughter floating in the air, accentuating the moment. It was a moment to cherish.

Which would explain why, when I later spied a lone seagull standing by himself, I made the decisions that I did. In my benevolent state of mind, I had a few crackers with me and decided to feed this (insert air quotes and sarcasm) poor, lonely creature. As I went to throw the cracker to my new best friend, my husband glanced over and registered what I was about to do. What happened next was like something out of a movie: my husband lunged for me, moving in what seemed like slow-motion, with a guttural 'NOOOOOOOO!' coming from his lips, trying to save the oblivious heroine, who was unaware of the danger approaching her. Of course I threw the cracker before he could save me (this isn't the movies), and instantly, I was bombarded by an endless mass of squawking feathers, all yelling "MINE, MINE, MINE!" (if you didn't get that, stop what you are doing and go watch 'Finding Nemo'. Right now.) What I thought was a poor little lone bird was obviously the bait for unsuspecting, well-meaning humans.

This mass of screaming fowl was an assault to the senses after the serenity of the beach. It could have ruined the peace I had just felt with God. But as I looked at my son laughing in delight at the birds swirling around us, we decided to have fun with it. Watch the video below to see what I mean!

We ended up feeding them all the crackers we had. It made me think how much our lives can run such a parallel to this scenario. Many times we go from a peaceful communion with God, and enter into the the real world, filled with squawking, fighting, pecking masses of confusion. We have a choice: laugh, and make the best of whatever situation God puts us in, or hold onto all our crackers and let circumstances ruin our moment.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Gal 5:22-23)

Have fun with the video below...we did! Note: do not try this at home!

How NOT to feed the seagulls

'A Voice In The Wind' by Francine Rivers

Have you ever truly pondered what life was like for the earliest Christians? Wondered wjat spreading the message of Jesus would be like to a brutal culture that would as soon kill you as look at you? This book, set in the time frame of about seventy years after the death of Christ, transports you right into the middle of that time period. Hadassah, a young Christian girl, is sold into slavery and thrust into the wild life of ancient Rome. She struggles to live out her faith in Jesus Christ in the midst of a culture where anything goes, and self-gratification is the god of the people.

I will begin by saying this is my absolute favorite book. This book is the first in a three part series entitled 'The Mark of the Lion'. From the second you pick up the book, it snatches your heart and doesn't let go. I wouldn't recommend this book for young readers, as the author holds nothing back in portraying the intense persecution that early Christians endured. The book is very graphic and violent, but so were the times. Hadassah shows us what it is like to truly live out your faith, as she serves as a slave in a Roman household.

This book will make you shudder, cry, shout for joy, and weep in empathy. I couldn't put it down, and never wanted it to end. Thank goodness there is a sequel! As I walked with Hadassah through the pages of this novel, my own faith was challenged and deepened. Would I have the courage to stand against the tide of evil with gentleness and humility as she did?

If I could give this book 10 stars, I would. I could not even begin to count the books that I have read over my lifetime, so to call this one my favorite is the highest honor. The characters in this book are so well developed, I found myself thinking about them long after the book was over. Go read it. It will make the struggles we deal with everyday pale in comparison, and strengthen your faith.

Game-changer

Time for an 'awww' moment...when I initially opened this blog, it was to record the valuable lessons God has taught on my journey with the Him. Then my sweet husband came home one day with a beautifully bound journal, and presented it to me. His words went something like, "your thoughts are valuable enough to me that I felt you should have something worthy to record them in" and of COURSE I melted. Disgustingly sweet, I know, sorry for inducing your gag reflex. But I know myself pretty well, and this my be a game-changer. I am SO not disciplined enough to journal and also blog (we are talking about someone who occasionally finds the milk hanging out in the pantry. With the cereal. Because they are friends). So mainly this blog will now be for book reviews.

Anyone that has had over five minutes of contact with me knows that I am a voracious reader, and a student at heart. I study the Bible with four different versions in hand, along with a commentary or three and a Greek translator (it's an app, not a random Greek person hanging out in my house. Although that would be very cool.) In what little free time I have, I devour Christian fiction as fast as the authors can crank it out (some would call me a nerd...I would agree). One of the biggest challenges, however, has been sifting through the mountains of books out there to find the ones that truly bring a great message, combined with an interesting plot and characters you actually care about. In this day of the electronic books, everyone has become a publisher, so the mountain has grown. So even though I now have a cool new journal, I will occasionally use this blog to toss out a high five to the author. Or....not.

God exhorts us, in Philippians 4:8, to keep your mind pure:

  

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (ESV)

As in all things God commands, there is a purpose for our good. When your mind stays focused on the things above, it feeds the Spirit and keeps you in step with His will. I try and apply this command to every aspect of my life, both in my entertainment choices and in my thought life. My prayer is that my nerdy-ness will be used by God to direct others to books that will bless them.