One thing Jeffrey did this summer

Jeffrey was privileged to work at his old job at Ace Hardware this summer.  The boss decided to rent this building next door to Ace, and Jeffrey painted it, inside and out!  One evening on our walk we inspected his painting.

Book Review: The Living Room by Robert Whitlow

The Living Room by Robert Whitlow

I read a lot of Robert Whitlow books in 2011 while I was having chemo.  I discovered then that he is an author who makes me think!  There is always a Christian theme running throughout, but also conflicts and mysteries on many levels.  I was excited to find this book up for review on Book Sneeze.

Amy Clarke is the main character.  She is married with two children, ages ten and fourteen.  The ten-year-old is delightfully all boy and the fourteen-year-old girl is at the stage of pulling away from her parents as they try to protect her from dangers she does not realize are there.  Amy has a special relationship with the Lord that carries over into her dreams, where she feels the peace and restoration of God.  She also receives inspiration for her books, and most recently, it seems God is warning her about future events in these dreams.  Amy has finished two inspirational novels and is working on a third book, which is dealing with darker conflicts.  She gets called back to the law office where she previously worked, to fill in for a maternity leave.  When she has insights about the cases the lawyers are working on, she has to decide whether to talk about her dreams, and the lawyers have to decide whether to act on her dreams.

Meanwhile her daughter seems to be getting too close to one of her single male teachers, and has several episodes of unexplained loss of consciousness.  Amy and her husband, Jeff, were interesting to watch in their parenting techniques, communication, and affirmations through the trials of life. I enjoyed Mr. Whitlow having his character Amy contrast her marriage communication with the communication of Amy’s fictional characters in her books!

All Mr. Whitlow’s books that I have read have had lawyers and law matters central in the plot.  My understanding is broadened by all the information in the storyline. 

I highly recommend and appreciate the clean, intellectual mystery writing and look forward to more books by Robert Whitlow.

Book Sneeze provided me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Encouragement for the Weary Saint

"He has made everything beautiful in His time." - Ecclesiastes 3:11



"My times are in Your hand..." David writes to God in Psalm 31.
     Our times, that includes: when our times are, how long they last, and what they consist of... the Christian, the Child of God, can rest assured that his/her times are in the hand of God.  God, the Faithful Father, God the all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-wise.

Just as our God is faithful in all times, we must be faithful too... faithful in joyful gratitude and obedience and faith.   David also wrote (with determination), "I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth." - Psalm 34:1

"Trust in Him at all times, you people, pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us." - Psalm 62:8.

(I think that these 3 chapters of Psalms would be a great encouragement to you, dear weary saint, at this time.)

I pray that you will experience heart delight and rest in knowing your Father and His care for you, in knowing that He is directing your steps and preparing the path for your feet.  I tell you what, our God is a great Father!  (I'm getting blessed, just writing this!)

~ Beth

Book Review: The Winnowing Season by Cindy Woodsmall

The Winnowing Season is book two in the Amish Vines and Orchards series.  It starts out with a recap of A Season for Tending, which I appreciated since I would not have known what was going on without that help.  The main characters are Rhoda Byler and the two brothers who love her, Samuel and Jacob King.  In book one, the Kings’ apple orchard and their community was devastated by a tornado.  Rhoda, her brother’s family, and the Kings are moving to Maine from Pennsylvania to start over in an abandoned orchard and begin a new Amish community as other relatives join them.  Rhoda is in partnership with the Kings because of her horticulture experience and canning expertise.  Jacob has many secrets from his past, which still have a grip on his life, causing him to be absent from the workload and his relationship with Rhoda every time she needs him.  Samuel is always there, steady, interfering, and usually in conflict with Rhoda.

Rhoda has several issues in her life that cause her pain; she feels guilty that her sister was murdered and she had not kept it from happening.  She has insights into people’s lives that have caused the Amish leaders to be suspicious of her.  She is anxious to move far away from her church family because the treatment she has received has been painful.  She is misunderstood and taken advantage of by non-Amish, as Jacob is, because of the naiveté of the sheltered lives they have lived.

The very sad part of this book to me is that the characters want to please God, but think pleasing God is all wrapped up in obeying the church leaders and the written and unwritten code of the Amish.  I don’t get the sense that anyone has a personal relationship with Jesus as Savior. 

At the end of the book, none of the conflicts have been resolved.  Obviously, at least one more book is upcoming.  I am a fan of Cindy Woodsmall on Facebook and this week, she asked what color of wedding dress Rhoda should have; so I assume the next book will resolve the triangle love situation in this one.

I received this e-book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for my honest review.

Book Review: Joni and Ken: An Untold Love Story

I have always been a fan of Joni since her first book.  I was aware of her bout with breast cancer in 2010 and prayed for her as she went through that deep trial.  As I read this book, I appreciated how she and Ken are so transparent about the joys and struggles of their marriage, and their deepening relationship with the Lord and each other through the gift of cancer.  I could relate to her cancer story so much, because in 2011, I was also given the gift of breast cancer.  Our diagnosis and treatments matched, even down to the names of the chemo drugs!  I don’t know that I have as dramatic a story to tell as they do, but I completely agree that God can be glorified and bring good out of a journey through cancer.  I cried several times while reading this book.  It is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it.

The only problem I had with the book is that I purchased it as an e-copy, and it was not formatted for my Kindle.  I had to read it on my computer.  If I had known it was not compatible with my Kindle, I would have purchased the print book.

Christian Home Educators of Colorado conference June 13-15

 Several months ago, we learned of the opportunity for young homeschoolers with businesses to have a booth in the Christian Home Educators of Colorado conference Youth Vendor Hall.  We felt it would be good for Emily to have this opportunity of exposure for her photography cards and to grow in her confidence and sales skills.

 These pictures were taken after we had set up, but the table behind us was not yet set up.  There were 36 Youth Vendors in all.

 A view of the Youth Vendor Hall.  We were glad to be on the outside row because people did not have to be looking both directions at once.

 The man in the suit at the next booth was interviewing Amy, who was selling bookmarks.  Emily was waiting for her turn to be interviewed.  Three of the youth vendors were chosen as business winners and received cash prizes.  Emily didn't win, but that was fine.

 The next three pictures are the judge interviewing Emily.  The Lord helped Emily to not be too nervous.

 Here the judge is moving on to our other "neighbor", Josh who makes jewelry and key chains out of wire.

 A view of Emily's row from the opposite side.

 A booth out in the middle of the Youth Vendor hall.  This girl had made all of the things she was selling.

 A view from the side.  Rowen is sitting at Emily's booth as she takes this picture.

 Toward the end of Saturday, when most of Emily's merchandise was gone.

Emily has lots of pictures so she can make some more inventory.  If any of our blog readers are interested in ordering photo cards, please go to: http://forhisgloryandhonorphotography.blogspot.com/p/greeting-card-sets.html

Another mountain post from June 23, 2013

 As I mentioned in a previous post, Sundays are the only day we are all together to go to the mountains.  So this past Sunday, we gathered our mashed potatoes, carrots, roast beef, salad, rolls, and blueberry cheesecake, and drove up to one of our favorite picnic spots past Drake, Colorado.
We happened to have Tony Rothfuss with us as a guest.  We haven't seen Tony since 2007; he is a friend from South Dakota.

 

 While Tony, Jason, and Emily went rock scrambling, Rowen noticed some big horn sheep on a high outcropping.  These pictures are taken with maximum zoom.

 

 It looks like he is saying something.  There were actually three of them, but Rowen was not able to get all three of them in the pictures.

 

 While we waited for the hikers to come back, Jeffrey, Beth, and Janet read on their tablet and Kindles.

 

 

The Darling Picture Tim and Brenda sent for Father's Day

Our sweetest and only granddaughter!  Charissa Joy Albertson

Father's Day 2013

 On Father's Day, we took all these pictures (and many more that we won't bore you with!) of our family with Rowen.  We are very blessed to have the husband and daddy that God has given us!

 Janet and Rowen

 Jason and Rowen

 

 Jeffrey and Rowen

 Jason, Rowen, and Jeffrey

 Beth and Rowen

Emily and Rowen

Enjoying the Mountains June 9

 We have been enjoying having Jeffrey home for the summer!  We are so thankful that he was able to get back on at Ace Hardware for a summer job.  One drawback of having three kids working there, is that they are never off at the same time, except for Sundays.  So if we go to the mountains with everybody, it has to be a Sunday afternoon.  This particular day, we found a pull off in the St. Vrain Canyon.  It was a very steep climb down to the water's edge.  The only place for lawn chairs was right by the car.  Beth and Janet sat and enjoyed the sound of the rushing water below.

 Jason, Jeffrey, and Emily clambered around on the rocks awhile.

 Jeffrey found a good place to read.

 As did Rowen!

 Jason found a place to contemplate.

 Emily took some pretty pictures.  Of course....

We are blessed to live in Colorado within a close drive of the mountains.

Surprise visit with Randy's family

 Randy and Joy surprised us with a fast, short visit on June 3-4.  They are planning to move to Federal Heights, Colorado in the near future to be in ministry there, and had come out to make arrangements concerning the move. 

 They had a late evening meal with us, and had to leave by the following afternoon.  Jason and Beth had not gone to Missouri with us in May, so they were glad to see everybody!

 Jonathan was just learning to crawl--still in the "crawl until you get close and then lunge for what you want" stage!

 Micah had time for a couple of Woof stories.

 Because we babysit on Tuesdays, Quil got to play with his friend, Lincoln.  They have played together once or twice a year since they were two years old!

Faith and Hope had fun entertaining Jonathan.  We are looking forward to the future possibilities of being in the lives of our grandsons more than just occasional visits and Skyping infrequently!  We are trusting God to work out all the details of their move to Colorado.