Book Review: Stained Glass Hearts

Stained Glass Hearts: Seeing Life from a Broken Perspective by Patsy Clairmont

There are lots of giggles and laughs in there, or it wouldn’t have been written by Patsy Clairmont, but this book has more serious or somber tones than others I have read. Patsy shares some of the broken pieces of her life, and how God has put her back together, given joy, and brought beauty through the ashes and the tears.

Since I myself am on a cancer journey, I chose to read and review this book to gain more perspective about brokenness and difficult places. Patsy transparently shares how God brought her from phobias and addictions to healing through the power of the Word and trusting God moment by moment to change thoughts and habits.

One section of the book was particularly powerful in my life. Patsy gave five suggestions for maintaining joy through pain. Three of the five were “Choose gratitude.” Gratitude and joy are both choices that we have the power to make. Even in our pain, “we can in the midst of it thank God for who he is. It is a sacrifice of praise when we acknowledge his lordship” (p. 70).

Patsy says many things in this book that we all need to heed. Every life will have struggles, losses, pain, and suffering, eventually. How we respond to these will determine whether the beauty of Christ will shine through our lives. I recommend this book, especially if you love reading Patsy Clairmont and if you are going through brokenness. I will share my copy with the first person to request it by commenting on our family blog.

I received a free copy of Stained Glass Hearts from Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for this review.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Jason's 16th birthday

(This is a picture of Jason enjoying Jeffrey's desk after Jeffrey left for college. Jeffrey misses his good chair quite a bit.)

Last week, Jason attained the age of 16.
He also took the test to get his driver's permit and passed. Now he has a year to learn and practice driving. He worked at ACE Hardware on his birthday until late in the evening. His boss always gets a birthday cake for each one's birthdays, so we waited until the next day to make our special dessert for him. We don't have picture proof, but the blueberry cheesecake was very delicious! Jason's birthday gift was a light for his piano.

The book open on the piano is one from a Walker Hymn Sing. We sing a hymn before prayer each evening.
The special activity for Jason's birthday was going bowling with Uncle Dan and Aunt Esther Mendez and the cousins: Hadassah, Sarah, and Kwani. We were all beginners, as I haven't bowled since 1980, and Rowen since 1983. The kids had never bowled. The Mendezes gave us pointers, and we enjoyed learning. All of us made at least one strike. We played two games and felt appropriately worn out! Thankfully, none of us were the worse for the wear the next day.
We thought this lane label was appropriate for the occasion.

The Kaus Family's new baby

Our dear friends, Randy and Kelly Kaus, have a new baby boy to love. Luther Lawrence Kaus was born on September 1, and weighed 9 lbs, 4 oz! He is now home from the hospital and we are looking forward to getting acquainted with him. We praise God for his blessings!
Luther's siblings: Quinten, LeighAnna, and Harrison

Kelly and baby Luther

Proud daddy, Randy and Luther

Luther all dressed up to go home from the hospital

Bright Lights Discipleship Group

Beth and Emily are so glad to have the privilege to be in a discipleship group (Bible Study) with some other homeschool girls. They had seven meetings this summer and are going to continue with nine more this fall.

The meetings usually start with music: singing around the piano; then prayer/memory verse time with partners; then the lesson; an activity; and tea. The lesson curriculum and group is called BRIGHT Lights. (BRIGHT stands for Being Radient in Godliness, Holiness, and Testimony. You can click here for more information. The lessons were written by Miss Sarah Mally, who started B.L. discipleship groups. Now, leaders sign-up to have the "Bible studies" and use the lessons.)


One day they made little "lanterns" out of tea-cups:


They sang some of their songs at two nursing homes; shared testimonies, played piano, violins, and flute, and visited with those there.


Greeley Bright Lights group.


Emily and two others at a Bright Lights meeting.


B.L. group leader, Mrs. Fulton.


More girls...


Having tea...

#5 Chemo done!

So glad to have chemo treatment #5 behind me. The last one is September 22. At least two people came in yesterday for chemo who did not get to have their treatments. One went to the hospital and the other has to wait a week. I am thankful I have had no delays, infections, fevers, or low blood counts to prevent the treatments. God is better to me than I deserve! I give Him all the praise!

I am feeling well at the moment, but I know that the next few days will bring bone pain, tiredness, some gastritis distress, but trusting I will get through it without being too grumpy or "complainy". My family is always wonderful to do whatever I don't feel like doing and to give me a break.

Thank you every one for the continued prayers. I feel like I am carried by everyone's prayers, so that I don't worry about myself. There are so many others I am able to pray for when I am not bogged down by my own situation. I appreciate each one for praying for me and I appreciate the Lord for answering those prayers!

Jeff is gone to God's Bible School

On August 15, Jeffrey flew away to become a student at God's Bible School in Cincinnati, Ohio. These pictures are from the night before he left.
Daddy and Jeffrey

Mother and Jeffrey

These were taken at Federal Heights during the Sunday School in the evening. Jeffrey did the story since it was three days after Mother's chemo and she wasn't up to it.

Jeffrey has been such a blessing in the Federal Heights work. He has been the song leader for quite awhile. Now I am doing that part. He has also been great at inviting kids and remembering where everybody lives on his route. We really miss him at home and in this ministry, but we know God has plans for his life, and he must prepare for them.

What we do most evenings...

We take a walk somewhere in our neighborhood. It is healthy for both of us. Usually some of our children walk with us. It is good "together time" to talk over the day's happenings. I'm thankful for a safe town that we can walk in. Usually we try to vary our walks from evening to evening, enjoy different flowers, or neighbors, or yard landscapings.... This picture is on the track around the high school football field.

Recent Quilting Projects

This is Mother's latest finished quilt. It is a Five Stripe pattern and is very similar to the one she made for Seth and Alesia Stevenson. She had so many blocks left over, she had to make another. It is oversized, so will work on a King or a Queen former waterbed, like theirs. No more fighting over covers! The cedar chest at the end of the bed is Emily's, which Grandpa Scoles made for her this summer while she was at Joplin.

This is the quilt top Mother made especially for Brent and Alicia Susan, our dear friends who live in Pennsylvania. They picked the fabrics and the pattern (Clay's Choice) when they were visiting us in February. Mother is going to send it to them to be quilted and finished in Pennsylvania.

This is the quilt I (Beth) have started. The top left of the picture, you can see the printout of the pattern the quilt will be. I scanned my fabrics and then created the pattern in Photoshop. I found out it is hard to put a quilt together when you make up the pattern yourself!

Part of what I have together so far. Other things have gotten in the way of completing it so far, but Mother will make sure I stick with it and get it done eventually.

August 24 50th birthday for Janet

Even though this was #50 birthday for me, we didn't think we would be up to having a party. So Beth called and emailed people asking for a card shower for me. As a result, I have heard via cards, email and Facebook from lots more people than could've come for a party!

So far, 103 cards have come; 10 e-cards, over 140 greetings on Facebook. The beautiful roses are a gift from Kevin and Bonnie Peterson, long time homeschool and family friends. The gorgeous Cala Lily is a gift from homeschool friend, Karen Weaver. The shoes are from Rowen; the new mp3 player is from my children. Emily got the Symphony bar and Sunny D for me. (Sunny D being one of the things that tastes good to me during this time, and Symphony being my favorite candy bar!) The box of toffee and the note pad on the right are gifts from Randy and Kelly Kaus, great homeschool and home church friends. The bird card by the shoes is hand drawn by our friend, Beth Ann Worden, from Kremmling, Co. She is Beth's pen pal and is amazingly talented in so many ways, but when we got this in the mail, we realized she is a pencil artist, as well! There are lots of beautiful, uplifting, and funny cards in that pile of cards. If they are still in any envelope, that means they are beautified by glitter.
Oops, I just realized one of the gifts I received is not in the picture. Sunshine Gearhart, another great homeschool friend, gave me a Pampered Chef kitchen gadget for stirring things, beating eggs, etc. Sorry I had already put it in the drawer before the picture!
We enjoyed eating out at Texas Roadhouse in Greeley. Steak tastes yummy to me, where most things don't taste like they normally do while I'm 'under the influence' of chemotherapy.
Thank you to each one who reached out to me with love, prayers, cards, gifts, and thoughts for my birthday!

Book Review: Life Everlasting by Robert Whitlow

Life Everlasting by Robert Whitlow

Can God heal in ways that we have never experienced or imagined? Is there power to heal in God’s Word and in music? How can a person know whether someone is telling the truth? These are questions I asked as I read this book.

There are so many angles of interest in this book: ethical dilemmas surrounding a comatose patient, legal maneuverings to conceal or reveal truth, proper responses to the use or withdrawal of talents, sharing of the gospel of Christ, and even a little romance.

Lawyer Alexis Lindale must sort through the confusion to be on truth’s side as she deals with manipulative, dangerous, comatose, and damaged people. The priority has to be “life everlasting.”

When I received this book to review, I did not know it was Book 2 in a series. As I read, I knew I was missing some of the pieces to the puzzle. I finished reading it, read Book 1 (Life Support), and then read Life Everlasting again. I enjoyed the book both times I read it. The characters are interesting and spontaneous, and there is surprise and suspense throughout. I chose to read this book because of my nursing background and interest in the plight of the comatose patient. I was intrigued and entertained by this book. I recommend it highly.

I received a free copy of Life Everlasting from Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for this review.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

4th chemo treatment today, 2/3 done!

Hi everybody,

Thanks for the prayers for my health and my chemo treatments. Number 4 went well today. I think I feel better tonight than I have felt after any of the treatments so far. Everybody says I am looking good. I don't know what that means. Maybe they expected me to look worse! I felt like going to Sams Club after the chemo, so I did that with Jeffrey and Beth, who hung out with me today. Part of the time, they had to stay in the lobby, as there were so many patients today. As I look around at the other people going through treatment, I realize how blessed I am to be well and healthy! So many people have a much harder road to travel than I do. Rowen and I had a long walk this evening, and I know that the walking is good to work the chemicals through my body and help to get them processed and out of me quicker. I am thankful for such a loving and supportive family to stand by me and love me through this!

I will still be on steroids through tomorrow, and I found out last time that the extra steroids keep me feeling "up" for a day or so longer than earlier in the treatments. Last time, I still felt relatively well through Sunday, and Monday was the day I started the bone pain. By Wednesday and Thursday, I was having the gastritis symptoms, but not as badly as the first time through, before I went on Prilosec (Omeprazole). By Thursday evening, I was over most of the symptoms and then had a good two weeks of feeling pretty "normal." I was even normal enough to tackle cleaning our three bathrooms yesterday, which I haven't done since my surgery in April! (Don't worry, they have been cleaned regularly by my right hand girl, Beth!)

My eye lashes and eyebrows are thinning out, so I think they will be leaving me eventually. My blood counts have stayed good, with just a little anemia, and plenty of white blood cells.

My next treatment will be September 1. Tomorrow afternoon, I will go in for the extra bag of fluids, and the Neulasta shot. Sixth and final chemo will be September 22!

I want to thank everyone again for every prayer prayed for me and for so many people who have sent encouraging cards to me. God has been my joy, my help, my strength, my healing, and my encouragement in answer to the many prayers. I could not make it without His touch!

Love,
Janet Albertson

Visit from Tim and Brenda, and Emily is home!

We left Emily in Missouri with Tim and Brenda on June 27. On July 28, Tim and Brenda brought her back home.
This is Thursday evening on our sunset walk around Johnstown Lake.

They surprised us by coming overnight, and that way we got to be with them most of the day Thursday through Monday 1:15 pm when they left for home. It was so good to have them with us. We spent Friday in the mountains, a welcome relief from busyness and heat! What a gorgeous day!


Like I said, it was a gorgeous day in the mountains!
We climbed the tower at the Dam Store because it had been so many years since we had... Brenda took this picture.

We hiked up to this waterfall at the alluvial fan of the Lawn Lake Flood of 1982. This is in Rocky Mountain National Park.

It was so refreshing to sit beside the waterfall and enjoy the coolness, the spray, the sight and sound of the waterfall.

These next few pictures were taken around the waterfall or that hike.







Later, Rowen, Brenda, and Janet walked around Lily Lake. It was a nice, easy walk. The kids took the mountain climb and met us afterwards.

It actually was cool when the wind was blowing over the lake!

After getting home from the mountains, we were privileged to have Jason and Tammy Dodson, Liliana and Lydia, for supper and the evening. They are on their way to China. We are glad we got to see them before they left!