Friday's Fave Five #243

Hi everyone.  Well I have absolutely no excuse except to tell you I totally fell asleep and forgot to publish.  Yikes, I was one tired cookie last night.  And then in panic I remembered this morning while getting ready for work.  I think I need this long weekend this weekend more than I realize.  

1.  This post, linked to via His Unfinished Work.  Thoughts I've been mulling over myself lately, things I've been trying to address in my heart with with my own blogging and whether I should continue.  But see the thing is, those things that drew me to blogging in the first place...the stories other ladies were telling, the pictures they shared, the encouragement they gave, the friendship they offered...those are still the things that attract me to blogging today.  So all that to say I really enjoyed the post and confirmed to me to just enjoy blogging for what has always drawn me and quit worrying and debating in my head about the rest.

2.  No words needed for this one just kleenex.


3.  Mother's Day time with family.  Even though there was beautiful gifts that totally were a blessing and I appreciated so much, the absolute best was the time my family gave me on Mother's Day.  My Oldest couldn't be here, but the other 2 and hubby made sure I had a lovely day with lots of time with them.  The oldest made sure I got a real nice long phone call which I know for her is a huge gift because she just is not one to talk a long time on the phone.  Their time is their most precious gift of all now that they are all grown!
4.  Nice walks.  This last week provided a couple of opportunities to take a few really nice walks.  The weather was perfect, the company of hubby and four legged buddy was a bonus.  I'm really trying to get out walking more as part of my "get off the couch" decision.
5.  The laughter of children playing.  The dayhome kids had found something extremely funny one afternoon and as I was doing the lunch dishes I could hear their laughter and enjoyment.  What a gift the giggles of small children is.
This weekend is a long weekend for us in Canada.  So I wish all my Canadian friends a nice holiday.  I'm looking forward to going and getting my bedding out plants.  Hopefully the weather will co-operate and I'll actually be able to put them out.  Some  brave souls around here have already done so. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!   

Book Review ~ Jesus: The Greatest Life of All by Charles Swindoll

Jesus Christ was and is the most influential person in history. In this ninth and final book in the Great Lives from God's Word Series, Charles Swindoll takes an indepth look into who exactly Jesus was. He looks at the whole life of Jesus here on earth from His prophesied birth, to His coming into His ministry, to His teachings and displays of power, His claim of Divinity and then His brutal death and astonishing resurrection. He delves into what most of Jesus followers at the time of His life really thought of Him and why they had to come to terms with their preconceived ideas of who and what the Messiah would be. The author then takes these lessons and gives practical applications we can use towards our lives today.

 I loved this book. I love how the author made the life and teachings of Jesus so "real" and so very relevant for me today. His style of writing kept my attention through the whole book, from first page to last. Because it is part of a series that I want to collect the whole of, I refrained from underlining or writing in the book, but then so regretted that decision. It is chock full of wisdom and things I took away for my own self and my life. I really felt I could understand a bit of the disciples confusion and wonder at who this Teacher was that they were following. We have history's and the bible's hindsight, but they really did not and the things Jesus told them must have been absolutely mind blowing to them. They were looking for a Messiah who would physically restore the glory days of King David to Israel. He was so much more of a Messiah than they could ever imagine. This will definitely be a reread sometime in the future as it has so much to chew on and think on and learn from. An excellent casual read and/or a more deep study for anyone.

Mother's Day Surprises

From the girls

Yum, Yum!

Look at the size of these babies!

From the son

One of my favorite happy little flowers.

They all took me on my requested hot dog roast in the river bottom

which was wonderful 

until the wind decided to crash the party.

And I discovered I forgot my camera

so no Mother's Day pics.

This week Hubby is taking me shopping for my bedding out plants

which is his yearly gift to me.

Can hardly wait!

Book Review ~ Dangerous Mercy by Kathy Herman

Book 2 in the Secrets of Roux River Bayou finds Adele Woodmoore moving to Les Barbes to be closer to Zoe and Pierce Broussard and their now 2 year old daughter Grace. Adele is like the mother/grandmother figure in Zoe's life and because of Adele's grace and forgiveness towards her, Zoe is able to move on in her life and see her hopes coming to fruition. Adele is a people person and when she needs help around her home, the 86 year old doesn't hesitate to hire a couple of handy men from a halfway house for the homeless in town thinking to show some mercy and give them the break in life that they are looking for. Murray comes recommended as the hardest worker in the house and Noah is already working as a grounds keeper for friends of Zoe's at their bed and breakfast so Adele is quite comfortable in her decision. But when some shocking murders start to happen in the town Pierce is very concerned that maybe Adele is being naive in not being more cautious about befriending these men. Adele is adamant that these men are good men and just need someone to show them mercy and grace and give them a break. But when Noah becomes a person of interest in one of murders and her house keeper quits because of Adele's insistence of continuiing to allow the men into her home, Adele starts to question her wisdom.

 Again I enjoyed Kathy Herman's mystery as in this installment to the series she delved into the subject of showing God's mercy and grace to those whom most of society would turn their back on. In trying to obey God, Adele put herself at what most of those close to her considered great risk. She and the Langleys, the young couple with the bed and breakfast, had to ask themselves how well they knew Noah and where their trust with him lay. Where was the line on being cautious and using wisdom and knowing in your gut that what others are saying cannot be true. How far does one go with showing mercy when everyone is telling you to do otherwise? What do you do when you question your own wisdom? All these questions were woven into the mystery of some prominent citizens being murdered. With a lot of the town suffering from some big layoffs and home foreclosures that had occured in the past years, the connection with the murdered bank executive, sugar factory CEO, and computer company president was easy to connect but how does the murder of the mother of 2 and the homeless man tie in? The pressure is on Police chief Jude and his staff to find the pieces to the puzzle. The mystery held my attention until it was finally revealed. I found I had guessed who it was but that didn't bother me so much because it was how it all tied together that gripped my attention. I really like how the author kept the story going even after the reveal of the mystery and finished up the loose ends of the characters.

 There was one minor detail that drove me nuts in the story. And seeing it doesn't reveal anything, I'll mention it. It was the fact that the murders were constantly being hashed over, questioned and discussed in the presence of the two year old child. Even by the parent. It was a pet peeve in the story for me, and I kept wanting to shout at them to cut it out. But anyway, it didn't detract from the story itself. It was a good mystery with some moral questions to chew on.

Book 1 "False Pretenses" is reviewed here.

Friday's Fave Five #242

Hi everyone!  Welcome to Friday's Fave Five.  I'd like to start with a little apology for not getting around and visiting everyone who joined last Friday.  A three day headache just wiped me out and the thought of reading a computer screen was just too much. I'm just glad I had a couple of posts that were already scheduled to go up.   But we're good to go now and I'm glad to be back in here.  I missed visiting you all.

1.  The Weather.  The talk of town around here is definitely the weather.  We've gone from winter straight into summer!  One extreme to the next.  The last couple of days have been hot and Sunday is going to be in the 30's C (86*F).  That's like the heat of summer weather around here.  What happened to spring and the gradual warming of the earth?  One day I was wearing hoodies, jeans and socks and the next I was desperate to dig out my capris and tank tops.  But I'll take it.  It's so nice to be outside enjoying the sun.

2.  First Bike Ride of the Year.  Sunday Youngest and I dusted off the bikes and went for our first bike ride of the year.  It was a gorgeous day and I'm looking forward to many more rides this summer.

3.  Rain shower.  We had a little rain shower in the middle of the day.  I love those as they refresh the air and make it smell so nice.

4. An "emergency" massage.  I know, it sounds absolutely self indulgent and ridiculous.  Since when are massages an emergency?  But after a 3 day headache and a mega knot in my back that just was getting progressively worse, I finally broke down and called my massage therapist.  She graciously got me in that same day and what a help it was.   She worked that knot out and by the next morning the headache was going away.

5.  Ice cold water with a lime wedge on a hot day.  I just love how refreshing it is.  And it has been hot around here lately so I fill my water bottle with ice and cold water and throw in a lime wedge or lime juice and sip on it all morning.  Way better than a sugary drink.

What have been your favorites this week?


   

Ready to Go

The time has come.  Our Youngest has announced to us her plans for the fall.  After taking a year off from any kind of school, she is ready to do something.  She has told us she wants to go to bible school in the fall.  I knew something would come sooner or later but I was totally unprepared for the feelings of panic it raised up within me.  Panic for me!  Our last to jump out of the nest.  And while I'm thrilled for her and the route she is going, the thought of no more of my own children in the house is making my heart clench!  Ok, yes technically, Son is still home but he is usually gone for 2-3 week stints at a time and home for 1 or 2, so in my mind that doesn't count.  And that could change to permanently gone at any time.  Sigh.  How did this time come so fast?  It felt like just yesterday I was prying their fingers off from a death grip around my neck when I was trying to leave them in kindergarten?  Does anyone know how I can go back in time a bit?

Book Review ~ False Pretenses by Kathy Herman

Zoe Broussard is living the life of her dreams. Married to a wonderful Cajun man who deeply loves her, she lives in an apartment above the successful Cajun restaurant they own together in an idyllic Louisiana town. Her life is perfect. That is until she starts receiving threatening notes from an anonymous person that is threatening to expose her secret past. A secret that could ruin everything. Her marriage, her business, her life that she has worked so hard to build. So in an effort to thwart this person who is trying to expose her she takes a trip back to confront her past and hopefully fix things before it all blows up. But the murder of a friend shakes her to the core and she wonders if she can handle it all.

 I have to admit I love a Kathy Herman mystery. I have read lots of her books over the years and have enjoyed every one of them. I was nicely surprised to see that characters from her last series are interwoven in this series too along with new main characters and a new setting. "False Pretenses" deals with lies and secrets. Zoe in trying to bury her old life and her shame, committed wrongful acts and wove such a story of deception that she could not even see her own sin even though she professed to be a believer. It was so easy to justify it all to herself. I, as the reader, was drawn in emotionally as you felt for what she was trying to hide but at the same time you wanted to shake her for trying to keep the pretense going and for not seeing that the lying is what got her into trouble in the first place. This story explores how we lie to ourselves when we justify those sins or pretend they don't exist. But as Zoe founds out, when it all comes knocking on our doors, as it eventually will, it just takes more lies and more deception to keep the pretense going to the point that you worry how you'll ever keep all the lies straight and eventually the shame she was trying to cover is added to with even more shame. Zoe finds out that even though hard at the time, the truth is always better, that lying and running will not set her free but binds her in even more ways than she thought possible. Woven into Zoe's struggle is a murder that shakes the town to it's core and threatens to stir up the racial tensions that they thought were long buried. The police department is stretched to the max trying to keep up with solving the murder of one of the town's favorite citizens while keeping a handle on the tension and violence starting to occur. I really like this author's ability to keep the mystery tension going throughout the story even while a character is dealing with some really difficult heart issues. I found it a great read that kept me interested all the way through and also presented me with some great things to think about as I dwelled on how "everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account" (Hebrews 4:13).

Linked to Semicolon's Saturday Review of Books