I am a Christian, a retired teacher, a mother and a grandmother. I love to read and I love the Lord Jesus Christ! Unless otherwise specified ,all visual illustrations are from the YOU VERSION APP of the Bible.
The Most Important Thing (YouVersion Bible App, Daily Devotional)
When Jesus was asked in Matthew 22 what the most important command was, He didn’t hesitate to recite Deuteronomy 6:5: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (NIV)
The starting point for all of our lives is wrapped up in loving God. We were created to love God and have a relationship with Him. We love because He first loved us! Amid everything that you have to do in life, the most important thing is that you love God with everything that you are.
If we become successful in life but don’t love God, we’ve missed the most important thing. In Deuteronomy, God instructed the Israelites to constantly keep this command in their hearts and minds. They made physical reminders to help them remember to love God in everything they did. They taught this command to their children as the foundation of all other commands in Scripture.
Take some time to consider your life. Is loving God the primary motivation? Think about how good and merciful God has been in your life. Remember that God loves you more than you could ever imagine. The best motivation to love God is to constantly remember how much He loved us first.
My Thoughts
Like many people, I find it easy to love God when things in my life are going well. But when there is a deep valley I have to cross through or obstacles in the pathway to my goal or my plan, I have a tendency to look for solace elsewhere. I pick up a book, turn on the TV or even put a Christian station on to listen to. Anything to distract me from the fact that things are not going my way, so I want to pout a little bit.
You know, if God turned away from us each time we disappointed Him, I am absolutely sure that we would not see Him much in our lives. Instead, He is always gracious, always merciful, always waiting for us to do what He has called us to do instead of what we want to do. Our desires need to line up with His. One of my devotionals this morning included this quotation: “God is always faithful, even when we are being faithless.” You might also add that God is always loving even when we are not showing love to Him. God loves the unlovable, the faithless, the broken and the sinner. So, loving God with all of my heart, soul and strength doesn’t seem much to ask when He has given so much just to have a relationship with me.
From the YouVersion Bible App Devotional, “Reconnection”
Day 3: Trust
Let’s talk about hesitation for a minute. Without trust in God and his promises, we end up hesitating so much more, right? We hesitate and wait when we should be trusting and moving. Sometimes I wonder how many of Jesus’ disciples would have dropped their nets and followed him if they’d been able to check him out on Instagram before he showed up. Would they have even gone out to hear him speak if they’d watched all his YouTube sermons and read the negative comments left by people who critique sermons full-time?
Hesitation is a consequence of believing we are in control. When it comes to God, since we have so many answers at our fingertips in Google, we crave more tangible assurance of God and his ways. And when the proof isn’t evident and doesn’t show up right away, what do we do? We start grasping at control to give us a false sense of safety. And our phones provide the means of that control. But while we’re waiting for all the answers we need to fall into place or endlessly researching the bottomless pit of information and opinions that is the internet, we end up frozen. Not moving. Not risking. Waiting for blessed assurance before we take one step toward where we were supposed to be going in faith a long time ago. . . .
If you’ve been waiting for “the right time” to trust God and do the next thing, my question to you is, how much time are you spending in his Word versus your phone? Listen, I am the king of spending time with my phone, so I ask the question with no judgment. However, I do ask it with plenty of experience, and here’s why: when we aren’t connected to the world 24-7, we actually have to exist in a place of trust.
Prayer
Father, I have often tried to have control over things that should only be in your hands. Please forgive me for not trusting you, and please prompt me to turn to you in all things. Amen.
My Thoughts
The author of the devotional is spot-on about my unending desire to control and to know what I want to know instantly. I use a search engine a lot, to check on meds and their side effect, to look up possible places to stay when we travel, even to check what the “hottest” gifts will be in case I want to purchase one before they are sold out. I had never thought of it before, but I can’t do a search on the reality of God. He is who He says He is and no search engine can convince me of that. It’s a heart thing. So, instead of hesitating and not moving when God tells me to, I need to trust and do what He says. I don’t think that there is any manmade search engine that has the Holy Spirit as its source, so trust won’t come from searching for it on a device. Trust comes from action, from doing the last thing God said to do and moving on to the next thing and the thing after that. I find when I am stuck in a rut and not moving closer to God, it’s because I am not trusting Him to go ahead of me and prepare the way. I want to control and He has control, so there is no contest about who will ultimately win that battle. The truth is that there should never be a battle between hesitating and moving forward with trust. I am not at the place where I trust all the time, without question or hesitation, but I will say that I am making progress, at least sometimes. I am more likely to hear that small voice say, “Trust” these days than I am to hear the other voice that says, “Does God really want you to do this?” I would like to say that I have arrived, but I am a work in progress.
I believe that solitude is hardwired into the human experience. If you are a believer in something greater than yourself, you would say that God created us with solitude as a major pillar in our existence.
But we have wiped it out.
And you know what? It’s not necessarily our relationship with our phones that is the problem. Dare I say that the root of the problem is our relationship with solitude? It’s like when you hire a nutritionist, and after two days of eating great you slip back into old habits. And suddenly you begin avoiding this nutritionist at all costs. Even though you know this person is bringing you advice and accountability that’s necessary and good for you, you would just rather be numb and lazy. Just like we know that a conversation with our nutritionist is going to call attention to our poor eating habits, we all know that time spent in solitude is going to call attention to things in our lives that we really don’t want to confront.
Do you think that maybe we don’t know what to do with the wrestling that solitude brings? A life without wrestling feels like a safer life, right? Well, maybe it’s safer in some respects, but I can tell you that it’s a dangerous threat when it comes to your ability to simply be. . . .
Reclaiming some sort of solitude in your life may seem almost impossible. But let me tell you something, . . . not only is solitude available to you, it’s going to produce more living your life instead of your life living you.
My Thoughts
Since I am retired now, I do have quite a bit of alone time. My husband stays up very late and gets up usually after noon sometime. I, on the other hand, go to bed early and get up early. I think the whole early thing is hard-wired into my system because even when I try to stay up late, I still wake up early. Anyway, I always have about four hours every morning of solitude. That is my time when I can do my devotionals, talk to God and listen to Him and start my day right. I think I would like to do more of walking around in His beautiful world while I think and pray but I physically cannot do that much anymore. So, I have to be content with what God has provided, a chair with a window next to me where I can see outside.
I agree that solitude is hard and not my first choice. I used to play Christian music as I prayed and read my Bible. But, I found that was distracting me from really hearing from the Lord. I really want to live all of the life that God wants me to live in the best way possible. I think this author’s advice is spot on. Sometimes we don’t want to be alone and hear what we think and what the Holy Spirit is prodding us to do. But in His great mercy, God will provide the time for solitude if we will just use it the way He wants us to. Even Jesus needed time alone with His Father. And He told his disciples to come away and rest. That’s what I think solitude should be…just resting in God’s presence.
From the YouVersion Bible App Devotional, “Reconnected”, Day 1
Have you ever thought about the fact that most of us notice things way less than we used to? Let’s not just focus on screen time. How about how the screens interrupt us from noticing? They keep us from noticing two very important and necessary things: the beauty and the brokenness of the world around us. And both are vital aspects of being human.
We need to be noticing both. . . .
This is one thing that Jesus did so well.
He noticed. . . .
He walked at three miles an hour, and he took time to notice those who needed to be noticed.
He noticed the woman at the well.
He noticed that she was thirsty for more than just water—she was thirsty for love and acceptance. And he gave her both.
He noticed the tax collector, Zacchaeus, who was completely despised by his own community (and for good reason). But Jesus noticed the good inside Zacchaeus and his longing for forgiveness. Once again, Jesus gave what was needed.
He noticed the woman who was caught in adultery and filled with fear and shame as she was about to be stoned. But because he noticed her, he offered her grace and mercy.
He noticed the lepers who were outcasts from society. He noticed their pain and isolation and offered them healing and acceptance.
Jesus’ ability to notice people was central to his calling.
Prayer
Father, thank you for sending Jesus to be a model for me, and please help me follow his example as I notice those around me. Amen.
My Thoughts
I confess that I am guilty of using my technology too much and not paying attention to those around me. Can you imagine Jesus walking down the road with His i-phone in His hand, saying, “Wait just a minute. I have to finish this text.” Yeh, me either. Jesus gave 100% of His undivided attention to the task at hand. He knew His time on earth was short and I think He wanted to touch as many people as possible with God’s love before He returned to the Father.
Shouldn’t we be the same way? Should we not actively pursue touching as many people’s lives with God’s love and truth before we are finished with our life her on earth? Going through life with a phone attached to our hand and EarPods in our ears, drowning out even the slightest disturbance to what we think is important, we are missing out a lot on what God is trying to show us all around us.
I know that God convicted me recently of being on my phone while my husband is driving. I tried to justify my using my phone to calm me in traffic, but that didn’t wash with the Lord. He is my peace, not my phone. So, I started putting my phone away, at least unless I have to use it for something. And my husband and I are having good conversations in the car on our many trips to medical offices or church. He even commented that he was enjoying talking to me and I have likewise enjoyed the give-and-take that we used to take for granted. I also notice the crops growing, and Harry points out that it’s broccoli that they must have added a lot of fertilizer or something because in a week’s time, it I was almost ready to harvest. We talked about the pro’s and con’s of adding such things to our food supply. That was just on one trip, so I look forward to many others.
It really annoys me in a restaurant when two people are sitting across from each other and both are on their devices instead of relating to one another, God created us for a relationship, with Him and with others. He never said to go out and create relationships with our idols of technology. That’s what I believe tech has become, an idol that is too important in many of our lives. I am trying to wean myself away from depending on it so much for online friendships and such and instead seeking relationships with real people who need the same real contact that I need, that all of us need really. In this world of technology everywhere, I think Christians can stand out by being the ones who notice others and their needs and when they are hurting or desperate for someone just to see them. We are supposed to be a part of the world, but we are also called to be separate. One of the ways I want to strive to be separate is by my public use of technology. People deserve to know that they are special to God and that they have my attention when they are speaking to me. Maybe that’s a small thing to you, but it is a big thing in my life, and I want to do better and be a better representative of Christ to others.
From YouVersion Bible App, Devotional, “In a Boat in the Middle of a Lake”, Day 5
God wired us for home. And to a certain degree, our earthly homes are supposed to be miniature Edens. For many of us, home is where we first experience what it means to be loved. It’s where we discover the security of belonging. Homes don’t just define where we live, but in many ways, they define who we are. Which is why leaving home can be so hard. But even these homes we have to eventually leave.
So it’s no surprise that we all experience homesickness in different ways and in different seasons. Eventually we leave our home, but our longing for home, the one God made us for, never leaves us. We all live with that “memory.” We never outgrow homesickness.
We were not born in Eden but outside of it. And as beautiful as this life is, it’s not enough. It’s temporary. A prelude of sorts, of what is to come. It’s why the New Testament describes us as “exiles” and “foreigners” (1 Peter 2:11).
God has made us to hunger and thirst, long and wait, for a new home. A greater home. A restoration of what went wrong in the Garden of Delight. The road to this home is bumpy. It’s full of suffering and weakness and pain. But the weeping is meant to be like a welcome mat. Instead of feeling homesick for the place behind us, we begin to long for a home that is ahead of us.
You might be in a boat in the middle of a lake. But you are not alone. And that lake has another side. One Jesus has promised to get you to. “Let us go over to the other side,” Jesus said. There will be many storms. Some smaller. And maybe some bigger. But there is a shore. We’ll say it again: there is a shore.
The promise of safe arrival.
Rest.
Renewal.
Victory.
Home.
God’s presence. . . .
So let us press on in the storm. Let’s continue to trust the God who meets us in our storm.
Your chaos will cease. It will not last. You have a future. We have a future. And it’s a future filled with God’s goodness and love and beauty. It’s a future filled with God himself
My Thoughts
I am not sure anyone can understand the life of a military wife except another military wife. In a little more than thirty years, we moved twenty-five times. We would stay at a base for two-three years and then move on to the next one, as my husband pursued his career and a higher rank. I hated that lifestyle but I really loved the people that I encountered and the lessons that I learned from all of that change that I was forced to make, not to mention the independence that I had to learn since I was alone a lot of the time. You see, we didn’t just move. Each time we moved, each new place generally required a new school for my husband to attend while I stayed in the new location and took care of the children. When Harry was in the navy, it meant months (almost a year sometimes) of being alone in a new place. And one year, there was a remote tour to Iceland for a year while the children and I stayed in South Carolina. Lots of adventures, but no real home!
I remember telling my husband in Arkansas that I just wanted a stable home, a place that I could build memories for me and the kids. Alas! That never really happened! We did eventually purchase a home in Pennsylvania when Harry was getting ready to retire, but I couldn’t find a teaching job there, so once again, we moved, this time for me. Suffice it to say that I have been a little perplexed about what God’s plan for me has been. Until I met and married Harry, I had lived in one town all of my life and one home for most of my life. Now, suddenly, I felt uprooted, a stranger in a strange land…over and over again.
Today’s devotional pointed me in the right direction and reminded me that all of this time I have been moving around, Jesus was right there with me. He is still working to bring me safely to shore and to my “forever home.” We have a home now that Harry and I live in alone since our children are grown and have their own families. It does my heart good to know that they are settled into homes of their own and have been there, in the same place, for over a decade now. That is what I wanted so badly for them and for me when they were growing up. But Jesus was gracious to keep me through all of those moves and to grant the desire of my heart for my children to have what I considered a “real home.”
I am grateful for each new experience that the Lord has allowed me to have and for His mercy that He has shed on me, even as I whined and complained about more boxes and another new place. I had the opportunity to go to places I would never have chosen to see, much less live there. I have seen how people lived in the cotton fields in Arkansas and in the bitter winters of northern Maine. I have made friends in eleven different states and met people from churches who welcomed me wholeheartedly, even though they knew I would only be there a short while before the military would move us. I learned acceptance, resilience and how to adapt even when I was a reluctant learner.
I like the word picture of “safe to shore” No matter what life’s circumstances, there is a shore we are headed for, and all of the trials of today will be worth it. We just have to hold onto that hope that He placed in our hearts on the day of our salvation.
From the YouVersion Bible App Devotional, “In a Boat in the Middle of a Lake”, Day 4
Trust is not giving up; trust is opening up. Opening our hearts to the possibility that maybe God really does know best. Maybe his wisdom and care and love are what we need most. And so, reluctantly at first, we open our hearts to trust in the middle of what we don’t always like or understand. But we open our hearts to a Father who knows best and has our best interests in mind, even if we can’t fully comprehend it. . . .
The struggle to trust and obey is real. But it’s also a necessary step toward growth and transformation.
Learning to trust God with what we don’t know is essential for being filled with God. If we are to increasingly experience the good life of following Jesus, we have to learn to trust like he did, often with what we can’t see or get our minds around.
This is one of the hardest parts of growing and being transformed in trials. Learning to surrender to what Jesus wants—his purposes, his plans, and his wisdom.
The Bible talks a lot about obedience. But the obedience God is after is not just an external conformity to what he says. It’s an inward alignment of our heart with his, even when we don’t understand what he is doing or why he is doing it.
Trust requires humility.
Trust requires saying, “I don’t understand, God, but you do.”
Trust requires admitting our powerlessness.
Trust requires giving up control.
When Jesus took the disciples out on the water and they found themselves surrounded by the storm, they realized they weren’t in control. They were helpless. They lacked the resources, the power, the wisdom to fix the situation. They were discovering what we all soon discover, that belief is not just faith in something, belief is faith in Someone. God is at the center. We follow him. He doesn’t follow us.
Their first response was fear. They had obeyed him before. But out on the water, in the world of the unknown, they were learning to trust him.
If we don’t trust God, inevitably, we will try to be God. And we’ll try to control what only he can control. What God is really interested in is our trust.
My Thoughts
It is a really big thing for me that “trust” is the theme for today since that is my word for this year. The definitions of trust here spoke to my heart and soul and let me know that I am not there yet. I am still at times reaching to control things, to change circumstances, instead of letting God do things for me. The part in the devotional that says we align with God and follow Him instead of His following us pierced me. I realized that I frequently want God to get in step with my plans instead of seeking what His plans are and following them. I think in our humanity, we all want to be in control and have difficulty relinquishing it to God. I don’t want to try to be God; I want Him to be the center of my life, in the pilot’s seat of my airplane so He can take me where He want me to go. That’s a hard thing for me because I don’t like unknown things. I plan routes in advance so I know exactly what lane I need to be in for the next turn. God is telling me clearly to let go and let Him make the plans. Because I can trust Him with all the details of all the unknowns.
From YouVersion Devotional, “In a Boat in the Middle of a Lake”, Day 3
When Jesus first called some of the disciples, they were casting their fishing nets into the water. They were mending nets on the shore. Dry ground was underneath their feet. When Jesus said, “Come follow me,” they followed. “I will make you fishers of men,” he told them. We would imagine following Jesus sounded fun. Exciting and full of adventure. It probably seemed like a great work, a work of God, they were signing up for. A lot like when we first believed. We gladly received God’s love. We felt his presence. He gave us new identities as sons and daughters. We could see his goodness and faithfulness. Like those first disciples, early in the journey we, too, were excited.
Or maybe Jesus calling the disciples was like when God first called you to a new ministry, a new job, or a new season in life. And yet this journey of following Jesus is full of surprises, isn’t it? The path is not always straight. The terrain is not always smooth. Sometimes there is water. And storms. Interruptions, we might say.
But we discover Jesus not only wants to work through us but needs to work in us. And this is no secondary work of lesser importance. He doesn’t just want to get us from one side of the lake to the other. He uses the “middle.”
The storm we are facing is never a threat to God’s work; it is often a tool for God’s work. Suffering might feel like an interruption to us, but it is instrumental to Jesus.
Undoubtedly, suffering was not God’s plan. He hates evil. All of the sickness, pain, disease, loss, and death we experience is the result of Adam and Eve’s first sin (Gen. 3). Things are not the way they once were in God’s original creation. And they are not what they will one day be when Jesus renews all things and does away with the messiness and brokenness and sin we are all living with. But God can and does use suffering in this life for his redemptive purposes.
Note that I added the emphasis.
My Thoughts
Well, I can and do believe that God can and does use our suffering as a tool. I don’t think He causes it, but He can use it to teach us and draw us closer to Him. What I have difficulty with is “rejoicing in my suffering.” I am more likely to be whining a little bit, praying a lot and hoping that it will all be over soon. But, if I see things the way God sees them, then I am seeing the end result, that I will be better off after having gone through whatever pain it is I am suffering. I want my character to be more like that of Jesus and if the only way to get there is suffering, then, I’m okay with that. Not thrilled, mind you, but I can submit to it and wait for God to strengthen me and make me a better person from it.
My father was a mechanic, and he was all about having his tools in the right place for him to be able to access them quickly and use them. He didn’t use them to make the car break down more. He was using those tools to repair the car and to make it run better. That is what God is doing every time I go through trials or suffering. He is helping me to run the race to the end better.
Right now, I have another infection. Sinus, bronchitis? I don’t know what I have right now but I know I am using my inhalers, nebulizer and other OTC meds until I can be checked by the doctor on Monday and hopefully get the antibiotics I need to fight it off. Meanwhile, I am a little discouraged, just to be honest. I was giving thanks that I had made it through the month of October without getting sick and then…bam! Sneezing, coughing and wheezing. Not fun, but it’s part of my life since I was born with asthma. Can God heal me? Yes, I know He can. But that doesn’t seem to be His plan for me. Like Paul with his thorn, I just have to accept it and do the best I can living with it.
Meanwhile, I am praying that I will learn what God wants me to learn and be a good witness to others about His faithfulness and loving care. The tools He uses are to make me a better person, not to destroy me. I truly believe that, and I hope that you do, too.
From YouVersion Devotional, “In a Boat in the Middle of a Lake”, Day 2
There is one thing we don’t want you to miss. We want to encourage you that our deepest hurt is also where our greatest hope emerges. While we experience pain and loss, those circumstances are also the fertile soil for new beginnings. For new life. For a new day.
Accepting hurt never means you are over the hurt. It means you’ve come to grips that this reality really is yours. It’s your boat. Your lake. You’re coming to terms with the fact that, with every death, there is new life.
This is one of the things that is so beautiful about this short and sad book of Lamentations. Right in the middle of the hurt and pain there is the promise of new life. Like a protest to the pain, there is this proclamation of God’s goodness and the newness of life in him.
We know it might seem impossible to envision right now. We know there may be things we’ve lost that we’ll never get back. But biblical hope enables us to see differently. To see our pain, feel it, but not be consumed by it. To see through it and see God’s purpose for it.
Hope reminds us that our current reality is not our final reality.
“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope,” the writer of Lamentations says. This reality, this season, these circumstances, this hurt will not last forever. It doesn’t have to last forever. God wants to give you hope. His hope.
Here’s the good news. Even Jesus experienced pain; he entered pain for us and felt the weight of our pain in a way that we will never know. He lamented, cried, questioned, and even asked God to change the plan.
“Abba Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36).
Jesus accepted the pain and endured it. He was crucified for us. But he was also raised to new life for us. There was glory in the pain and glory on the other side of the pain.
There can be the same for you. Today. Right here, right now. It’s okay to not be okay.
My Thoughts
I am always thankful that my current situation is not my final reality. It’s not that my current situation is awful or anything. It’s just not what I really want in my life. I would like to be closer to children and grandchildren, but I am thankful that I get to visit them or they visit me. I would like so many repairs done around our old house, but I am thankful for the shelter it provides and the warmth and comfort I find here. I find myself looking back in my life and all I have been through and knowing that, without a doubt, God was right there beside me in that rocking boat or walking in the wilderness. A childhood that was not ideal. God was there, even though I didn’t recognize it at the time. A marriage that was rocky at times. God was right there, and during those times, I knew it and prayed to Him for resolution and reconciliation. A stroke that could have taken my life…God was there and I was praying to Him, even though I could not speak aloud. I am still learning the lesson that my timing is not God’s. It does no good for me to point to my watch or my gray hair, explaining to God that the time is short and He needs to act faster. He acts according to His timetable and His timing is always perfect. I may not understand it, but I can trust in His love for me. I am thankful that whatever happens, the final reality of my life will be so much better than I can ever imagine!
Here is my prayer for each of you today. God bless you in your current circumstances and help you hold onto the hope that wherever you are is not your final reality.
The word “cancer” rattled around my brain like a pinball bouncing back and forth, looking for a place to land. A place to register. And then it dropped. Sinking into my heart. Shredding everything in its path.
As much as comfort can be our friend, it can also be our enemy. Have you ever been just fine where you are? Your health is good. You have plenty of money in the bank. Your job is secure. All of your kids are healthy. Life makes sense. God is behaving like he should, or at least like you think he should. And then Jesus says, “Follow me. You’ve learned enough by the lake. Let’s go in the lake.”
This is exactly what Mark records Jesus doing with his first disciples. Jesus shifts his location as he shifts his lesson.
The disciples found themselves in water instead of by water. It was getting dark. Evening was coming. And where there is water, there are also waves. Before long, these waves were threatening the very lives of these young followers of Jesus.
But if not for the storm, they would never discover the goodness and power and faithfulness of the God who was with them. Without fear, they would never know faith. Without hurt, they would never know hope.
It’s no wonder Mark records that Jesus was the only one unmoved by the storm. The chaos of the water and storm were no threat to Jesus. In fact, he was in the stern of the boat, sleeping on a cushion. At rest. This was going to be a lesson not for Jesus but for the disciples. And for us.
We need water to grow. And some lessons we can learn only in the midst of chaos, not in a classroom. And no matter how we get there, we can trust the God who meets us in our storm
(From You Version Devotional, “In a Boat in the Middle of a Lake”, emphasis added by me)
My Thoughts
I really needed to start a new devotional, and this one was recommended to me. I really like that the underlying theme is trusting God in the midst of difficult circumstances.
On Tuesday, I was in the waves, the wind was getting stronger and the waves threatened to overcome me. But I contacted my neurologist, the one who is faithful and dedicated and told him my fears about my Doppler scan and asked what I should do about it. He has called me before as late as 9:00 p.m., just to check on me or to reassure me. Last night, Dr. Smith called at 7:30 and told me not to worry. He read the scan and my blockage is there but it is mild. He said “mild” is considered 10-50%, but he also told me that he compared this year’s scan to last year’s and this year’s is actually better. No change in medicine or routine and no surgery! It was like Jesus speaking, “Why did you doubt? Peace, be still!”
I doubted because of my humanity. I am ready to meet the Lord, but I am not ready to go yet, so hearing that I could possibly have another massive stroke was scary for me. There is so much more I want to do, more people to talk to, more relationships to work on. I know that God’s timing is perfect, but is anyone really ready to die? When I do pass away, I don’t want to linger. I want to just go, and I have prayed to God about that. Whatever happens, I do have confidence that God will take care of all of the details in my best interest and with the love He has constantly shown me.
I am hopeful that this experience will help me remember how trustworthy God is, even when the winds come up and threaten to topple my boat. I am still discovering more of God’s power, faithfulness and the hope that He wants me to have in Him. I am taking small steps, but they are in the right direction.
ISBN-13:9780840712578 Publisher:Nelson, Thomas, Inc. Publication date:11/12/2024 Pages:352
Just a year ago, Katrina Berg was at the pinnacle of her career. She was a rising star in the AI chatbot start-up everyone was talking about, married with an adoring husband, and had more money than she knew how to spend. Then her world combusted. Her husband, Jason, was killed in a fiery car crash. Her CEO was indicted, and, as the company’s legal counsel, Katrina faces tough questions as the Feds take over and lock her out of her office. The final blow is the passing of her beloved grandmother.
Her most prized possession is the beta prototype for a new, ultra-sophisticated chatbot loaded onto her phone. The contents of Jason’s email, social media backups, pictures, and every bit of data she could find were loaded into the bot, and Katrina has “talked” to him every day for the past six months. She has been amazed at how well it works. Even the syntax and words the bot uses sound like Jason. Sometimes, she imagines he isn’t really dead and is right there beside her. She knows it’s slowing her grief recovery, but she can’t stop pretending.
On a particularly bad day, she taps out: Tell me something I don’t know. The cursor blinks for several moments and seems frozen before the reply flashes quickly onto the screen: I think I was murdered.
Distraught, Katrina returns to her cozy Norwegian-flavored hometown in the Northern California redwoods and enlists the help of Seb Wallace, local restaurateur and longtime acquaintance, to try to parse out the truth of what really happened. They must navigate the complicated paths of grief, family dynamics, and second chances, as well as the complex questions of how much control technology has. And staying alive long enough to do that is far more difficult than either of them dreamed.
My Thoughts
I loved the complexity of this book, with its multiple layers and how the protagonist dealt with her grief by using a Chatbot with AI. Katrina’s loss of her husband Jason, followed by the death of her beloved grandmother, seems to get her to focus on finding out what really happened to Jason. When he “messages” her on the AI chat that he thinks he was murdered, Katrina is intrigued enough that she continues to pursue clues to find out if he was murdered and if so, who did it and why. The mystery is totally intriguing and the relationships between the characters are as complex as the plot. Katrina meets Seb when she goes back to North Haven for her grandmother’s funeral, the same Seb from high school who carried a torch for her but was too shy to act on his attraction. Now he is a famous restauranteur and wants to help Katrina unravel the mystery of Jason’s death. Meanwhile, back in Katrina’s life in CA, she and her company are being investigated by the FBI, her friend and co-worker Liv is pregnant and has no place to go since they are both unemployed now. So Katrina invites Liv to stay with her in North Haven. The plot gets more and more complicated and the clues are abundant. I enjoyed following the clues, getting to know all of the places Katrina visited as she searched out a hidden message from Jason as well as getting acquainted with a multitude of possible suspects and motives. This is romantic suspense with an edge since grief is added in as well as current technology. I found the story fascinating and the characters realistic. This book offers a great read that made me think as I sought to solve the mystery alongside Katrina and Seb. The romance element simmers under the surface, breaking through with a few kisses and a lot of questioning looks. It took second place to the mystery but added to the intrigue as I guessed whether the couples would truly get together and stay that way or not. I highly recommend this novel as it held me captivated for days as I tried to figure out whodunit and how Katrina would be able to deduce the truth from the AI messages that Jason sent her. Fans of romantic suspense books that are original and believable will definitely want to read this book! Disclaimer Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the Thomas Nelson Publishing via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16th CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”
Rated PG-Christian Romantic Suspense with Intense Suspense
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