Month: June 2026

Review: The Eyes of River by Cindy K. Sproles

On By vickleaIn Book Promo, Book Review3 Comments

About the Book

ISBN-139780825453168

PublisherKregel Publications

Publication Date06/23/2026

Pages: 280

Synopsis

She’s been falsely accused of murder and is desperate to reunite with her brother, River, whose unforgettable green eyes haunt her. The secret in her past is a stinging wound, but it motivates her toward her goal: freedom.

But nine-year-old River, sent through the US Post Office to his late mother’s friend in Knoxville, never arrived. Lizzy’s dream of finding him and starting a new life away from their alcoholic and abusive father is ripped away.

Her hope rekindles as she finds an unexpected confidant to help her dodge the law and save the missing youngin’. As she finds herself trusting him, she discovers the truth of the old adage her momma repeated: And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

My Thoughts

This book filled my heart with longing to help out the children and just to step in and be their advocates. Lizzy Haney has always been a responsible girl, always taking care of her little brother River while her parents are abusive, mentally and emotionally in unimaginable ways. Once her mamma dies, Lizzy is keenly feeling that River needs to escape from their dad so she mails him to a friend. I was totally unaware that this was even a possibility, but the author’s sharp attention to details and research assured me that it was done at one time, so that was very informative. Anyway, the book is layered, with methodical revelations of what has really been happening behind the scenes in Lizzy’s life and the hardship that she has suffered. This is a character-based story, but it is also plot driven. The characters are relatable and so well-developed that they came to life into my heart. The plot is fast-moving and heart-breaking at times. There are so many problems that Lizzy has had to face alone in her young life. The themes of learning to trust God and how to forgive are prevalent as well as the hope for a bright future once the past is overcome. This Appalachian novel is memorable and exceptionally well-crafted by a master storyteller. The writing is crisp and the story is startling and at times breathtaking-stopping. I loved the book and got totally invested in the story and was engaged in it from beginning to end.
I voluntarily received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own. I also purchased my own Audible copy of this book.

Christian Fiction, Rated PG: child trafficking

About the Author

Cindy Sproles is an author and speaker. She is the cofounder of Christian Devotions Ministries and the cowriter of the popular He Said, She Said Devotions written with her cofounder, Eddie Jones. She is a novelist and best-selling author. Cindy’s devotions and articles are published in Christian newspapers across the eastern seaboard, including having been used to represent legislature for the protection of the elderly. She is a speaker to women’s conferences addressing not only the heart of women but also their biblical responsibilities to their families. As a teacher and speaker for Christian Writers Conferences, Cindy teaches writing skills and how to write placing God in the forefront.  She is a contributing author to CBN.com and is the Executive Editor for www.christiandevotions.us and a freelance editor for Ironstream Media. Cindy has served in the past as an acquisitions editor and also a managing editor for publishers and she now uses that experience to mentor and coach new writers through her mentoring service, WRAMS (Write Right Author Mentoring Service) she shares with Lori Marett. She is the director of the Asheville Christian Writers Conference, held each February at the Cove, the Billy Graham Training Center, Asheville, NC. She is a certified life coach and mentor, an eldercare specialist, and a special needs advocate. Cindy is an Appalachian-born and raised mountain girl, and her novels strive to show life in the mountains during the1800’s. Cindy is a best-selling, award-winning novelist with her books having been named Novel of the Year multiple times. She is the mother of four adult sons and lives in the mountains of East Tennessee with her husband. Cindy can be contacted at www.cindysproles.com or by emailing cindyksproles@gmail.com.

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Monday Musings: Just Checkin’ In

On By vickleaIn Scripture4 Comments

What do you check on your device every day, just like clockwork and a habit you have formed? For me, it’s first text messages, then email, and maybe social media if I have time. But priorities dictate that I should be checking my heart every day and starting each day with time with God. That’s a habit that is easy to break because God doesn’t have a red circle above His head with a number on it impressing you to check in right away. What He does offer is peace, security, and His presence to calm you, along with answers to all of your questions.

Email tells me what friends and authors are up to. Texts tell me what’s on sale (gotta love that spam!) and how family is doing, along with some nice photos. But nothing there is going to affect my eternity like my time with God. Sometimes, my time with the Lord is abbreviated due to appointments that I have to rush to get to, but I always, always set aside time to be with Him. He is waiting for me, and I know it, even without the big red numbers that are my nemesis of attraction online.

I don’t ever want my time with God to be part of a list that I check off..done! No, rather, I want my time with God to be the most important part of my day, kind of like the necessity of taking a deep breath and feeling the cleansing it seems to bring deep inside. So, when you are just checking your device, how about putting it aside, turning the sound off so you aren’t distracted (I turn mine face down so the notifications don’t annoy me) and then just spend time with the One who created you, knows you best and loves you most? What is God going to tell you today? You won’t know until you check in with Him, will you?

Forgiven

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Whoever tells you that you are too bad, too unworthy, too awful for God to forgive you…they are wrong. God is right. He is always faithful. Just as He was the One who clothed Adam and Eve when they recognized that they were naked, He is the One who draws us to Him so that we can have a relationship with Him through the free grace and mercy that He offers. Believe the truth, not the lies.

Mercy Said No-Zach Williams, Carrie Underwood, Chris Tomlin and Brandon Lake

God I Tried But I Fell Again-Chris Stapleton and Lauren Daigle

First-Line Friday

On By vickleaIn Book Promo2 Comments

I am reading a stack of books right now, so here are a few that I hope you will consider purchasing to add to your reading pleasure.

“‘Hey, Elam, want to race?” Glancing over at the El Camino idling in the next lane, Elam shook his head. “Not the time or the place, man,” he called back. “What’s the matter, Mueller?” Chris Weaver goaded. “You chicken?’”

Purchase Link: Harlequin and other Retailers (Releases 7-28)

“A body can’t run from what they’ve seen. They can’t unsee what they know to be true. They can’t hide from the truth.”

Purchase Link: Baker Book House (Releases 6-23)

“Secrets can’t stay buried forever. The road into the North Cascades was narrow, twisting just like the path Sarah Ellison had chosen.”

Purchase Link: Baker Book House (Releases 8-04)

“FBI Special Agent Collin Sullivan—aka Sully—gripped the SUV’s wheel and glanced in the rearview mirror once more. The silver sedan was still there, following at a discreet distance, but it was enough to set his teeth on edge.”

Purchase Link: Baker Book House (Releases 8-04)

“‘He’s out on bail, Annie.’ The words of Dr. Annie Davis’s mentor, Dr. Todd Gregory, racheted her heart rate.”

Purchase Link: Harlequin and other Retailers (Releases on 7-01)

“A chilly, late-May breeze whisked stray leaves across the road and kicked up mini dust devils as Skylar Jansen jogged past the Yosemite Valley Nature Center.”

Purchase Link: Harlequin and other Retailers (Releases on 7-01)

A New Thing

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When I say I am trying something new, it is usually a new food, a new outfit or a new habit I want to form. When God says that He is doing something new, it is an unimaginable totally new thing. After all, He is the Creator and can create new things from nothing.

So while I am trying on a new pair of shoes, God is changing the world for the better. A pathway through the wilderness? Yes, please! How many times have I felt stuck in a wilderness (usually of my own making) and walk in circles trying to find the way out (an answer to my prayer)? Meanwhile, God is right there creating a pathway and I have to open my eyes to see it. That’s the problem…God is always working but I am not always seeing what He is doing for me.

God’s new thing may not look the way I expect it will, but it will always be exactly what I (and you) need exactly when we need it. So, I exhort you to be ready, to look for that new thing that is not exactly what you were waiting for, but it is the answer you have been anticipating.

Compelling Love

On By vickleaIn Scripture1 Comment

Love Compelled Him (Daily Refresh 6-17)

Jesus said a lot of powerful, enlightening, and important things. But there’s one command that sums it all up…

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”
‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It sounds simple, right? But when we look at Jesus’ life, how did He love? And how can we strive to love like He did?

Love compelled Jesus to give up His privileges. As Creator and Lord, Jesus can do whatever He pleases. But instead, the Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14)—temporarily relinquishing His rights so that we could be right with God.

Love compelled Jesus to prioritize people. The woman at the well. The man with leprosy. A Roman officer. A blind beggar. Peter’s mother-in-law. The widow’s son. A despised tax collector. Even the thief hanging next to Him on the cross. Jesus didn’t see problems—He saw and loved people.

Love compelled Jesus to serve others. He washed His disciples’ feet, pursued the marginalized, had compassion on the sick, weary, and broken. In the end, He gave His own life for us.

Love compelled Jesus to value truth and grace. In a world where many elevate grace while others only magnify truth, Jesus valued both. He was passionate about God’s ways and God’s Word while also showing great compassion to those who needed it most.

If we’re ever unsure about how to love others, let’s look to Jesus as the ultimate example. He lived selflessly, prioritized other people, served to the point of death, and valued both truth and grace.

And as we love like Jesus, we will become more like Him.

My Thoughts

Loving like Jesus is not just good advice or an empty platitude. It’s an expectation that God placed on us once we decided to follow His Son. How do we love like Jesus? The video that goes with this devotional makes a good point. We aren’t supposed to be a ☕️ to hold the love that the Savior gives us. We are supposed to be a funnel. Love in…love out, all the time. Not when we feel like it or have some extra time on our hands so we might as well use it to show love to someone. We are a funnel of God’s love all the time. We are supposed to love on people, not our electronics that are a pseudo-representation of the people with whom we communicate. Each person whose life crosses ours today deserves to know that God loves them and we do, too. Loving selflessly is hard, but Jesus showed us the example to follow. We are COMPELLED to love just as Jesus was and still does. Each time we make a choice to love, we are becoming more like Jesus. And the Father smiles.

Review of Shattered by Dr. David Jeremiah with Sam O’Neal

On By vickleaIn Book Promo, Book Review4 Comments

About the Book

ISBN-139781400350773

PublisherNelson, Thomas, Inc.

Publication Date06/16/2026

SeriesThe Vanished Series

Pages: 368

Synopsis (from Barnes and Noble)

Two years have passed since millions across the globe disappeared in a heartbeat including John “Haggs” Haggerty’s own family. Haggs, a military expert in pandemics, warned his agency of growing patterns in deadly epidemics and other threats to security. Then the “Great Disappearance” and the nuclear destruction of the US changed everything. Now he is invited to join the powerful Trident Group, led by the wealthy Matthias Vilks.

Inside Trident, Haggs sees patterns that suggest a coordinated plan to control economies and governments. He is not alone. Israeli tech expert, Saul Katz, saw his colleague disappear before his eyes. Now the Israeli government confiscates his life’s work, a defense system for Israel. Li Fan, monitoring seismic anomalies, sees terrifying signals in the earth’s activity, but no one will listen to her warnings.

As the disturbing pieces fall in place, governments fall, and John and his best friend’s daughter, Abigail, begin to see those prophecies from scripture come to life—Israel is in danger, natural disasters rake the planet, and world leaders bow to one powerful man. The signs are clear: the end times are no longer approaching—they have begun.

My Thoughts

This hard-hitting apocalyptic novel begins the story where the first book in the series Vanished ended, so I highly recommend that you read the series on order. In this book John Haggerty and Abigail take center stage as the opposition to the appearance of the Antichrist and the destruction that he and his minions want to reap on the earth. The story is not totally Biblical but it is definitely Biblically based, with fiction interspersed with scriptural truths. If you have read Matthew 24 and Revelation, you will notice that the events of the end times are well and mostly accurately portrayed. The characters are realistic and relatable as the ones left behind after the Rapture. The action is fast-paced and mostly centered around Israel. There is a great deal of use of technology to spread the word about the “rebels” and this rang true to me even though it isn’t specifically in the Bible because technology is rampant these days already so I can see how it could be used for both good and evil during the time of the Antichrist. The book is intense but a completely clean read and a must-read for those who enjoy stories about what will happen before the end of this age.
I voluntarily received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own.

Rated PG due to intensity and End Times subject matter, Christian Fiction

About the Author

Founder and host of Turning Point for God and senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church, David Paul Jeremiah, was born February 13, 1941, in Toledo, Ohio. He is one of four children born to James and Ruby Jeremiah. During his childhood, his family moved to Dayton, Ohio, where his father, James T. Jeremiah, served as Pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church. In 1953, the Jeremiah family moved to Cedarville, Ohio, when his father became the President of Cedarville College—which is now Cedarville University.

Growing up in a pastor’s home, David was immersed in ministry from an early age. During his senior year at Cedarville College, he felt God’s calling to enter full-time ministry. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1963, and that same year he married his college sweetheart, Donna Thompson. After graduation, they moved to Dallas, Texas, where David attended Dallas Theological Seminary. He received his Master’s degree in Theology in 1967. Completing additional graduate work at Grace Seminary, he was granted the Doctor of Divinity degree from Cedarville College in 1981.

In 1969, David and Donna began a church plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with seven families in attendance. He served as pastor at Blackhawk Baptist Church for twelve years. During that time the church grew to 1,300 members, Blackhawk Christian School was founded, and The Bible Hour television program was launched.


In 1981, the Jeremiah family, which now included four children, followed God’s call and moved to California when Dr. Jeremiah became the senior pastor of Scott Memorial Baptist Church, which is now Shadow Mountain Community Church. Today Shadow Mountain Community Church is one of the largest churches in San Diego county with eight satellite locations including Hispanic and Arabic congregations. The main campus of the church, located in El Cajon, California, is also the home to Southern California Seminary and Christian Unified Schools, a multiple site kindergarten through twelfth-grade Christian school district. Website: Dr. David Jeremiah

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Monday Musings

On By vickleaIn Scripture5 Comments

Can we just be honest with each other this morning? We are all juggling balls…trying to keep things in the air and not let anything fall. And, of course, feeling overwhelmed, frustrated and not a little impatient at how long it’s taking for the balls to just settle and be still. Let’s be even more honest. Most of us put those balls in the air to begin with and now we don’t know what to do with them.

My balls include the following:

~Health issues. I am scheduled to have a spinal injection on Friday but first I have to get my asthma/breathing under control. My peak flow is way down even after two rounds of steroids and all of my other meds. I may be wrong but I don’t think I can have a needle stuck into my spine while having a coughing fit. So, there is that ball.

~The AC at home has not been working right (contributing to my breathing issues, of course). My husband got up before six this morning to go to the AC repair place and snag a repairman.

~My grandchildren have been celebrating all kinds of milestones and I haven’t been able to travel to be there with them. Elementary school graduation, play performances, dance recitals, so many things!

~Books to read and review…so many books! Authors ask and I say “yes” and the pile is taller than I am.

~Family issues. My sister wants me to visit, but I have been ill. My husband wants to visit his brother, but he doesn’t want to leave me alone without a car.

I could continue the list, but now let’s get to the answers to the juggling balls. Naturally, the first thing we do is try to figure it out ourselves. That will not work! We need God’s input. So, pause, worship, pray and then be still and listen. This is what I heard this morning when I took time to forget about the balls and focus on God.

Before worrying about all of the balls you’re going to drop, why not ask God to help prioritize those balls and for help figuring things out. He promises wisdom, but you have the responsibility to ask for it.

So, having prayed and asked for wisdom, here are what my balls are doing now:

~I can’t change timing or my health issues, but I can change my attitude and relax into my breathing treatments. That really does help tremendously. So, ten minutes of nebulizer means ten minutes of not thinking about my balls falling but about spending time with God. He can hold on to the balls for me or let them fall…it doesn’t matter. Turns out those balls are a manifestation of my need for control and I need to let go.

~Hubby found an AC repairman and I am trusting that God will use them to show us grace, mercy and restore the cool air we need. Regardless, God gave me the breath of life and He can keep me breathing.

~One book at a time, one review at a time and a determination not to say “yes” to another book until I have finished two. I want to keep commitments since God keeps all of His promises to me. I just have to be practical and not so easily led to just say “yes.”

~An easy solution to my husband’s traveling. He can go see his brother while our granddaughter is still living with us. That way I have someone with me who has a car and Harry has the freedom to see his brother. Why didn’t I think of that before? Because I was too busy juggling balls! God took that ball away and told me I don’t need to be at all concerned about it anymore.

What balls are you juggling that you need to just let them drop?

I confess that I have been uneasy about dropping any balls, but that is my firm desire to control things that are out of my control. So, I am letting go and being still and trusting God.

There’s freedom in dropping the balls!