Author: vicklea

I love to read! I’m a retired teacher with a spouse of 45 years, three amazing children and nine wonderful grandchildren. I am blessed!

Out love Our Critics

On By vickleaIn Uncategorized4 Comments

I have to admit that I was very disturbed by the ruling of the Supreme Court yesterday on the LGBTQ issue. Add that to the isolation of Covid-19 and the riots and looting and takeover of part of a city, I looked up and asked God if this is still the nation that “One Nation Under God”? You know, I didn’t get an answer, but I think I can look around and find my reply. As a nation, we have stepped away from God, with many running as far and as fast as possible away from anything that even hints at rules and restrictions. Thus, we have become a nation of people who vaguely know that God exists but we don’t really revere His Name and His sacrifice enough to listen to His voice and heed His call. Faced with this turning away from God and His precepts, I cried and then I heard God’s voice say that this is what He has been feeling for years as His truth has been rejected by one group, one nation after another. Isn’t that what the Bible promises will happen? There will be a great falling away from the Truth, and then…well, I hope that you, like me, have read the end of the Holy Bible and you know that God wins. And those “still playing for the home team” also win. In the meantime, all we can do is to continue witnessing and to continue to show others the truth of God’s love and the wisdom of following His laws. There was lawlessness in the time of Lot and look what happened. What I would describe as a mob scene or a riotous crowd demanded the crucifixion of Jesus, and look what happened. God ALWAYS wins, folks. Always! He doesn’t want to win with judgment; that is why He sent His Son to die for sinners. But God in His righteousness will judge and it won’t be pretty for those who keep pushing the envelope and trying to change God’s laws to suit their beliefs.

Photo from Bible Quotes

This morning I read Dr. Denison’s take on the whole SCOTUS decision. Here is what he had to say:

Dr. Denison and Three Biblical Certainties

It is from Dr. Denison that I got the title for my blog today. We have to out love our critics because we have no other choice. I do believe that black lives matter, but I don’t believe that they matter more than any other person’s life. I believe in social justice, but I believe in justice for all and not just a select group that is most vocal (and most violent right now.). And I don’t believe that anyone should be discriminated against on a job, but I also know that we have to draw a line in the sand and say that since we the Christians know that the gay agenda is sinful, then those who seek employment in Christian schools and churches cannot be hired there. As the justices said, that battle will be fought at another time, and we need to be ready for it.

In the meantime, our words and our actions need to be those of love and not judgment. God is the Great Judge. He left us here on earth to love, not to condemn. I confess that I have been wont to condemn lately, so I am working on praying for those who choose the highway to hell, praying that they will repent and turn away from their wicked ways and back to the God who created them. After all, our loving and gracious Heavenly Father wants that for all of mankind. How can I want any less?

Photo from westa.org

Before we can lead others in the right direction towards our Heavenly Father and salvation, we need to make sure that we are right with the Lord. I prayerfully leave you with this song.

I Repent by Steve Green

Review of ALWAYS THE LAST TO KNOW by Kristan Higgins

On By vickleaIn Uncategorized1 Comment

I read this book for a few hours and then had to put it down to think about what I had read. It is a book with a message, actually, to be accurate, with a lot of messages that made me reflect on my own choices and relationships. It is the story of Barb and John who have been married almost fifty years when John has a debilitating stroke. Their marriage was already broken, but Barb went though the motions until she was ready to just end it. They have two daughters, Juliet and Sadie. Juliet is Barb’s favorite and Sadie was John’s fave. Juliet is a successful architect, married to a Brit and with two daughters. Sadie is an artistic free spirit who rushes home to help take care of her father, leaving her life in NYC behind. This is the story of a fractured family that does not communicate or easily forgive. With the themes of sibling rivalry, infertility, lack of forgiveness and lack of communication, Higgins did a stellar job of drawing me into the lives of these four broken people. They all have wounds from the past and an uncertain future, much like everyone else I know plus myself. Thus, I related to the story and really enjoyed it, as their poor choices in the past were revealed as well as their current dilemmas. To me, John, with his stroke and inability to communicate clearly, represented the whole problem with the family. They were all lost in the condition of being too paralyzed by the past to grab hold of the future, until finally they realize their paralysis and start to do something about it. There was no fluff in this book; it was all meaningful, and deeply thought-provoking. It is contemporary fiction and domestic drama with Higgins’s humor thrown in to lighten the somber mood. I loved this book and highly recommend it as a novel of reflection and hope for the future.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Berkeley Publishing via a Goodreads contest. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions 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 Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Not a completely clean read because of the topics discussed in the book, but well worth the read and very worthy to be chosen as a Book Club favorite

Information above was found at www.kristanhiggins.com

Available now! Here are links where you can purchase this book:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

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Booksamillion

Many, many thanks to #BerkleyPub for sending me the ARC to read and review! And thanks to Goodreads for their reader contests!

Review of STORIES THAT BIND US by Susie Finkbeiner

On By vickleaIn Uncategorized4 Comments

I really needed a distraction from the news, and this book totally provided it. The story of Betty Sweet, her sister Clara and her young nephew Hugo is one that I will long remember. It is the tale of love, loss, acceptance, addiction and family. Betty and her husband Norm share a love that is right out of fairy tales. Clara and Betty had not seen or spoken to each other in years, even though they were sisters. When Clara suddenly shows up on her doorstep, Betty opens her door, her home and her heart wide to accept Clara as well as her young nephew Hugo. The fact that Hugo is black does not seem to bother Betty at all and she shields him from the stares and glares when they go out in public. I think my favorite thing about this book was the family relationship between Betty and all of her in-laws. They loved her and helped her with her losses, being the ones who showed her that she needed to keep on living. I also really enjoyed the stories within the main story, the tales that Betty told little Hugo when she was tucking him in at night. They were imaginative stories, told from her heart and with so much love that the emotions that she felt for Hugo jumped off the page and into my heart. I cried, I laughed, I enjoyed, and anyone who loves historical fiction (although not that historical since I lived in this era), will delight in this newest book by Susie Finkbeiner. She has a real fan in me because her books are so real and so heart-warming that I just want to spend days with her creations and feel a sense of satisfaction and contentment when the book is done.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions 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 Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

This is a completely clean read and more than worth your time to read it!
Connect with the author at Susie Finkbeiner

Available for purchase:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Christian Book

Books-A-Million

Baker Book House

Indie

Words Matter

On By vickleaIn Uncategorized4 Comments

I was always told as a child to be careful what I said because it might come back to bite me. Then, when I was an adult and became a Christian, I was told to be careful what I say because the tongue is the most unruly member of the body and hard to tame. Today, once again, I read about words, in both of my devotionals. In one, the author condensed the Bible to 50 words, as follows:

God made, Adam bit, Noah arked, Abraham split. Joseph ruled, Jacob fooled. Bush talked, Moses balked. Pharaoh plagued, people walked, sea divided, tablets guided. Promise landed, Saul freaked, David peeked, prophets warned, Jesus born. God walked, love talked, anger crucified, hope died. Love rose, spirit flamed, Word spread, God remained.”

Excerpt From: Guideposts. “Daily Guideposts 2020.” HarperCollinsChristianPublishing, 2019-08-26. Apple Books

Then, I read my other devotional from and my Bible and these are the verses that spoke to my heart:

I noted that the purpose of my tongue is to help out those who are weary. God wakes me up so that I can listen to Him and then tell others what I have learned so that they may also be encouraged to serve Him.

It is through the wisdom that God gives us that we know how to speak to others. Some may need a strong rebuke, others a gentle word of love. Whatever they need will be on the tips of our tongues if we remember to start the day learning from God. We have to also remember to speak wisely, with God’s grace and not our own judgment.

Finally, I leave you with this prayer. It is my prayer for our world today and I hope that you will join me in it. Nothing happens that God is not aware of and has ultimate authority over, so let’s join together in blessing His Name. Hard times? Yes. First a pestilence and then riots. But God is still in His throne and we need to acknowledge that, hear His voice and go out to bless others.

Through All of It by Colton Dixon