Available today online and at your local bookseller!  

When I first started reading, I thought that this book was a different genre for me and that I really wouldn’t like it. I ended up loving it because the characters were so lovable and the plot was totally unique! Carly is a young widow of an army man during the Vietnam War. After she is notified of Joe’s death, she discovers that she is pregnant. This news is shortly followed by the news that the baby has a terminal heart defect. Carly is emotionally supported by her sister Patti and her brother-in-law Hunter. But nothing can comfort her when she finds out that she has lost her husband and now she is going to lose his baby, too. Hunter then tells her a remearkable story of how he came from the future via a time travel portal and he will help her to travel there in order to get life-saving surgery for her baby that is not available in 1970. Wow! Just wow! This mind-blowing aspect of the plot got better and better as the reader follows Carly to the different decades that she ends up in, trying to find her way back home again. I liked Carly’s story because she captured my heart from the beginning. Her desire to save the life of her unborn child no matter the cost to her was admirable and made me want to keep reading more of Carly’s tale. The book was a stunning addition to fiction, sci-fi and fantasy combined, and had so many twists and turns that I never knew what to expect next. When Carly made the leap to a future 2001 with cell phones and laptops and surgery for her unborn child, I was right there with her, imagining what it must have been like for her. This novel was very enjoyable as well as thought-provoking and I highly recommend it to fans of Diane Chamberlain and to those who want to read a novel that has a totally unique perspective on time travel and its benefits and consequences.

Disclaimer-Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Bookishfirst.  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.”

The five-star image is courtesy of a Google search and created by techFlourish.  

Available today from your local and online booksellers!  

Since I have read almost all of Jodi Picoult’s books, I was not surprised at the controversial topic in this one nor her liberal stand on it.  This book is about a gunman entering an abortion clinic and taking hostages.  I was a little put off at first with the backwards order of the details, starting at the end of the day and moving backwards, detailing the lives of each of the main characters up to the beginning of their days and then with an epilogue that drew everything together.  However, with this topic and in this book, it really worked well!  Hugh was the most likeable character along with his fourteen-year-old daughter Wren.  Most characters had secrets that were revealed as the book moved quickly to a conclusion that was somewhat expected but also surprising.  If you are a fan of Jodi Picoult, you will not want to miss this one because it is controversial with current topics and also includes a lot of pertinent research.  As a member of the pro-life community, I found the statistics slanted towards pro-abortion, but I was not surprised by this and it did not really bother me.  Jodi Picoult has written another book that book clubs will want to read and discuss because there are so many loose threads at the end, you will want to talk over with others what they think happened to some of the most important characters.  Excellent read!  Very controversial and timely topic!  A must-read for book clubs this fall!

Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.  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.”

Available on October 2, 2018 at all local and online booksellers!  

This was a sweet contemporary romance that took place in a small, isolated village in Alaska.  I loved the descriptions of the scenery, especially the romantic atmosphere created by the Northern Lights.  Josie has a plan for her life, to cook with the famous Chef Anton in Seattle.  Although Palmer falls in love with her during her summer cooking adventure in Alaska, he also has a plan for his life; he wants to continue to pursue his career as a master sword smith in Ponder.  Dreams clash with reality in this quick, easy read.  My favorite character by far was Jack, the quirky comic relief to all of the drama.  Jack is always hungry and is determined to do all he can to get Josie to marry Palmer, just so she can be in Ponder to cook for him.  I also liked Palmer’s dog Hobo who seemed to understand humans a lot better than we understand ourselves sometimes.  This book was entertaining and humorous at time, set at that magical time between Thanksgiving and Christmas and proving that sometimes wishes do come true.  

Disclaimer:  Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.  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 Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Uses of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”  

My Scripture reading yesterday seemed to be all about God being my shield, and since I don’t generally do a blog post on Sundays, I had a whole day to meditate on it.  What does having God as your shield mean?  When I was a child, I used to go into the bathroom and hide from the wrath of my mother.  She didn’t like me very much and made that extremely clear repeatedly.  But when I was in that small guest bathroom, I felt safe and somehow felt loved because I was frequently  chanting to myself, “Yes, Jesus loves me” that I had learned from Sunday school.  I didn’t know the saving power of God at that time or that He could be my shield for the rest of my life.  I discovered that remarkable truth when I was twenty-one, the first year that I left home and that I was alone.  I had left my mother five hours away in another small town in Virginia, but I took my fears with me.  I feared people, the dark, any change in my routine.  So, accepting the Lord set me free from my fears and on the battlefield with Him as my shield.  Yes, life is still a battlefield and sometimes there are explosions that I was not ready for, but as long as I keep God as my shield, I can make it through the attack.  Sometimes the attack comes from my old fears, but I have to make the choice to hold up my shield, to say verses that I have memorized from the Word of God and to know that He is right there with me.  I hope that you have this shield in your life.  He is my Savior and my hope in the middle of all of the strife that takes over at times.  I couldn’t make it without Him and I want everyone to know that He is the One who will protect you from all of the fiery darts of the enemy, no matter what shape they come in.  God bless you during this day and may you find His protective shield covering you!

Have you ever just rushed out in the morning, starting your day with a quick, “Thank You, Lord” and off you go?  Or sometimes, as you drive,  do you give God a laundry list of what you want Him to help you do that day?  This was me, for many years.  My days started before 4:30 a.m. and I was at work, often until 6-7 p.m.  I would pray before I went to work, but it was a cursory prayer, just something that I think I did because it was something that I thought I needed to do.  Then, throughout the day, I would call on Him for help or strength.  But one day, God spoke to me and told me that He had done everything for me, why couldn’t I give him the “firstfruits of my day?  So, I began to start each day with prayer, real prayer that I often wrote as I prayed.  I asked God what His will was and then did my best to fulfill it that day.  I took one day at a time.  This Scripture means a lot to me because whatever we do, we are to ask God about it first and not to move on without hearing from Him what He desires for us that day.  Sometimes other people get in the way and block our plans for the day, but that is when I pray again and ask God to tell me where to go from there.  If you are driving to a strange place that you have never visited before, you use a map.  Sometimes, the GPS is not totally accurate and you get a little lost.  Do you then just drive around aimlessly trying to find your destination, or do you consult another map source or even a nice person from whom you can get directions?  (If you are my husband, you drive around until you find the place, but that is another story for another time maybe.). Anyway, most people get more specific instructions so that they can continue to their destination.  When we get off the path that God had planned for us that day, we have to stop and pray.  We need to be in continual prayer.  The Bible says to “pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17). Before you step out into your day, know what God wants you to do, and if the plan seems to be changing because of circumstances, don’t get off the path.  Ask God what the new path is or what He wants you to do abou the changes.

How do you know what to pray?  You pray in His Spirit and tell Him what is on your heart.  You have to always be alert for changes, just as you would be alert for detours  in your route on the highway.  And just as the woman in the parable who kept going to the judge for justice until he finally relented and gave her what she wanted,  you have to be persistent in your prayer.  You don’t pray for something once and then expect an immediate answer from God.  That has happened occasionally in my life, but it is the exception rather than the rule.  You are supposed to pray and keep on praying until you have the understanding of what God wants you to do.  Be a prayer warrior for your fellow believers.  It may change their lives, but I know from experience that it will change yours!

I am absolutely delighted to have been nominated for the Blogger Recognition Award by Stu at Stuart L. Tutt.  Stu has encouraged me with kind words consistently and has kept me writing even when I was too tired or discouraged to do so.  Thank you, Stu, for your kind and constant support.

The Rules:

• Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
• Write a post to show your Award.
• Give a brief story of how your blog started.
• Give two pieces of advice for new bloggers.
• Select 15 or more bloggers for this award.
• Let each nominee know that you have nominated them and leave a link to your post.

How Vickie’s Book Nook and Meditation Corner became a reality:

In June, 2017. I retired after 34 years of teaching in eleven different public school districts, a private school outside of D.C., and three different Christian schools.  I knew that I love to read and wanted to write reviews for books, so I asked my son Steven who is a computer whiz if he could create a page for me on WordPress.  He worked on it in his spare time for about a month, so I went live in July.  I started out just as Vickie’s Book Nook, but as 2018 began, God spoke to me and told me that I needed to use my blog for His glory.  So, I changed the name of my blog to its current name and started writing about Scriptures that speak to my heart and that I hope will speak to the hearts of my followers.  I pray and I write and I hope that God blesses those who read my blog.

Tips for New Bloggers:

1.  Be honest.  Speak from your heart.  Don’t worry about offending others with your words.  Some will always be offended and others will be touched by your words.  So, speak honestly.  Give yourself the voice that you need.
2. Write something that you really care about, whether it be about your new puppy or kitten or your new clothes.  And if there is a comment that really touched you, respond to it.  That is the way that you get to know more people in the online community.

My nominees are:

Colin’s Canvas

Etiliyle

dpranita583

The Christian Fiction Girl

Train Today to Reap Tomorrow

Christy Istrate

Parallax

Bible Blogger Girl

Lisa Blair

Susie’s Opinions

Kristi Ann’s Haven

A New Life

Beezus da Bear

Plants and Beyond

My Way Home

JenGalalxy4

The photo below is courtesy of Etiliyle.  His words are in Italian, but his photos speak a universal language of beauty and art.  I am fortunate to have gotten his permission to use this beautiful photograph.  

God has taken away your sins.  If you are a Christian and have accepted His forgiveness and grace, then you can rest in His peace.  God has removed them.  Have you ever gotten up early in the morning and captured an image like the one above?  If you have, then you know that the sky changes as the sun rises higher in the sky or as it disappears below the horizon.  The changes are fast and hard to capture with a camera.  That is how quickly God removes your sins.  Can you see them any longer once God has removed them?  No, and the good news is that no one else can see them either.  God has redeemed you with the blood of Jesus Christ.  What does that mean? He paid the price for you.  According to the dictionary on Google, redeemed means “to gain or regain possession of (something) in exchange for payment.”  The synonyms are to reclaim or repossess.  So, what God has redeemed is your soul.  He has re-captured it from the destruction of eternity with Satan and reclaimed you as His child.  You were born to be His child from the beginning of your existence, but at some time in your life, you have to be “born again,” a moment in your life when you turn away from your sin and ask for God’s forgiveness.  And His reply is the Scripture above; He desires that we return to Him because He loves us so much, enough that He gave His Son to die for our sins.

This photo is from Pinterest.com via Google.

This is God’s love for us, demonstrated once for everyone.  We were still sinners, and yet Jesus took our sin on Himself and suffered and died for us.  He died in one of the most excruciating and painful ways imaginable.  But He willingly lay down His life for us so that we can be redeemed by God.  So much love was on that cross!

Jesus showed love to all he met, but one of the Bible stories that I recall most vividly is His encounter with the adulterous woman.  At a time when stoning was the absolute required penalty for adultery, the “holier than thou” people dragged her before Jesus, expecting His condemnation.  Jesus, however, just knelt in the sand and starting writing.  No one knows what He was writing, but whatever it was, her accusers ended up walking away and leaving Jesus with her, just the two of them.  What a beautiful picture of love as he tells her that she is no longer condemned.

This photo is courtesy of Biblepic.com via Google.

Jesus also tells the adulterous woman, the one whom He forgives, “Go, and sin no more.”  We are forgiven once when we accept Jesus into our hearts and ask Him to forgive us.  But we are being forgiven daily and will ultimately receive His forgiveness on Judgment Day.  We are not to presume on His grace and mercy.  While we linger on the earth, after our salvation, we are told to stop sinning.  As a human, I confess that I still sin.  I still make wrong choices.  Nevertheless, I still consider myself a Christian saved by grace.  I sin, I confess and I feel His love and forgiveness in my heart.  I don’t want to sin; I don’t plan to sin.  But when I do, I know that God is faithful to forgive me because He has redeemed me for eternity.  I just don’t want to presume on His grace and mercy.  I start each day with thanksgiving for His love for me and my plan for each day is to serve Him.  When I fall short, I pick myself up and continue to run the race of this life.  It’s not a sprint; it’s a marathon.  And the finish line is Heaven.  I hope to see you there!

This compilation of novellas by three masters of the craft of Christian fiction was a book that compels you to keep reading to the end.  Each novella has its own tale of betrayal, the theme of the book.  I enjoyed each of them and chose a favorite character in each.  I really liked Ann Falcon in Dee Henderson’s story of a woman imprisoned for decades for a crime that she did not commit.  Ann discovered the truth by accident and  was determined to do something about it.  This story is one that addresses the issue of justice and also forgiveness.  In Dani Petttrey’s “Deadly Isle”, I really enjoyed the setting of an island that is cut off from others because of a big storm and a killer that is on that island wreaking havoc.  The imagery in this novella was remarkable.  Finally, in Lynette Eason’s “Code of Ethics”, a family of police officers and their sister who is a surgeon have to try to keep a police officer safe who has discovered corruption in the department.  I really liked Ruthie, the doctor who was a force to be reckoned with.  All three novellas have strong female characters that draw the reader into the story and seem to end too quickly because you are enjoying the story so much.  Readers of romantic suspense will thoroughly enjoy this collection of novellas.

Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers via Netgalley. I also purchased a copy for myself from Amazon.  I was not required to post a positive review.  The opinions expressed are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

If you are a Christian, you are part of a larger body of Christ, and He is our head.  What does the head do?  Of course, we all know that is where the brain is that directs the rest of the body.  Has your brain ever told you to do something and you just said, “No, I don’t want to do it that way.”  Normally, our brain instructs us to do things automatically.  It tells the heart to beat, the blood to flow, the body to move.  Then, there are the decisions that we have to make, decisions like whether to read a certain book, go to church or watch a TV show.  This also involves the brain, and these are decisions that we make with the power called reasoning.  Who gave us the ability to reason and make choices?  God did!  That is one of the things that distinguishes humans from the rest of the animal kingdom.  We can make choices, and one of the most important ones we make is to serve the Lord and believe that Jesus is our Savior.  Moving on from the brain is the rest of the body. I don’t know exactly what part I am in His body, but I do know that I am His servant and I want to do things that please Him.  

One of the things that pleases Him is to “speak the truth in love” to other members of the body.  There is not enough of this whole telling the truth these days.  But when we do speak the truth, we are to speak it knowing that it may affect the other person, so we should only tell them the truth in love.  I’m not talking about telling someone that a dress looks awful on them.  I’m talking about speaking the spiritual truth to others.  For example, say there is someone in your church body who is gay.  You don’t kick them out of the church because of their beliefs.  You love them, accept them and once you have established a relationship, then and only then, as the Lord leads, you can tell them what the Word says about homosexuality.  It is not up to us to stand on the street corners and tell every gay person that we see that they will go to hell.  God is the final judge, remember?  And although our theology may tell us that what they are doing is sin, God’s Spirit needs to convict them before they can hear the truth, and we need to realize that they are not likely to listen to someone with whom they have not formed a relationship.  When I tell my feet to move, they do, trusting that what I am telling them to do won’t hurt them.  When I yell at someone that they are hell-bound, there is nothing loving in that statement, even though I could truly believe that what I am saying is the truth.  There are two problems with that scenario:  the first one is that these people whom you are condemning are not part of the body of Christ that you know of, and the second one is that this is not telling them the truth in love and what you are saying is not your responsibility.    How many times have Christians turned off others to even listening to the good news about Christ because we have first condemned and then expected others to listen to the truth of His love?  The good news about His love is it’s free and for everyone and He wants us to love first, foremost and always.  Are there people living in sin?  Yes, but God has not appointed me (or you) as His Holy Spirit to go around telling people all about their sinful lifestyle.  He has told me to love, speak the truth in love, and let Him take care of the conviction of sin thing.  If He wants me to address the sin in others with whom I have developed a relationship, He tells me.  I pray about it a lot and then I go and tell, speaking the truth in the way and timing that God tells me.  That is not to say that there are not some whom God has called to preach the “fire and brimstone” that the world needs.  Paul was one such preacher and so was Jonathan Edwards.  But I listen for God’s voice daily, and He has not called me personally to convict the world of sin.  He keeps telling me to love, and He will take care of the rest.  Sometimes, I get really anxious about all the sin that I see and I want to go up to people and just tell them that what they are doing is taking them on the pathway to hell and eternal destruction, not to mention heartache here in this life.  But I can’t do that without God’s leading.  I have to keep reminding myself that Jesus is the brain of this body, that He is directing my actions and should be directing the words that I speak and to whom I speak them.  If I am doing what God tells me to do and when He tells me to do it, then I will grow and so will other members of the body.  We will be healthy together.  

I hope that you are part of a body of Christ, with people who love you enough to pull you back into the fold when you step out of line and sin.  I hope you realize that you are part of a worldwide Body of Christ and that you are only a small part of it.  God is a God of truth and love, and He is training me to speak the truth in love.  I hope that these words in my blog have not offended you; my purpose was to encourage you to speak the truth in a loving way to those with whom you have relationships.  God has not called me to do anything except tell the truth to others and love Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.  God bless you for reading my rambling today!

Forty five years ago, Christ came into my heart, but I just discovered this Scripture in my daily reading yesterday.  I have to root myself in Him and then God’s love will make me strong.  Sometimes I feel like I am a tree bowing before the winds of life and about to fall over.  But God’s Word says that since I am rooted in Him, I will remain strong.  No matter what comes against me, I am growing taller and stronger in the Lord because I am rooted and grounded in Him.  My faith is not in my own ability; my faith is in His ability.  I am absolutely sure that I can trust the Creator of the Universe to keep me on the right path and safe in His love because He planted me and he is watering me daily with His Word, so I am growing.

I am claiming God’s promises for me and my children and grandchildren. I will not fear when the “heat” is turned up and things are all going in the wrong way.  I claim for us that we will have no worries during drought because the Lord’s Word will be planted deeply in the roots of our hearts and we will always bear fruit for Him.

I do not believe in the “prosperity gospel” that has been preached recently.  You may recognize it as “Name, it and claim it.”  I don’t think that God is a good fairy or fairy godmother waiting to grant my every wish.  But I do think that He will meet all of my needs and that my prosperity will be evident, not in material possessions, but instead in the little saplings growing around me, those children and grandchildren who also have a relationship with the Lord and are growing deep roots.

God awakens me each day with thanksgiving on my lips for a new day and the promises of His grace and mercy daily.  He brings to my remembrance all of the times He has been with me, the hard times when I was mourning or when I was alone with three children in a new place.  He reminds me that He has never left me, that I am one of his trees that He has planted by the water, that my roots are planted deeply in Him and I will grow and be strong.  Life’s storms will buffet you; this is a given because they come to everyone.  You can be a tree planted by the waters of life if you just let the Lord be the guide and center of your life.  I read the Book of John and was convicted of my sins forty five years ago.  There is no magic formula for asking Jesus to come into your heart and to begin living for Him.  You just have to do it so you can find His peace and love and strength and live eternally with Him.