This book was amazing!  I really enjoyed the family dynamics of the two families represented.  Tom is a single father raising his teen daughter Lyla in a middle-class environment.  Nina and Kirk, on the other hand, are very wealthy and are raising their son Finch in a home of privilege and expectation of more privilege.  When the book begins, Finch has just been accepted to Princeton, so we know that he is intelligent.  But his other character traits are not very admirable.  I will most remember Nina’s reaction to what Finch has done and what Kirk is doing to try to cover up for him.  It is important to remember that date rape is real, and the portrayal in this novel is very realistic.  The book is fast-paced and very entertaining.  I loved the way the viewpoint switched between the main characters, Tom, Nina and Lyla.  I wanted to keep reading to find out what was really going on since there was so much deception .  I was quickly drawn into the tale of a young girl and the parallel story o a married woman who has lost control of her life.  This is such an excellent read that all avid readers should read it and are guaranteed to enjoy it!

Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have 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 Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

Have you ever felt so alone that you just wanted to pick up the phone and call someone, but then you realize that it’s the middle of the night, so that is probably not a good idea?  God wants you to know that He is watching over you and that you should not be afraid or discouraged, no matter what is happening in your life right now.  Those words in the Scripture give me encouragement and hope.  I am never alone.  I may feel lonely, but my Heavenly Father is only a prayer away.  So often, I have found myself turning to the books that I read constantly or the TV shows that entertain me in order to fill my gaping hope of loneliness and discouragement.  But God is telling me that He wants me to reach out to Him.  He has been watching all along and knows when I am afraid and feeling low.  I have a friend at church whose husband just got a devastating diagnosis.  Asking friends at church yesterday how this elderly friend is doing, I was upset to receive the report that he is very discouraged.  So, in turn, I got discouraged.  After all, it was Father’s Day and I was already sad about my father not being around any more.  Now, this elderly man whose face shined with happiness when I returned to church after my stroke is in a “bad way.”  The fact is that without the Lord’s miraculous intervention, he will die shortly.  So, I got sad and wanted to rail at God about the unfairness of the situation.  This is a man who had dedicated his life and his music to the Lord (he plays guitar in our church).  But God wants to call him home. Now?  This doesn’t seem to be a good time, not to me or to his family, at least.  Nevertheless, God has brought me to the realization that his life is in God’s hands.  God is watching over him and he doesn’t want me or him to be afraid or discouraged.  What right do I have to tell God that the timing isn’t right?  I am not the Maker of the Universe and I don’t see all that is happening, so I cannot make decisions about the lives of others.  Goodness!  It’s hard enough for me to make decisions about my own life!  So, for today, for now, I am choosing to not be afraid or discouraged because that is what God tells me to do. I will pray for my friend and leave His destiny in the hands of the God who made and loves him.  Is there something in your life that is too hard for you?  God is watching, and He knows.  Just like He told me, He is telling you:  Don’t be afraid.  Don’t be discouraged. God is right there with you.  There is nothing going to happen today that God will not see, and He will be beside you, no matter what.  He is your God, the Lord of your life and your circumstances.  Believe it!

My father passed away in July, 2017.  I wrote in an earlier post that he bought and sold drugs, but that was not the father that I knew for most of my life.  As I was growing up, he was the man who held and comforted me when my mother was cruel.  She used to tell me a lot how ugly I was and that she never wanted me.  Being the second child of five, I never understood why mama seemed to hate me so much and love my siblings.  Nevertheless, daddy would know when I had a bad day and would smile at me in his special loving way or he would bring me a candy bar.  He always told me the story of how when I was an infant, he would sit up with me all night, holding me on his shoulder since I was having trouble breathing.  Since I was born with asthma, that story is believable although I can’t confirm it myself.  Anyway, daddy was my champion, the one who understood and begged me to come home to get married even when mama didn’t want me to marry my husband.  She thought he wasn’t “good enough” for me since he didn’t have a college degree.  Daddy just accepted that Harry loved me and welcomed him to the family.  When I was in my early twenties, my family left Virginia and moved to Florida and did not have any contact with me for several years.  I really missed all of them, but especially my daddy.  When we finally got together again, daddy had changed.  He was addicted to various painkillers and was also selling drugs.  He was unhappy with his life in Florida and was never really honest with me after that.  I couldn’t trust him because of his addiction, so I remember sending him gift cards to MacDonald’s or clothing that he said he needed.  I couldn’t send money because I didn’t know how it would be used.  By that time, my mother had passed away (when I was 31, and we had mended our relationship by then, but that is another story).  Daddy and I continued to exchange letters and talk on the phone.  Four years ago, we traveled to Florida to visit my two siblings who live there and to see daddy.  We took him out to eat and to a museum.  He was distracted and on his phone a lot.  (That’s what people who deal drugs do, apparently.). So, it was a visit, but not a great one.  It was kind of like me just checking on daddy.  For the next four years, I called weekly or he called me, always on a Sunday.  He was getting forgetful and more frail and coughing a lot.  He had been in and out of the VA Hospital and I encouraged my brother to restore his relationship with daddy; he hadn’t seen or spoken to him for about twenty years.  James did that and daddy continued to get more and more ill.  Both of my brothers were with him in the hospital the week before he died.  I had gone to Pennsylvania for a retirement party for me and then I was going to visit my daughter; after that,  I was going to turn around and head to Florida to see my father.  We did Skype with my brothers at my retirement party and again from the hospital.  I was told that daddy was dying and I wanted to head to Florida right away, but my brothers and my children were telling me that the trip and seeing daddy in his failing condition would be too much for me. (I had a stroke in 2015.). So, I continued with my plan to visit with my daughter and her family.  One week later, I got the call from my brother that I dreaded…daddy had passed away.  I had told him goodbye by FaceTime after they had moved him into hospice. James was with him when he died.  I was inconsolable; my champion, my hero had passed away.  No, he did not live a perfect life, but the daddy I knew is the one pictured above, loving and playing with my son Steven as an infant.  I miss my father and I always will.  I am thankful that James was with him and could report that daddy knew the Lord as His Savior and died peacefully.  I love you, daddy.  Happy Father’s Day.

3-2-1 Quote Me was started by A Guy Called Bloke.  I have been tagged to participate in the fun by Miraculous Smile.

Easy Rules:

• Thank the selector…Thank you, Christy Istrate at Miraculous Smile!
• Post 2 quotes for the dedicated topic of the day.  “Happiness” is today’s topic.
• Select 3 bloggers to take part in the challenge.

My 2 quotes:

”Wisdom is choosing to do now what you will be happy with later on.”-Joyce Meyer”

”Folks are usually about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”-Abraham Lincoln

My three nominees:

140characterchristian.com

Efua

Jessica

I hope you enjoy this.  Happy Saturday to everyone!

Vickie  🤗

I would like to once again thank Cindy from realchristianwomen.com for the opportunity to share with you these last few days. My final quotation is near and dear to my heart. Corrie Ten Boom was a dear Christian lady who suffered greatly during WWII. You can read her testimony in her book THE HIDING PLACE. It’s an amazing story of God’s love and forgiveness.

I am happy to accept this nomination for the #awesomebloggeraward  from Perfila at helpbreakthesilence.com.

Here are the answers to the questions she posted:

1. What is the most annoying habit that other people have? Chewing gum when they are doing a speech
2. What do you wish you knew more about? God 
3. What are you interested in that most people haven’t heard of? The Rapture
4. What’s the farthest you’ve ever been from home? Spain
5. What amazing thing did you do that no one was around to see? I gave a lady who had no money for Christmas money to buy gifts after her husband left her.  I never told her where the money came from, but she gve the “middle person” a beautiful magnet to thank her anonymous donor.
6. What do you hope never changes? My love and devotion to God
7. What is the luckiest thing that has happened to you? I won the money that I gave to the lady in #5.  It was a drawing at the apartment house that I was living in.  
8. What age do you want to live to? Until I have completed all God has for me to do on earth
9. What are you most likely to become famous for? I will never be famous, but I want to be remembered as a wife, mother and grandmother who loved her family and the Lord Jesus
10. What’s the dumbest thing you’ve done that actually turned out pretty well? I baked a cake without breaking the eggs.   A little crunchy, but it was edible

• Thank the person who nominated you
• Include the banner in your post
• Tag it under #awesomebloggeraward in the reader
• Answer the question which the nominator gave you
• Nominate at least 5 awesome bloggers
• Give your nominees 10 questions to answer
• Let your nominees know that they’ve been nominated

My nominees are :  anyone who reads this and would like to participate.  I don’t have any followers that are not Awesome Bloggers.

Questions to Answer:

1.  What is one thing about your life that you would change if you could?              2.  What current celebrity would you like to meet and why?                                         3. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?                                       4.  What is your favorite food?                                                                                                 5.  What movie could you watch repeatedly and never get tired of it?                       6.  What is your favorite season?                                                                                               7.  Which famous artwork would you hang in your living room:  Picasso, Monet or Dali?                                                                                                                                               8.  Where would you go on vacation if you could go to anywhere in the world?     9.  Do you prefer the beach or the mountains?                                                                     10.  What book have you read that has made a lasting impression on you?  

Since God made everything, He can be trusted to take care of us, no matter what we are going through. Life is hard.  That’s a fact!  No matter how weak or incapable I feel, I have an awesome God who is only a prayer away.  Let me tell you a true story of what happened to me when I was a young mother in my twenties.  My husband and I felt called to sell everything we could and attend Youth With a Mission in New Jersey.  At the time, our daughter was only an infant, about a year old.  We really didn’t know what we were getting into, but we felt that the Lord had called us there for training.  Well, we learned a lot about the Bible and my husband was able to go on missions trips while I remained behind with the other moms with children.  This discipleship school was not really prepared to have families with children, so there were a lot of challenges.  One of them was that we needed milk for our children, and that was not available at YWAM.  So, all the parents met together one night and just laid it out before the Lord that we had young children who needed milk.  The next morning, all of us had a gallon of milk outside our doors.  No one at YWAM admitted that they provided the milk that kept coming as long as we were there.  But God knew our need and provided it.  He cares about the little details of our lives.  He is the one I can always go to, tell him exactly how I am feeling and not be turned away. God is only a prayer away, and He is never too busy to listen.  God is good, all the time.  He is the Creator of the Universe, and He cares about me.  Amazing, isn’t it?  What has our Amazing God done for you?  Please comment.  I would love to read testimonies of God’s greatness in your life.

I am very grateful to Cindy Dawson at realchristianwomen.com for nominating me for this challenge.

I nominate Sue Love at runwithit.blog.  I will be contacting her with the information about the challenge.

My commentary on the quotation:  Keep flying!  God won’t let you down!

I have been nominated by Cindy Dawson at realchristianwomen.blog for this challenge. Thank you, Cindy for giving me another outlet for my beliefs.

This is my quote for today because it reminds me of God’s commandment to love.  We never know what others are going through, so just be kind, always.

I nominate Pastor Unlikely at pastorunlikely.com for this challenge.

God says that he is always our refuge and will be with us no matter where we are. So when I’m feeling like I’ve dropped into a big, dark hole of discouragement, God is right there with me. In my loneliness and times of absolute frustration, God has been there with me. He is with me now. He was close beside me when I was so desolate that I could not be with my father when he was dying. The Father who always loves and understands has been with me when I raised against death and the other circumstances of life over which I have no control. Do you know the One who is always a refuge and who tells you to be strong because He is with you? There is nothing like having God as a friend!