Are we all God’s children?

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I said in my post about reasons God doesn’t answer prayer that He’s not obligated to answer prayers for those who are not His children, though in His goodness He may bless even those who do not belong to Him. “For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust,” (Matthew 5:45b). This sparked a conversation with a friend about who, exactly, are God’s children. Aren’t we all?

It’s important when considering questions like this to look at what the Bible actually says, in context, rather than coming to logical conclusions.  We’re supposed to let Scripture instruct us and transform our thinking rather than trying to fit it within our frame of reference.

In John 8:42-44, “Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

He obviously did not regard the people he was addressing as His Father’s children, but rather the devil’s.

But it’s not people at that extreme who are not God’s children. In John 3:3 Jesus told Nicodemus—not a heathen living in obvious moral sin, but a religious leader—“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus went on to explain how one experienced that new spiritual birth in verses 16-18:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

We’re created in God’s image. But sin has marred that image. We’re born sinners, and we make the choice to sin almost every day. God doesn’t let sin into heaven. “But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27).

That leaves us in big trouble.

But in God’s love for us, He made a way we could become part of God’s family. Jesus, as God, came to earth in human flesh. He was both fully God and fully man. If he were sinful, He could not do anything to atone for our sin because He would have His own. But He is the perfect, sinless One—just like all those sacrificial lambs in the OT, which pointed to His coming sacrifice. He took all our sin and punishment on Himself so we wouldn’t have to.

But Christ’s atonement didn’t automatically save everyone in the world. We have to repent of our sins and receive Him.

In John 1:11-12 it says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” If He was giving people the ability to become sons of God, that means they were not his children before — otherwise there would be no need to become God’s sons.

That’s the good news — that we can become God’s children through faith in Christ.

Galatians 3:26: “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”

John 14:6: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” We didn’t already belong to the Father: a way needed to be made for us to the Father.

That’s what He came for: that’s what He gave His life for. That would not have been necessary if we were already His children. But He graciously provided the way for us to become His children.

I John 3:1: Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. What an amazing blessing!! What great love!

Friday’s Fave Five

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Susanne at Living to Tell the Story hosts a “Friday Fave Five” in which we share our five favorite things from the past week. Click on the button to read more of the details, and you can visit Susanne to see the list of others’ favorites or to join in.

1. My son’s wedding! (Details here, pictures here.)

2. Getting my “mother of the groom” dress fixed. It needed to be altered a bit around the top, and I really wanted to somehow widen the straps — even though it had a lace jacket, the 1 1/2″ straps underneath were just too bare for me. I procrastinated partly because I was keeping my eye out for something else. Finally it came down to crunch time, and two different ladies that I asked to help me (either of whom would have whipped it up with ease) weren’t available; the alteration place fixed the top but wouldn’t touch the straps because they said it wouldn’t look right. Finally I found some fabric that didn’t quite match but worked and tried it myself, making 4 1/2 inch wide straps — and, thank God (I mean that literally!!!) it worked. Such a relief!

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I wore the jacket the whole time, and you couldn’t really see the straps from the front, but they could be seen from the back, and I just felt more covered with wider straps — especially in the front row with my back to everyone!!

3. The wedding party. All the bridesmaids and groomsmen, photographer and music people, were great kids and pitched in above and beyond the call of duty. I had met some before and enjoyed getting to know the rest.

4. Meeting some dear people in the bride’s family and friends who I hope to keep in touch with.

5. God providing for us in an obvious way when a tire blew on the trailer we were renting on the way home: My son and new daughter-in-law just “happened” by at the time and we got the tire to the Wal-Mart service center just as they were closing.  If either of those things hadn’t happened, we would have been stuck for a lot longer and with more trouble and expense. Plus in the brief time we had to disconnect the trailer and leave it on the side of the road, God let no one crash into it or steal it or its contents. And as an added bonus we got to eat dinner together before getting back on the road.

Bonus:

6. Rug shopping. My husband and I took our son and new daughter-in-law shopping for rugs at one of his customer’s places of business this week where they were having a tent sale. The kids have hardwood floors and got a couple of great area rugs (I didn’t think to get pictures of theirs), and I got a couple of small ones myself:

One for the living room:

New rug

And one for the sewing/craft/guest room that I am going to convert Jason’s room into:

New rug

It’s really hard to find pink in rugs! Most everything I saw had more orangey roses if they had roses, and red seems to be the general popular color now.

It’s also been fun vicariously sharing the kids’ excitement as they set up housekeeping. Brings back memories. 🙂

A few pictures from the wedding festivities

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I mentioned in my description of the wedding that we didn’t get pictures of the bride in her dress or the ceremony — I was in the front row and didn’t want to be disruptive (plus I just wanted to take it all in), and when they were taking the offical photos afterward we were visiting with my family that had come in. We’d only gotten to give them a hug and say hello in passing until that point. We’re looking forward to getting the official photos hopefully soon.

But we got a few of various things.

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This was the temporary hand tattoos made from henna that I mentioned.

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The beginning of the tumeric paste and rice ceremony the night before the wedding.

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The end result.

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Jason getting help getting gunk out of his hair.

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Mittu after a shower to get all the stuff off. Isn’t she lovely? 🙂 They said in India they do the rice and tumeric thing seven days in a a row.

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The front of the church.

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My dress didn’t have any pink in it, but I think adjusting the lighting so it could be seen clearly affected the color.

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Mother of the Groom. 🙂

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The musicians did a great job. Saris everywhere provided a lot of beautiful color.

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The bridesmaids. All of our pictures of the groomsmen were blurry, sadly, but they wore black suits and white shirts.

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Mittu changed into this outfit for the reception made from the same fabric as the bridesmaids’ saris. These are longtime dear friends of her family – we really enjoyed getting to know them. Sweet people.

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Exiting amidst bubbles.

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The decoy get-away car — this was actually the best man’s car. He drove them around to theirs decorated like this:

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I hope to have pictures of the main event soon!!

The Wedding

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I’m baa-acck!

This past Saturday was Jason and Mittu’s wedding! I would have loved to have blogged about it along the way or at least mentioned the date ahead of time, but I have this phobia of some cyber-stalker figuring out that I’m away from home and looting the house while I’m gone, so I didn’t want to mention being away. I had planned to blog a little every day, but the last few days it just wasn’t possible.

So, last Tuesday Jim, Jeremy, and Jesse took off to OK in the car pulling a trailer with which to bring back some of Mittu’s furniture and wedding gifts, etc. We had planned to rent a U-Haul there, but U-haul won’t rent to folks with Ford Explorers due to a lawsuit some time ago. 🙄 Jason and I flew out Wed. morning. Originally Jason was flying out so he could get there earlier to get things done for the wedding, then Jim saw that the one-way flights weren’t that terribly expensive, so he offered to let me fly with Jason. That flight and trip was probably the smoothest, most problem free I have ever experienced. That spared me the long car drive and them from having to stop quite so often. They ended up not stopping overnight as planned — just pulled into a rest stop for a couple of hours — so we ended up all getting there close to the same time.

From Wed. through Sat. was filled with getting things done for the wedding and meeting people. I was especially impressed with some of the ladies from Mittu’s church — they were there lending a hand at just about every phase. Meeting people is not my best thing, though God has helped me with that over the years, and there was just one point when it seemed overwhelming and I wished for a quiet spot alone, but that coincided with a bit of tummy trouble which may have had a lot to do with those feelings. Much of Mittu’s extended family  flew in and overall they were very kind.

There were a couple of Indian rituals along the way. One was what they called Mehndi which involved temporary painted tattoos made from henna on the hands of the female wedding party attendants. All of the immediate family is Christian rather than Hindu so none of these things were done with Hindu rites in mind.  Just out of interest I asked the lady doing it if there was any symbolism or history to it — but it seemed to be “just one of those things Indians do” and was meant to be ornamental in itself and the process almost along the lines of a spa treatment, a time to relax. I don’t think I got any pictures of it. There was another involving putting a paste made of tumeric on the bridal couple’s face, arms, and feet — I’m not sure of the word for that one — but it is somehow meant as a blessing to them. What’s supposed to happen afterward is everyone then paints this on everyone else and it’s meant to be a fun time of getting to know each other, but somehow they didn’t do that part. I don’t know if it was in deference to us (though we were prepared for it), or, as one said, it just just getting late and everyone was hungry and wanted to go ahead and eat.

The wedding morning dawned bright and sunny Saturday. I’m afraid I don’t have any pictures of the wedding itself — we’ll have to wait for the ones from the photographer. The only time I almost lost it was when the bride walked in and when toward the beginning of the ceremony they presented gifts to the parents. There were a couple of moments of unreality (“Is that really my son up there?!”) but overall things went really well. No major glitches except the city tornado warning siren going off toward the end. 😀

One other Indian custom during the wedding involved Jason tying a necklace made of a gold cord and a locket around Mittu’s neck while a longtime family friend read about the custom. It’s the Indian equivalent of the exchange of rings. It did have Hindu roots, but it has been Christianized and mention was specifically made of it being done in God’s name, so we had no problem with it (much like using Christmas trees and other such things which purportedly have pagan roots but which are used now in good conscience without those connections).

The family was careful to serve both Indian and American foods during all the get-togethers. Indian food is quite spicy but they would point out to us which ones were milder.

I just love all the kids in the bridal party. Most of them were friends from college and/or the camp where Jason and Mittu worked. I had met many of them before, and they were all such fun and all, especially the best man and maid of honor, put in a lot of work to help their friends.

My step-father and two sisters from Texas were able to come, and we enjoyed visiting with them during the reception and then at dinner that night and a quick breakfast before heading out.

We set out on the road Sunday morning and some time in the afternoon just before Clarksville, Arkansas, the tire of the trailer blew out. Jim called AAA only to discover they don’t cover trailers, and even if they did, they could only change the tire, not bring us out a new one. They called several tire places for us but they were all closed because it was Sunday. Jeremy googled around and found a Wal-Mart two exits up (the AAA person had said there were no WAl-Marts in the area…), so we had to disconnect the trailer and leave it on the side of the road with much prayer for protection while we zoomed up to Wal-Mart to get a lug wrench. Jim was going to try to put the spare from the car on the trailer long enough to get back up to Wal-Mart and replace the tire. While we were doing all that, who should call but Jason — he and Mittu had just passed the trailer on the side of the road! So they stopped to help us out. We got up to the Wal-Mart service center just as they were closing, but they graciously helped us out. If Jason and Mittu hadn’t “happened” along just when they did, we would have gotten to Wal-Mart past the tire center closing time. After all that was taken care of, we got to eat together, and then each went on our way. An unconventional way to spend part of one’s honeymoon, but I am glad it happened as it did! As we were dealing with disconnecting the trailer for a while, and I was praying that no one would steal it or its contents, I was thinking of the ramifications of all of that. Sometimes God does allow for such things to happen, and there are things He wants us to learn from such experiences, but it’s a little harder on one’s faith. I was just thrilled that He allowed the way it all worked out so that His hand was so obviously at work.

We ended up driving straight through (I say we — Jim drove the whole way) except for about an hour or so at a rest stop. Then we unloaded the trailer at the kids’ house, went back to our house and loaded Jason’s bedroom furniture on it and unloaded the same at their house, then got some pizza and crashed at home.

Got a great night’s sleep and a much-needed shower, and now need to finish unpacking and go to the store and then go over to the kids’ house to do a bit of cleaning.

It was a great time over all. I miss having a hotel room cleaned, beds made, and towels washed every morning. 😀 But other than that I’m glad to be home. Hope to have pictures soon!

Promises and prayer

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It’s been another ultra-super-busy time — I’ll tell you all about it in a few days! 😀 I may be pretty scarce until then.

But I just read the following from Our Daily Walk by F. B. Meyer and wanted to share it. I was just going to copy the paragraph about prayer, but, the whole thing is good:

August 7

THE BIBLE AS A DICTAPHONE

“When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face; my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.”– Psa 27:8.

THE BIBLE reminds us of a dictaphone. God has spoken into it, and as we read its pages, they transfer His living words to us. There are many things in the Bible, which, at first, we may not be able to understand, because, as the heaven is higher than the earth, so are God’s thoughts higher than ours. Mr. Spurgeon used to say that when he ate fish, he did not attempt to swallow the bones, but put them aside on his plate! So when there is something beyond your understanding, put it aside, and go on to enjoy that which is easy of spiritual mastication and digestion.

The Bible contains ten thousand promises. It is God’s book of signed cheques. When you have found a promise which meets your need, do not ask God to keep His promise, as though He were unwilling to do so, and needed to be pressed and importuned. Present it humbly in the name of the Lord Jesus! Be sure that, so far as you know, you are fulfilling any conditions that may be attached; then look up into the face of your Heavenly Father, and tell Him that you are reckoning on Him to do as He has said. It is for Him to choose the time and manner of His answer; but wait quietly, be patient, and you will find that not a moment too soon, and not a moment too late, God’s response will be given. “My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him” (Psa 62:5); “Blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things that were told her from the Lord” (Luk 1:45).

Whether for the body, the soul, or spirit, there is no guide like Holy Scripture, but never read it without first looking up to its Author and Inspirer, asking that He will illuminate the page and make you wise unto salvation. “Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth.”

PRAYER

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I Thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know Thy testimonies. AMEN.

Book Review: Sometimes a Light Surprises

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Sometimes a Light.dp Sometimes a Light Surprises by Jamie Langston Turner is primarily the story of Ben Buckley, whose wife died in a mysterious unsolved murder twenty years earlier. Shortly before her death she spoke of a “conversion” experience. Ben had no use for her new-found faith and let her know that clearly. Since her death he has built walls around his heart, shutting out his own four children, and has become immersed in his own rituals, including an obsession with idioms and trivia.

A job interview at his business unexpectedly brings him face to face with Kelly Kovatch, with the daughter of the woman who led his wife to the Lord, the woman against whom he still holds a grudge. With that against her plus the fact that the girl is only twenty, home-schooled, and inexperienced, he has no intention of hiring her, but somehow he finds himself doing just that.

Kelly’s mother is now dying of cancer, and she is wrestling with why God doesn’t seem to be answering her family’s prayers as well as how to interact with all the different types of people and situations she encounters in her new job.

The story is told through the alternating viewpoints of Ben, Kelly, Ben’s personal assistant Caroline, who is a resident busybody, and Erin, one of Ben’s daughters who is most estranged from him.

This is not a book of riveting action or page-turning plot, yet the characters are genuine in their reactions, thought processes, and flaws. Sometimes Turner’s main characters are a bit too eccentric for me, but all of the ones in this book seem real and likable even with their quirks.

Though this is not a sequel of Turner’s previous books, a few characters from them make an appearance.

The title of the book is from a newly discovered (by me, anyway) old hymn by William Cowper which has now become a favorite, and I enjoyed the references throughout the book of the slow dawning of light. The book is set in a city where I used to live, so I also enjoyed some familiar references. I also liked the ending, which, of course, I can’t tell you, but I liked how it wasn’t neatly tied up the way Christian fiction often is, yet the characters are responding to the light they have.

I think this is my favorite of Turner’s books.

(This post will be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review of Books.)

Reasons why prayers aren’t answered

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praying_hands_clipart_3A leaflet came in with a packet of sample tracts at our church which listed a few reasons why prayers aren’t answered. I began to think of others and added to that list in a section in our ladies’ newsletter last week, but thought of some more since then.

We have to remember prayer isn’t a heavenly vending machine: insert prayer, push the right button, and get what you want. It’s more like a child requesting something of a parent, and every good parent sometimes has to say “No.”

Here are some Biblical reasons why God sometimes says “No.”

1. Sin.

Psalm 66:18: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”

2. Turning away from hearing God’s Word.

Proverbs 28:9: “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.”

3. Praying half-heartedly.

Jeremiah 29:12-13: “Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

4. Asking for the wrong reasons.

James 4:3: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

5. Pride.

This was one on the list I mentioned. I wasn’t sure it applied at first because the verse doesn’t specifically mention prayer, but I think indirectly it could be a hindrance to prayer — though it is probably more of a subset of #1 or #4.

Luke 14:11: “For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

6. Unforgiveness

This also could be considered a subset of #1, bu since it is mentioned specifically, I’ll list it here:

Mark 11:26-26: And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

7. Spiritual conflict.

Daniel 10:12-13: Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

Here we’re getting into things beyond our understanding, but those unseen conflicts are a factor.

8. God wants to show His grace through our weakness instead.

II Corinthians 12:8-10: For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

9. Disciplinary measures. It might seem at first like this is a subset of #1, but I think in that case the sin wasn’t acknowledged: I think in this case it is, but the answer is still no.

Deuteronomy 3:25-26:I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon. But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.

10. It’s not the right time.

Abraham’s desire for the son God had promised was not fulfilled until his old age.

Genesis 21: 1-2: And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

11. Not asking in faith.

James 1:6-7: But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

Matthew 17:19-20: Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

12. It’s not God’s will.

I John 5:14: And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us.

Matthew 26:42: He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, “O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.”

Can you think of any others?

Some would say God does not answer the prayers of someone who doesn’t know Him, except the prayer for salvation, but Cornelius, a man who did not yet know the Lord, was told in Acts 10: 4b, “Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.” Nevertheless it stands to reason that God would more readily answer the prayers of one of His own children.

And though this list might sound negative, really the bulk of Scripture has more to say positively about prayer. God wants to answer our prayers when they are in line with His will and when there is not something blocking the channel of communication between us.

Blogiversary contest winner!

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Thanks so much to those of you who commented on my Third Blogiversary post! Your words warmed my heart immensely.

I used Random.org to choose a number, counted down to the corresponding post, and the winner of the giveaway is…

Quilly!

I’ll be contacting you shortly! Congratulations!

Ultra-super-busy

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“Wings as Eagles” by Ron Hamilton.

Leaning on this promise today:

Isaiah 40:

28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

What’s On Your Nightstand: July

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What's On Your Nightstand
 The folks at 5 Minutes For Books host What’s On Your Nightstand? the fourth Tuesday of each month in which we can share about the books we have been reading and/or plan to read. You can learn more about it by clicking the link or the button.

I only reviewed two of these earlier this month, so I’ll say a little more about the rest here than I usually do. I read more non-fiction than fiction this past month — highly unusual for me!!

I finished reading Thread of Deceit by Catherine Palmer. It’s edgier than most of her books. It’s about a man who runs an inner-city activities center, a reporter sent to the center to do a story on lead paint in old buildings, a young girl who comes to the center every day but who will talk to no one, and the “thread of deceit” the man and woman follow to find out the girl’s story.

I completed Take One and This Side of Heaven by Karen Kingsbury, reviewed here.

I also finished Hannah’s Hope: A Journey of Faith by Hope Houchins about a teen-age girl in our state, Hannah Sobeski, who fought a six-month long battle with cancer. The book is primarily made up of the Caring Bridge daily updates with a little background information here and there provided by Hannah’s aunt. It was heart-breaking to want to pull for Hannah throughout the book while knowing the end of the story, but the journey of faith that Hannah and her family and friends went through was probing and thought-provoking. I don’t remember how the story came to public awareness, but I do remember the signs on businesses requesting prayer for her and the news stories that did not shy away from or dim the faith expressed by the family.

My future daughter-in-law gave me a Bible study book titled A Life Surrendered by June Kimmel for Mother’s Day. It sat on my desk for several weeks until one day I just picked it up and started through it — and it was definitely the right thing at the right time for me. It’s a study of surrender through the life of Christ. Very convicting.

Another finished book is Becoming God’s True Woman edited by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. I agreed to review this book because I wanted to read something by DeMoss — I had heard much about her from people I respected. It turns out she didn’t write this book, but she compiled it from several messages by women from a conference for women. Nevertheless a couple of the messages were hers, and they were excellent: very well-written and meaty, filled with the Word. I will have more to say about this book later: I’m still digesting it. I definitely want to read more from DeMoss.

I read Organizing Your Craft Space and almost finished Where Women Create, both by Jo Packham. I don’t usually read this type of book through — I tend to leave them out and browse through them a few minutes here and there. But I read all of the first one except a couple of chapters of craft organization that don’t pertain to me (beads and mosaics). In the first one Jo deals with just about every consideration that could possibly apply to organizing crafting areas. I don’t agree with the brief mentions of feng shui — I don’t believe in “energy” in a room, and most of the recommendations I’ve read from that viewpoint are common sense (for example. placing a desk so it faces the door helps you not to have to crane your neck every time someone enters.) The second book shows the studios or crafting areas of different artist and designers. I enjoyed the different styles, personalities, and tips.

I’m almost finished rereading To The Golden Shore by Courtney Anderson about America’s first missionary, Adoniram Judson. Tremendous, tremendous book. I’m planning to review it soon.

I’ve also started Sometimes a Light Surprises by Jamie Langston Turner about a man whose wife died twenty years earlier in an unsolved murder who, a few weeks before she died, spoke of a “conversion” experience, which he resented. Now the daughter of the woman instrumental in his wife’s conversion applies for a job at his place of business. Turner’s books tend to be, as Bet put it so succinctly once, more character driven than plot driven. So far most of the story has taken place in four characters’ thoughts with not a lot of conversation or action — but where she takes her characters is always interesting. I like how most of her main characters are “outside looking in” to Christianity — we don’t always think about how we come across to people.

I’ve also been reading the daily excerpts from Daily Light on the Daily Path and Our Daily Walk devotional by F. B. Meyer as well as reading through I Thessalonians several times in my effort to slow down and delve into the epistles rather than speeding through them. I just started II Thessalonians this week.

Plans for the next month are to finish Sometimes a Light Surprises, to read Take Two, the next in the Above the Line series by Karen Kingsbury. I would really like to read How To Read Slowly by James W. Sire. I am thinking (hoping) it will help me retain more of what I read from non-fiction books. After that I’m not sure. I have a whole stack of books to read and a long trip to and from a wedding this month, so I am planning to take several!

(And Ann, thanks to this post of yours, I removed the adjective “amazing” from one of my descriptions. 🙂 )