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Paul had faith. While under house arrest, he continued to joy in the Lord. He never forgot that Phillipi was the headquarters of the Roman government.  Sue Edwards writes that one of his prayers is simply "beautiful." It is found in Philippians 1:1-11. I think of my life. I spend more time in my house than outside due to a lack of time or not priortizing my time correctly. I am working on making myself take more walks. I want to enjoy the season of winter and the other three seasons. Unfortunately, Paul could not priortize his goals freely. However, he did take control of his mind and use it for God's purposes. He stayed inside this jail and joyfully communed with God in prayer and wrote letters to his friends. Paul's attitude makes me want to not complain and cry over trials as they enter my life. I pray that God will help me use the Spirit of joy He has freely given me. I am reminded of a scripture about joy. Although I have not read it in years, it still comes

I have been excited to read and study Philippians. My interest became peaked while reading the life of Lydia, the seller of purple. How fascinating to learn so much about the color purple. In Bible times only the rich and elite could wear the color purple. In one of the quote on the side of page, I learned that Lydia was not married. Therefore, it is believed she was a widow. I wondered how the author or writer of the quote came to this conclusion. Perhaps, it was impossible during these times for a single woman to own property or to have a business. Could she have gotten her property from a deceased relative? It proves I don't have knowledge about the day to day lives of Biblical characters.I would like to read a book about the daily life of men and women during these times. thepentecostalmissionbelieversblogspot.com

More than once I've tried to read an article or a book about the loss of a Black child whether boy or girl. Since I love reading novels written by Victoria Christopher Murray, I knew her book, "Stand Your Ground" could take me to the hard places I didn't want to go. I've never lost a child. Well, one time I had a miscarriage very early. That type of loss, I suppose, is very different from one compared to what parents experience when losing a child due to injustice or a drive by shooting or any number of ways we are familiar with today. Yes, as I think about it. Death comes in many forms and tries our hearts in different and unique ways. I am writing this just to say the novel is painful. Just enough so that I can feel a little bit of what the character, the mother, Jan, is feeling. I especially identified with her memories of her son as a three year old looking at planes with his dad, Tyrone. I'm still reading the novel. Don't want to rush it. Just

This is an anthology of stories written by different Lebanese authors. As no surprise, these war stories were, at times, painful to read. However, some stories were poetic. There is the mention of numbers, the soul, dolls and numbers. Beirut is also seen as a "companion of death" and as the "city that dances on its wounds." Although those descriptions made me fall back and regroup, I did not want to add the city of Beirut to my bucket list as a place to see. I only became excited about the city after reading about the lives of the characters. Their lives made me want to look at the photos and bios of the authors at the back of the book. I wondered did their faces in some way match the character in the story? I wanted to read why they had chosen the plot. Was it a true incident they had experienced, or was it one the author had heard from a friend? I did learn that Alawiya Sobh had a deep interest in issues that women faced. Hyam Yared's interest is that no

New Year's Day is near. A time to have hope again. A new year to pray.

"The bundled-up Lydia was out on this cold, sunny Saturday morning because she needed a tree, and she wanted to have it home by the time her mother returned from volunteering at the church later today...The field surrounding the short pine was as pristine as if the Good Lord had laid down a blanket....." beverlyjenkins.net

   There are many non-fiction prayer books written and published. "Called to Pray" by Linda Evans Shepherd is one of the special ones. This book is extremely inspiring. In each chapter are personal experiences about someone in some sort of struggle. For example, there is a coughing and choking incident, a weather catastrophe, money problems, wedding problems and accidents. In these stories, there is a person who has this strong urge to pray for the one in trouble. It is like God or God's Holy Spirit personally taps them on the shoulder and says "pray now!" I liked these personal examples. I also liked the petitions at the end of the chapters. The prayers seem like ones I have needed in the past or might need in the future. The prayers are short. Although not lengthy, these prayers are also examples of praises to God, and they also point to our weaknesses, places in our lives that still need pruning. In one prayer, the person asks for God to use them in th