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Something Old, SOMETHING NEW by BEVERLY JENKINS In Henry Adams, Kansas, there is drama after drama taking place. The scoop of all the dramas is Lily and Trent's wedding. Their romance is so wonderful. I especially loved Trent's playing the flute for ten nights. This happened every night until the night before the wedding. Along with the planning of this wedding between two people who love one another deeply, I met the rest of the town. There are many children and young people in the novel. Lily's boy is named Devon. Trent's boy is named Amari. These two boys aren't the biological children of the couple. No matter, they are exciting characters. Whether you're a biological child or not is one of the great points in the novel. This is explained by Beverly Jenkins at the end of the novel. She has a very deep interest in Foster children. She tells her personal experience at the end of the book. People always say truth is

A Lancaster County Christmas by Suzanne Woods Fisher

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" As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she noticed the pattern of the quilt on the bed....In the murky light, the star looked jagged and broken as if it had fallen from the sky and shattered."

Shiny Green Shoes by Dana Taylor

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This inspiring Christian novella begins in New Orleans. It is 1958. Mazie McDonald, a black woman, is an actress. Mazie remembers her past well. She flashes back to Luther, Oklahoma in 1935. Her life in Oklahoma was hard. Didn't seem like dreams were meant for a little colored girl. Mazie just survived each day with her mother and six siblings. "Being Mazie McDonald--big, black and boldly beautiful isn't easy. I lean back on the comfy cushions and conjure the other Mazie, the hidden Mazie that only a few can see." In Luther, Oklahoma there is a large Victorian house. Peach Knight, an old white woman,  lives in this house. Children think Peach Knight is a witch. Imagination can run wild about other people with untold stories. " She ate small children, finding skinny colored girls especially to her liking." Really, Peach Knight is just a forlorn, forgotten woman. She is an actress who lives in the past with Shakespeare's words and characters.

The First Gardener A Novel by Denise Hildreth Jones

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This is a novel packed with the deepest emotions  experienced by any human heart. Almost the entire story takes place in the Governor's mansion in Tennessee. Gray London is the governor. His wife is Mackenzie London. There is their daughter, Maddie, who is just beginning kindergarten. Along with these characters are Eugenia, the mother in law and Jeremiah, the gardener. Each person in this circle are giving people until the unexpected happens in their lives. This one event will reshape their lives for better or worse. The novel is so powerful that I shared it with my husband. Denise Hildreth Jones' Jeremiah is so special especially when he is playing with Maddie, or thinking about Mackenzie. Jeremiah knows The Lord well. However, he doesn't preach. He allows his flowers to speak through him. He knows the meaning of almost every flower or bulb: the amarillys, an orchid, lily, rose, etc. " I been thinkin' a lot these days 'bout my ol' daddy. He th

Amish Values for Your Family by Suzanne Woods Fisher

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Guest blog from Suzanne Woods Fisher for “Amish Values for Your Family” (Revell) Five Things I’ve Learned from the Amish that Have Nothing to Do with being Amish and Have Everything to Do with being a Christian: Being Amish is not a lifestyle. Life among the Amish has to do with faith. Faith can’t be squeezed to an hour or two on Sunday morning; it infuses their entire life like a teabag in hot water. What they do and how they do it is rooted in the spiritual question: What is pleasing to God? Amish proverb: “Letting go of earthly possessions enables us to take hold of heavenly treasures.” The Lesson: To pray about my day’s activities and offer them to God, first, for His purposes. And then trusting interruptions (seeing a friend in the grocery store, for example) or de-railings (those days when everything goes wrong!) to be God-managed. Cherish your family. A family that works together, grows together. Amish families spend a lot of time together

When Lightning Strikes: One Man's Journey to Heaven and Back by Kay and Bobby Brunson

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createspace I have always been skeptical about out of body experiences or near death experiences. After reading "When Lightning Strikes: One Man's Journey to Heaven and Back" by Kay and Bobby Brunson , I changed my mind. The memoir is mind boggling and mind changing in its scope. When Bobby Brunson decides to put his daughter's yellow bicycle under shelter from the rain, his whole life changes. He is struck by lightning. His shoes are pulled from his feet. A long Z shape is left on his chest, and he dies for twenty-eight minutes.  When Bobby Brunson is able he shares his out of body memories with family, friends, nurses and doctors. Bobby Brunson in those few minutes had a glimpse of Heaven. He shared a conversation with his father who is dead but alive in Heaven. He saw Jesus , He also warns people that life is short, much shorter than we think. "We think we have a lot of time but we don't!"  His zeal to get this message across to people is what mo

TRANSFORMING Prayer by DANIEL HENDERSON

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When I think of prayer, the song Sweet Hour of Prayer comes to mind. I have always thought of prayer as an Art. To succeed I must take time to learn the proper attitude, etc.  I would like to hear the words more often The Art of Praying. As DANIEL HENDERSON writes in TRANSFORMING PRAYER, prayer isn't just a "list" of bless hers, bless hims, help that family, make me stronger, please help me pay that bill and so on. Prayer allows us the chance to have an intimate relationship with God. I learned in the book God really does love talking to us through His Word. He also loves hearing us talk to Him. Sweet prayer is the extraordinary experience of friendship between Our Lord and ourselves. I think the book is magnificently written. It is full of scripture verses. These always help me. Seeing the verses makes me note a passage and get my Bible. I'm not very quick at pulling out a Bible. In one passage I think Daniel Henderson described me well. He writes ab