N/A

My family is such a wonderful part of my life, the best part of my life. It just makes my heart wiggle to think that God planned my unique family especially for me long ago. I remember one day my teen-age son who is now a man drew me a rose. I didn't know he could draw so well. The rose was sketched with a charcoal pencil. It wasn't colored in so I was able to see each petal. I felt so proud. No, he didn't choose to become an artist, but it's never too late. His life is just beginning. He's a young man with a vision of spreading the Gospel.  Thinking of my family and this son in particular this morning makes me want to Praise The Lord loudly with a grateful heart. It bereaves my heart that I haven't said thank you and sung praises about my family more in the past. I know it's never too late. Today is a new beginning. (Proverbs 2:12-13)

This morning I read a verse in Deuteronomy. It is about the importance of keeping God's word in our hearts and minds (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). I also thought about jewelry. At different times in my life, family have given me religious jewelry. First, I remember receiving a sterling silver Ten Commandment bracelet. On each charm shaped like a tiny tablet was a commandment. All ten of the commandments were on the bracelet. Then, I remember a necklace that belonged to my mother. From the chain hung of the necklace hung a tiny glass ball trimmed in gold. Inside the the glass ball was a mustard seed. I also once owned a pretty cross with a tiny magnifying glass in the center. When you squinted your eye and looked inside you could read The Lord's Prayer. Then, a few years ago my husband gave me a gold cross. Jesus' body is there on the cross as He was being crucified. All of these pieces of jewelry came to mind while reading Deuteronomy this morning. However, the better way to

http://www.truebookaddict.com/ Cats in Art Pablo Picasso

lanyard A cord designed to hold something around the neck, usually with a clip at the end on which to fasten the object. Used for easy exposure and/or quick access to an ID badge, keys, etc. urbandictionary.com " She didn't look up at Ned. Instead, she began stuffing the name card into the lanyard a little bit faster for a few seconds, trying to gather the courage to say what she really wanted to say." http://bermudaonion.wordpress.com

Sometimes life can seem exhausting. There is physical exhaustion, but there is also emotional exhaustion. Every moment our mind is doing some sort of mental exercise. Sometimes these exercises are automatic like lifting our arm to put a glass in the cabinet or bending down to pick up a magazine. Still, the brain is working. Then, there are the chores that aren't done on a daily basis like driving down an icy road in the winter or painting a kitchen wall. All of these activities take concentration whether done everyday or every six months.  All of these activities tax the mind. Sometimes it's necessary to sew a button on again. The first one might have been sewn on too loosely. If we make a mistake while working on a project, we use more brain power. This can cause fatigue and even crankiness. To avoid crankiness, these routine or not so routine chores need to be taken before God's Throne in prayer. God doesn't time our prayers. I believe He hears quickie prayers

http://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com "A task-force investigation is like a fast moving train. Divert it onto the wrong track and it'll derail. At some point, somewhere, it'll slam into a wall or plunge down a hill, and when it goes, it'll take a lot of people with it. It's just a matter of time."

I had so much fun in the Den of Antiquity. This is an antique store in Charleston, South Carolina. It's owned Abby Timberlake. Throughout The Ming and I by Tamar Myers , Abby or her friends Rob and Bob who also own an antique store name fine antiques. I couldn't resist looking up the Ming vase. I Found one that sold for a cool 1.3 million dollars in real life. When not thinking about the different antiques and wanting desperately to go window shopping down some antique row, I had to figure out who murdered Joan Troyan, a woman visiting Abby's antique shop. Sadly, Joan is standing in line with a Ming vase when a car shoots through the display window of the shop and kills her. What an awful way to die, I did think about how many other shoppers might have gotten killed by that car including Abby. Anyway, this is the beginning of a mystery that snakes its way through the streets of Charlotte and all the way back to Roselawn Plantation. Since I am a child or ancestor of pas

Many years ago God took my mother home to Glory. Still, her words ring in my ears. At one point in my childhood, I was plagued with nightmares. I might have been eight or nine years old. One particular day after a sleepless night my mother told me, "whenever one of those boogie-man dreams makes you want to run under the bed, call me I will come. Also, repeat the Bible verses I taught you. Remember Psalm 23?." I would repeat those verses during a church recital in Baltimore while visiting my aunt and uncle. For my effort, I won a brand new Bible. The Bible was all white and the page  were edged  in bright gold. I felt so happy. Now I think of Psalm 23 as one of God's rescue verses. All I have to do is read or repeat the first verse of Psalm 23, immediately I am taken to a place of hope and safety. I am rescued. I am fond of the family memories surrounding  this verse. I am also a lover of sheep. This Psalm helps me see Jesus as The Divine Shepherd . I have never seen

In Mercy's Rain by Cindy K. Sproles, the main character is Mercy Roller. She lives in the Appalachian mountains. It's the Nineteenth Century. Mercy's father is a pastor. There is her mother and her best friend, Maddie. The mountains change with the beauty of the seasons. This is all of the beauty seen by Mercy. Her life is difficult, deplorable and desolate. All of the ugliness in Mercy's life is caused by the Pastor. The Pastor's deeds are almost unbelievable. He not only piles abuse on his family. He also abuses the surrounding community. He kills Stanley during a baptism. Stanley has Polio. I found myself saying more than once under my breath "Lord, have mercy." When Pastor is around, that is all you can hope for is mercy. Not a day goes by when Mercy doesn't hear her name spoken by someone. There is a roaring river that goes along the mountain.The river seemed to call for "Mercy" too. There is one question that Mercy must have asked he

It is nearing the Easter season. This morning I thought about the way Jesus chose to arrive in Jerusalem. He didn't choose a beautiful black Stallion. He didn't choose a handsome Arabian horse. He chose to ride a donkey into Jerusalem. When thinking about animals, I rarely give a thought to donkeys. Therefore, I don't know anything about donkeys. This morning, instead of a donkey, my mind pictured a goat. I suppose because of the Fairy tale, Billy Goat Gruff. Then, I thought of goat milk and goat cheese. A donkey? Well, a donkey does have a few good character traits: A donkey is small. A donkey can show as many feelings as a collie or another type of dog. A donkey is also assertive. Plus, a donkey will allow children to ride him. When I read these traits, I understood a little better why Jesus chose the donkey for his celebratory entrance into Jerusalem. This morning I wanted to think of the size of the donkey. Because a donkey is small, I think Jesus wanted to show

Hello!  Welcome to It’s Monday What Are You Reading?  The meme that we use to share what we read this past week and what our plans are for the upcoming week.  It’s a great way to see what others are reading and add to your own To Be Read list. :D  You never know where that next great read may come from! http://bookjourney.net This meme does help me to stay organized. So, here I am again. I can write enough about Mercy's Rain. It's a great novel. It's by Cindy K. Sproles. The setting is Appalachia. I've had Quest For The Nail Prints by Don Furr for a while. It's really good too. Have read about three quarters. Have forgotten most of it. So, I'm starting from the beginning. Another book is A Glorious Dark by Swoboda.

Raine and Gage share a beautiful relationship. This Christian romance is so uplifting. Both of the characters  are struggling with trials in their lives. Gage is fighting with war memories. Raine is struggling with overcoming loneliness after losing both of her adoptive parents. She has no other family. Plus, she has only one friend, her best friend who has moved to Arizona. Raine's loneliness is about to drive her over the edge. Gage arrives in her life just in time. Along with Gage will come a big family of brothers and sisters who want the best for him. The novella is inspirational. There are scriptures to hold any person rock steady in whatever struggle they are facing while reading the book. The relationship between these two people is sweet and romantic. There is also quite a bit to learn about Veterans who come back from Afghanistan and/or Iraq. Their lives are far from easy. Thank goodness for places like Hope House. Live a Little by Rhonda McKnight is filled with hope

"Alice sat at her desk in their bedroom distracted by the sounds of John racing through each of the rooms on the first floor. She needed to finish her peer review of a paper submitted to the Journal of Cognitive Psychology before her flight, and she'd just read the same sentence three times without comprehending it." http://rosecityreader.blogspot.com

"Okay, I'm going to tell you a name and address, and you're going to repeat it back to me. Then, we're going to do some other things, and I'm going to ask you to repeat the same name and address again later. Ready, here it is--John Black, 42 West Street, Brighton. Can you repeat that for me?" http://fredasvoice.blogspot.com

"Next to the window was her writing table, an antique Queen Anne style desk that she and her mother won at an auction. This little nook was where Raine read, relaxed, dreamed, and where she penned those dreams in her journal."

http://shouldbereading.blogspot.com "The Observer had carried a rather graphic description of the incident, and a number of folks wanted to know the exact spot where June's body had come to rest. I had, of course, removed the Louis XIV chair that June had inadvertently dismantled, but the rest of the display remained the same--that is until I discovered that the items in the immediate vicinity sold like hotcakes. Thanks to a ghoulish public and my own lack of good taste, I spent the bulk of the day hauling merchandise over to the window display area. The rest of my day was spent at the cash register."

http://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com Brother Robber Helene Christaller The hut hung like a swallow's nest on the southern slope of the Apennines. Built of the same stone as the rock on which it stood, it appeared a part of nature, not a work of man. A small window opening was stopped with straw to keep out the cold wind that blew over the mountains." 

I am keeping up with this series. I love the main character, Eugeena Patterson. In this cozy, many themes are covered: Alzheimer's disease, elder abuse, interracial dating, racism and there are big, fat secrets. All of these issues revolve around the Hillcrest Manor Nursing Home. This is where Eugeena spends a great deal of time visiting her first white friend, Louise who through the years has become her best friend. Soon Louise's life will change quite a bit. Her son, William is murdered and she meets a daughter, Clarice, and a granddaughter, Roscelyn for the first time. As if one murder were not enough to deal with in her life, Louise also deals with the loss of her favorite nurse, Pat. Eugeena does a wonderful job at playing the Snooping sleuth. It is Eugeena who constantly supports Louise through the hard times in the hospital. While doing difficult detective work, Eugeena dates Amos, her next door neighbor. I can't wait to see how this relationship

I didn't realize that a corpse in a cozy was a criteria for me. I spent quite a bit of time waiting for Mary Alice, a dear and wealthy friend, of Thea's to die from her hit over the head. She didn't die. She remained in the hospital. Then, she recovered and was able to return home. I'm still puzzling over why the author didn't kill her off. It would have made a good mystery. Daughter and grandnephew or grandson are in the bedroom when she is whacked over the head. Sometimes Kenneth is the great nephew than he becomes the grandson. I decided to just call him Mary Alice's relative. The townspeople know all about Larkin's Treasure. It's a well told legend. It's a Crazy Quilt. Somewhere on this quilt are embellishments or maybe a map or letter stuffed inside its creases. These are the instructions to where to find the gold. It's hard to think of the treasure because Thea, owner of the Antique Emporium is having a very hard time planning the qu

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood opened my eyes to the wonders of Mythology. I now know Penelope's story and her Cousin Helen's story along with the tales about Odysseus and Telemachus, the son of Penelope and Odysseus. In everyday language, Margaret Atwood took me back to the romance and capture of Helen, to the long days and nights spent by Penelope as she waited for Odysseus return from afar after years and years had passed. It's like reading the Journal of Penelope. I could see and understand her feelings of envy over Helen's flirtatious, wild beauty. I hope to read Oryx and Crake. I've been in a Margaret Atwood mood for a few weeks now.