Book Review: Stained Glass Hearts by Patsy Clairmont

Stained Glass Hearts by Patsy Clairmont
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The book is about how God makes the broken pieces of our lives into something we can use to change us. We are broken people, but we need God's perspective on what He's doing and how He's working in our lives.

Patsy encourages us to focus on gratitude to God for where we are and what He has given us, looking for God in our circumstances, and thinking Biblical thoughts. She shares personal stories of troubling seasons in her life and how God gave her His perspective through them.
Although Patsy is quite a humorous speaker, this book did not use humor as you might expect from her, except for one chapter where she talks about aging. I enjoyed that one the most because that's the Patsy I am familiar with. Beyond the humor, though, Patsy does have a way with words and describing beauty around her. You can tell she loves words and puts them well to use.

As for the spiritual impact of the book, I was left feeling like something was missing. It doesn't delve deeply into spiritual truths as much as I would like, and I probably won't remember much from the book in days to come. It was a bit on the "fluffy" side, in my opinion. I also don't go in for "self-esteem talk", which was mentioned a couple times.

I probably would not recommend this book to a friend, simply because I believe there are better resources available for women who need encouragement in their spiritual growth.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

• Subscribe to my blog by Email or Feed Reader
• Follow me on Twitter

Book Review: Water's Edge by Robert Whitlow

Water's Edge by Robert Whitlow

Rating: 5 stars

Attorney Tom Crane travels to his small hometown in Georgia to close down his deceased father's law practice. In the process of working to get his father's clients hooked up with other attorneys who can take their cases, he finds a large sum of money in a secret bank account and must investigate who the money belongs to. He runs into unexpected trouble, and what he believed would be a simple task, lands him in a web of mystery and uncertainty over who he can trust.

I loved this book. I think it took off a little slow, but once it got going I was glued to the pages. If you enjoy legal thrillers, you will enjoy this book. There were some exciting twists and turns at the end.

What I really loved about the story was that it was written from a Biblical worldview, meaning the characters who were believers in Christ worked to handle their problems in relation to their faith. This is exactly what I am looking for in a Christian novel.

The main character, who didn't have faith, was challenged to seek God by other characters in the story. The Christian characters were concerned with prayer and church attendance and actually had meaningful relationships with the Lord. These are elements that are missing far too often in Christian fiction as well, and I am thrilled that Robert Whitlow included these in this book. I will read more of his work because of it.

Ready to read it? Download Water's Edge to your Kindle right now!

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

• Subscribe to my blog by Email or Feed Reader
• Follow me on Twitter

Church Camp Adventures 2011

I've been home from camp for seven days, and I don't think I'm quite back into a routine. Of course, summer changes my routine anyway.

One thing that's been wonderful this week is the weather. Nothing but sun and pleasant temps. Wish we could've had two weeks at camp just like this, but for whatever reason God didn't see fit to give it to us. We still had a good time, in spite of the rain and several days of cool temps.

So let's talk about camp a little. I woke up with a stuffy nose the first day we were heading out. I have frequently been sniffly in the mornings but not stuffy. Thinking the congestion would just clear up as the day wore on, I didn't worry much about it. I popped a Claritin and went on with my day. Only it didn't just go away. It made me miserable. And I was staying in a cabin among a lot of trees and grass and growing things that... you know... create pollen.

I woke up in the middle of that first night with my sinuses miserably congested and couldn't breathe. That warranted a trip up to Walmart first thing Wednesday morning before the kids even were up. Thank goodness that the state park is only about 25 minutes from the Walmart. I grabbed a couple packages of sinus meds and some throat drops and headed back to camp. Let's just say I sneezed a lot and used up almost an entire box of Kleenex all by myself over the next five days.

I just want you to know that although I never would've anticipated having an allergy issue during camp, God's grace carried me through it. It's not what I would've chosen for myself, but I managed and still had fun in spite of the discomfort.

So what do you want to hear about next? The volleyball games, the snake, or the nicknames the kids gave me?

• Subscribe to my blog by Email or in a Feed Reader
• Follow me on Twitter

Busy Busy!

Hello. I'll bet you've been wondering where I have been. Or not... and that's okay.

I haven't been doing any book reviews of late. I needed to back away from any review commitments because I'm going to help at our church camp for two weeks in June.

Otherwise, I haven't written anything else simply because I haven't felt inspired. I guess this is a dry writing spell.

On the flip side of that, though, I started a prayer journal in January, and I have been keeping up with journaling almost every day. You might say I was challenged after reading A Praying Life by Paul E. Miller and also reading Jim Elliot's biography The Shadow of the Almighty. My desire to journal over spiritual things got kicked into high gear.

So as I mentioned, these next two weeks are going to be full and challenging. Next week I leave for teen camp, in which I will strive to keep up with a handful of teenagers (and their fearless leader) for 4 days.

Thank goodness, the girls get to stay in a cabin. With a toilet. And beds. What we're all praying for is that we get to keep our power this year, otherwise that toilet will only be a pipe dream. Last year we lost power during both weeks of camp. None of us camp veterans want a repeat of that.

Then I'll return on Saturday to do laundry, go to church, repack my things, and turn around to do it all again with the junior campers. They cut that week down by a day. I'm still not certain whether they do that for the young campers or for the adults.

But lest I forget to tell you... before all the camp fun begins I will be attending my 20-year high school reunion this Saturday. Did I just say 20 years?!? How did I grow old enough to even get here? I've been reading on Facebook of late about some of my classmates having children graduating from high school this year. One gal's daughter is going to make her a grandmother very soon. Yipes!!! How did this happen?

So wow! A lot happening around here, for sure. Hopefully I'll get a chance to fill you in on all the details later. Whenever that is.

• Subscribe to my blog by Email or in a Feed Reader
• Follow me on Twitter

Book Review: Leaving by Karen Kingsbury

Leaving by Karen Kingsbury
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Bailey Flanigan has dreams of performing on Broadway, so she is thrilled when she is given an opportunity to audition for her favorite show Hairspray. At the same time she's nursing a broken heart because her family friend-turned-boyfriend, Cody Coleman, walked out of her life without explanation. She still misses him after months of no phone calls or texts, but at the encouragement of her mother she tries to move on.

The characters in this story are connected to the Baxter Family series, none of which I've read. As I started into the book it was a little hard to discern who belonged to whom, and it seemed like there were so many characters to keep track of. After a few chapters it started falling together for me, and it wasn't a problem.

I liked the characters Bailey and Cody. I felt like they had depth and were relatable. I felt drawn into Bailey's life, particularly, and was left at the end of the book wanting to find out what happens next.

The one thing I especially appreciate about Kingsbury's writing is that she includes characters who have a genuine relationship with God, and they have regular conversations with Him when they face adversity and in their decision making. I wish more Christian writers would include this element in their books.

I have enjoyed a few of Karen Kingsbury's other books more than this one. Unlocked is by far my favorite of the few I have read. Having invested time into this story and getting caught up in Bailey's character, I will probably have to read the next in the series to find out what's next for Bailey, as well as a few of the other characters.

If you're a fan of Karen Kingsbury, I'm sure you will enjoy the book.

I would like to thank Zondervan for providing me with a free copy of the book for review. I was not required to write a favorable review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

• Subscribe to my blog by Email or Feed Reader
• Follow me on Twitter