I cherish the friends I have made through blogging, and one of them is Karen. I don't even remember now how I stumbled upon her original blog, but what cemented my draw to her was that she grieved the loss of her little one {you know how tender my heart is toward infant loss}...whose name was Rebekah Joy - just like mine. Karen has a new blog now, and we've remained friends over these years....and this past week, she shared her heart about her loss of her Rebekah Joy. I wanted you to meet this little baby whose life is precious and who shares my name.
Two.
Maybe not all of you are writers, but even if you're not, I have a feeling you can find something that makes sense in your heart from this post by Emily Freeman. Because sometimes the prospect of doing something that will dig up your heart is just plain scary.
Three.
I stumbled upon this article this week by fiction writer Cynthia Ruchti. I realize probably most of you who read are not authors, but if you are - or if you ever have a chance to do a radio interview at all - READ THIS!!! She nailed every important thing I think anyone needs to know regarding giving a good interview. Former producer, standing to applaud.
Four.
Since it appears God must want us to stay in our humble home for the time being, I'm always on the lookout for things to make it a little more streamlined. Recent dream? Have a real guest room. For the first two years of our marriage, there was only one bed in our whole home, and it was ours. Last year, as you might remember, we bought our couch we love so much...Mo...and it pops up into a queen size bed, giving us a place to put two more people. That's come in handy this year with visitors! But I still dream of making one of our bedrooms int a guest room. Problem: it's so small, even a double bed would take up WAY too much of the space, especially considering for the bulk of the time, we would not be using the bed. Enter THIS gem from IKEA...which I think would solve every problem. Extra seating when not needed for a bed, but provides a bed for one or two: YES PLEASE. I shall now start saving my pennies.
Five.
Maybe you saw this post already, but if not, and if you have an area of your life where Satan seems to have you locked up...read this. Beth is talking specifically to those praying to be released from food-related strongholds, but the prayers written within here can fly across the board to so many things. I have a feeling I'll need to refer to this one frequently.
Six.
I am hooked on small town life these days. I don't know why; I'm sure it's a phase that will pass. But since I don't live in the small town Mayberry atmosphere, I sure do love it when I have the chance to read about life in such a place, and my latest read, Murder at the Courthouse by A.H. Gabhart satisfied my thirst for another spin through small town USA.
A.H. Gabhart is Ann Gabhart, and her name was familiar to me from my days at the station, but I'd not read her books before. She sure pulled me in with this one! Here's what I liked about it: it had enough whodunnit in it to satisfy my inner Criminal Minds loving self, but the story wasn't presented in such a scary way that I jumped a mile every time the house creaked while I read. It had enough small town in it to make me diagnose the characters in the vein of the Andy Griffith show...clear down to a Barney and an Emma Brand...but the town wasn't so hokey that it annoyed me. And it had just the perfect touch of romance. Not heavy, but not missing.
The book is set in Hidden Springs, Kentucky, population 732...or it had been until the morning Miss Willadean Dearmon found a body murdered on the courthouse steps, smack in the middle of town. How in the world a complete stranger ended up dead in the middle of town in broad daylight was befuddling at best, but that was the exact situation Deputy Sheriff Michael Keane found himself in after Miss Willadean marched into his office to file a complaint about the man on the courthouse steps.
Michael works his way through the town, from the trouble-making teen to the nosy newspaper reporter to the barber who knows everything about everyone, and even down the memory lane of his own past...or as much of it as he can remember, after an accident when he was a teenager left him with gaping holes in his mental history. The dots are there...he just has to figure out how to connect them and put this small town back in a peaceful state of mind again.
I learned at the end, that there will be a book two in this Hidden Springs Mystery Series, and I'm excited. I love this little town and think I would love living there, even if the only house for sale was next to the busybody Miss Willadean!
This is a fun read with an exciting amount of suspense and some awfully lovable townsfolk.
* Special thanks to Revell for sending a book my way in exchange for a review. Opinions are my own! *
4 comments:
IKEA has the solution for everything!!
<3 U! Thank you for reaching out to me...I love that you share her name, too. And I have loved following your life as you prayed for (and I did, too) your husband and God answered in a way more perfect than anything anyone could have imagined! He never ceases to amaze me. And when two have a common love for the Lord, their hearts are already knitted together. Your heart is knitted in mine:).
Tamar - I know!!
Karen - You put tears in my eyes!! Thanks for your sweet words - AND your Rebekah Joy!
Thank you for sharing about Rebekah Joy. Reading Karen's story made me cry. I truly cannot imagine how painful losing a baby must be and it has happened to more people than I know.
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