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Suddenly I Realized

April 16, 2023 By Annette1 8 Comments

“Suddenly I realized there must be some mistake.” This line has been running through my head all day as I’ve pondered what to do with the word prompt Realize. That song by George Strait has the following chorus:

And he said, “Let me tell you a secret about a father’s love
A secret that my daddy said was just between us”
He said, “Daddies don’t just love their children every now and then
It’s a love without end, amen, it’s a love without end, amen”

And perhaps with this chorus I have my idea running for what to write on?

Suddenly I realized

Suddenly I realized
there must be some mistake.
Could it be possible
that God truly loves me?
It can’t really be true.

I know the things
I have done and the things
thought and seriously contemplated.
The struggles of life that
I freely took upon myself.

My awareness is such
that I know of choices
I made to NOT do something
when it would have been
obedient to act.

So to think that God
might still love knowing
all I know…
well, there must be some mistake.

And yet,
And yet, God tells me
something different.
Nothing can separate me
from the Love of Christ Jesus.

Consider that nothingness.
Not my feelings about myself
or my indecisions or
waverings in my faith.
God is the one who called me.
God is the one who died, rose, and
then saved me.
It is he who does the work
of holding me close to his heart.

All I need to do is…
live out that wavering
faith of mine in fear and
trembling before the
almighty love of God.

God’s Words

Romans 8:37-39

³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am Not My Own

April 7, 2023 By Annette1 12 Comments

I saw the word “own” as our word prompt of the day, and immediately a song popped into my head. I am not my own, I was bought for a price….

My thinking was that this might be a good thing to write on, but I’m not sure I’ll have time to finish before work calls, we’ll see how quickly I can speed through eh?

I am not my own

This week a question was asked
in a devotional I read
called 40 Habits of Faith
its one I reviewed a while back
but recently have decided to pay
it more attention.

ANYWAYS, this devotional asked this
question of me:
do I really want what God has given me?

Isn’t that a good question to ponder
on an Easter weekend?

Christ came,
He lived a life here on earth,
Exposing people to who
God is.
And then….
he died.
Showing ultimately who God
is and what God will do
for his people.

Do I really want what God has given me?

And you know what,
I really had to stop and think about that.
Sometimes,
just sometimes I say no.
I want the freedom that
other people have to just live
my life and not question my responses
to life circumstances.
Sometimes I just want to have
that apparent freedom.

And then,
then I remember,
whose I am and what
being
NOT my own really means
and I stop
I repent and say
God, I am so sorry that
sometimes I am so
blooming selfish that I forget,
I occasionally forget how you are
in indeed my reason for being
and that somehow I need to
let you be my expression of life.

Even in the temptations of life,
and how I need to stop and
question myself and my actions,
and do they show YOU in action,
I need you like I need water.

And God… you know what he does?
He forgives me and calls me back
into his arms (or occasionally hits me
on the head with a 2 x 4) and says
come on, let’s get on with it then.

This, is the God for whom
I am not my own.
He bought me long before
I was even born,
while I was just a thought
in his brain.
He died, and then rose
for a sinner such as me.
And so before him, I am awed.

God’s Word Reveals

Jeremiah 1:4-5

⁴Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁵“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Psalm 139:13-16

¹³For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
¹⁵My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

If curious about the devotional (which I am enjoying the second time through) check out my review.

I Feel Like I Need A Break

April 1, 2023 By Annette1 8 Comments

Well, here we are again at the end of the week. And since I feel like I need a break so I guess that fits well with this week’s theme eh? Miss Kate has offered the challenge of the word Break. Perhaps you might like to join us? Write for five minutes, and then offer encouragement to those who have gone on before. It’s a lovely community that you might find a nice home in. 🙂

I Feel Like I Need A Break

I Feel Like I Need A Break
or so I’d like to think
Wondering if I’m not careful
I might end up in the drink!

Balancing work and family,
and small businesses beside,
friends and faith,
fall to the way betide…

But I do need to question when
I Feel Like I Need A Break
if perhaps it just a sign
of change I need to make?

When I feel like I need a break
often it means that life
is tad bit unbalanced
causing stress and strife.

And mostly what I’m missing
is family time
and most importantly God and
Making neither part-time.

So When I find myself in need
of a break it’s a call
to get myself back on track
and not live in the squall

of discontent and self-centeredness
and remember whose I am
and who I am in relationship
with with all my friends and fam.

God speaks into this

Deuteronomy 31:8

“It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Philippians 4:9-10

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Hebrews 13:5-6

“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’

So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?'”

Swamped

March 29, 2023 By Annette1 2 Comments

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product for Swamped through News21AM. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated.

Title: Swamped
Author: Ken Wells with Hillary Wells
Publisher: Koehler Books
Pages: 240
Genre: Survival, Teen Survival,
Formats available: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback
Intended Audience: Teen, Young Adult
Reviewed For: New21AM

About the Authors

Ken Wells along with Hillary Wells put together Swamped, a book laden with survival challenges.

Ken Wells, the uncle of Hillary Wells, grew up as one of six boys in the Louisiana swamps were Dad was an alligator-hunter. Author of five novels about the Cajun Bayous, and a longtime writer of the The Wall Street Journal. His niece Hillary is a writer, comedian and a producer (working in Louisiana’s burgeoning film industry). She grew up in the bayous of South Louisiana and enjoys cooking gumbo.

About Swamped

Jack and Olivia are the main characters in Swamped, two teens coming from wildly different lives, who find themselves in a desperate need to survive.

Jack is a Louisiana homeboy and self-professed swamp rat. Olivia is a poised, attractive, prep school girl looking to enter Harvard.

As Jack and Olivia face down various dangers — alligators, insects, criminals, bad weather, and a swamp cat — adventure into an unlikely love story. This adventurous romantic adventures happens in the Great Atchafalaya. This is the largest river swamp in the U.S.A. (at 1.4 million acres), much of which remains a mystery, and not a great place to be lost.

Looking More Closely

Image being lost in a huge swamp surrounded by countless rivers and floating debris. Large predators surround you. Being a swamp, insects and vegetation of all sorts abound. Water, plants, and animals all threaten the survival of these two plane crash survivors. But… can they find their way out? In a swamp land so vast.. is survival possible? With humour and well created characters, Ken and Hillary walk us through the survival of Jack and Olivia. In the midst of their struggle, romance blossoms.

Over the course of 29 chapters we see Jack and Olivia grow in their understanding of each other. They learned each others strengths and determinations. Their mutual survival ended up not all being on Jack as the tour guide, but using Olivia’s abilities as well.

I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this read even though the sheer number of issues they had to deal with…. seemed a bit unbelievable at times.

I laughed, I cried out “OH NO!”, and felt relief when they survived the latest mishap. The authors met their goal of entertaining me well. Fantastic to learn a bit about the Great Atchafalaya swamp as well. Learning about real life places is always a good thing no?

So if you are at all interested in young adult romance, and learning abit about survival, cultural differences, and the Cajun lifestyle… check out Swamped. You will not regret it.

Who Follows the Story?

March 26, 2023 By Annette1 8 Comments

So last week there was the word story, and this week the word follow….. These words make sense to have in sequence. Therefore not being able to participate last week, I feel like I could easily combine the two! 🙂 My working title for this piece is Who Follows the Story?

Who follows the story?

Who follows the story
I have to ask
when tonight I’m reminded that
a good friend and I have
a much different taste in literature.

Who follows the story that
I might write
weaving words in
a loose poetic form
do they hear whose
story I tell?

Are the readers ones that
I might suspect they are,
female, in-faith-walkers,
and if not, who might they be?

If I like fantasy, murder
mysteries, and history,
might my readers enjoy the
same or focus on something different?

If the minor prophets
draw me in more, sometimes
deeper, than the New Testament
authors (excepting Peter)
what does that say about me?

On those author about pages
where we learn that one might
fish, read magazines about dogs,
and have twenty children…

What would followers want to
know about me? Beyond my love
of rabbits and books and my
devotion to kith and kin.

Because the authors I follow
I don’t concern myself with
their about me pages. 🙂
BUT God’s about me page…

It’s covered in 66 books
all contained within one cover
and reading his words
you discover his identity.

That I think is how I’d
like readers to learn about me
finding me in the story I write
as God shows up helping me
to point others to him…
and least that’s my hope! 🙂

So do you follow my story?
if you aren’t following my story
are you at least following HIS?

As whose Story do we read?

2 Timothy 3:16-17

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Peter 1:16-21

¹⁶For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. ¹⁷For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” ¹⁸we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. ¹⁹And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, ²⁰knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. ²¹For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

You Grow, Girl

March 22, 2023 By Annette1 2 Comments

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product for You Grow, Girl! through Raincoast Books. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated.

You Grow, girl! is a delightful picture book filled with plant-based affirmations for the younger ladies in your life. With colourful images, rhyming text, and cute expressions it’s sure to please. Want to learn more, let’s jump right in then!

The basic details for You Grow, Girl!

Title: You Grow, Girl!
Type: picture book
Author: Rose Rossner
Illustrator: Natalie Briscoe
Publisher: sourcebooks/wonderland
Pages: 40
Intended Audience: Age 3-7, Grade K-3
Formats available: Hardcover

About Rose Rossner

Rose Rossner has a son as well as a husky named Dino. She has written several children’s books over the years. You may recall that I reviewed another of her books a while back entitled All I want for Christmas is Ewe. She works with a variety of illustrators to bring her stories to life.

You Grow, Girl! is book for young ladies to encourage them to be all they can be. Using plant metaphors young ladies are encouraged to bloom where they’re planted. Encouraging words flood each page with rhyming lyrics to encourage the ease of reading.

Looking More Closely

Colourful plant based images fill the pages.

As the plants pop up on the page, words of encouragement grow right along with them.

Will young children catch all the references? For sure they won’t. They will catch the encouragement and love that fill the pages. And hopefully know that you, the gifter of such a book mean them as well.

You will discover rhyming lyrics. Sometimes the rhymes are obvious, running over a two page spread, and other times they just continue the story by turning the next page.

Natalie Briscoe does a fantastic job combining the seeds of encouragement with the budding plants. Her bright use of colour brings everything to life in a fun way.

Is this book just for kids? For certainly not…. it would be a fun book to give to a young adult starting out on their first job. A loved one who loves to work with plants and gardens. Or even to show a budding wordsmith and see if they can ferret out all the word puns.

It’s well worth checking out You grow, Girl! to encourage the young women in your life (or those budding wordsmiths who need a corny book to search though). Because honestly, in some ways it is corny. 🙂 But it’s a fun sort of corny to help loved ones smile.

All The Lost Places

March 18, 2023 By Annette1 2 Comments

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product All The Lost Places through Nuts about Books. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated.

Amanda Dykes presents to us a story of history interwoven in the present, and yet even the present has the depth of pastness woven in. Be drawn into the story of Daniel, Sebastian, and Massimo. Can there be a connection separating 100 years of history?

Learning the Details of All the Lost Places

Author: Amanda Dykes
Title: All the Lost Places
Publisher: Bethany House
Pages: 400
Intended Audience: young adult, adult
Formats Available: Kindle, Audiobook, Hardcover, Paperback
Reviewed For: Nuts About Books
Received: paperback copy
Genre: Christian Fiction, 20th Century Historical Romance, Historical Christian Romance, Christian Historical fiction.

About the Author

Amanda Dykes has written several books over the past few years. She writes from a faith-based perspective, and loves to drink tea. Her goal is inspire hope in her readers.

About the book

1807
A baby discovered in floating basket is raised by a guild of artisans in Venice. Raised in each of their trades, the boy Sebastien wonders about his origins, wanting to answer the question Who Am I? A stranded woman starts him on the path of answering that question. Getting the answer might affect not only his future, but also that of his beloved floating city of Venice.

1904
Daniel Goodman is a man haunted by his path, and looking for redemption. He’s given a fresh start in life as the century turns. His assignment takes him from California to Venice. His job: procure and translate a copy of a rare book, the book of Waters. With the help of Vittoria, a bookshop keeper, Daniel soon finds himself in a web of shadows, secrets, and discoveries within the stones and canals of the ancient city and deep in the mystery of Sebastien.

Digging Deeper

I love the chapter heading images. That bridge? It fit so well into the entire story, symbolizing the bridge between history, love, and the hope hidden in the shadows.

Each chapter clearly lets us know if we are talking about the life of Daniel, Sebastien or the Book of Waters.

Two different fonts are used throughout the story to distinguish between the book of the past, and the working through of history and present company. I appreciated the distinction as it added an important element to the story.

My Thoughts?

It took me a long time to work my way through this story, far longer than I thought it would. The biggest reason was the story just didn’t really grab my attention. It’s poetic and introspective in nature and jumps back and forth in history. Not quite my style of read.

Is there a message of hope? Yes. Does good triumph? Yes.

Does the modern day story have a good ending? Certainly.

I want to say… go get it, but I was just left feeling meh, and I have a hard time recommending it. Now, if you are familiar with Amanda Dykes and her writing style and love it… well go get All The Lost Places! Enjoy it.

Learn some history, and be inspired to hope in something bigger than yourself. It’s a good thing that!

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Suddenly I Realized

Suddenly I realized