The Reader's Corner

It's nearly 5 o'clock in the morning. I've been awake since three, when my (dare I say it?) middle aged body woke me up out of a strange dream to deliver some important news: get moving. If you're my age or so, you probably understand what needed to happen in the middle of the night and why a light in the hallway is usually important. The tea the night before brought this about, I'm sure. 
   I tried going back to sleep, but so far am wide awake. The readout from the weather channel on my computer says its 70 degrees. My internal thermometer says its 90. AC is currently on. 
  But I digress. You aren't here to keep up with my body's life of its own. At least, I hope not. What brought you in here was the title of this post.  I'm a reader. Have been for as long as I can remember. I read the bible (not nearly as often as I should but I'm working on that), mysteries, love stories now and again, cookbooks, chick lit, Archie comics, the sides of cereal boxes... you get the picture. When I'm not writing, I can usually be found with my nose stuck in a book.
   Since I couldn't go back to sleep I grabbed the latest book I've been reading. It's called The Potluck Club, by Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson. It was published in 2005 but I hadn't heard of it til now. I found it by accident, at a yard sale. The Potluck Club is six women who come together once a month to pray together. It started out as just two best friends who got together to pray and have dessert, and grew from there. Each of the women have their own story to tell, interweaved in the main story. One wants to take over as president of the club even though she's the newest (self invited) member. One has a secret past that even her best friend never knew. One has a failing marriage. One doesn't believe in prayer, much less God but has her own reasons for being in the club.

  Each of the six women are facing their own difficulties, and they do it separately and together. I love that the authors used scripture throughout the book as the women learned more about themselves and grew closer to God. As with any book I can truly immerse myself in, I laughed with the ladies, cried with them, sympathized at times. I hated to see the story end. Although the book is finished, I was thrilled to discover that there is a series of The Potluck Club books, each concerning these six women. The second in the series is The Potluck Club: Trouble's Brewing  and I can't wait to order that one. 
  If you enjoy women's stories like Steel Magnolias,  or Fannie Flagg's books, with a Christian perspective, I think you will love  The Potluck Club and the ladies in it: Evangeline, Donna, Vonnie, Lisa Lean, Lizzie, and Goldie. Bonus: there are lots of yummy recipes included!
  Grab a copy and let me know what you think. I enjoy discussing books with friends. Meanwhile, your turn. Do you have a book or two that you recommend? I'd love to hear from you.

Goodbye September, Hello October

Ok, if you received this without a title, it's because it was written last night around midnight when I should have gone to bed. Fun fun.


Can you believe September is already gone? Time sure flies, doesn't it? I haven't written as much as I would have liked this month, but for me, family comes first.  So, what have you been up to lately? I'll catch you up a little and give a few tidbits if you'll share with me how it's going with you. Deal?
  Remember Heavenly Homemakers Funky Fresh Kitchen Challenge? I didn't blog as much about it as I'd meant to, but I tried keeping up with Laura. As for me, I nearly gave myself a big, fat FAIL on the month long challenge series, but I decided to be lenient and give myself a D. A lot of the challenges I ended up putting a "to be continued" label on them for one reason or another. That's okay. I haven't given up on doing those things. But I did decide to try menu planning again, which is a step in the right direction, and I got my pantry area cleaned out and functional. So woohoo there! Sorry, no pictures. Need to replace my camera at some point in the future.
  I decided earlier to put myself through Home Ec 101 and get my act together in a few areas. It's still a work in progress. I have a friend now (Hi, Sharon!) who encourages me each week to declutter and organize. We chat via private message on Facebook on Mondays, and sometimes one other day during the week. We tell each other what we are working on that particular day, and I think it's beneficial for both of us.
  As I mentioned earlier I'm trying to master the art of menu planning. It comes so simply to so many, but I struggle with it. I know basically what my family eats, and I'm learning to keep a list of pantry items so I can come up with nutritious meals. I am even learning to take into account the schedule so I can figure out if we need to eat out on a certain day because of doctor appointments, or whether I can figure out another way to make sure we're fed while on the road.
   J continues to do well without the behavior medications, but I've found that he still needs melatonin to help him sleep. He's currently dealing with insomnia. O joy of joys. So this early bird has had to adjust her sleep schedule a wee bit to accommodate the situation. (Whew! Took three tries to spell accommodate correctly.)
  Also, I'm in house hunting mode. I have a scout in the area we'd like to live in, both for financial and work reasons, and I've been doing some searching on the net to see what is out there that we could possibly afford. I'm seeing a few prospects. The biggest thing now is to look at the houses, set the ball in motion, and trust that God will lead us to the home that is right for us. I'm praying for this.  There has already been a blessing in this: I'm getting to better know an old friend from school, and I have a new friend in his wife as well. I am really hoping and praying this works out because it has been so long since I lived close to a friend so I could visit and talk. Bonus: I'd have more motivation to keep the house organized and clean! I don't know about you, but knowing company may show up is a HUGE motivator in housekeeping.
  Something new, something new.A Proverbs Wife is beginning a weeklong reading of Colossians  today (October 1). It runs through Sunday, October 7. I hope you'll join the discussion there.
  Well, that's all the news for now on my end. What about you? What have you been up to lately? Are you accomplishing all the goals you set for yourself? I'd love to hear from you.

I Love You, But...

I have a habit, like most people, of checking Facebook once or twice a day. I want to see what my family and friends are doing, thinking, posting. One particular friend was on a rant because another friend told her he didn't care for some of the things she posted. I'd be a little perturbed if someone told me they didn't like what I posted. Then again, sometimes I'd be a little shocked that someone actually read any of my postings. I agreed that the person shouldn't have told her that. Personally, I think that's what the delete button is for. Get enough of it, delete the person. Or at least remove the person from your daily feed.
  But my friend said something else. What she said was , if you don't love all of me then delete me. 
    Well, let's think about that for a moment.Can you love every single aspect of a person, as in every part of their life? Can you love the person and not like parts of their lives?
  A popular statement these days just happens to be, if you love me you have to accept all of me. God loves us in the truest form, and He doesn't even do that. He tells us in His Word there are things He cannot and will not abide: lying, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, murder to name a few. Every single person who lives, ever has lived, and ever will live on this earth has sinned or will sin. Does this mean God hates us? Not at all! God loves us, and hates the sin!
  Example two: I love my sister, but she smokes. I don't like that part of her life. If she were to come visit, the cigarettes have to stay outside. The smell makes me ill and I don't want that nasty stuff in my house. Does this mean I don't love my sister or that I love her any less? No way!
  Love isn't and shouldn't be conditional. I don't know anyone who would ever say "I will love you if...". You either love someone or you don't. Conditional love is wrong, on both sides of the street. Telling someone that they have to accept a behavior or activity or they don't love you is just as wrong. Both types of behavior should have been outgrown at least by junior high.
  Bottom line? Facebook, at the end of the day, is really not much more than a virtual "I Love Me" wall. You post on there things that are important to you, that mean something to you. You're sharing yourself in a way that is safe because for the most part, you control who sees "you."  That's the easy part. What you cannot and should not even try to control is how someone feels when they see what you post. Some will like it, others won't. Some will hit the delete button and move on, some will give feedback. Those we have on our friends list are there for a reason. While sometimes it is our first instinct to get angry and defensive when someone disagrees, perhaps we should just go ahead and talk with the person. Learn something. Gain a new perspective. Or just shrug and agree to disagree on that point. 
    Love one another as we are commanded. Jesus is our greatest example of how to love. He loved the people. He didn't love what they did.

Gratituesday: Grateful for Sarge

 The hubby never made it up the ranks when he was in the Army. Never even made it to sergeant. That's okay, though, God has a different purpose in mind for him. Christian, husband, father, hard worker, drill sergeant...
   No, he isn't bossy, and no, he's not a tyrant. Recently though, he has taken it upon himself to encourage me in my writing. He came up with the goal of ten pages a day. I don't always meet that goal, but he encourages when I am busily typing or scribbling away, and he barks orders to "get to it!" if I haven't so much as picked up a pen all day. 
  Like any good drill sergeant who is in the faces of the soldiers under his or her command, exercising them to the point of fatigue and sometimes exhaustion, he's there in the trenches with me. Encouraging me. Reading what I've written. Giving feedback. Asking questions when I'm stuck on a scene or a character, and eventually, like working on a troublesome Rubik's cube, the pieces finally align and it works. 
  I have a long way to go before my fiction sees the light of day, but I'm thankful that my husband encourages me and helps me to realize my lifelong dream. Thank you, hon. Thanks for continuing to push me. 

 Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!  What are you grateful for today? I'd love to hear from you!

Thankful for Good News

I missed Gratituesday yesterday, and hopefully I'll be back on that route next week. I enjoy reading what others are thankful for and I like taking the time to reflect on someone or something I'm thankful for in my life. But this news is just too good not to share right now.
   My sister works at my doctor's office. I have a cell phone that is like us humans sometimes -- stubborn, obstinate, and cooperates with me only when it feels like it. Because of that, I had been spending the last few weeks playing phone tag with my doctor. So my sister finally stopped by my house this afternoon after work. My echo cardiogram test results came out fine! Praise God! Oh, I'm so happy about that.  
  We do know I still have to see the OB/GYN concerning a problem that showed up on some other tests, but I know that can be dealt with. Thank you to all who have kept me in prayer over the test results.

LIfe, Death, Family

Photo of family from Photobucket.


Old but true wisdom advises us that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." Today I realized I am guilty of having but not following through one too many times. 
   My intention has always been to keep family close. Yet the cares and busyness of life, and gas prices too often gets in the way. Today, my niece left a message for me informing me that the mother of my nephews, a former sister in law, had passed away from cancer. I hadn't seen her in years, probably since my brother's funeral, and we didn't speak much, if any at that time. She was mostly there for her sons. 
  In my family, I seem to be the one who wants to have get togethers, but we just can't seem to get it together enough to come together. I know where they live, they know where I live, yet it doesn't happen. We leave messages on Facebook, or we talk via family member closer by. That's a sad part of modern life. It shouldn't be so, but sometimes it is. 
  My heart is heavy because I want to be there for my nephews. I also know that my husband's schedule, as well as finances,  may keep us from physically being there. It breaks my heart that I didn't make more of an effort to keep the lines of communication open. Even though she was no longer married to my brother, I still cared for her. And I love my nephews, and all of my family, dearly. 
  My mother in law has taught her children, and her daughters in law, to say I love you before leaving the house or ending a phone call. She says you never know when will be the last time you get to tell someone those words. I need to extend this tradition with other loved ones in my life. 
  Our spirits crave love. To know that someone cares about us, misses us when we aren't there. Don't hold back. Tell your loved ones that you love them. Let them know how much they mean to you. Make time for family and friends in your life. Don't let funerals be the only time you reunite with loved ones. I don't know about you, but I'd rather spend time together while I'm still here to enjoy it. 

Win a Nutrimill at Heavenly Homemakers!

Heavenly Homemakers       is at it again! 

 

Ugh. Forgive the tiny link up there. I'm still learning the ins and outs of blogging. No matter. You see that Nutrimill up there beside the link? Heavenly Homemakers is giving one away, courtesy of Paula's Bread  .  How cool would it be to freshly grind your own wheat, or other grains at home? I don't have one but I really would like one. Go check it out and enter to win!