Trust & Obey

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8


My spirit on Thy care,
Blest Savior, I recline;
Thou wilt not leave me to despair,
For Thou art Love divine.

In Thee I place my trust,
On Thee I calmly rest;
I know Thee good, I know Thee just,
And count Thy choice the best.

Whate’er events betide,
Thy will they all perform;
Safe in Thy breast my head I hide,
Nor fear the coming storm.

Let good or ill befall,
It must be good for me;
Secure of having Thee in all,
Of having all in Thee.

Words by HF Lyte
Music by Beethoven arranged by JE West

Visit Sheryl at Taking the Challenge for Faith Lift Friday.

Thursday Thirteen

Blogging was a new adventure for me in 2007. When I began I had never heard of StatCounters or considered what was involved in my Google searches. But I learned quickly. Here are thirteen Google searches that landed visitors at my blog in 2007. Thankfully or oddly enough, my blog does not come up quickly for most of these any more.

Thirteen Google searches that lead me to say..."What were you people thinking?? I don't think you will find this here!" But I was glad they visited.

1. chocolate is cheaper than therapy rubber stamp--I too would love to have this as a rubber stamp. I am sure it is available. Just not here. I have talked about the three things though, chocolate, rubber stamps and therapy. All in the same post even!

2. eclectic parrots--do they like Jimmy Buffet and Johann Sebastian Bach? Do they say random things? I am curious?

3. scarlet macaws mac & cheese--I hope this was not for a recipe. Yikes!!

4. in the bible scarlet macaw--Well I don't know that they are mentioned specifically, but I am sure God enjoyed the color palette for those.

5. My dog ate a loaf of bread--yeah, I know I blogged about that.

6. the little ants march to Jerusalem--I had no idea when they went one by one and two by two that they were headed there. Who knew?

7. what do you call an ant with no hair? I don't know, Curly?

8. what four things are smaller than an ants mouth--ant breakfast, ant lunch, ant dinner and ant snack? Just guessing.

9. age of innocence poodle--as opposed to those not-so-naïve poodles, you know the ones who say, "Ooooo-la-la" and "Voulez vous...?" OOooops...never mind, this is a family friendly blog.

10. jennifer van roo ballett--clueless, just clueless.

11. dr seuss passover plagues--The venerable Theodor Seuss Geisel wrote on many things. I did not know he wrote a book on a Jewish Holy Day...but I've learned a lot around here. I wrote about a plague of frogs once.

12. childrens bible lessons on rockets or spaceships--I don't think the Bible mentions spaceships, I know I've mentioned the Bible more than once, I may have mentioned spaceships...?? The scarlet macaw in the Bible made more sense.

13. how to make a tapir shadowbox--Okay, I like tapirs. I really do. But perhaps this is a bit much.

I need to start saving some more searches that land people at the Joyful blog in 2008. What odd things do visitors look for at your site?

Find more participants for Thursday Thirteen!

THE PURPOSE BEHIND THE THURSDAY THIRTEEN:
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. What do you do? Write Thirteen things about yourself, summarize your week in one entry, make it easy for other bloggers to get to know you on a weekly basis. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged!

Wordless Wednesday

Tree Kangaroo

For more WW participants go to The Hub

Beloved Castaway—A Review

Beloved Castaway by Kathleen Y’Barbo

Historical fiction set in New Orleans and the Florida Keys in the early 1800s is the stage for intrigue and danger.

Beautiful slave, Isabelle Gayerre is the heroine with a heart for the LORD running for freedom. Her path crosses with a sea captain, Josiah Carter, who believes himself to be too far removed from the path for God’s notice. Their first meeting is full of mistrust and deception. How can anything positive come from this?

Beloved Castaway was a rapid read, engaging from the beginning. Y’Barbo draws the reader right into the infamous New Orleans culture. This story is full of twists and turns and mounting tensions. There is nothing superfluous in the telling though, and I was very grateful for that because I became extremely attached to Isabelle and wanted to reach a conclusion for her flight.

I stayed up way to late one night to finish this—there was no way it would wait until the next day.

Kathleen Y’Barbo is new to me, although she is a prolific writer. This won’t be the last of her work that I read.

Hollywood Nobody—A Review

Hollywood Nobody by Lisa Samson

The first installment of a new series for Samson.

Fifteen year old Scotty Dawn is on the road with her rock-star resembling mother, hanging out on the sets of Indie films. She dresses in chic thrift store finds and has a lot of freedom and more than a few questions. Scotty Dawn and her mother, Charley, travel in an old RV she calls the Y. She meets famous people on a regular basis, but is more excited about the senior citizen RV-ers she meets at campsites along the highways en route to the next movie. Well there might be one up-and-coming young actor she is a little excited about…

Apparently I have been off the deep end of the earth because I’d never read one of Lisa Samson’s books until I received it as part of an author’s blog tour I participated in. I have to say I liked it and will be reading the following episodes.

Hollywood Nobody is tagged as a Young Adult read, a genre I enjoy on a regular basis. I can see that this story with many current culture references will grab young readers. I would recommend this for the fourteen and over crowd. Lots of dating and relationship references, although there are plenty of solid adults surrounding Scotty’s life to offset her offbeat mother and the teen angst. This is obviously a Christian book, and Samson is weaving it in a gentle and appealing fashion.

Hollywood Nobody, a fun, fast read.

Sentinel: City of Destiny--A Review

Sentinel: City of Destiny by Landel Bilbrey

Recently, I received a request to review this book from the author. As the mother of two young sons I am always looking for age appropriate books for them to read or for us to share together. I visited Mr. Bilbrey’s website to find out more about his story. Of course once I read the premise for Sentinel I had to read it for myself to learn more.

From the author’s notes about the book:

One enemy.

Two brothers.

And a perilous quest in search of four mystical keys …

Keys that will unlock the gate of Sentinel, the timeless city of destiny—the place that all followers of the Light must one day find. Only true warriors of good King Deus can call it home.

From Gelandesprung, through the mysterious forest of Gravenwood, across the barren plain of Gall, and beyond the burning sands of Mammon, they will travel. But traveling will be only half their journey, for hidden throughout the regions of Callow are the keys. And to complete their mission into Sentinel, they will need all four. Even if the valiant brothers should find the hallowed walls that surround the city, without the keys their struggle will be for naught.

But Azrael awaits. Driven by an ancient vow to stop any boy from entering the sacred city. His plans are evil, his minions are many, and his aim is sure… Keep all seekers, at all costs, from finding the royal keys.

Even so, they embark. They search. And, eventually… One of them will fight to take hold of what is rightfully his—a place of honor at the mighty king's table.

I slowly worked my way through Sentinel. Not because it was a difficult read. It is not; it is a great match for young readers and is suggested for 8 and over. I took my time to savor the story, to hear the words and let them work in my heart and feel how they would affect my sons. I’ve enjoyed the book immensely and have been moved by the story.

Sentinel is the story of two brothers on the path to manhood. The journey is fraught with toil and trial. There are opportunities to earn honor and rewards but with those opportunities also come the possibility of failure and sorrow.

The brothers are twins; they have been raised with the same opportunities, the same education, the same loving and devoted parents. But they do not make the same choices, and therefore find themselves separated not long into the journey. They both face peril at every turn. Do their paths end at the same the same door?

Sentinel: City of Destiny can be many things. It is foremost a wonderful story, an unashamed allegory. There is no question of the message that the author intended. It can be used as a language arts tool. The vocabulary is supported by the Glossary at the end. There is a question and answer series at the end that will help with comprehension, Finally it is a devotional. The same question and answer portion is a study guide that could be completed by an older child alone, but would be even better as a discussion starter for the young reader and the parent.

As I read this book my oldest kept checking over my shoulder to see how far along I was.

“Gee, Mom, that looks interesting.” “It is, dear.”

“Is it an okay book for boys?” “Well, yes as a matter of fact, it is.”

“Mom, do you think I might be able to read it when you are done?” “I am sure that you can.”

“Mom? Are you done yet?”

Guess who gets to start a new book tomorrow.

Visit Mr. Bilbrey’s website. You can check out resources for parents, teachers and children. Sentinel: City of Destiny is available from Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Nobel and directly from the author.

A great book, a super gift for any young man. I highly recommend it.

Elise at A Path Made Straight is the lovely hostess of Children's Book Monday. I am hopping on over to put this review on her Mr. Linky. Visit Elise and all the great bloggers who join her for Children's Book Monday.

Gloating...

Okay, really I'm not. But I was pretty tickled when I found out I won the $10 Amazon gift certificate that Katrina of Callapidder Days gave away for the Fall Into Reading Challenge.

I applied that to purchases made tonight.

What did I get??

Well, I was a good homeschool mom and ordered some books for Boo. It was definitely most appreciated by both of us.

Thanks Katrina!!