WOW {warm Oven Wednesday}

 

Choosing Real: A Devotional Thought Journal by Bekah Jane Pogue

 Book Description:  When you enjoy God's company first--even in the uncertain moments of life--the heavenly Creator will transform your mind to view your schedule, work, relationships, parenting, and responsibilities as opportunities to dance in life's storms and honor how beautiful simple can be. That's the message of the Choosing REAL journal, where popular author and blogger, Bekah Pogue, walks with you into life’s unplanned circumstances. . .and she reminds you it is in these very moments that God invites you to notice, respond, and even celebrate how He shows up—in every little detail. Featuring quotes from Pogue's, Choosing REAL, alongside inspiring scripture selections and journal prompts, you will be encouraged to record your personal thoughts and feelings. . .and to accept the invitation to embrace life just as it is!

My Thoughts: I've never read Bekah Pogue's blog but I was looking for a new journal and saw this one so I picked it.

It's a beautiful hardback book with 224 pages. The pages on the left side have a scripture and the page son the right side have a short/mini devotional and then a question.

Then each page is filled with lines so the reader has plenty of room to write her thoughts.

This is a devotional thought journal so it's set up for a lot of writing of one's thoughts.

I also love the little gold stars that are splayed on the edges of the pages.  I just love the look of this journal but as I said above I love ALL the room for writing.  I believe that is the whole purpose of this journal...writing out one's thoughts and choosing what is REAL.

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Shiloh Run Press 
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1683229320
• ISBN-13: 978-1683229322

The Healing Jar (The Prayer Jars) by Wanda Brunstetter

Book Description:  Lenore Lapp is an Amish schoolteacher in her late twenties still living at home with her parents and grandparents. She thought love had passed her by until she meets Jesse Smucker, a widower with a baby daughter. She quickly falls in love with them both and accepts Jesse’s proposal of marriage, but Jesse breaks off their engagement when he realizes he can’t marry only for convenience.

Resigned to living single, Lenore throws herself into caring for her elders. While working in her grandmother’s garden, she digs up an old jar. Will Lenore find healing for her broken heart and solve long-buried family secrets by reading the note contained inside?

My Thoughts:  This third novel in The Prayer Jars by Wanda Brunstetter is my most favorite out of the three.  Probably because it's about a school teacher and healing.  Isn't God good to give us healing?

Lenora Lapp is a loving. sensitive young lady who has much to offer.  So when Jesse Smucker asks her to marry him, even though he is a widower with a baby daughter, Lenora know that she loves Jesse and his sweet little daughter.  So when Jesse breaks their engagement, he breaks Lenora's heart as well.

Lenora decides to forget about love and help her aging grandparents.  Whole working in their garden one day she digs up a jar filled with slips of paper.

This is the beginning of the Healing Jar.  Oh, what a read!  O, What hope and healing!

Mrs. Brunstetter writes with such emotion that the reader feels as if she might be Lenora.

Loved this story!

• Series: The Prayer Jars (Book 3)
• Paperback: 320 pages

Fun Friday!

 

WOW {Warm Oven Wednesday}

 

The Pie Lady: Classic Stories from a Mennonite Cook and Her Friends by Greta Issac

Book Description:  What is a Pie Lady moment? For one family, it s breakfast on the patio. For another, it s Mom serving up creamy chicken and noodles. These are Pie Lady moments: times of goodness and glamour in the middle of ordinary days. In The Pie Lady, Mennonite homemaker Greta Isaac ushers readers into the kitchens of Velda, Shyla, and other Pie Ladies as they whip up confections and concoctions that please the mouth and nourish the soul. Fans of Ruth Reichl, Sherry Gore, and Ree Drummond will love Isaacs intimate, delectable writing. Home cooks will love the recipes that appear in each chapter. Maybe you drop grapefruit slices in a glass of water. Maybe you brown the gravy and salt it from eighteen inches up. (Forget for now the sink full of dishes.) Each cook has her own Pie Lady moments. Each has a story to tell. Hear straight from Amish and Mennonite people themselves as they write about their daily lives and deeply rooted faith in the Plainspoken series from Herald Press.

My Thoughts:  When I saw this book I thought it would be all about pie.  I was so wrong!

This book is a treasure of inspiration.  A slice of life passed on to others.

Mrs. Issac is a Mennonite wife and mother who has "pie" moments."  Those inspiring times where she has a short story or a memory that has to do with a specific dish she has made...not necessarily pie.

I love her thoughts and inspirations about life.  To me this is more like a devotional book with wonderful recipe thrown in as a reference point.

There are 194 pages all filled to the brim and then at the end of each chapter there is a wonderful recipe.

I've decided to use this as a devotional book as I read and journal from my daily devotions.

This is a smallish, not too large of a book and it would make a great gift.  

• Paperback: 202 pages
• Publisher: Herald Press
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1513804219
• ISBN-13: 978-1513804217

 

Present Danger (Rocky Mountain Courage) by Elizabeth Godddard

 

 Book Description:  Former FBI Special Agent Jack Tanner is working as a detective in Montana when he comes across a body in the national forest during a search and rescue mission. He's committed to finding the killer, even if it means working alongside his old flame, US Forest Service Special Agent Terra Connors.             When Terra discovers that the murder victim had ties to a powerful and dangerous trafficker of archaeological artifacts, the investigation takes a deadly turn--one that hits too close to home. As Terra fears she lacks the courage to face what comes next, Jack is more determined than ever to protect her. But he's failed her before. And if he fails this time, it will cost them far more than just their hearts.

 My Thoughts: What a read!  What a story!  What a cover!  Oh, yeah it's a murder investigation at its best.

This is the first book I've read by Elizabeth Goddard and it won't be the last.  

I love the thrill of the investigation, the clean romance and the way Mrs. Goddard uses descriptive words, not just adjectives, to describe all that is transpiring in this mystery.

Of course, I love mystery/suspense novels and this book is one of the best.

Jack Tanner is great detective and all around great guy.  He discovers a body in the national forest.  The national forest of all places!

But he needs help on this murder investigation so he ends up working with Tara Conners, a long lost love.

But what he and Terra don't know until they begin to uncover the facts about the murder only to discover that the murder must be tied in to the stolen artifacts.

And, poor Jack, he's failed the gorgeous Terra before.  

It's a great story!

*This book was provided for review by Revell*

• Publisher : Revell 
• Language : English
• Paperback : 384 pages
• ISBN-10 : 0800737989
• ISBN-13 : 978-0800737986
• Item Weight : 13.6 ounces
• Dimensions : 5.5 x 1 x 8.4 inches