book review: when mockingbirds sing by billy coffey
In those long days between the town’s death and its rebirth, everyone had a story of how the magic came to Leah Norcross. Whether that magic was divine or deviltry, real or imagined, hinged upon the teller. And though many declared they had trusted all along, the fact was that in the beginning no one believed but Leah and Allie, and not even they could have known what that carnival week would hold. ~When Mockingbirds Sing I read it over two days. Not every minute, but in the car (passenger seat), during the grandgirl’s softball game, instead of sleeping or doing dishes or cooking or writing or any one of a number of other things I “should” have been doing. I. Could. Not. Put. It. Down. Billy Coffey cuts to the heart of the...
Book Review: A Monk in High Heels
Brenda Keller was a desperate college sophomore when she made her first call “hoping they would in fact not have an opening. Ever.” Her professor had told her openings were “few and far between” and sometimes scheduled a year or more in advance. But there was a cancellation. And so she stumbled into the presence of God on the grounds and within the walls of a monastery. About that first time, she writes in her book A Monk in High Heels: “Closing the curtains, I crossed my arms and leaned against the white painted walls. It bothered me more than I thought it would, that not knowing a small thing like the time made me feel so out of control.” ~p. 14 But though those early hours were a wee scary, she learned to lean into...
Book Review: The BibleDude Community Commentary Series: Philippians
The panorama from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain is breathtaking. Blue meets blue as Lake Superior stretches out to kiss the horizon. Different platforms give magnificent views of the surrounding countryside–forest and hills and rugged rock. And as I sat on the edge, I was in awe of the beauty. I felt very, very small–and yet very much in tune with God and His creation. A Bible study can feel like that. A group of friends gather around a table, drape over chairs, or flop on a floor to look at the Word from different perspectives. Each sees what another might have missed. Each shares another view. Each reflects on what it might mean to tune in to God and one another. Each suggests ideas on how to live out the faith in light of it all. This commentary of...
In the Presence of Hope: A Review of The Unlikely Missionary by Dan King
Part of me hates to read mission stories. Especially from those who have traveled to Africa. I battle jealousy because that’s been my dream since I was a young girl. But the opportunity has not yet presented itself. It did for the BibleDude, though. I read his story in his book, The Unlikely Missionary: From Pew-Warmer to Poverty-Fighter. And I’m glad I did. Dan King says he’s just an ordinary Christian trying not to be lukewarm “because we know what God does with lukewarm Christians in Revelation 3:16.” “I’m a normal dude who wants to be used by our great big God.” And so he started doing some normal things. Small things. He started a blog so he could process and share things he was learning. He wrote about stuff...
Book Review: Understanding What Matters Most by Stephanie Shott
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. ~Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 (NIV) We read that passage at my mother’s memorial service. Now that I’m blanketed in winter,...
Book Review: The One Year Devotional of Joy and Laughter
Tyndale House has published The One Year Devotional of Joy and Laughter. It’s not just because I have two in this book. January 13 and May 7. Just in case you’re wondering. But I love this book with 365 day brighteners. By authors who see deep, yet light, and find joy and humor in the everyday. Stories that encourage us to smile. Anecdotes that lift our spirits in the midst of tough settings. Writings that spill hope and courage. And goodness knows we need some of that these days. Mary Hollingsworth has pulled together a collection of devotionals that include scriptures and prayers to help us see and celebrate God marvels in the mundane. She writes: Perhaps you’re wondering how a spiritual devotional can be funny and serious at the same...
Book Review: Stained Glass Hearts by Patsy Clairmont
I’m sitting in one of the white gliders, cushioned in peach and white stripes. I hold the book on my lap and gaze at the framed stained glass that hangs on the peach wall above the white chest in the meditation room. I note the seagulls (at least they look like seagulls), the hills, the trees, the birds, the butterfly, the flowers and how the light reflects through the colors. I suspect the artist had a plan, a design he could only create by scoring and cutting glass, by grinding edges, and soldering pieces together. He had to see his art from a broken perspective in order to birth this piece of beauty. And this is how Patsy Clairmont asks us to see–through the lens of our own brokenness. To see our own potential for beauty through the jagged...
Meet Sandy
Spend–and Give!
Tuesdays. Here.
April 19-21, 2013 (past but not forgotten)
American Christian
Fiction Writers
Follow Me!